Natural Cycles: Birth Control Reviews

by TristaJay

I became pregnant on a form of birth control called an IUD. I had had it for 5 years. This pregnancy ended in a miscarriage and it was incredibly rough physically and emotionally. My doctor and I were unsure of what to do when it came to birth control because she didn’t trust another IUD, and there were no other non-hormone options I preferred. I researched and came across Natural Cycles, I paid and received a thermometer. Firstly, the thermometer was a disappointment as it was the exact same one I had purchased that was store brand from a local chain. I got over it and started the process of checking my temp and recording every morning. Things because tricky as my body began to do funky things it hadn’t done before my miscarriage. I missed a period, or I was late. Six months later I ended up pregnant again, while I shouldn’t have been able to. It was a mix of my body being all over the place, and your app not knowing the situation. Now I am 20 weeks pregnant, and I had switched NaturalCycles over to track pregnancy from it preventing pregnancy. How awful. I lost out on so much money for something that didn’t work for me, then I thought it should be the best pregnancy tracker and have all sorts of info because of the science aspect. Nope, none of it. I am so disappointed that I have this useless app that I paid so much for. Some of it has to do with my unfortunate situation, but not all of it.

by Customer939

NaturalCycles works just ok if you keep up with it. Took months for mine to be kind of right. Never really was spot on. Wouldn’t recommend to prevent pregnancy unless you are super always 100% regular.
WARNING/BEWARE: if you get busy like most moms do and stop using NaturalCycles beware! NaturalCycles DOES NOT show up in your active subscriptions in NaturalCycles Store. So if you use that to monitor all of your charges it will not work in this case. I stopped using NaturalCycles due to being busy and having a toddler who prevented me from keeping on the schedule. I check my active app subscriptions regularly to avoid being charged for what I don't want. NaturalCycles does not show up. I forgot I was subscribed then I wake up to an email from them and a credit card charge saying I have been charged. Their policy also prevents you from getting any refunds. I emailed them as soon as I saw the email (within half an hour of receiving) and while my card charge was still pending. They refused my refund even though it was not showing as an active subscription. I didn’t even get a courtesy email that my app would be renewing soon. They just want to screw you out of money. No support for their customer base at all. They are just in it for the money.

by MynameisLT

Not pregnant yet so NaturalCycles does what I need it to, and I think it’s really cool to track what’s happening in my body.

However when I first started NaturalCycles it was so easy to use. I especially enjoyed and appreciated how well it worked in the morning when I would take my temperature while still laying down and try to go back to sleep to get some extra hours of rest. I would quickly and easily tap all the buttons, put my temp in, and it submits right away. It was so easy to steal an extra little bit of sleep. There was an update a little while back and now the buttons barely ever work the first time you press them. Sometimes I have to press “submit” 10-12 times before my temperature goes through. It’s a small issue but it’s extremely agitating especially after I’ve seen how well NaturalCycles can run. I have made sure everything is up to date before writing this review.

I’d be happy to change my review if this bug can be fixed. I truly appreciate the service it provides, I just feel like staring at the blue screen an extra 1-2 minutes in the morning prevents me from the quality of sleep I get when I snooze.

by Nyahplay

I’m allergic to the ingredients in most forms of birth control, so I’ve been using apps for years to track my cycle. When I switched to Natural Cycles my boyfriend complained that I should just stay with a free service and not pay to add my temperature, especially since I’ve never had more than 5 day’s variation in my cycle in 16 years. This month I got sick just before ovulation and my temperature showed that ovulation was delayed by a week. I was skeptical at first since it also said my period would be delayed by a week, way more than it ever has been in the past, but I took precautions and my period started right when the algorithm said it would. With my previous service I would have almost certainly gotten pregnant this month.

