If you’re in the market for a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, you may be unsure of how to go about getting your hands on one. There are a variety of different programs out there, and each has its own features and uses.
As a first time buyer, it may be challenging and overwhelming to figure out what type of glucose monitoring program is right for you and your wellbeing. But, if you’re ready to explore your blood glucose levels and excited to learn how to build healthier lifestyle habits, you’ve come to the right place.
In this article, we’ll break down the benefits and drawbacks to some of the top CGM programs on the market, and share tips to help you determine which program is the right option for you.
What is a CGM and Who Can Use it?
A continuous glucose monitor is a device that measures your glucose levels in real time as you eat, sleep, and go about your day. This sensor is placed on the back of your arm, and measures interstitial glucose through a small fiber that is painlessly inserted under your skin.
With a CGM, you’re able to see how your blood glucose spikes and dips throughout the day, which makes it unique compared to other methods of measuring glucose levels such as a finger prick. The insights provided by a CGM can be used to support behavioral changes for any type of wellness goal.
Like many inventions, the use of CGMs has evolved over the years. Nowadays, anyone who wants to observe their glucose levels in response to different foods, activity, and even stress can do so through a CGM provider such as Nutrisense, Levels, Signos, January, or Veri.
When getting started, having expert guidance from a credentialed dietitian or nutritionist can help you navigate your data and identify trends so that you can make the most of your program, especially if you opt for a shorter plan. Whether you're looking for the best CGM for weight loss, improving fitness, or any other goal, continuous glucose monitors can provide useful insights to support long-term change.
If you’re looking to build sustainable habits down the road, you may want to choose a longer term plan. A six or 12 month program can help you understand your glucose, identify trends, and form lasting habits over time.
Many of the CGM programs we’ll detail below offer discounted rates for longer commitments. So, take your time to mull it over and decide what your health goals are and what you’re looking to get out of a CGM program.
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A Quick Look at the Best CGM Programs
A variety of different CGM programs have emerged to help provide more insight into your metabolic health to help anyone take a more proactive role in keeping an eye on their blood glucose levels.
- Best for Expert Nutritionist Insights and Guidance: Nutrisense
- Best for Weight Loss Insights: Signos
- Best for Food Tracking: Levels
- Best for Simple Glucose Insights: Veri
- Best for AI Glucose Tracking: January
- Best for Athletes: Supersapiens
- Best for Predictive Insights: ZOE
Best CGM Programs Ranked By Features
To figure out which CGM program is the right choice for you, we’ll break down each program by features to help you get the most bang for your buck. Here’s what you need to know about each of the five best CGM programs on the market in 2024.
1) Nutrisense
Nutrisense's mission is to help give people the tools and support they need to maintain healthy lifestyle habits through various products and services. They stand out for the personalization they offer through all their products, with a team of registered dietitians and nutritionists who are all glucose experts working 1:1 with members via support options like insurance-covered video calls.
Their CGM Programs stand apart from the rest on this list because they not only provide those who need them with access to continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), but they also have a great companion app to help you monitor and track not just your glucose levels at a given time, but trends, patterns, and insights over time. This helps members gain valuable insights into their metabolic health and supports a range of unique wellness goals.
In addition to providing access to prescription CGMs such as the Freestyle and Dexcom sensors, you can also connect your own compatible CGM devices to the Nutrisense app with Nutrisense. As a Nutrisense member, you also have the option to work with a glucose expert through options like 1:1 insurance-covered video calls, helping you make the most of your glucose monitoring experience.
Benefits of Nutrisense
One of Nutrisense's standout features is the personalized support from an experienced and credentialed team of glucose-certified nutritionists and dietitians. Members can pick from support options to work with a personal expert to interpret their glucose data, understand their body's unique responses, and build healthier habits. This personalized guidance is invaluable for optimizing their diet, exercise, and overall lifestyle, particularly if they've hit a plateau or struggle with consistency.
Each registered dietitian and nutritionist at Nutrisense has a range of specialties, from weight loss and prediabetes to prediabetes, sports nutrition, and much more. This approach, tailored to various unique wellness goals, ensured a customized experience for all types of users.
Other benefits include:
- Flexible program and sensor options: Choose from one-month, three-month, six-month, or one-year plans. You can pick from available sensors or even bring your own sensor.
- Comprehensive mobile app: The Nutrisense app not only tracks CGM data but also allows you to log diet, exercise, and sleep, offering a holistic view of your health.
- Community support: You'll have access to a private Facebook group with like-minded individuals, webinars, and events for added support and learning.
- Wearables and integration capabilities: You can sync data with other wearables and third-party services like Oura Ring, Garmin, Apple Health, and others.
Why Connect Your Own Sensor to Nutrisense?
