You don’t need an app to drink water. You need an app because you keep forgetting to drink water.

I tested 15 water reminder apps for iPhone. Most are garbage. Here’s the honest breakdown.

Quick Comparison

AppPriceBest ForRating
WaterDropFreeSmart reminders⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
WaterMinder$4.99Data nerds⭐⭐⭐⭐
Plant NannyFree (IAP)Gamification⭐⭐⭐
Drink Water ReminderFree (ads)Budget option⭐⭐⭐
Hydro CoachFree (premium $6/mo)Personalization⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Apps That Actually Work

1. WaterDrop

Price: Free Best feature: Reminders that adapt to your schedule

I built this one, so I’m biased. But I built it because everything else annoyed me.

What it does right:

  • One-tap logging (not 4 taps)
  • Smart reminders that know your sleep schedule
  • Clean Apple Watch complication
  • Syncs with Apple Health
  • No ads

What could be better:

  • Newer than competitors (fewer reviews)

Check it out →

2. WaterMinder

Price: $4.99 one-time Best feature: Detailed analytics

If you want charts, graphs, and statistics — this is your app.

What it does right:

  • Beautiful data visualization
  • Custom container sizes
  • Apple Watch app
  • Widget support
  • Syncs with Apple Health

What could be better:

  • Takes forever to set up
  • Overwhelming settings
  • One-time purchase means slower updates

3. Hydro Coach

Price: Free (Premium $6/month) Best feature: Personalized calculation

Calculates your needs based on weight, activity, weather.

What it does right:

  • Smart goal calculation
  • Adjusts for weather automatically
  • Decent reminders
  • Apple Watch support

What could be better:

  • Best features locked behind subscription
  • Premium is expensive for a water app
  • Occasional sync issues

4. Plant Nanny

Price: Free (IAP for plants) Best feature: Gamification

Your plant dies if you don’t drink. Guilt as motivation.

What it does right:

  • Cute visuals
  • Makes you feel bad for not drinking (works for some)
  • Kids love it

What could be better:

  • Gets old after a week
  • Plant death guilt is annoying
  • IAP to unlock more plants

5. Drink Water Reminder

Price: Free (ads) Best feature: It’s free

Does the basics. Sends reminders. Tracks water.

What it does right:

  • Free
  • Simple interface
  • Works

What could be better:

  • Ads everywhere
  • Generic reminders
  • Ugly design
  • No Apple Watch

Apps I Don’t Recommend

Daily Water Tracker

Generic, ad-heavy, crashes frequently. Skip.

Aqualert

Notifications don’t work reliably. What’s the point?

My Water

Outdated interface, no Watch support, feels abandoned.

Water Time

Reminders fire at wrong times. Buggy.

What Makes a Good Water Reminder App

After testing 15 apps, here’s what matters:

  1. Smart reminders — Not hourly spam. Reminders that know when you’re sleeping, working, or already hit your goal.

  2. One-tap logging — If it takes more than one tap, you won’t do it.

  3. Apple Watch support — Log from your wrist without pulling out your phone.

  4. Clean design — You’ll open this app 8+ times a day. It shouldn’t be ugly.

  5. Apple Health sync — Your water data should live in Health with everything else.

  6. No guilt trips — Dead plants, streaks that make you feel bad, aggressive notifications. Nope.

The Real Problem

Apps don’t make you drink water. Habits do.

The best app is the one that:

  • Reminds you at the right times
  • Makes logging effortless
  • Gets out of your way

Everything else is feature bloat.

FAQ

Do water reminder apps actually help? Yes, if they have good reminders. Studies show people drink 20-30% more water when reminded.

Is it worth paying for a water app? Maybe. Free apps either have ads or limited features. A $5 one-time purchase is worth it if you’ll use it.

Which app has the best Apple Watch app? WaterMinder and WaterDrop both have solid Watch apps.

Can I use Apple’s built-in Health app? You can log water manually, but there’s no reminder feature. You need a third-party app.

What about Siri shortcuts? You can set up “Hey Siri, log my water” but there’s no reminder system.

Related reads:

— Dolce