The algorithm is amazing, but support for importing previously collected data is a big need, as I had 16 years of info that I couldn’t transfer, even when I tried to do so manually. You can scroll into the past, select a date, and add data, but when you finish entering that data you’re taken right back to today again and have to scroll all the way back. This is very unhelpful when you’re entering 5 period days in a row to the cycle three months ago.

by Wondering_about_rain

I have been using NaturalCycles so far for close to a couple of weeks after doing extensive research on using it as a birth control method and going over the different studies around it and I am so excited to finally be learning about and taking charge of my reproductive health! Its so helpful and I feel more and more confident as the days go by. However! As i have been reading and learning more about the FAM method I have been made aware of a couple short comings that I would hope to see addressed. One is that NaturalCycles does not take your cervical fluid into account or even track it. I understand not focusing on including it into the algorithm but I feel that NaturalCycles at least showing it in comparison on the graph to your temperature throughout the month could provide a lot of insight as your cervical fluid provides real time insight on your fertility and is not based on past predictions. There also is not an option to put in the position of your cervix which is another pillar of indication of your fertility that if shown beside the basal temperature could help women know again personally in real time their bodies signs of fertility. Not that NaturalCycles has to take it into account for its predictive method I know its accuracy is very good as is. Just saying to have both those other factors more visually mapped out would be a step up in this apps utility.

by Janae.Nae.Nae

I’ve tracked my basal body temp as a birth control method for over a decade, and Natural Cycles is by far the best tracking app I’ve used. It’s insightful as well as educational about sexual and reproductive health. I’ve been using it for about 2 years now and I love being so in-tune with what my body is doing.

It is, however, not very parent friendly. It’s very much intended for women who don’t have children that wake them up at night. I have 3 kids and it’s impossible for me to measure my temp at exactly the same time every morning. I know that sometimes I’ll have higher temperature variation because of that, and that can make the algorithms confused and unable to accurately predict my cycle. NaturalCycles is constantly reminding me to do better at taking my temp and suggesting that I take the temperature training quiz. Trust me, I know how all of this works by now. It would be more helpful if NaturalCycles would ask about the obstacles I deal with in getting accurate temps every day, and then maybe just recognize that I’m doing my best instead of having such judgmental or condescending suggestions for improvement all the time. I wish there was a way to track when and why my sleep was disrupted.

by Bwylie124

I do absolutely love natural cycles. I have been using NaturalCycles about a year and plan on continuing usage. I’m so thankful that I have this as an option, it’s taught me so much about my body and allowed me to feel and have complete control of what goes on with it. There’s so much about my cycle that I was clueless about previously. It’s given me knowledge I feel every woman should have. I have and will continue to speak highly of this form of birth control.

I do have two suggestions though, it would be great if NaturalCycles was able to use cellar data as a way to save information without having to be connected to the internet. Two it would be wonderful if the thermometer had a light built into to it. As I live in a dark house and when I wake around 6 in the morning i can’t see what the temperature says without having to use my phone as a light, to not wake my partner. I understand that the thermometer has a save setting where you can look back on what your temperature was, but the number usually only flashes for a second and clears after so I never know if it’s accurate.

Other than that, I’m stoked!

by A Frbrg

I have been using Natural Cycles for a little over 6 months now and I love it! I have never been on any birth control and didn’t want to start any when I got married, but my husband I were getting tired of having to use condoms every time so when I saw NaturalCycles I figured it couldn’t hurt to try it out. I keep the thermometer on top of my phone at night so when my alarm goes off I take my temperature right away and log it. Some cycles I do get a lot of red (use protection) days if NaturalCycles has trouble detecting ovulation, but it’s still way better than having to take birth control or use condoms every time. I also like that I am aware of my body and cycle more now. I would highly recommend NaturalCycles to anyone that is married or in a committed relationship where if you would get pregnant it wouldn’t ruin your life plans. I feel that it is very reliable if you use it properly, but there is room for error so if getting pregnant would devastate you, this probably isn’t for you. But for us, we aren’t currently trying to have a baby but probably will in the next year or two so I feel comfortable using this and realizing that there is a chance i could still get pregnant. Plus when we do decide to have a baby, knowing my cycle will hopefully make it easier.