If you already have a CGM, either through your doctor or with an over-the-counter device, Nutrisense provides the flexibility to connect your own sensor to the Nutrisense app. This allows you to use your preferred CGM while still benefiting from Nutrisense's detailed data analysis and nutritionist support. By doing so, they can gain a deeper understanding of their glucose data and make informed decisions about their health.
Cons of Nutrisense
Currently, Nutrisense services are only available in the United States.
Pricing
Nutrisense offers various plans of varying lengths. You can find more information about the cost of Nutrisense here.
2) Signos
Signos is a wellness company that provides access to continuous glucose monitors and specifically focuses on individuals who want to lose weight. With a mission of tackling the obesity epidemic, Signos uses AI technology to provide dietary and exercise recommendations to its users through their mobile app.
Benefits of Signos
One of the benefits of using Signos is its notification feature, which helps users to catch important information on blood glucose. For example, when your blood glucose spikes, the Signos app will alert you with a text bubble and prompt you to click through and find ways to reduce blood glucose levels.
Its user-friendly interface helps beginners have an easier time digesting the information. Signos offers three different plans, ranging from one month to three months to six months.
Cons of Signos
While this program can be helpful for weight loss, one downside is that people with other wellness goals may not find this program as useful. This is because much of the content is geared towards weight loss and fitness.
When comparing Nutrisense vs. Signos, Signos has limited nutritionist support that may not include customized plans, guidance, and motivational coaching.
Pricing
The 30-day Signos program starts at $449.
3) Levels
Levels is a health and fitness company that helps users see how food affects their health with personalized insights. Their CGM program provides users with the monitor itself, and an app to track health data from the device.
Here are some of the benefits and drawbacks of the Levels program.
Benefits of Levels
Levels works with both the Dexcom G6 and Freestyle Libre glucose monitors, which means that users have the option to connect their data to their app using bluetooth or manual scanning, depending on their CGM.
Members can access a nutritionist marketplace for added support from qualified nutritionists. Like other programs, Levels offers short and long term plan options. Levels also offers access to community events and has a Facebook group for additional support for members.
Cons of Levels
The nutritionist add-on provided by Levels is not included inside the price of their program. Rather, users can book appointments with independent nutritionists using the Levels marketplace. However, it’s important to note that nutritionists set their own prices, which can include up to $200 for a single appointment in some cases.
Here are some other cons to note regarding Levels vs. Nutrisense:
- App set up and integration can be complicated, as there are two apps required to activate your CGM and track your glucose data with.
- Members must purchase a yearly subscription even if only planning to use a CGM for one month.
Pricing
The Levels program starts at $398 for 30 days (includes a mandatory $199 yearly subscription fee).
4) ZOE
ZOE is a health science company that focuses on personalized nutrition and health optimization. Using a data-driven approach, ZOE analyzes various factors such as dietary habits, gut microbiome composition, and blood biomarkers to offer tailored recommendations for optimizing metabolic health and well-being.
ZOE aims to empower individuals to make informed decisions about their diet and lifestyle based on their unique physiological responses.
Benefits of ZOE
ZOE can offer a host of advantages to people seeking personalized health insights. By analyzing a range of factors, ZOE provides users with a holistic understanding of their metabolic health.
Users of ZOE will start by completing a series of tests, including using a CGM, to understand the state of their health before learning how to create healthier habits. This approach can help you make informed decisions about your nutrition and lifestyle, tailoring recommendations to their unique physiological responses.
Cons of ZOE
While ZOE offers valuable personalized insights, there are certain considerations to bear in mind. ZOE’s program uses a prediction of your response to different types of foods to make dietary recommendations, meaning that some feedback may be generalized and may not adequately support your unique goals.
When comparing Nutrisense to ZOE, here are some notable considerations:
- You’ll need to consent to being part of ZOE’s clinical study and meet certain criteria in order to gain access to CGMs.
- ZOE’s health coaches only need to have received a Bachelor’s degree in nutrition science, rather than the rigorous qualifications required of Nutrisense nutritionists.
Pricing
To join ZOE, you’ll need to purchase a testing kit for $249, and then you can choose a monthly commitment starting from 12 months at $29 per month, which will be paid upfront for $348.
5) January
January is another CGM program that provides users with glucose insights, predictions, and estimates based on your daily habits. In this program, you’ll wear a CGM for the first 14 days as the AI technology gathers your body’s data.
January then uses AI technology to make personalized metabolic health recommendations based on your diet, exercise, and blood sugar levels.
Benefits of January
January’s program collects all of your body’s data—diet, exercise habits, sleep patterns, heart rate data, and more to estimate your glucose levels without needing to continually wear a CGM device. Users of this program will receive daily reports and real-time feedback showing them unique insights about how the foods they eat may impact their blood sugar levels.
January offers a monthly membership and an annual membership that its members can choose from. The AI health coach provides recommendations to help you lower potential blood sugar spikes.
