Best pelvic floor exercises app for women: what each one does, costs and proves
The best pelvic floor exercises app is the one that gets you doing the right squeeze, most days, for at least three months. The squeeze is the treatment. An app's job is to teach it, time it and remind you. Among the apps women use most, we found only one with its own published randomized trial: Tät, from Umeå University in Sweden. The others offer reminders, timers, video or a device that shows your squeeze on screen, with no trial of their own.
Below: what an app can and can't do, eight options side by side with their US cost and the evidence behind them, app-only versus a biofeedback device, what to look for, which kind suits which woman, a free first week you can do with no app at all, and when to see a doctor first.
Plain disclosure: Strong Mornings makes one of the options in the table, a guided 6-week audio plan. We list it with the others, say what it costs, and say that it has no trial of its own.
What a pelvic floor app can and can't do
Pelvic floor muscle training works. A Cochrane review of 31 trials found women who trained were about eight times as likely to report their stress leaks cured as women who didn't (56% vs 6%). The United Kingdom's guideline for doctors, NICE NG123, starts women on at least 3 months of supervised training: at least 8 squeezes, 3 times a day.
What the research says about apps on top of that:
- An app can help you stick with it. In a Swedish trial of the Tät app (Asklund and others, 2017), 123 women with stress leaks trained with the app for 3 months or waited. The app group's leak score fell by 3.9 points against 0.9 for women who waited, and 92% of app users rated themselves improved. Two years later, most of that gain had held.
- It may beat a leaflet, slightly. The 2024 Cochrane review on ways of teaching pelvic floor training found that instructions by app or internet may slightly improve quality of life compared with written instructions (3 studies, 318 women). The evidence is low certainty, so don't expect an app to work magic that a good leaflet can't.
- It can't feel your muscle for you. An app without a device can't tell whether you're squeezing the right muscle. In one study, after brief spoken instructions only about half of women did the squeeze well, and 1 in 4 squeezed in a way that could make leaks worse. Checking the squeeze yourself, with a device or with a pelvic floor physical therapist, is a separate job.
- It doesn't replace a check-up when something is new or painful. See the red flags at the end of this guide.
Eight options, side by side
Prices are what the app stores and makers showed on 2026-11-04. Many apps change prices or run subscriptions, so check the store before you pay. "No trial found" means we found no published randomized trial of that product. It doesn't mean the product is bad.
| Option | What it costs | What it does | Trial behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tät (Umeå University, Sweden) | Free to download; a paid premium after a 7-day trial | Guided programmes with four kinds of squeeze, sounds, reminders | Yes: randomized trial, 123 women, 2017; results held at 2 years |
| Squeezy (UK) | £3.99 in the UK store; check your own store for the US price | Reminders, a visual guide to each squeeze, programmes, a log you can show a physio | No trial found; a 2015 user survey and an app-review rating |
| Elvie Trainer | App free; works only with the Elvie device, about $199 at list | An insert that shows your squeeze live on your phone, 5-minute workouts | No trial found |
| Perifit | App free; works only with the Perifit device (check the maker for its price) | An insert that turns your squeezes into phone games | No trial found |
| Elvie Strong | Free; full access $19.99 in the app | Pelvic floor workouts with no device | No trial found |
| Kegel timer apps (Athena Kegel Trainer, Go Kegel and others) | $3.99, or free with in-app purchases | Timers, daily reminders, streaks | No trial found; ranking claims are the makers' own |
| Pelvic floor physical therapy (in person or a program through work) | Self-pay visits often $75–$250 each, for 6–12 visits; some employers' health plans cover a virtual program such as Hinge Health's | A therapist checks your squeeze, finds a tight or weak floor, and sets your plan | Supervised training is what most of the guideline trials used |
| Strong Mornings pelvic floor plan (ours) | $37 once for 6 weeks; 7-day refund | A recorded voice times every lift, hold and let-go, 42 sessions of about 10 minutes, from lying to standing; a 3-tap squeeze check; no device | No trial of its own; follows the trial programmes' dose and the Knack |
A quick way to read the table: the cheap apps are reminders, the devices are feedback, the therapist is diagnosis, and a guided plan is someone counting with you, week by week.
App only, or a biofeedback device?
A device like Elvie Trainer or Perifit sits inside the vagina and measures the squeeze. The app shows it as a line or a game, so you can see whether you're lifting or pushing and how long you hold.
A device makes most sense when:
- You genuinely can't tell whether anything is happening when you squeeze.
- You've done Kegels for months with no change and want to see what your muscle is doing.
- You like numbers and games, and they keep you going.
It makes less sense when you can already feel the lift, when inserting a device is uncomfortable or painful, or when the cost would stop you trying at all. Most of the trials that showed pelvic floor training works used no equipment.
Before you buy a device, try the free checks in our guide on how to know if you're doing Kegels correctly: the stop-test, the mirror check and the finger check take ten minutes and tell most women what they need to know.
What to look for in any app or plan
- Both squeezes. Slow holds (up to 10 seconds) build strength. Quick squeezes (1 second) train the muscle to snap shut on a sneeze. A good programme has both.
- A full let-go after every squeeze. Relaxing is half the exercise. An app that only says "squeeze" can make a tight floor worse.
- The Knack. A squeeze timed just before a cough, sneeze or lift. In a 1998 study it cut cough leaks a lot within a week for women with mild stress leaks.
- It gets harder over the weeks. Longer holds, more squeezes, then sitting, standing and moving. The same 10 squeezes forever stops working.
