Home/Compare/Waterllama Alternatives
Waterllama’s defectors are leaving the paywall, not the llama: the free tier logs water only, and reviewers say deleting a mis-tap costs money. We make Brim, and it drops every game mechanic, but its own free tier is just as thin, with no Apple Watch app or backup that Waterllama gives away free. Hydro Coach is gentler and more private.
The bottom line
If gentle and grown-up without any game is what you want, Hydro Coach and Brim both give you that. The Apple Watch is what pulls people back toward WaterMinder or Drink Water Reminder N Tracker instead.
We make Brim, so read this page accordingly. Every claim is sourced, prices were checked on the dates shown, and where a rival is the better fit we say so. We also run price experiments, so the price you see in the app may differ from the one below.
How we picked
- We put Brim first because we make it. That is a placement, not a verdict: every app on this page, ours included, gets the same credit-and-cut treatment, and where a rival answers the actual reason people search this page better than Brim does, its own entry says so.
- Every app here installs today without a Waterllama account, and every claim below was re-checked against the live US App Store listing and Apple’s own privacy label on the dates at the bottom of this page.
- Below Brim, we ranked for the actual reason people search this: the free tier logs water only, and reviewers report that deleting a mis-tapped entry costs money. That ranking rewards the apps that answer that specifically, not the app with the cutest mascot.
- Gamification is a positioning axis here, not a quality axis. Waterllama has 156,498 ratings at 4.87 and an Apple App Store Award, and we say so before we say anything else.
- Every app gets both blocks: what it genuinely does well, and the honest cut. We publish this page, so ours gets the same treatment as everyone else’s, first in line for it.
What Brim does not do
We are on this list, so here is our own cut, before you read ours.
Waterllama is the most-loved app in this whole category, and Brim is not close: 156,498 ratings at 4.87, a 2022 Apple App Store Award (Cultural Impact) and a 2022 Apple Design Award finalist badge. Brim has two ratings.
Free Waterllama gives away more than free Brim ever will at any price: a native Apple Watch app, Apple Health, and free iCloud backup. Brim has none of the three.
On data safety, Waterllama beats Brim outright today. Waterllama restores your history from iCloud. Brim has no backup, no restore and no export, and a reinstall deletes everything.
Both free tiers log water only. Brim’s 25-drink hydration index is Premium, the same limit Waterllama’s free users hit.
Nothing on this page is a straight upgrade from Waterllama. Each pick trades the pet and the paywall for something else you give up.
The apps
Every app below gets the same two blocks: what it genuinely does well, and the honest cut. Ours included.
Brim
SYRNIK LTD · we make this one
A quiet, glassy hydration tracker that publishes what every drink is worth and asks for no account.
Wins on: zero game layer of any kind, no ads or advertising identifier, and a hydration percentage published for all 25 drinks before you install (Premium to log them).
What it does well
- No pets, points, leagues or currency. The only “game” piece is a streak, free at full history, with no guilt copy attached to breaking it.
- All 25 drinks carry a published hydration percentage, visible free, before you spend anything. Logging anything other than water is Premium.
- No account, no ad SDK and no advertising identifier. Hydration history is stored only on your phone.
- The daily goal comes from weight, activity and climate (plus sex and pregnancy), and setting a custom goal is free.
The honest cut
- The free tier logs water only, thinner than every other free tier on this page.
- No Apple Watch, no iPad, no Android, no Apple Health, no backup and no export. A reinstall deletes your history.
- Two App Store ratings. That is not a track record.
- The coefficients are fixed. You cannot edit them or create your own drink.
Get Brim if the game layer itself, not just the paywall, is what you are leaving, and you can live without the wrist and without a backup.
Brim on the App Store →Hydro Coach
Wired Betterment
A small-studio tracker with a per-drink hydration model, a sea-creature rank ladder instead of streak guilt, and an Apple privacy label that reads "Data Not Collected".
Wins on: the gentlest, most private option here: no ads at all, an Apple privacy label that reads cleaner than Brim’s own, and a rank ladder instead of streak guilt.
What it does well
- Apple’s own privacy label reads “Data Not Collected,” cleaner than Brim’s own “Data Not Linked to You” bucket.
- A per-drink hydration model that penalises alcohol, and the drink catalogue grew again in June 2026.
- No ads, on any tier.
