Can AI build a symptom tracker app like Bearable?

Build a personal symptom tracker web app to replace Bearable Premium for my own use.

Tech rules:
- Plain HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript in one file. No framework, build step, account, or server.
- Store all data in localStorage under one key, with a version number.

Data model:
- Factor: id, name, category (symptom, mood, medication, nutrition, other), scaleType (1-5, 1-10, yes/no, duration), unit (optional).
- LogEntry: id, factorId, timestamp, value, notes.
- Correlation view state: factorAId, factorBId, lagDays (0 to 3).

Features:
- Create custom factors with your own name, category, and rating scale.
- Log multiple entries per day per factor, each with its own timestamp.
- A 30-day trend chart per factor.
- A comparison view showing 2 chosen factors on the same timeline.
- A simple same-day and next-day correlation score between any 2 factors, clearly labeled as a basic correlation, not a clinical finding.
- A printable, doctor-readable summary page for a date range: symptom averages, notable spikes, and medication changes in that window.

Edge cases the build must handle correctly:
1. Days with no log entry are shown as gaps, not zeros, so they don't skew averages or correlation scores.
2. Multiple entries for the same symptom on the same day are all kept and shown, not overwritten or averaged silently.
3. Different factors can use different rating scales (1-5, 1-10, yes/no, duration), and the comparison view normalizes each to a 0-100 scale for display without changing the stored raw value.
4. A medication or dose change entered mid-dataset is visible as a marker on trend charts, so a trend shift can be explained.
5. A lag effect option lets you compare yesterday's factor value against today's symptom value, not only same-day values.
6. The correlation score clearly states it's a simple statistical association, not a diagnosis or clinical claim.
7. Exported dates use ISO format (YYYY-MM-DD), not an ambiguous written format, so spreadsheet tools parse them automatically.

Backup:
- One-click "Export JSON" and "Export CSV" of all factors and log entries.
- "Import JSON" restores after confirmation.
- An importer that reads a Bearable CSV export and maps its columns into this app's factor and log model.

Layout:
- Mobile-first, readable at 375px wide, easy one-handed logging for someone who may be unwell.

Exclusions:
- No publishing, App Store submission, accounts, payments, social features, or claims of clinical or diagnostic accuracy.

Write a short README explaining where data is stored, how to export and restore it, and what the correlation score does and does not mean.

Keep it under 700 lines. This is a personal tool, not a product.

What is the short answer?

Yes, but. AI can build a custom symptom and factor log to replace Bearable Premium at $6.99 a month or $34.99 a year in a weekend for the logging and trend-view part.

The “but” is real. The one feature people actually search Bearable for, correlating symptoms against triggers like sleep, food, or stress, is exactly the part locked behind Premium’s Impacts tab and Correlations grid. Bearable’s free tier only gives you a 30-day comparison graph, not real correlation analysis. Building that correlation logic yourself is genuinely hard: accounting for missing days, lag effects, and confounders is real statistics work, not a UI clone. Plan for a bigger build than a simple logging app if correlation is why you’re here.

Option	Best for	Upfront cost	Ongoing cost	Main limitation
Build a rough prototype	Someone who wants unlimited custom factors and a basic trend view	$0 and 3–4 hours	$0	No correlation analysis yet, no doctor report
Build a daily-use personal version	Someone willing to build real correlation logic and a printable summary	$0 and 12–16 hours	$0	Correlation is simpler than Bearable’s, not clinically validated
Keep paying for Bearable Premium	Someone who wants polished correlation analysis without building statistics themselves	$0	$6.99/mo or $34.99/yr (often $18.99/yr on promo)	Paying for the one feature you’d otherwise have to build carefully yourself

The ready-to-paste starter prompt at the end of this page builds the daily-use version.

What should the first version include?

The first version needs enough structure to make a correlation view meaningful later, even before you build it.

• Custom symptoms and factors with your own rating scale per factor
• Multiple entries per day per factor
• A 30-day trend view
• CSV export of raw logs
• A simple same-day and next-day correlation score, clearly labeled as basic
• Deliberate exclusion: no clinical claims, no diagnosis language, no PDF report generation in the first version. Add that once logging is solid.

What can AI build reliably?

ChatGPT and Claude build the logging, custom factors, and basic trend charts reliably. That part is a form, a data model, and a chart library, all well-trodden ground.

Concrete things AI gets right:

• Custom factors with flexible rating scales (1-5, 1-10, yes/no, duration)
• Multiple log entries per day without silent overwrites
• A 30-day trend chart per factor
• CSV export that includes every logged field

Where will AI need human help?

Correlation logic needs your judgment, not just AI’s first draft. Real correlation and lag-effect statistics that account for missing data and confounders are genuinely hard, and AI’s first attempt will likely produce a naive same-day-only comparison that misses lag effects, like yesterday’s poor sleep affecting today’s symptoms. You’ll need to test this against your own logged patterns and sanity-check the output, not trust it blindly.

Normalizing your own custom rating scales is another place to check carefully. If you log one factor on a 1-5 scale and another as yes/no, the app needs a consistent way to compare them, and you should verify the normalized values still make sense to you before trusting any correlation score.

