# Pulse alternative: tap the bottle, not a box

Pulse needs their box. LidTap uses any NTAG213 on the lid. One iPhone tap logs the dose. Lock screen, no account, iPhone-only.

This is not a feature-for-feature shootout. Pulse is a hardware organizer with an app. LidTap is an app plus a sticker on the bottle you already own.

[LidTap — iPhone, App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lidtap-nfc-supplements/id6805485149)

## The honest split

**Pulse** (pulsebox.app) sells a physical box with an NFC chip inside. You set up a routine in their iPhone app, then tap the *box* to log. The box is the product: organizer, tap target, and (on their side) a cloud-backed account so a replacement box can pick up your history. Their app also does things LidTap does not: label scanning, multiple profiles, accountability partners who get a ping if a dose is missed. Hardware ships as a US product. You buy their box — the title on this page is the point: you are paying for that object, often in the range of an $80 desk gadget, not a pack of stickers.

**LidTap** does not ship a box. You stick any cheap NTAG213 or NTAG215 on the **lid** of the supplement bottle you already have. You link it once. You tap that lid. Each bottle is its own tap, so creatine is not the same gesture as omega-3. There is no LidTap account. The log stays on the iPhone. This website does not record doses. iPhone-only — same as Pulse.

## What you should not expect

Do not expect LidTap to be Pulse without the box. LidTap does not scan labels with the camera, does not invite a caregiver, does not keep your history in the cloud if you lose the phone, and is not a pill organizer. If you want those, Pulse is built for that.

Do not expect Pulse to be “LidTap plus hardware.” Pulse’s tap target is *their* box, not every bottle in the cabinet. If your stack lives in original bottles on the counter, a single box is a different habit than tapping the lid you just opened.

## Who should pick which

- **Pick Pulse** if you want their designed organizer, you are fine buying US hardware, you want cloud backup and a second person in the loop, and one tap on one box is the ritual you want.
- **Pick LidTap** if the bottles already exist, you want a few-dollar sticker instead of a branded box, you want the log on-device with no account, and you want to tap the specific lid — including from the lock screen.

How to set up LidTap: [NFC tag on a supplement bottle](https://lidtap.app/nfc-tags-on-supplement-bottles/). Why a bottle at all: [What to do with NFC tags](https://lidtap.app/what-to-do-with-nfc-tags/).

LidTap is not a medical device. Neither comparison here is medical advice.

## Download

[LidTap on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lidtap-nfc-supplements/id6805485149)