# Peptide tracking spreadsheet vs a pill reminder vs Peppy: an honest comparison

> What a spreadsheet, a generic pill reminder and Peppy each handle for peptides and GLP-1s: reconstitution math, rotation, cycles, inventory, half-life, reminders and export.

Source: https://peppytracker.com/guides/peptide-tracking-spreadsheet-vs-app/
Last updated: 2026-08-30

A peptide tracking spreadsheet is fine for a single compound on a fixed schedule. It breaks when you add reconstitution math for a second vial, a 5-on/2-off cycle, shared site rotation, and reminders that know your phone is in your pocket. A generic pill reminder fixes the reminders and nothing else. Peppy does all of it on your iPhone, and the parts most people need every day are free.

## Where the peptide tracking spreadsheet comes from

Almost everyone who tracks peptides starts with a peptide tracking spreadsheet, and for good reason. It is free, it is yours, and for one compound on a daily schedule it works: a column for the date, one for the dose, one for the site, one for notes. The trouble starts on the day you add a second vial with a different concentration, or a cycle, or a weekly GLP-1 next to a daily peptide. Each of those needs a formula or a second tab, and the sheet slowly turns into a small piece of software you maintain by hand.

The other common setup is a generic pill reminder. It solves the one thing a spreadsheet cannot do, which is tap you on the shoulder at 8 am, and it solves nothing else. This page lays out what each tool actually handles so you can decide whether the sheet is enough for you.

## The comparison

"Yes" means the tool does the work. "Manual" means you can store the answer but have to produce it yourself. Free and Pro refer to Peppy's tiers.

| Task | Spreadsheet | Generic pill reminder | Peppy |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reconstitution math (vial mg + water mL + dose -> units) | Manual; a formula you write and re-check per vial | No | Yes, inline in the protocol editor and standalone (free) |
| Warns when a dose will not fit a 1 mL syringe | No | No | Yes (free) |
| Injection site rotation | Manual; a column you fill in and scroll back through | No | Yes: 13-site body map, next-site suggestion shared across protocols (free); custom order and heat-map (Pro) |
| Cycles (5 on / 2 off, 4 weeks on / 2 off) | Manual; you type the off days or they show as gaps | Some support weekday-only schedules; none understand week-based cycles | Yes, presets and custom blocks, off days auto-skip (Pro) |
| Titration / dose step-ups | Manual; edit the dose column on the right date | Usually a new medication entry per dose | Yes, ladder with durations, dose auto-advances (Pro) |
| Inventory (doses left, run-out date) | Manual countdown formula per vial | Some count pills; none count doses from a reconstituted vial | Yes, vials x doses per vial -> "~ 12 doses left - runs out around Oct 3", running-low alert (Pro) |
| Half-life / active-in-your-system curve | Possible with an exponential decay formula and a chart; rarely done | No | Yes, from the catalog half-life for about 60 compounds (Pro) |
| Reminders with one-tap logging | No | Yes, the one thing it does well | Yes: dose, missed nudge, check-in, refill; "Log it" from the notification (Pro) |
| Missed / overdue status | Manual; a blank cell | Yes, for the reminder it sent | Yes, computed from schedule and log, never stored (free) |
| Side effects, feelings and weight tied to dose day | Manual; more columns | No | Yes, daily check-in (free); heat-map and charts (Pro) |
| Compound catalog with form, unit, frequency, half-life | No | Generic drug lists, no peptides | 123 compounds built in (free) |
| Export for a prescriber | Yes, it already is a file | Sometimes | PDF report or CSV (Pro) |
| Privacy | Depends on where the file lives | Depends on the vendor | On your iPhone and your iCloud, no account, no Peppy server (free) |
| Cost | Free | Free to a few dollars a month | Free; Pro is a subscription |

## What the spreadsheet is still good at

Honesty cuts both ways. A spreadsheet is unbeatable for anything Peppy did not anticipate: a column for the batch number on the vial, a note about which pharmacy filled it, a comparison across three friends' logs. It is also the only option if you want the raw data in your own hands from day one, though Peppy's CSV export gets you there too.