- Reviewers repeatedly describe the tone as gentle and specifically not nagging, which is rare praise in this category.
The honest cut
- No Apple Watch app and no Android edition, so it solves neither the wrist nor a mixed-phone household.
- 944 ratings from a small studio, and it went roughly 20 months without a shipped update between 2023 and 2024.
- Its own reviewers report that basic features sit behind the paywall, and that the app asks you not to pay every time it loads (1 star, v1.4.5).
- It keeps a sea-creature rank ladder and streaks, so it is lighter on gamification than Waterllama, not free of it.
Get Hydro Coach if the privacy label and an ad-free, gentle tone matter most, and you do not need a Watch app or an Android edition.
Hydro Coach on the App Store →Drink Water Reminder N Tracker
Phoenix Games LLP
An 11-year-old reminder app with the most generous free tier in the category: six drink types, a native Apple Watch app and Apple Health sync, all without paying.
Wins on: the most you can get for $0, with the lightest game layer of any free tier here: an achievement list and a fill animation, no pets, no streak guilt.
What it does well
- A free Apple Watch app and free Apple Health sync, both working on the free tier.
- All six preset drink types log free, with no paywall on drink variety at all.
- 152,099 ratings at 4.50 over 11 years. This has been many people’s default water app for a decade.
- No account. You open it and log.
The honest cut
- Ads on the free tier, and the publisher’s own privacy policy confirms Google AdMob and the IDFA advertising identifier.
- Reviewers report the History screen unlocks only after a prompt asking for a five-star App Store review (1 star, v6.1). We have not verified whether that prompt still ships.
- It silently under-credits some drinks (reviewers report a logged 7 oz of tea only subtracting 6 oz, 2 stars, v4.4), an inconsistent rule rather than a published coefficient.
- Last functional update was September 2025. Watch it.
Get Drink Water Reminder N Tracker if free is your only requirement and the light game layer fits the “grown-up” half of what you want, even though the ads and tracking do not fit the “private” half.
Drink Water Reminder N Tracker on the App Store →WaterMinder
Funn Media, LLC
The 13-year incumbent, with a standalone Apple Watch app, Apple Health sync and editable per-drink coefficients.
Wins on: the Apple Watch, editable coefficients and thirteen years of iteration, if the game layer and the crypto token do not bother you.
What it does well
- A standalone Apple Watch app that logs with the phone nowhere nearby.
- Coefficients are shown in the app and user-editable, not just fixed.
- Apple Health sync, confirmed read and write for profile data.
- 33,870 ratings across 13 years of continuous shipping and named developer support reviewers stay for.
The honest cut
- Extensive gamification: badges, points, streaks, a filling-body avatar, and, new in 2025-26, a Solana reward token ($WMDR) and “AI Gulp Detection” its own reviewers are hostile to.
- Ads on the free tier.
- Reviewers report a first-launch subscription screen with no visible way to dismiss it (1 star, v7.2).
- No climate input in the goal calculation. Its own description calls the number “just an estimate based on your weight.”
Get WaterMinder if the wrist is the one thing you will not give up, and you can tolerate the game layer and the crypto token to keep it.
WaterMinder on the App Store →What’s the game, and what happens when you miss a day?
This is the table nowhere else in this cluster prints: what each app’s game layer actually is, what happens on a missed day, and whether a mis-tap costs money to fix. Waterllama’s own row is the reason most people are reading this page at all.
| App | Game layer | On a missed day | Delete a mis-tap | Does it nag |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterllama | 140+ collectible characters, streaks, challenges, monthly events, iMessage stickers | An “angry llama” face a reviewer compares to Duolingo’s guilt mechanic | Reviewers report it requires Premium (5 stars, v1.92.6). Unverified in-app | No forced review prompt found. Paying users report cross-promo ads for the developer’s other apps |
| Hydro Coach | A sea-creature rank ladder plus streaks. No pets, leagues or currency | The streak resets. Reviewers call the tone gentle rather than punishing | Unverified. We have not tested it in-app | No ads. Reviewers repeatedly praise it for not nagging |
| Brim | None. No pets, points, leagues or currency | Nothing. The streak resets, free at full history, with no guilt copy | Free, with undo | No ads and no review-gating of any kind |
| Drink Water Reminder N Tracker | An achievement list and a bottle fill and drain animation. No pets, no streak guilt | Nothing described in the listing | Unverified | Reviewers report a forced five-star review prompt to unlock the History screen (1 star, v6.1) |
| WaterMinder | Badges, points, streaks, challenges, a filling-body avatar, plus a Solana reward token ($WMDR) and “AI Gulp Detection” | Unverified beyond the badge and streak system | Unverified | No forced review-gating found. Reviewers are hostile to the crypto layer and “AI Gulp Detection” |
What users say
Quoted verbatim from public App Store reviews, with the star rating and the app version or review date. We over-sampled critical reviews deliberately, so these read harsher than any app’s overall average. Brim launched in June 2026: every written review so far is five stars, and there is no critical tail to over-sample yet.
