Signos vs. January — what, exactly, is the difference? This is a question we get asked often, and the reality is, our new January app is very different from that of Signos’. Here’s an overview explaining how the two products differ.

Overview

Fundamentally, the two programs differ a lot. January is a free app designed to democratize access to glucose insights. Its program is researched-backed and uses AI to eliminate the need to ever wear a glucose sensor, such as a CGM. 

With Signos, you get a lot of useful data, but it’s an expensive, time-consuming program. A user needs a prescription to get their CGM, which then needs to be attached to their arm at all times for the program to work as intended. While there is some light AI available on Signos, the platform can’t predict your glucose like January can. 

January vs. Signos: The details

Price

Let’s start with the price. Signos costs $499 per month for a 1-month plan. If you commit to 6-months upfront, that monthly price drops to $143. This includes the cost of a CGM, which needs replacing every 14 days.

January, however, bypasses the need for a CGM thanks to its AI technology, enabling what we call our Predictive Glucose Monitor (or PGM) — more on that later. Because you don’t need an expensive CGM with January, it means we can offer the app for free. Our aim is to empower people with blood sugar insights, so they can better learn what foods to eat and what to avoid. After all, 1-in-3 Americans have prediabetes, and a staggering 90% don’t even know they have it. Making this technology available to everyone, regardless of income level, is critical to our mission of improving the world’s healthspan.

Sensors

As mentioned, Signos requires you to wear a CGM at all times to get data. With January, you never have to wear a CGM. Simply download the free app, enter some basic demographic information, and our AI will do the rest.

Prescription

Currently, CGMs require a prescription. When you purchase a SIgnos plan, you’ll need to go through a telehealth evaluation to ensure you qualify. With January not requiring a CGM, you don’t need a prescription (or any hardware at all) to use the app.

AI insights

January is an AI company — it’s in our name (January AI), after all. We have a team of some of the world's leading AI experts developing our technology, and we’ve launched numerous world-first innovations — including, most recently, our Predictive Glucose Monitor. 

With January, you can look up any food to see the predicted glucose impact, and compare that against other healthy alternatives. You can even “hack” your food by adjusting the ingredients in your meal to see if that improves the impact on your blood sugar. This is where our AI stands apart. You don’t need to adopt a trial-and-error approach of eating a food and checking to see what it did to your blood sugar. You’ll know what it’ll do before ever taking a bite, so you can make the best decision possible for your health goals. 

It’s worth noting that Signos has some light AI insights, such as a notification that fires if it sees a spike in your glucose and you haven’t yet logged a food, and hints to walk for a certain amount of minutes after eating to flatten the curve. For Signos, AI appears to be used to provide useful insight, but doesn’t define its program. For January, it enables predictive glucose monitoring without needing to wear a glucose sensor, as well as useful insights to help guide you. AI is core to the January program, versus a feature that enables new insights.

Research

What separates January from not only Signos but frankly any competitor is our published research. We have developed numerous whitepapers proving the efficacy of our AI technology and the impact it has delivered in real-world studies in humans. Moreover, our research has been independently vetted and published by third parties, such as Nature’s NPJ Digital Medicine. Our AI technology has also been evaluated by nutritional powerhouses like Nestle, highlighting real-world applications of the technology. 

Signos, by comparison, does not appear to have any independent studies of its program, according to its website. 

Conclusion

With the main difference being that January is a free-to-use app that requires no sensor or hardware, it’s clear that there’s a vast difference between the two programs. There’s no doubt Signos has some great features and is a quality product, but it’s extremely expensive to use and requires you to wear a glucose monitor in your arm at all times. At January, we also offer a paid CGM program if a user wants to go that deep (see january.ai/pro) but our core product is designed to provide all the insight you need for free, with no prescription or sensor required. 

If you’d like to try January for free yourself, you can download it here.