Cons of January
January uses AI technology to recommend metabolic health insights, and while this can be beneficial in certain ways, this technology is still being perfected and may not be right for everyone. When comparing Nutrisense vs. January, other cons include:
- The January program does not include nutritionist support in its programs, but relies on AI instead.
- Like other CGM programs, you will need to download two apps to activate and sync your CGM with the January app.
- It’s also necessary to use an activity tracker such as an Oura Ring or an Apple watch for at least two weeks while January collects your data.
Pricing
The 30-day subscription with January costs $288 and includes an activation kit and a digital telehealth assessment.
6) Veri
Veri is a Europe-based metabolic health company that provides access to continuous glucose monitors. One of the unique features of Veri is its thriving online wellness community which is public, even to non-members.
Benefits of Veri
One of the benefits of Veri is the very simple, and basic app interface. Users are able to input food and exercise information inside the app, and what you see is a simple graph with the glucose levels.
As mentioned, Veri has a community of other members you can engage with built directly into its website. The Veri app also syncs with Apple Health to gather other health and lifestyle data.
Cons of Veri
While Veri’s simple app interface may reduce overwhelm for some, it doesn’t give you detailed information on the glucose curve. Users are also not able to see how their glucose peaks or get deeper insight into glucose variability.
When comparing Nutrisense vs. Veri, other cons include:
- You’ll have to interpret your glucose data without the help of a professional, experienced eye as they do not offer nutritionist support.
- A monthly subscription is required, though it can be canceled at any time.
- You’ll need to use two apps to set up your sensors.
Pricing
The 30-day subscription with Veri costs $139 and will renew automatically until canceled.
7) Supersapiens
Supersapiens is a health company that specializes in glucose management for athletes. Leveraging continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology, Supersapiens empowers athletes to optimize their performance and avoid bonking during training by providing real-time insights into their glucose levels.
The Supersapiens platform allows athletes to make data-driven decisions about nutrition, training, and recovery, ultimately enhancing their overall athletic output.
Benefits of Supersapiens
Supersapiens provides athletes with real-time glucose data, enabling them to make informed decisions about their nutrition and training. This can lead to enhanced athletic performance, better endurance, and improved recovery.
Beyond performance benefits, Supersapiens can also contribute to overall health awareness by monitoring glucose levels. This can be particularly valuable for athletes with specific health concerns or those aiming for a holistic approach to well-being.
Cons of Supersapiens
Unlike other CGM programs, Supersapiens sole aim is to help athletes reach their fitness goals using glucose insights. For users of this program, interpreting glucose data and implementing changes to training or nutrition may require a learning curve. Athletes may need time to understand how to effectively use the information provided by Supersapiens to make meaningful adjustments to their routines.
When looking at Nutrisense and Supersapiens, other cons include:
- Unlike Nutrisense, Supersapiens is currently not available in the United States, and is only possible to join at this time if you live in select European countries.
- Supersapiens is tailored to athletes and athletic performance, and may not be best suited if you have any other health goal.
Pricing
Supersapiens plans start at 150€ per month, and include 2 Freestyle Libre sensors. There are also longer term commitment options that range in price and length.
Which CGM Program is Right for You?
Everyone has unique wellness needs, motivations, and lifestyle goals when using a CGM. If you want to build long term habits and set yourself up for success with help of expert nutritionist guidance, Nutrisense may be right for you.
The Nutrisense program is a great option for those who want to take ownership of their habits and wellbeing. Through Nutrisense’s unique features, nutritionist support, and intuitive mobile app, members can access their body’s data and use it to make lasting change.
But don’t take it from us! Here’s what one of our members, Jennifer Brumit had to say about our program:
“I sort of knew what it all meant, and I think the Nutrisense app is fantastic. But if it were not for my dietitian, Patrick, I wouldn't have been able to really understand. I think you can look at the app and see things and think, 'Here's this number.' But [my dietitian] has been so great behind the scenes to say, "Hey, look at these numbers," and "This is what it all really means." So now, understanding all that, it’s almost like reading the fine print. It’s been so much easier being able to reach out and communicate with him, and it helped me learn so many things.”
Engage with Your Blood Glucose Levels with Nutrisense
Your blood sugar levels can significantly impact how your body feels and functions. That’s why stable blood glucose levels can be an important factor in supporting overall wellbeing.
With Nutrisense, you’ll be able to track your blood glucose levels over time using a CGM, so you can make lifestyle choices that support healthy living.
When you join the Nutrisense CGM program, our team of credentialed dietitians and nutritionists are available for additional support and guidance to help you reach your goals.
Ready to take the first step? Start with our quiz to see how Nutrisense can support your health.
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to help you discover and reach yourHeather is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN, LDN), subject matter expert, and technical writer, with a master's degree in nutrition science from Bastyr University. She has a specialty in neuroendocrinology and has been working in the field of nutrition—including nutrition research, education, medical writing, and clinical integrative and functional nutrition—for over 15 years.