When the free version only reminds you about two medications
You take five things a day. The app reminds you about two of them and asks for a subscription for the rest. That is not a bug or a mistake about what you need — the cap is chosen precisely because people on three or more medications are the ones who cannot do without it. Here is what to do instead.
Why the limit is set at two
Someone on one or two medicines will usually cope with a phone alarm. Someone on five will not: the times overlap, some are daily and some are weekly, and remembering which of them you have already taken by Thursday afternoon is the actual problem. A free tier capped at two therefore keeps the casual user happy and asks everyone else to pay. It is a reasonable business decision that lands hardest on the people with the most to lose from a missed dose — which is exactly what the reviewers who describe being "charged for notifications above 2 meds" were angry about.
What a full tray actually needs
Several times a day, not one. Morning, midday, evening and bedtime are four separate reminders, and two of your medicines may share one of them. Days that are not every day. Weekly tablets, alternate days, "three times a week" — a reminder that can only do daily quietly makes you responsible for the rest. An answer, not just a ping. The useful question at four in the afternoon is not "should I take something?" but "did I take the noon one?". That needs a record, kept as you go, in one tap. Somewhere for a second person. If someone checks in on you, they need to see the same list.
Getting all of them reminded, for nothing
Pillbell's list holds ten medications per person, and reminds you about every one of them at no charge. Ten is a deliberate number: it covers a genuinely full tray, and it is a limit that can be honoured for free forever rather than an unlimited promise that becomes a subscription in a year. Each medicine gets its own times of day and its own days of the week, so a weekly tablet sits beside a three-times-a-day one without any fuss. Every dose can be marked taken or skipped as you go, and the last seven days are on one screen. If you look after someone else, they get their own list of ten. There is no per-person charge and no "family plan".
Frequently asked questions
What if I take more than ten medications?
Ten is the list per profile, and profiles are free and unlimited, so a second list is always available. If you genuinely take more than ten and want them in one view, write to us — the number is a promise about cost, not a technical limit, and we would rather hear the real case.
Can it handle a medicine I only take once a week?
Yes. Each medication has its own days of the week and its own times, so a Saturday-only tablet is set up exactly like a daily one and only appears on Saturdays.
Can two medicines share the same time?
Yes, and they show as separate lines at that time so you can answer them one by one. The daily view groups everything due at, say, 08:00 together.
More guides
Other things we made
Also in English, made by the same people.
Also in English, made by the same people.
Also in English, made by the same people.
Also in English, made by the same people.