Haven vs Migraine Buddy: An Honest Comparison for Migraine Sufferers (2026)

We are going to be upfront about something: we built Haven, so we have an obvious incentive to say it is better. We are going to resist that incentive and give you the most honest comparison we can. If Migraine Buddy is the right app for you, we would rather you know that than download Haven for the wrong reasons.

Both Haven and Migraine Buddy are serious migraine tracking applications with real depth. The question is not which one is better in the abstract — it is which one is better for your specific needs. Here is an honest breakdown.

Overview

Migraine Buddy launched in 2016 and has accumulated one of the largest migraine patient communities in the world — reportedly over 10 million users. It has a long track record, substantial clinical partnerships, and a feature set built over nearly a decade of user feedback. It is available on both iOS and Android.

Haven launched in 2025 with a different philosophy: instead of building a comprehensive manual logging tool, Haven is designed around automated pattern detection. The goal is to reduce the cognitive overhead of tracking while surfacing insights that manual tracking misses — particularly cross-factor trigger correlations and hormonal patterns. It is currently iOS only.

Attack Tracking

Migraine Buddy's attack logging is exceptionally detailed. You can log onset time, pain location (with a visual head map), intensity over time, associated symptoms (nausea, photophobia, phonophobia, aura type), medications with dosage and timing, and functional disability. The level of granularity is impressive and aligns well with what neurologists want to see in a headache diary.

Haven's attack logging is similarly comprehensive but adds one distinction: AI-assisted triage at the time of logging. When you log an attack, Sage (Haven's AI) flags potential cross-factor patterns visible in your recent tracking history — giving you context about what may have contributed, before the attack is over and you have forgotten the details.

AI and Pattern Detection

This is where the two apps diverge most significantly. Migraine Buddy provides analytics and charts that help you visualize your data. You can see frequency by day of week, time of day distributions, and medication effectiveness. The insights are user-curated — you look at charts and draw conclusions.

Haven runs automated Relative Risk calculations across 37+ factors and surfaces statistically significant associations automatically — without requiring you to look at charts or form hypotheses. Sage, the AI companion, interprets patterns in plain language and tells you when a new correlation reaches significance, when a factor's risk score changes, and when cross-factor combinations are flagging risk. For users who do not want to become their own data analysts, this is a meaningful difference.

The core question is: do you want an app that stores your data and shows you charts, or an app that actively interprets your data and tells you what it means?

Doctor Reports

Migraine Buddy generates detailed PDF reports designed for neurology appointments. These reports follow formats familiar to headache specialists and include MIDAS scores, frequency trends, medication log, and trigger patterns. They are polished, clinical, and practical. Many neurologists already recognize and accept Migraine Buddy reports.

Haven generates reports as well, with the addition of Relative Risk factor analysis formatted for clinical discussion. The Haven report shows your neurologist not just what happened, but which factors your data associates with attacks — a more actionable starting point for medication and lifestyle discussions. Haven reports are newer, but the underlying data they present is richer.

Cycle and Hormonal Tracking

Migraine Buddy allows you to log menstrual cycle data and can overlay it with your attack history. It is a manual process — you enter your cycle dates and the app correlates them with your logged attacks. For users willing to maintain that data consistently, it produces useful cycle-attack charts.

Haven's cycle integration is deeper. Cycle phase is factored into the Relative Risk analysis alongside all other variables, and Haven specifically tracks the luteal-to-menstrual transition window — the highest-risk period for hormonal migraine — as a distinct data signal. Haven also accounts for cycle length variability, not just a fixed assumption of a 28-day cycle.

Weather Integration

Migraine Buddy's weather integration logs current weather at the time you record an attack. This is useful for retrospective analysis but does not provide predictive alerts.

Haven monitors barometric pressure at your location continuously and sends proactive alerts when pressure is dropping faster than your personal threshold — giving you a 6-12 hour warning window before weather-triggered attacks, not just a log entry after the fact.

Community

Migraine Buddy has a substantially larger and more active community. The app includes forums, peer support features, and community statistics that let you compare your patterns to aggregate anonymized data from millions of other users. For people who find community support valuable — knowing others have the same experience, sharing coping strategies — Migraine Buddy is far ahead.

Haven does not currently have a community feature. This is a real gap, not one we will minimize.

Platform and Availability

Migraine Buddy is available on both iOS and Android. Haven is iOS only. If you are on Android, Haven is not an option.

Pricing

Both apps offer free tiers with core tracking functionality. Migraine Buddy's premium tier unlocks advanced analytics, extended history, and reporting features. Haven's premium tier unlocks Sage AI insights, barometric alerts, and the full Relative Risk analysis engine. In both cases, the free tier is functional enough for basic tracking, but the core differentiated value requires a subscription.

Who Should Choose Haven

• You want automated insight detection — you do not want to analyze your own charts to find patterns
• Hormonal migraines are a significant part of your experience and you want integrated cycle analysis
• Barometric pressure is a known or suspected trigger and you want proactive weather alerts
• You are on iOS and want an AI companion that contextualizes your condition in real time
• You prefer a cleaner, lower-friction daily check-in over highly detailed manual logging

Who Should Choose Migraine Buddy

• You are on Android — Haven is not available to you
• Community support matters — you want to connect with other migraine sufferers
• You prefer granular manual control over your data and logging details
• Your neurologist already uses Migraine Buddy reports and recognizes the format
• You have a long established history in Migraine Buddy and do not want to start over
• Track record matters — you prefer an app with a longer history of clinical partnerships

The Honest Conclusion

Migraine Buddy is a mature, well-built app with a legitimate clinical track record and a community no new app can replicate overnight. Haven is built around a different philosophy — that automated pattern detection and cross-factor AI analysis can surface insights that manual tracking and self-analysis miss. Both philosophies are valid. They serve different users.

If you are an Android user, a community-oriented person, or someone deeply invested in your existing Migraine Buddy history, stay with Migraine Buddy. If you are on iOS and find traditional tracking exhausting or inconclusive, Haven may surface patterns you have been missing for years.