Avo Starting Solids vs Solid Starts: Which Baby Food App Should You Use?

Solid Starts is the app most parents hear about first. Avo Starting Solids is the one we make. If you are choosing between them, the short answer is this: Solid Starts is a reference library with a paid tracker attached, and Avo is a free tracker with a reference library attached. Which one you want depends on whether your harder problem is how do I serve this or what happened after I served it.

This comparison was written by the Avo Parenting team, so read it knowing who wrote it. Everything about Solid Starts comes from its own App Store listing and website, read on 29 October 2026, and we have put our own app's weaknesses in the same rows as theirs. Our wider roundup of starting solids apps covers two more apps if neither of these fits.

What is free and what is paid in Avo Starting Solids and Solid Starts, from their own listings on 29 October 2026.

How we compared the two apps

Between six and twelve months a parent repeats the same five jobs: find out how to serve a food safely, introduce allergens one at a time and keep offering them, notice reactions, notice what changes in the nappy, and keep milk and meals in balance. We compared the apps on those jobs, on what is free and what is paid, and on who wrote the guidance. We did not score design or the size of each company's following.

Avo Starting Solids vs Solid Starts at a glance

Ratings measure age and audience as much as quality. Solid Starts has had years and a huge following; Avo launched recently.

Where Solid Starts is stronger

Serving guidance you can see. Solid Starts shows a photo, and often a video, of a food cut for a six-month-old and again for a nine- and twelve-month-old, next to an adult hand for scale. For a parent worried about choking, that beats any written description, including ours. The database is free to use with an account.

Clinician-authored content. The guidance is written and reviewed by a named team of pediatricians, allergists and feeding therapists. Avo's content is compiled by an editorial team from public health sources and is not reviewed by clinicians, which we say on our About page.

A clinician-written plan. The subscription lays out the first 100 foods as a plan with allergen introduction built in. Avo's 30-day first-tastes plan does the same job of telling you what to serve next, but Solid Starts' is written by its feeding team.

Where Avo Starting Solids is stronger

The log is free. Foods, allergens, reactions and dates are logged at no cost. Solid Starts' tracker sits behind the $99.99-a-year subscription, or the $19.99 Tracker purchase in its listing. If what you want is a record, Avo gives you one on day one.

The nappy log. Constipation and loose nappies are the commonest side effects of starting solids, and a doctor's first question is what the baby ate in the days before. Avo records nappy form, colour and type on the same timeline as each food. Solid Starts does not track poop. Our guide to baby poop after starting solids explains what to look for.

No side in the purée debate. Avo supports spoon-feeding, baby-led weaning or a mix, and the 100 Foods Challenge counts a food however it was served. Solid Starts is a baby-led weaning app at heart, with purée guidance added.

Your recipes beside theirs. Avo has 500+ recipes of its own, filtered by age, texture and nutrition, and imports the ones you have already saved from Instagram, TikTok and recipe blogs, flagging the age and allergens before you cook.

An AI that checks the plate. Snap a photo of what you are about to serve, or scan a product barcode, and Avo AI names the foods, flags allergens and choking risks for your baby's age and logs the meal. Solid Starts answers the same questions with articles and videos.

Languages. The app runs in 21 languages and the first foods library on this site in 19. Solid Starts is English only.

Price. Avo's premium is $24.99 a year, a quarter of Solid Starts' annual plan, and it only unlocks nutrition insights and the full recipe features. The tracker is free regardless.

Which app should you choose?

Choose Solid Starts if:

• You want photos and videos of how to cut each food at each age.
• You want clinician-written guidance and video for every food.
• You are happy to pay $99.99 a year, or you only need the free database.

Choose Avo Starting Solids if:

• You want a free log of foods, allergens, reactions and nappies.
• You want the poop record a doctor asks for, beside the food record.
• You feed purées, finger foods or both and want an app that does not mind.
• You want to snap a plate or scan a product and get an answer for your baby's age.
• You use the app in a language other than English.

Can you use both?

Yes, and plenty of parents do. Solid Starts' free database answers "how do I serve this", and Avo answers "what did we serve, and what happened". The pairing costs nothing unless you also want Solid Starts' plans and tracker. If you would rather have one app, the question is whether you will pay $99.99 a year for serving videos, or accept written serving notes and keep the money.

The bottom line

Solid Starts is the better reference and Avo is the better log. If you are the kind of parent who wants to be shown exactly how to cut a strawberry at seven months, Solid Starts earns its price. If you are the kind who wants every bite, rash and nappy in one place for free, start with Avo and keep Solid Starts' free database open on the side.

Our allergen pages and Allergens 101 guide cover the introduction rules both apps are built on, and we have compared Avo with BLW Meals and 101 Before One the same way.

Prices, features and ratings are from the US App Store and each developer's website on 29 October 2026 and will change. Avo Starting Solids is made by Avo Parenting, the publisher of this site.