Medisafe Is Now Paid. What Are Your Options?
Medisafe, for years the best-known free pill-reminder app, moved to a paid subscription. If you are deciding what to do about that, here is what actually changed, what it costs, and what your options are — including an honest account of when RelayNest is and is not the answer.
What changed
Medisafe’s own help centre says the app became fully paid for users outside the United States on 1 January 2026. Continuing to use it there requires a monthly or annual subscription.
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Monthly | $4.99 USD |
| Annual | $39.99 USD |
| Annual, discounted | $27.99 USD (limited-time 30% offer) |
Medisafe describes premium as including unlimited medications, unlimited Medfriends, unlimited dependents, health trackers, all Medtones and colour customisation.
What about the United States?
Medisafe’s announcement covers users outside the US, and the premium prices above appear on the US App Store listing too. Several competitors claim the US free tier is now capped at two medications, but we could not confirm that in Medisafe’s own materials, and the companies making the claim sell competing apps. Check the subscription screen inside the app rather than trusting anyone’s blog post, including this one.
Your three options
1. Pay for it
Not the worst outcome. Medisafe is genuinely good at what it does, the interaction warnings and refill reminders are useful, and $40 a year is less than one missed-dose incident costs anybody. If pill reminders are your actual problem, paying is the simplest answer.
2. Switch to another reminder app
Several free pill reminders exist, and your phone’s own clock app will do basic alarms. Before you move, export or photograph your medication list — rebuilding it from memory is how errors get introduced.
3. Ask whether reminders were really the problem
A lot of people using Medisafe’s Medfriends feature are not managing their own pills at all. They are managing a parent’s, usually alongside siblings, usually after a hospital stay changed everything. If that is you, a reminder app was always a partial fit, and the gap you keep hitting is coordination rather than alarms.
Where RelayNest fits — and where it does not
RelayNest is not a pill-reminder app
It has no per-dose reminders. It will not alert you that a dose is due at 8pm. If that is what you need from Medisafe, RelayNest does not replace it, and we would rather tell you now than have you find out after installing.
What it does instead: keeps one shared medication list for a whole family, flags what a hospital started, stopped or changed, logs doses that were given, and holds the appointments, tasks, warning signs and documents around them. Many families run both.
| What you need | Medisafe | RelayNest |
|---|---|---|
| Alarms when a dose is due | Yes | No |
| Drug interaction warnings | Yes | No |
| Refill reminders | Yes | No |
| Shared list several relatives can edit | Medfriends | Yes |
| Flags what hospital changed at discharge | No | Yes |
| Roles, so a sibling can view but not edit | No | Yes |
| Appointments, tasks, warning signs | No | Yes |
| Scan discharge paperwork into a draft list | No | Yes |
| Record of who gave which dose | Partly | Yes |
| Price | $4.99/mo or $39.99/yr | Free |
If the problem is the family, not the alarms. RelayNest gives everyone one shared workspace for a parent’s medications, appointments and tasks, and shows exactly what changed during a hospital stay. Free for the whole care circle, no subscription, no upsell.
Create your family workspace → Get the free iPhone app →Take the checklist with you
A free printable checklist for the first 72 hours at home — what to ask before you leave, the numbers to write down, and the warning signs that mean call. We’ll email it to you.
One email with the checklist. We never share your address. Or open it now →
Common questions
Is Medisafe still free in 2026?
Medisafe’s help centre states the app became fully paid for users outside the United States on 1 January 2026, at $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. US free-tier terms are less clear; check the subscription screen inside the app rather than relying on third-party summaries.
Is there a free alternative to Medisafe?
For dose alarms specifically, several free pill reminders exist and a phone’s clock app covers the basics. RelayNest is free but is not a pill reminder — it has no per-dose alerts. It is for families sharing one medication list, appointments and tasks, particularly after a hospital discharge.
Can I use RelayNest and a pill reminder together?
Yes, and many families do. A reminder app handles the alarms for the person taking the medication, while RelayNest keeps the shared list, the record of what changed at discharge, and the coordination between relatives. They solve different problems.