Alternative
A Solid Starts alternative for tracking reactions
Solid Starts is the best-known starting solids app, and for good reason. But if what you need is a log of what your baby ate and what happened next, you don't have to pay for the whole app to get one. Here's an honest comparison, and the setup a lot of parents end up with.
Quick answer
If you want a Solid Starts alternative for tracking reactions, try AllerLog. Solid Starts' food database is free, but its tracker comes with its paid plans ($19.99 a month or $99.99 a year in the US). AllerLog's meal log, sleep and poop scores, ingredient charts and allergen check-ins are free, with no account. You don't have to choose, either: keep Solid Starts' free database for serving guidance and log meals in AllerLog.
We make AllerLog, so read this knowing we're biased. Solid Starts is a very good app, and below we're specific about what it does better. Facts about Solid Starts come from its App Store listing and website.
Why parents look for a Solid Starts alternative
Solid Starts' free food database is one of the best starting solids resources there is. Most of the reasons parents look for something else are about the tracker:
- The tracker is paid. The free download gives you the First Foods database; the tracker comes with the paid plans. If a log is all you need, that's a lot to pay for.
- You want to track more than the reactions you noticed. Delayed reactions and intolerances often show up hours later, as a bad night or a change in poop. Solid Starts lets you record reactions; AllerLog scores sleep and poop after every meal, so a pattern can show up before you'd call it a reaction.
- You'd rather not share personal details. AllerLog needs no account and stores your log on your iPhone. Solid Starts' privacy label lists your name and email as linked to you, and identifiers and usage data as used to track you.
AllerLog vs Solid Starts at a glance
| AllerLog | Solid Starts | |
|---|---|---|
| What it's for | Tracking meals and what happens after them | Learning what to serve and how, with meal plans and a tracker |
| Food guide | 158 built-in ingredients to log quickly; no serving guides | 400+ foods with serving guidance by age, choking and allergen notes, and videos |
| Meal plans and recipes | None | A guided first 100 foods and 300+ recipes |
| After each meal you record | How it went (Refused to Loved it), sleep 1–5, poop 1–5, notes | Foods tried, favorites, reactions or sensitivities |
| Spotting patterns | A 12-month chart for every ingredient; Premium flags possible intolerances | A log of foods and reactions |
| Allergens | A check-in 1 hour after a flagged allergen and 3 hours after a new food | Introduced step by step in the meal plans |
| Sharing with your doctor | Show the charts on your phone; no export | Download the log to share |
| Price (US App Store) | Free | Database free; paid plans $19.99 a month or $99.99 a year |
| Privacy label | Analytics and crash data not linked to you; nothing used to track you | Name and email linked to you; identifiers and usage data used to track you |
| Rating (US) | New | 4.9 |
| Works on | iPhone and iPad, iOS 26 or later | iPhone and iPad, iOS 16.4 or later |
Where Solid Starts is better
- Knowing what to serve, and how. 400+ foods with how to cut and serve each one at every age, choking and allergen guidance and videos of real babies eating, from a team that includes pediatricians, feeding therapists, an allergist and a dietitian. AllerLog doesn't try to do this.
- Meal plans and recipes. A guided introduction to the first 100 foods and 300+ recipes. AllerLog has neither.
- Sharing with doctors. You can download Solid Starts' log to share; AllerLog doesn't export.
- Track record. Solid Starts has been on the App Store since 2021 and is rated 4.9. AllerLog is new.
- Older iPhones. Solid Starts runs on iOS 16.4; AllerLog needs iOS 26.
Where AllerLog is better
- The after-meal part. Every meal gets a sleep score and a poop score from 1 to 5 and a rating for how it went, so slow, quiet reactions get written down too.
- Seeing the pattern. Each ingredient builds a 12-month chart from the meals it was in. Premium goes further and flags foods averaging 3 stars or less across two or more meals as possible intolerances.
- Reminders at the right moment. A check-in an hour after a flagged allergen and three hours after any new food.
- Free tracking. The log, scores, charts and check-ins cost nothing.
- No account. Your log stays on your iPhone.
The setup we'd recommend: use both
Solid Starts' free database and AllerLog's free tracker cover different halves of starting solids, so a lot of parents use one for each.
- Look the food up in Solid StartsIts database is free: check how to cut and serve the food for your baby's age.
- Log the meal in AllerLogPick the ingredients, set the time and tap how it went.
- Answer the check-inScore sleep and poop when AllerLog checks in, or later that day.
- Read the chartsAfter a couple of weeks, open any ingredient to see how its meals went, and take it to your next appointment.
Switching from Solid Starts
There's no import, so start from today. Setup takes under a minute: your baby's name and date of birth, and you can skip those. Then add foods as you serve them. Common allergens are already flagged; if your baby has had others, mark them as allergens so AllerLog checks in after them. You can adjust every check-in time in settings.
Who should stay with Solid Starts
- You want guidance on what to serve more than you want a tracker.
- You want meal plans and recipes in the same app as your log.
- You need a log you can download for your doctor.
- Your iPhone can't run iOS 26.
If that's you, Solid Starts is worth paying for. If you mainly want to know which food is upsetting your baby, a free tracker is enough, and the food guide is still free. For more options, see the 3 best baby food allergy apps.
Frequently asked questions
Is Solid Starts free?
Partly. Its App Store listing says the First Foods database is free to download and use, and that you upgrade to a paid plan to unlock the rest of the app, including the tracker. In the US those plans are $19.99 a month or $99.99 a year, with a free trial.
Can I use AllerLog and Solid Starts together?
Yes. They don't sync, but they work well side by side: look up how to serve a food in Solid Starts' free database, then log the meal and what happened after it in AllerLog.
Does AllerLog have a food database like Solid Starts?
Not in the same way. AllerLog has 158 built-in ingredients so logging is quick, with common allergens such as peanut, egg, dairy, fish and tree nuts already flagged, but it has no serving guides, recipes or videos.
Is AllerLog really free?
It's free to download, and the meal log, sleep and poop scores, ingredient charts and check-ins are free. Premium adds smart insights: possible intolerances, a watch list of the lowest-scoring foods and optional AI Insights.
Sources & further reading
- Solid Starts: Baby First Foods — App Store (US)
- Solid Starts app plans and features — Solid Starts
- Starting Solids, BLW: AllerLog — App Store (US)
AllerLog is a tracking and journaling tool that helps you and your pediatrician spot patterns. It is not a medical device and does not diagnose, treat or prevent any condition. This page is general information, not medical advice: always talk to a qualified healthcare professional about your child's diet, allergies and health. If your child has trouble breathing, swelling of the face or tongue, widespread hives, repeated vomiting or becomes floppy or pale after eating, call your local emergency number straight away.