Glow Baby vs MamaBee (2026): Ads, Price, Partner Sharing

Short answer: Glow Baby gives you full logging free, but with ads, and its FAQ says adding a second caregiver needs the roughly $90-a-year Family Plan. MamaBee's free tier has no ads, syncs two caregivers and exports your data. Glow still wins on Android, Apple Watch and its parent community.

We make MamaBee, so read this with that in mind. Glow Baby has been around since 2016 and its 23,500 US ratings average 4.7 stars. It comes from Glow, Inc., which also makes the Glow fertility and pregnancy apps, and one Glow subscription covers all of them.

How do Glow Baby and MamaBee compare?

What Glow Baby does best

A generous free logger. Glow's own feature page lists breast, bottle and solids feeding, pumping, diapers, sleep, growth, milestones, temperature, symptoms, medicine and activities on the free tier, for unlimited babies.

Community. Glow has an active parent forum and private messaging. If you want to ask other parents rather than an app, that's a real advantage.

Comparative insights. Premium shows how your baby's patterns compare with other babies of the same age, up to 12 months.

More devices. Glow has an Apple Watch app, runs on iPad, and has an Android app with over a million downloads.

One subscription for the family of apps. If you already pay for Glow's fertility or pregnancy app, Premium carries over.

Where Glow Baby stops

The free tier shows ads. Glow says so on its own pricing page. On Google Play the Android app is labelled "Contains ads". In the 100 most recent US App Store reviews available to us (January to August 2024), about a quarter mentioned ads or pop-ups, and around 15 said they still saw ads after paying. One reviewer put it simply: "Pay for premium, still get ads."

Sharing with a partner costs extra. Glow's FAQ says you need the Family Plan, about $90 a year, to add a second caregiver. For most families the second parent is the first person they want to share with.

Export is a Premium feature. PDF and CSV reports for your pediatrician sit behind the paywall.

The iOS app hasn't been updated in almost a year. The latest iOS version, 3.19.3, shipped on November 5, 2025, after roughly monthly updates through 2025. The Android app was updated in September 2026.

It collects a lot. Glow Baby's App Store privacy label lists purchases, location, contact info, identifiers and usage data under "Data Used to Track You", and health, sensitive info, contacts and search history among data linked to you. Separately, in 2020 Glow settled with the California Attorney General over 2013 to 2016 security flaws in its fertility app, paying a $250,000 penalty without admitting liability (California AG).

Where MamaBee is different

No ads, on any tier. Not on the free tier, not on Premium.

Partner sync is free. Two caregivers share one live timeline on the free tier. Premium adds more.

Export is free. CSV, JSON and a pediatrician-ready PDF, whenever you want them.

Local-first privacy. Logs stay on your iPhone unless you turn on Co-Parent Sharing. We never sell data or use it to train outside AI. Our guide to baby tracker privacy explains what to check in any app.

A cheaper Premium with different extras. $49.99 a year adds Sleep Coach nap prediction, unlimited Bee AI chat, the Solid Food Allergen Test, multi-baby sync and longer insights.

Twelve languages and an actively updated app. Glow Baby supports four languages.

Where MamaBee loses

• No Android or Apple Watch yet. Glow has both.
• No community. We don't have a forum, and Glow's is genuinely busy.
• One baby on the free tier. Glow's free tier handles unlimited babies; our multi-baby sync is Premium.
• No comparisons with other babies. Glow's peer insights are something we don't offer.
• We're new. Glow has ten years and 23,500 ratings; we have a handful.

Which costs less for two parents?

For a single parent who doesn't mind ads, Glow's free tier costs nothing. For two parents who want to share, Glow's Family Plan costs about $90 a year, while MamaBee shares for free.

Which should you choose?

Choose Glow Baby if one of you is on Android, you'd use the Apple Watch app, you value the community, or you already pay for another Glow app.

Choose MamaBee if you're both on iPhone and want to share one tracker for free, without ads, with your data kept on your phone.

For more options, see our best free baby tracker apps and best baby tracker app comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Is Glow Baby free?

Yes, Glow Baby has a free tier that covers most logging, and it shows ads. Premium costs about $59.99 a year, and Glow's FAQ lists a Family Plan of about $90 a year for adding a second caregiver.

Does Glow Baby have ads?

Yes, on the free tier. Glow's pricing page lists ad-free use as a Premium benefit, and its Android app is labelled "Contains ads". Some reviewers report seeing ads after upgrading. MamaBee has no ads on any tier.

Can my partner use Glow Baby for free?

According to Glow's FAQ, adding a second caregiver requires the Family Plan, about $90 a year. MamaBee includes two-caregiver sync for free.

Can I export Glow Baby data?

PDF and CSV export are Premium features in Glow Baby. MamaBee exports CSV, JSON and a pediatrician PDF for free.

Is Glow Baby still updated?

The Android app was updated in September 2026. The iOS app's latest version was released on November 5, 2025.

The takeaway

Glow Baby is a capable free logger with a real community, and it's the better choice if you need Android or a Watch app. If you're an iPhone couple who wants to share a tracker without ads or a Family Plan, MamaBee does that for free.

Sources: Glow Baby App Store listing, Glow Baby feature page, Glow Premium pricing, Glow Baby on Google Play.

Competitor prices, features and privacy labels checked on the US App Store, the vendor's own website and help pages, and Google Play on October 25, 2026, and may change. This article is general information, not medical advice.