A migraine diary app for bad days
Easing Team
The people who make Easing
Short answer
A good migraine diary app records what your GP will ask about: when each attack started and ended, how bad it was, symptoms and every medicine with the time. Easing, our migraine and headache diary app for iPhone, does that in a few taps while it hurts and turns it into a PDF. Logging, the calendar and the basic PDF are free, with no account. It isn't on the App Store yet, so if you need a diary today, start with paper.
In this post
- What Easing can't do yet
- What a migraine diary app should record
- Logging while it hurts
- Your month, and what you logged around each attack
- A PDF for your GP or headache clinic
- Is it a free migraine diary app?
- Headache diary app or migraine diary app?
- Using a headache diary app with the NHS
- Questions people ask
What Easing can't do yet
Easing is coming soon to the App Store, so you can't download it today. When it launches it's iPhone only and English only, with no Apple Watch app. If you need something now, use the printable headache diary or one of the apps in our migraine tracker app comparison.
What a migraine diary app should record
Start from what clinics ask for. The National Migraine Centre wants every migraine or other headache for a month: the start time, a 0 to 10 pain score, all medication with the times you took it, and when your period is happening. The Migraine Trust adds how long it lasted, other symptoms and a second dose. Here's how that maps to Easing:
| What clinics ask for | In Easing |
|---|---|
| Date, day and start time | Saved when you log. Leave an attack running and end it later, and Easing records how long it lasted. |
| Pain score | A pain level, plus where it hurts on a head map, front or back. |
| Symptoms | Symptoms and aura, from a list. |
| Medication, dose and time | What you took, logged with the attack. Daily medication reminders if you want them. |
| Your period | Read from Apple Health if you allow it. |
| Anything else | Possible triggers as tags, and a note in your own words. |
Logging while it hurts
Tap the + button, set how bad it is, then tap the spot on the head map. Symptoms, triggers and medication are optional, so on a bad day you can stop after one screen and fill in the rest later.
While an attack runs, Easing goes dark and quiet: big buttons for meds, severity and a note, and one tap to end it.
Your month, and what you logged around each attack
The calendar colours each day by how bad it was, so the calm stretches show too. After five episodes, Insights lines your logs up next to pressure changes, sleep, humidity and your cycle, and shows the triggers you tagged most. That's a count of what you logged, not a finding about what causes your migraines.
A PDF for your GP or headache clinic
In Calendar, tap Export to make a PDF of your history: episodes, severity, symptoms and medication use. You decide if and when to share it. Easing also counts the days you take medication and lets you know when they add up, so you can bring it up with your doctor.
Is it a free migraine diary app?
The diary is free, with no account. Free covers:
- Logging, with pain level, head map, symptoms, aura, medication, triggers and notes.
- The calendar, and Insights after five episodes.
- A basic PDF report for your doctor.
- Sync through your own private iCloud.
Easing Pro is optional and adds the detailed doctor report, with attack duration and your most-tagged triggers. Pro prices will show on the App Store at launch.
Headache diary app or migraine diary app?
Same thing. People search for both, and clinics ask for the same details whatever the headache. Easing logs any headache episode the same way, so you can use it as a headache diary app even if you've never had a migraine diagnosis. What kind of headache it is, is for your doctor to say.
Using a headache diary app with the NHS
- The NHS suggests a diary. Its migraine page says it can help to keep a migraine diary. Easing is not an NHS app and isn't endorsed by the NHS.
- Bring the PDF or send it ahead. Ask your surgery or headache clinic how they'd like it. If they gave you their own form, use theirs.
- Your data stays with you. Entries live on your iPhone and in your own iCloud, not on our servers. If you allow it, sleep and cycle data is read from Apple Health and stays on your iPhone.
Questions people ask
Is there a free migraine diary app?
Yes. Several are free to download. Easing's logging, calendar, insights and basic PDF report are free with no account, once it launches on the App Store. Cephalo also keeps an unlimited diary for free.
Is there an NHS headache diary app?
The NHS headache and migraine pages recommend keeping a diary but don't name an app. Easing isn't an NHS app. If your clinic gave you a form, use that.
Does Easing work in the UK?
Yes. Easing is in English and works the same in the UK as anywhere else. The PDF report is made for taking to a GP or headache clinic.
Is Easing available now?
Not yet. Easing is coming soon to the App Store for iPhone.
Can Easing tell me what causes my migraines?
No. Easing is a diary. It shows what you logged next to each episode, but it doesn't diagnose anything. Talk to your doctor about what your diary shows.
Sources: National Migraine Centre: headache diary; The Migraine Trust: keeping a headache diary; NHS: migraine. Easing features from the app itself. Checked 29 October 2026.
