Comparison

DadKit vs
What to Expect

What to Expect is the dominant pregnancy brand. It has the book, the website, the name recognition, and an enormous content library. It's also built for the pregnant person — tracking her symptoms, her moods, her experience. DadKit is built for the person standing next to her, trying to understand what's actually happening and what to do about it.

The short version

Choose DadKit if:

  • ✓You want an app built from your perspective — what the dad needs to know, not what she's feeling.
  • ✓You're bothered by ads in pregnancy apps and don't want your health data used for targeting.
  • ✓You need clinical tools: food safety lookup, kick counter trends, appointment prep.
  • ✓You want first-year coverage that keeps going after the delivery room.
  • ✓You're on iOS and want something focused rather than sprawling.

Choose What to Expect if:

  • →You or your partner want a massive community — birth clubs, forums, and millions of other parents at the same stage.
  • →You want the broadest possible editorial library — nursery planning, recipes, lifestyle content beyond pregnancy tools.
  • →You need Android support.
Feature comparison
FeatureDadKitWhat to Expect
Free to use✓✓
No ads✓—
No data selling✓—
Built specifically for dads✓—
Safety lookup (food, meds, activities)✓—
Contraction timer✓✓
Kick counter✓✓
Prenatal appointment prep + notes✓—
Weekly pregnancy updates✓✓
Birth plan✓✓
First-year newborn tools✓—
Dad-specific framing and language✓—
Large editorial library (articles, recipes, lifestyle)—✓
Community forums / birth clubs—✓
Available on Android—✓
Recipes, nursery content, lifestyle articles—✓

What to Expect features sourced from whattoexpect.com and App Store listing. DadKit+ features require a subscription after a 30-day free trial.

A closer look

The perspective problem

What to Expect tracks the pregnancy from the pregnant person's perspective. That's appropriate — it's an enormous resource for the person going through it. But when you open it as the partner, you're reading about her symptoms, her changes, her experience. DadKit flips the frame: what's happening to the baby right now, what she's going through, and what your job actually is this week. Same pregnancy, different vantage point.

Privacy and ads

What to Expect is a free, ad-supported media property. Pregnancy health data is some of the most valuable data that exists for advertisers. DadKit doesn't show ads and explicitly doesn't sell your data — that's in the privacy policy, not just marketing copy. If you're tracking symptoms, kick counts, and appointment notes, it matters where that information goes.

Content vs. tools

What to Expect is primarily a content platform — articles, expert Q&As, community forums, shopping guides. DadKit is primarily a tool platform — lookup, timer, tracker, prep sheet. There's value in both. If you want to read about what's happening, What to Expect is excellent. If you want to do something useful in the thirty seconds you have while she's having a contraction, DadKit is what you want open.

Built for you, not her.

The core tools are free. DadKit+ is $4.99/mo with a 30-day free trial. No credit card to start. No ads ever.

Download on the App Store

No ads, no data selling.