If you take one compound, at one dose, on the same days every week, and you never forget, keep the sheet. Most people who search for a peptide tracking spreadsheet are past that point. They are on [BPC-157](https://peppytracker.com/compounds/bpc-157/) daily and [TB-500](https://peppytracker.com/compounds/tb-500/) twice a week, or a weekly [compounded semaglutide](https://peppytracker.com/compounds/semaglutide-compounded/) alongside a [CJC-1295/Ipamorelin](https://peppytracker.com/compounds/cjc-1295-ipamorelin/) blend, and the sheet has three tabs and a formula nobody trusts.

## Where the pill reminder falls down

Generic reminder apps model a tablet: a name, a strength, a time. A reconstituted vial is not a tablet. The dose is in micrograms, the syringe is in units, and the relationship between them depends on the water you added last Tuesday. None of that fits in a "strength" field. Injection sites, cycles and vial counts are not modelled at all, so people end up with the reminder app for the ping and the spreadsheet for everything else, which is two places to keep in sync and one more reason to stop.

## How to do this in Peppy

Moving off a spreadsheet takes about ten minutes. Everything in steps 1 to 4 is free.

1. Open **Protocols**, tap **+**, and search the catalog for your first compound. Peppy fills in the form (vial, pen, capsule), the default unit and the typical frequency. Set your dose and schedule.
2. For a vial, fill in the **Reconstitution** card: vial mg, water mL, dose. Peppy shows "Draw up N units" and keeps showing it on the Today card and the Log shot sheet, so the formula column is gone.
3. Log your next shot from the **Today** tab. Tap the site on the body map, adjust the time if needed, add a note. The site column, the date column and the notes column are gone.
4. Open **Calendar** and use **Add a past dose** to backfill the last week or two from your sheet if you want the history. Missed and overdue are computed from what you enter, so there is nothing to keep in sync.
5. If you run more than one compound, upgrade to **Pro** for unlimited protocols, then add the rest. Turn on **Cycles** or **Titration** in the editor where they apply, set **Inventory** to the number of vials you have, and switch on **Settings ▸ Reminders**. That is the other two tabs of the spreadsheet and the pill reminder, in one place.

Keep the old sheet if you like. Peppy's CSV export (Pro) means you can always get back to one.

## Frequently asked

### Is there a peptide tracking spreadsheet template?

Plenty circulate in forums, and you can build one in an hour: date, compound, dose, units, site, notes. The table on this page lists what a spreadsheet does well and where it needs formulas you will have to maintain yourself, such as units per dose and doses left in a vial.

### Can I just use a pill reminder app for peptides?

For reminders, yes. Most pill reminders will not do reconstitution math, track injection sites, understand on/off cycles, count doses in a vial or draw a half-life curve, and their 'dose' field assumes a tablet. Some people run a pill reminder and a spreadsheet side by side, which is the setup Peppy replaces.

### What does Peppy do that a spreadsheet cannot?

Compute units to draw from vial, water and dose; suggest the next injection site across all your compounds; auto-skip off days in a cycle; count doses left and estimate the run-out date; draw an active-level curve from each compound's half-life; and notify you with a Log it button. The spreadsheet can store the results of all of these; it cannot produce them without you.

### Is a peptide tracking app private?

Peppy is. Your data lives on your iPhone and syncs through your own iCloud; there is no account and no Peppy server. Export is something you do deliberately, and the file goes where you send it. A spreadsheet in a cloud drive is only as private as that drive.

### Is Peppy free?

The core is free: one active protocol, logging with the body map, the calculator, calendar, check-ins, site rotation, Apple Health and iCloud sync. Pro adds reminders, insights charts, unlimited protocols, cycles and titration, inventory, photos, export and widgets.

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Peppy is a tracking tool, not medical advice. Dose calculations are mathematical conversions only. Always follow your prescriber's instructions and verify every draw-up yourself.

Peppy is a free iPhone app (Pro subscription optional). App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/peptide-tracker-peppy/id6775005514