“Water tracking app that has… a paywall to track your water intake?”
“It has a good sense of humor and does not make me feel like I’m being nagged. This really matters!”
“Beautiful, calming design and what sets Brim apart is that it doesn’t only count water. It tracks caffeine and alcohol too, so you get an honest picture of what you’re actually drinking, not just how many glasses of water you had.”
“I’ve gone from drinking maybe 20oz a day to over 64 oz every day. Problem solved!”
“It’ll work for a few days then just stop sending notifications which is you know, the point of the app... Pretty disappointing for something I paid premium for.”
Frequently asked
Why is Waterllama asking me to pay to log tea?
Its free tier logs water only, and every other drink and custom drink require Premium. Reviewers report that deleting or editing a logged entry requires Premium too (5 stars, v1.92.6); we have not verified that in-app.
Can I delete a mis-tapped entry for free in any of these apps?
In Brim, yes, free, with undo. Reviewers report Waterllama charges for it. For Hydro Coach and Drink Water Reminder N Tracker, we could not verify either way from the listing or the review sample.
Is there a free Waterllama alternative that counts coffee?
Drink Water Reminder N Tracker credits roughly six drink types free, paid for with ads and the AdMob advertising identifier. Brim credits all 25 drinks on a published index, but logging anything other than water is Premium there too.
Which alternative keeps the Apple Watch app?
WaterMinder and Drink Water Reminder N Tracker both do, free. Brim and Hydro Coach have neither.
Will I lose my history if I switch?
Yes. No app here imports another app’s data, and Brim has no backup or restore of its own yet, so a reinstall deletes your history too.
Does any of these apps tell you what a coffee is actually worth?
Only Brim publishes its whole per-drink table outside the app. WaterMinder shows you its coefficient in the app and lets you edit it, but does not publish the set anywhere else. Hydro Coach and Drink Water Reminder N Tracker apply some per-drink math but publish neither.
Which app called Brim is this?
This page is about Water Reminder – Brim (App Store ID 6777476351, by SYRNIK LTD). A different iOS app is also called Brim (Brim – Smart Water Tracker, ID 6761324419). It is not this app.
Keep reading
Sources
- 1.Waterllama on the App Store: listing, in-app purchases, gamification features and App Privacy label. Checked July 13, 2026.
- 2.Hydro Coach on the App Store (id 1459692731, Wired Betterment): listing, in-app purchases and the “Data Not Collected” privacy label. Checked July 12, 2026.
- 3.Brim’s own beverage catalogue, free-tier gate and pricing, read from source and from the live listing. Checked July 13, 2026.
- 4.Drink Water Reminder N Tracker on the App Store: listing, in-app purchases, version history and App Privacy label. Checked July 13, 2026.
- 5.Phoenix Games privacy policy for Drink Water Reminder N Tracker, confirming Google AdMob and the advertising identifier. Checked July 12, 2026.
- 6.WaterMinder on the App Store: listing, in-app purchases, gamification features and App Privacy label. Checked July 13, 2026.
- 7.App Store customer reviews for Waterllama and all four picks, sampled across sort orders with critical reviews deliberately over-sampled. Checked July 12, 2026.
Waterllama is a trademark of Llama Luna Apps Inc. WaterMinder is a registered trademark of Funn Media, LLC. Drink Water Reminder N Tracker is a trademark of Phoenix Games LLP. Hydro Coach is a trademark of Wired Betterment. Used for identification only. None endorses or is affiliated with Brim.
This page is about Water Reminder – Brim (App Store ID 6777476351, by SYRNIK LTD). A different iOS app is also called Brim (Brim – Smart Water Tracker, ID 6761324419). It is not this app and this page is not about it.