by Marcyxoxo

I love learning about my body and knowing when I’m ovulating not JUST so I can avoid or have protected sex but also because after years on birth control, I got off it at 25 and my natural periods disappeared and I thought my days of ovulating normally were done. The doctor said my ovaries were sluggish. I had no concept of what my real natural body was supposed to be like, it made me depressed. 3 years later I got my periods back (3 years people)! And then I fell in love. But I knew I couldn’t return to birth control and how badly it had messed up my body, plus I had just gotten back to being my normal period self again. Natural cycles has been the perfect solution for me and it fits perfectly with my lifestyle, and when it sent me the message that my cycle was within the realm of average I wanted to cry tears of happiness. My only wish is for the thermometer to be an IoT device, a smart thermometer which sends the info directly to your phone. Maybe it’ll even have a soft alarm to remind you to take your temp one day. Just imagine! Either way I love NaturalCycles and am so glad I have it. Thank you 💜

by SatisfiedandSmiling

When I got engaged, I went to my gyno to get on hormonal birth control so that my husband and I could family plan together at a later date. Unfortunately, after switching pills three times and changing to the NuvaRing, my body and emotions were completely out-of-wack and I had every single negative side effect for every hormonal birth control I tried. It was awful. After nine months of this, my sweet husband told me that I should get off hormonal birth control and we’d use condoms, instead. I waited a few months for my cycle to regulate, then my doctor said we could try NFP (Natural Family Planning). That’s when a friend told me about NaturalCycles! Best decision we ever made regarding birth control. We are empowered to know my body well and make the choices that are best for us on a daily basis. When we decide to try for a baby, NaturalCycles also has a setting to help users plan pregnancy and track pregnancy. This is a great purchase. It comes with a very accurate basil thermometer, and you get messages on NaturalCycles to further your knowledge about the subject. I HIGHLY recommend this. ❤️

by MountainValor

Prior to getting married I tried going on oral contraceptives which made me feel absolutely miserable! I had already felt a little hesitant with adding hormones to my body. After further research regarding oral contraceptives, I came to the conclusion it wasn’t for me. I heard from a friend about Natural Cycles & the way it transformed her natural family planning! She has had great success in it. I got married in September 18’ & have been using NaturalCycles for 10 months. I LOVE it. It’s been super user friendly - the hardest adjustment initially was getting used to taking my temperature regularly. However, the notifications did help with that. It’s actually been super fun to feel more aquatinted with my body’s rhythms. My husband also feels like he can study me & know my body better as well which has been great. When I’m approaching my period, he’s prepared for my freak-out PMS. Our goal being newly weds has primarily been to prevent pregnancy. Having not used any other form of protection (except for pull-out on red days) the last 10 months, I can say confidently NaturalCycles has worked successfully for us!!!

by Moashwat

I am definitely not against hormonal birth control methods; however, I unfortunately had a horrible health scare because of a reaction to hormonal birth control. As a newlywed & only 23 years old, I felt like my only birth control options were to use birth control methods that I wasn’t personally comfortable with or continue to risk my health... and no woman should EVER feel that way.

Thankfully, at my lowest point, a sweet friend introduced me to Natural Cycles. My husband & I researched it thoroughly & we were shocked to learn that the clinical trials suggest that Natural Cycles is MORE effective than the pill! So we decided to give it a try - best. decision. ever.

First & foremost, my health problems that resulted from hormonal birth control have disappeared because now every step that I take towards contraception is 100% natural. It took a couple of months for me to get used to it & for Natural Cycles to hone in on my unique cycle, but now it’s just the simplest routine. I’ve learned so much about my body! I feel so empowered knowing that I’m in control AND getting healthier by the day!

by KD ATX

I started taking hormonal birth control (the pill) at the age of 17 for 2 years. At 19 I got pregnant with my daughter. I got back on the pill up until 3 years ago (I’m 31) when & started to notice that I could no longer take the pill without wanting to throw up every time. My body was rejecting the thought of having to swallow chemical hormones. At that time, I also met my husband, who supported my decision of going off the pill and other types hormonal birth control (my doctor kept trying to push IUD). It took my body almost a year to regulate itself; I went through horrible night sweats, mood swings, acne flare ups, the works. After some research I ran into “Natural Cycles” and decided to give it a go. I haven’t looked back since! Natural Cycles can be used to either prevent or plan a pregnancy. It’s awesome and empowering because YOU are in control. It takes a little bit to get used to measuring your temperature every morning, but once you have it down, it becomes part of our daily routine. I love getting to know my cycle and look at all the data NaturalCycles has collected on my cycle! It’s really neat!

