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Flo vs Glow 2026: Privacy, Features & Price Compared

Last updated: February 2026·Flo vs Glow·PinkyBloom: Free

Our verdict

Flo paid $8M in a class action for sharing data with advertisers. Glow exposed 25 million users' data in a 2024 breach after years of documented security failures. Both apps store your data in the cloud; both have failed to protect it. PinkyBloom stores your cycle log on your phone, needs no account, and never sells your data.

Flo vs Glow vs PinkyBloom

FeatureFloGlowPinkyBloom
Price~$49.99/yr premiumVaries (quarterly/yearly premium)Free
Users440M+25M+Growing
Data storageCloud (Flo servers)AWS cloud (default)Stored on your phone
Privacy track recordClass action settled 2025; Flo paid $8M25M user data breach (2024)Never sold, no ads; partner sharing end-to-end encrypted
AI assistantCloud-based chatbotBuilt-in AI assistant (Pinky)
Voice logging
Mood forecasts
Community featuresForums and storiesCommunity forums
Offline data modeAnonymous Mode (still cloud)Opt-in Offline Data ProtectionCycle log stored on your phone
Account requiredEmail requiredAccount requiredNo account needed
Doctor visit reports
AdsAds in free tierAds in free tierNo ads ever

Overview

Flo and Glow are both major players in the women's health app space, each with large user bases and community features. Flo is the undisputed market leader with 440 million users, a health chatbot, and the most extensive content library. Glow has 25 million users and is particularly popular among women trying to conceive, with fertility tracking, BBT charting, and active community forums.

Both apps emphasize social features — Flo has its community stories, Glow has its forums. Both offer fertility tracking, symptom logging, and predictions. The experience is broadly comparable for core tracking needs.

Where they diverge is in their failure modes. Flo intentionally shared data with advertisers. Glow repeatedly failed to protect data through security vulnerabilities. The distinction between intentional data sharing and negligent data exposure matters little when it's your reproductive health data at stake.

Privacy comparison

Flo and Glow have both failed spectacularly at protecting user privacy, but in different ways.

Flo's sharing was by design, according to the FTC's complaint: it alleged in 2021 that Flo sent menstrual data to Google, Facebook, and Flurry Analytics despite privacy promises. Flo settled with no fine and no admission, and paid $8M to settle a class action in 2025.

Glow's failures were negligent. Consumer Reports flagged "serious security and privacy flaws" in 2016. A California settlement in 2020 covered security failures dating to 2013. Then in February 2024, TechCrunch reported a bug that exposed the personal health data of 25 million Glow users. Three incidents over eight years — a pattern of systemic security failure.

Glow offers an opt-in "Offline Data Protection" mode, but research shows fewer than 5% of users change default settings. By default, data goes to AWS. Flo's "Anonymous Mode" still uploads data to servers.

Both apps' attempts at damage control — Flo's Anonymous Mode, Glow's Offline mode — are opt-in patches on fundamentally vulnerable architectures.

Features and intelligence

Flo is the more complete platform: AI chatbot, 70+ symptoms, community stories, pregnancy mode, and educational content from 120+ medical experts. It's designed to be a comprehensive health ecosystem.

Glow focuses on fertility with BBT charting, ovulation tracking, cycle predictions, and community forums. The forums provide genuine peer support for the TTC community. However, Glow's intelligence layer is statistical, not AI-driven.

Neither app offers voice logging or predictive mood forecasting.

PinkyBloom provides a built-in AI assistant: conversational health assistance, voice logging, mood forecasts, and doctor visit reports. No community forums (which would require cloud accounts), but encrypted partner sharing through PinkyBond provides private one-to-one support instead.

Pricing comparison

Flo costs ~$49.99/year for premium. Glow's pricing varies by plan. Both have ad-supported free tiers. Over several years, both apps cost meaningful sums for products that have demonstrably failed to protect your data.

PinkyBloom is free. No ads. For apps handling reproductive health data, the price comparison should include the cost of data exposure. Flo and Glow have both proven that cost is real.

There's a better option

Flo intentionally shared your data with advertisers. Glow accidentally exposed 25 million users' data through security failures. PinkyBloom never sells your data, and your cycle log is stored on your phone, not in an account on our servers. Built-in AI, no account, free.

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Frequently asked questions

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