PinkyBloom vs Flo: Private, Free, and No Data Scandals

Flo's privacy track record is the most extensively documented failure in the period-tracking industry. In 2021, the FTC found that Flo shared sensitive health data with third-party analytics firms including Google and Facebook, directly contradicting its own privacy promises. Users were told their data was private; it wasn't.

The situation escalated in 2025, when a $56M class action settlement revealed the full scope. Google paid $48M, Flo paid $8M, and a jury found Meta liable for its role in receiving and using menstrual data. This wasn't a hypothetical risk — it was proven in court.

Flo introduced "Anonymous Mode" in response, but the feature is misleading. Data is still transmitted to and stored on Flo's servers — it's just disassociated from your name and email. With PinkyBloom, there are no servers to worry about. Your data lives on your iPhone, protected by Apple's Secure Enclave and Face ID. There's nothing to anonymize because nothing ever leaves your device.

Flo's Health Assistant AI processes your data on remote servers, which means your symptoms, cycle details, and health questions are transmitted over the internet to generate responses. This is the same architectural pattern that led to Flo's privacy violations in the first place.

PinkyBloom runs its AI entirely on-device using Apple's Core ML framework. Your cycle predictions, mood forecasts, and health insights are generated locally on your iPhone's Neural Engine. This means you get faster responses with no internet dependency — and the mathematical certainty that your data stays private.

Beyond architecture, PinkyBloom's AI capabilities go significantly further. Voice logging lets you describe how you feel in natural language. AI mood forecasts predict emotional patterns days ahead. The doctor visit report generator creates professional summaries for your healthcare provider. Flo offers none of these features, and its cloud-based approach means it fundamentally can't match PinkyBloom's privacy guarantees even if it tried.

Switching from Flo to PinkyBloom takes about 60 seconds. Open Flo, navigate to your cycle calendar, and take a screenshot. Then open PinkyBloom and use the Screenshot Import feature — our OCR engine extracts your cycle history automatically. No manual data entry required.

PinkyBloom's screenshot importer works with Flo's calendar view, including period dates, ovulation markers, and symptom logs. Once imported, your historical data is processed entirely on-device and stored in PinkyBloom's encrypted health vault.

If you've been using Flo for years, you don't have to lose that history. Import it, then consider deleting your Flo account entirely. Given the documented privacy violations, removing your data from Flo's servers is a worthwhile step — and PinkyBloom ensures you'll never need to worry about server-side data again.

Flo charges approximately $49.99 per year for its premium subscription, with prices varying by region and even by user — Flo is known to A/B test pricing. The free tier includes ads and limited features. Over five years, that's roughly $250 for an app that has been proven to share your data with advertisers.

PinkyBloom is free. Not freemium, not free-with-ads, not free-for-now. Free forever. Every feature — AI assistant, voice logging, mood forecasts, doctor reports, partner sharing, widgets, health vault — is included at no cost. There are no premium tiers and no subscription walls.

The value proposition is straightforward: PinkyBloom offers more features, stronger privacy, and smarter AI than Flo's paid tier, and it costs nothing. You're not the product, and your menstrual data isn't the payment.