by AshleyDeeley

I’m 32 and was on and off birth control for 15 years. I’ve had fibroadenomas (lumps) removed from my breasts. I suffered from sore breasts a week before my period. It took me a while to get aroused... But being OFF birth control has made all those symptoms disappear. Synthetic hormones are a huge (and dangerous) chemical disruption to your entire system.
I love Natural Cycles. I love knowing my body better. I love NOT having sore breasts before my period. I think if we could educated women about how our bodies work (with the help from Natural Cycles), then more women would ditch their birth control and actually be able to know when their ovulating.
I actually didn’t know anything about ovulation until I started using NaturalCycles. I’ve also been using the PH strips and I feel extremely satisfied with NaturalCycles. I’ve had sex, with protection, and knew if I was ovulating or not. That’s a strong sense of awareness.
Rather than ‘popping a pill,’ get to your know your body and let your hormones do what they were meant to do! I just love Natural Cycles and have referred it to many of my friends. The world needs more people like the ones who invented Natural Cycles!

by Existential_millenial_hanna

I love NaturalCycles. I value living as much as a natural life, free from medications and hormones as possible. Like many women, I am concerned about the short and long term effects that birth control would have on my body, and possibly my future children’s development. So, NaturalCycles has given me peace of mind about me and my partner’s sex life, and also the freedom to say “no” to hormonal birth control. I love all the educational material that NaturalCycles provides for women to understand our bodies’ natural processes, rather than relying on a Doctor to use meds or hormones to interrupt our natural rhythms.

I’ve used it for preventing pregnancy for over a year, and it works well. NaturalCycles has helped me get to know my body more, and I can honestly say this has helped our relationship too. Admittedly, It has been a struggle to stay in the habit of measuring my temp every morning with lots of changes happening in my life. I am trying to get back on track now, but it still predicts my period and ovulation very accurately & is usually only off by a day or two. I highly recommend.

Also, I showed my PCP doctor NaturalCycles, and she loved it, and said she’d recommend to other female patients!

by Hannah1596

Update- they finally fixed the issue. If they had been more prompt about it I would give 5 stars.

My app doesn't work. I paid the subscription renewal fee for a year, and I haven't been able to use it for over a week. I spoke to customer service about this issue, and after several days they let me know it was a glitch in the most recent update, multiple people were having this problem, and the devs would be fixing it. It has been several more days now, no word about an update or fix to this. They just told me to use protection since I can’t access my birth control app. If you market this as birth control, you can’t just say “sorry its not working” for over a week. The only issue is they can’t find my payment in their system, even after I sent them an app store receipt. Why not manually unlock my account for a few weeks while they fix an issue they caused? No, instead they just told me sorry, no birth control for you until we get around to fixing this. Unbelievable! Before this experience I really enjoyed Natural Cycles but paying for this and it not working for weeks is not acceptable.

by Strawberica

I was incredibly skeptical of how something like this could work in place of birth control. I was on the pill for 14 years and finally got to a point where I didn’t want to be putting that into my body anymore. After much research, I felt natural cycles was my best choice in effectively tracking my menstrual cycle. I’ve been using NaturalCycles since August 2019, and I am amazed at how much more in tune I am with my body and that yes, it is completely effective if you measure correctly and take lh tests when NaturalCycles suggests you to (lh tests aren’t required though for NaturalCycles to work). I can say with certainty that I will never go back to the pill because I find no reason to after using NaturalCycles. I decided to go with the 1 year subscription because it made it cheaper per month. If you use NaturalCycles efficiently, you can ‘level up’ and get your subscription free for life, well before your first year is up. If you are as hesitant as I was to get off the pill, just try it. NaturalCycles is very cautious in the beginning while the algorithm learns about you, and I think you’d be surprised about how simple it can be to use tracking as an effective form of contraception.

by Mandabem2

I depended on oral contraceptives from age 14-32. First it was to treat painful periods, then acne, then stabilize depressive mood swings, and finally to prevent pregnancy. It seemed like the magic answer!
In my 20’s my abnormal cervix cell issues began. My doctor insisted there was no causation only correlation with oral contraceptives and cervix cancer, but after my 2nd health scare in March of 2018 I dropped the pill and dramatically claimed I’d rather be pregnant than dead. By August, just 5 months of no pill and using NaturalCycles instead, my cervix cells were back to normal and healthy again!
I love NaturalCycles and wish it was provided to me as a contraceptive option earlier in my life. The only tip/trick is taking your temp IMMEDIATELY when you wake: before you pee, or cuddle, or pet the cat, or even toss and turn. Even with my deviating temperatures I have become more in tune with my body and I have successfully identified my ovulation days. I feel more in control of my body. I’ve escaped a flawed women’s health system and opted out of the mass pharmaceutical world. There are no side effects. There is no anxiety over remembering a pill. There’s just basic science and common sense and it’s great for my partner and I!