The decision only you can make is whether a doctor-ready report matters enough to build. Bearable itself still doesn’t offer a clean PDF report, so a raw CSV or a simple printable page may be as good as you can reasonably build without significant design effort.

Privacy matters here. This is health data. Keep it local with no account, and think twice before syncing it anywhere.

Can I get my data out of Bearable?

Yes, and it’s straightforward. In-app: Settings > Data + Security > My Data > Export My Data, pick a period (3 months, 6 months, or all time), and Bearable generates a CSV. This is free, no subscription required.

The export trap: the CSV uses a non-standard date format like “22nd Jan 2022” that spreadsheet tools, R, and Python don’t auto-parse, so dates need manual reformatting before analysis [VERIFY: reported by a third-party developer blog, not confirmed in Bearable’s own docs]. There’s also no clean PDF report for doctor visits. PDF export has been requested since 2020 and is still listed as “under consideration” on Bearable’s own public roadmap, so you’d hand a raw CSV to your care team today, same as you would with a self-built export.

The practical path: export your CSV, reformat the dates in a spreadsheet or with a short script, then import into your new app’s factor and log model using the starter prompt’s Bearable importer.

How long will it take and what will it cost?

Rough prototype: 3–4 hours and $0. Custom factors, logging, and a basic 30-day trend chart.

Dependable daily-use version: 12–16 hours, including correlation logic with lag effects, a printable summary, and a Bearable CSV importer. Build it on a free AI plan if you can, since a $20 AI month is close to the cost of a year of discounted Bearable Premium.

This build takes meaningfully longer than most on this site because the correlation logic is real work, not boilerplate. Budget accordingly rather than expecting a quick clone.

These are estimates from reviewing the feature set, not measurements from a completed build.

Which AI tool or approach should I use?

Claude is a good fit for working through the correlation and lag-effect logic step by step in conversation, since that part benefits from explaining your reasoning as you go.

ChatGPT works similarly well on a free or paid plan for the same reason.

Cursor becomes useful once the correlation logic grows complex enough that you want to iterate on code directly rather than regenerating a whole file each time.

Lovable isn’t necessary here. Nothing about this build needs hosting or a database; it’s a single-user analysis tool.

What will I need to maintain?

More than most personal trackers on this site, because correlation logic can drift if your factor list changes.

Recurring work:

• Export a JSON or CSV backup every few months
• Re-check correlation results after adding or removing a factor, since the comparable dataset changes
• Update the printable summary format if your doctor wants different fields shown

Should I build it, buy it, or reduce scope?

Build it if you’re comfortable spending real hours on correlation logic and want full control over your own custom factors and scales.

Buy it if you want polished correlation analysis, a discounted $18.99 a year price, and don’t want to debug your own statistics. That’s a fair trade for genuinely hard analysis work.

Reduce scope if you mainly want a simple daily log without correlation. A basic spreadsheet or the free tier of Bearable itself already covers that.

Recommendation: keep Bearable Premium if correlation analysis is the actual reason you’re tracking symptoms, since that’s real statistical work worth paying for at $18.99 to $34.99 a year. Build your own only if you’re willing to treat this as a real project, not a weekend clone. If you’re also tracking sleep or logging daily notes alongside symptoms, see the sleep tracker build and the journaling build.

What if I wanted to ship this to other people?

Shipping a symptom tracker to other people means clinical-grade correlation statistics validated across many users’ data, accessibility for people managing chronic illness, and real liability around health claims. It’s a much bigger project than a personal log, and Bearable’s own roadmap shows even a company with resources hasn’t finished every feature people want.

Starter build specification

• User: You, for your own use, tracking symptoms and factors you choose.
• Problem: Wanting to correlate symptoms against triggers without paying for Bearable’s Impacts tab and Correlations grid.
• Core workflow: Log symptoms and factors throughout the day, review a 30-day trend, check a basic correlation score, print a summary before a doctor visit.
• Required features: Custom factors with flexible scales, multiple daily entries, trend view, basic correlation with lag effects, CSV export, printable summary.
• Deliberate exclusions: No clinical or diagnostic claims, no accounts, no social features, no polished PDF report in the first version.
• Data ownership: Stored in localStorage. Exported as JSON and CSV. Imported from JSON or a mapped Bearable CSV.
• Definition of done: A missing-log day doesn’t skew the correlation score, two different rating scales compare correctly on one chart, and exported dates parse automatically in a spreadsheet.

For scoping help, read can AI build an app for me.

Sources and verification

• Our Pricing and Principles (Bearable): $6.99/mo and $34.99/yr Premium pricing, with the discounted $18.99/yr promo.
• Why Subscribe to Bearable Premium (Bearable): Impacts tab and Correlations grid as Premium-only features.
• How to Share Data With a Doctor, Therapist, or Other Medical Team Member (Bearable): the free-tier CSV export flow.
• Bearable PDF Export Roadmap Item (changemap.co): PDF export still “under consideration” since 2020.
• Analyzing Bearable Data Export With R, Part 1: third-party account of the non-standard CSV date format.

This app was not built and tested for this page. The verdict is based on Bearable’s own pricing and support pages, its public roadmap, and a third-party developer’s account of the export format. Bearable’s price was checked on September 24, 2026.

Reviewed on September 24, 2026.