- It lasts at least 12 weeks, or tells you what to do after it ends. Most change shows up between weeks 6 and 12.
- It fits your day. Reminders, short sessions, something you can do in bed or at a desk.
- Plain facts, no miracle claims. Sources you can check; no "cured in 7 days".
- A clear price and a refund. Watch for subscriptions that renew without a reminder.
Red flags
- "Top app" claims that come from the maker, not from a test.
- Promises of a cure in days, or that you'll never need a doctor.
- Only squeezing, no relaxing, and no word on pain.
- Sessions that ask you to hold your breath or bear down.
- A device or app that's painful to use. Stop and get checked.
Which kind suits which woman
- You can't feel the muscle at all: a pelvic floor physical therapist first. A device is the second choice.
- You know the squeeze but forget to do it: a reminder app is enough. Tät has the trial; any timer works if you use it.
- You want someone to talk you through it: a guided audio plan, so you can close your eyes and follow a voice instead of watching a timer.
- Your main problem is urges, not sneezes: look for bladder training and the urge pause, not just squeezes. Our bladder training schedule walks through it.
- You're past menopause: any of the above, plus a talk with your doctor about vaginal estrogen, which treats the thinning tissue that squeezes can't. Our guide to menopause pelvic floor exercises covers it.
- Sex hurts, or you're sore after squeezing: no app. The floor may be too tight, and a therapist can teach the let-go. See tight pelvic floor symptoms.
A free first week, no app needed
You can start today with a phone timer. Do each set lying on your back, knees bent, then move to sitting in week 2.
| Day | Each set | Sets a day |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | 8 slow squeezes, hold 3 seconds, rest 6 seconds; then 5 quick squeezes | 3 |
| 3–4 | 8 slow squeezes, hold 4 seconds, rest 8 seconds; then 6 quick | 3 |
| 5–7 | 8 slow squeezes, hold 5 seconds, rest 10 seconds; then 8 quick | 3 |
Every day: one Knack before your first cough, sneeze or lift. Every squeeze: lift up and in, as if stopping wind and a wee at once; breathe out; keep your bottom, thighs and tummy soft; let go fully. The full 12-week build is in our pelvic floor exercise routine for women, and our guide to pelvic floor exercises for women over 50 adapts the positions for stiff hips, knees and backs.
See a doctor first if
- You see blood in your urine, or it hurts or burns to pass urine.
- Leaks started suddenly, with a fever, or with new weakness or numbness in your legs.
- You feel a bulge or heaviness in the vagina.
- You can't empty your bladder, or you leak all the time with no warning.
- Pelvic pain or pain with sex.
These need a check-up, not an app. Pelvic floor exercises can still help afterwards, with your doctor's go-ahead.
Frequently asked questions
Do Kegel apps actually work?
The exercise works; an app helps you do it. The best evidence for one app is the Tät trial, where women who trained with it for 3 months had clearly fewer leaks than women who waited. For apps in general, Cochrane rates the gain over written instructions as small and uncertain.
Is there a free pelvic floor exercises app?
Several apps are free to download, including Tät and Elvie Strong, with paid parts inside. A phone timer and the free week above cost nothing. Our plan's Day 1 is free to try, with no sign-up.
Do I need a device like Elvie or Perifit?
Most women don't. A device helps when you can't feel your squeeze or want to see it. Try the free self-checks first, or see a pelvic floor physical therapist if you're unsure.
How long until an app helps with leaks?
Many women notice small changes in 4–6 weeks, and the trials measure at 3 months. Our guide on how long Kegels take to work goes week by week.
Are these apps private?
Read each app's privacy page before you add health details. Our plan asks for no symptoms or health record to buy; payment runs on Stripe and we never see your card.
Is an app enough after menopause?
Training helps at any age, and trials include women in their 60s and 70s. Low estrogen also thins the tissue around the bladder, which exercises don't change, so ask your doctor about vaginal estrogen as well.
Start today
Tonight, do one set lying down: 8 slow squeezes, hold 3 seconds, a full let-go after each, then 5 quick ones. If you'd like a voice to count with you, try our Day 1 free, no sign-up. To see in one minute which kind of leak you have and why Kegels alone often aren't enough, take the free 1-minute check. For leaks, urges and the pelvic floor after 40, see all our pelvic floor guides.
Sources: Asklund I. et al., Mobile app for treatment of stress urinary incontinence: a randomized controlled trial, Neurourology and Urodynamics 36(5):1369–76, 2017 (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27611958). Hay-Smith E.J.C. et al., Comparisons of approaches to pelvic floor muscle training for urinary incontinence in women, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews CD009508.pub2, 2024. Dumoulin C., Cacciari L.P., Hay-Smith E.J.C., Pelvic floor muscle training versus no treatment, or inactive control treatments, for urinary incontinence in women, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2018. NICE guideline NG123, Urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women: management, 2019. Bump R.C. et al., Assessment of Kegel pelvic muscle exercise performance after brief verbal instruction, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1991. Miller J.M., Ashton-Miller J.A., DeLancey J.O.L., A pelvic muscle precontraction can reduce cough-related urine loss in selected women with mild SUI, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 1998. App and device prices: Apple App Store and makers' pages, read 2026-11-04 (squeezyapp.com, apps.apple.com Elvie Trainer and Elvie Strong, Athena Kegel Trainer, Go Kegel); physical therapy self-pay cost guides; hingehealth.com/pelvic-health.
Practice and education, not medical advice. This guide doesn't replace a check-up with your doctor or a pelvic floor physical therapist.