by LaineyBug10

I am 24 and have been on and off birth control since I was 18. I’ve never really liked the idea of being on long term (or short term honestly) hormonal birth controls. I tried a copper iud but my uterus rejected it 🙄 I was so close to getting an implant because I was getting pretty bad at taking my pill but then I heard about NaturalCycles. I talked with my partner about how he felt about doing this and he said “if I was a girl I would use this! It sounds a lot safer than using pills or something permanent.” And that was all I needed to get off the pill. We’ve been using NaturalCycles for 4 months now and I work night shift so as long as I sleep for 4 hours I can take an accurate temperature. He can also download NaturalCycles so he can see my green and red days to see when we need to be more careful. I feel great using this too because when we start trying to get pregnant (3 years away but still) I won’t have to detox my body from the pill or go to the doctor to get anything removed or anything. It does take discipline to take your temp every morning but it’s worth it and easy if you have a routine. I use a sleep app called sleep cycle to make sure I’ve gotten enough hours to take a temp so that’s part of my routine ☺️

by Choochoo911

I started using natural cycles in August of 2021 I had been searching for the right birth control for me and I just couldn’t bring myself to take a pill, insert anything or get shots. All the different options and side effects stressed me out. Thankfully I found natural cycles! I’ll be honest the first few weeks took a little bit of getting used to and remembering to take my temperature in the morning but after while I did much better! I got married in October and we have been using this ever since we are coming up and six months of using this method of birth control and it has been amazing! I highly recommend this! I also like the feature of having your partner synced up with you so they can see if it’s a red or green day without having to wonder. The only thing that I wish was different was the thermometer, I wish that right after you take your temperature it would sink to NaturalCycles but you have to manually put it in NaturalCycles and if you’re not focused on your thermometer you might miss it, especially if you are taking your temperature and then going back to bed. If you try to turn the thermometer back on to see the reading, it is there for a second and then it goes away. But other than thermometer I love this method of birth control!

by Chloe And The Gang

I’ve been on natural cycles for about 4 months now and I really like it! I will say one that is tricky as a parent of 2 young kids, is that I have to get up during the night. And often get woken our early in the morning- making it hard to get accurate readings of my basal temperature. NaturalCycles is not really for parents of young kids, I feel. “Take your temp right before getting out of bed in the morning”- well, I’ve been up 3 times during the night, and am getting up at 5.30am to attend to a toddler- hard to know when to read your temperature......Another thing i miss with this system is a thermometer that has a light-up screen for reading your temp! Since your supposed to take your temp first thing before you get out of bed, it would be nice if I could read the temp without turning on the light and wake up my husband at 5.30 am....! Despite this I do love the idea of NaturalCycles! I can’t do the pill anymore as the Hormones give me really bad mood swings. Condoms are no fun as a long term solution for a married couple....As my kids are sleeping through the night more,
I’m getting better at taking my temp, I feel it’s working really well!

by Murphetti

Okay that may be a bit dramatic...but seriously it is how I feel about NaturalCycles. I've only recently become sexually active and my friends were like you better go on the pill. And I've honestly always been pressure and questioned for not going on the pill. Yes my period is not my favorite thing but I feel like it's my body doing it's thing. And I really only have one maybe two days of discomfort so messing with my body natural chemicals just weirded me out. Not knocking anyone who uses birth control the female body has such a variety that I think it's important to do what's best for you. And there is an option if you are on birth control for NaturalCycles. It really is for any woman!

So I love NaturalCycles. The notifications are so helpful and after my free month trial I will be signing up for the year. I like that I will be able to track and get to know my body even more because the bleeding part of our period is only the beginning of our cycle and there is so much more to learn and discover from our bodies.

Keep up the good work Natural Cycle!