The Short Answer

You already have a birthday reminder app; you have several. Google Calendar shows every birthday from your contacts and notifies you a week before and on the day, on Android and the web. Apple's Contacts and Calendar do the same on an iPhone. If those are not working for you, the problem is not the app, it is that a calendar badge on a busy morning is easy to swipe away. The apps below add countdowns, widgets and cards; the two message-based options at the end, birthdays.app by SMS and NagMeLater by WhatsApp, fix the actual failure by arriving as a message you read.

Start With What Is Already on Your Phone

Android and the web: Google Calendar syncs birthdays from Google Contacts automatically, sends a notification one week before and on the day, and lets you add other notifications or hide birthdays entirely (Google Calendar Help). If a birthday is missing, it is missing from the contact, not the calendar; add it there and it appears. Users in a few regions have reported contact birthdays disappearing after sync changes, which the same help centre covers.

iPhone: the Birthdays calendar in Apple Calendar draws from Contacts and can alert you on the day or the day before. It is on by default; the reason people stop noticing it is the same badge fatigue.

If either of these already works for you, you are done. The apps below are for people who want more than a calendar entry, or who have learned to ignore one.

The Apps, Verified

Birthday Reminder & Countdown (iPhone)

Birthday Reminder & Countdown by New Marketing Lab imports birthdays from Contacts, shows countdowns with photos and ages, and offers six widgets including a lock-screen one. 4.7 stars from about 10,000 reviews, free with in-app purchases from $4.99 to $14.99 for iCloud sync and export; version 3.0 shipped in December 2025. The best pure "see what is coming" app on iPhone.

hip (iPhone)

hip syncs contacts and calendar, groups people into "crowds", schedules messages, and adds greeting cards and gift suggestions; 4.7 stars from 17,000 ratings. Free with a hip PLUS subscription for unlimited reminders and an ad-free experience. iPhone only; the site says Android is not yet available. Choose it if the card and the gift are the part you forget, not the date.

Android apps

Google Play has a crowd of contact-syncing birthday apps ("Contacts' Birthdays", "Birthdays: Reminder App", "Birthday Reminder & Alerts" among them), most free with ads or a one-time unlock. We could not verify their store pages on the day of writing, so we will not rank them; the safe advice is to pick one that imports from Contacts, works offline, and has been updated this year, and to remember that Google Calendar already does the core job for free.

birthdays.app (any phone, by SMS)

birthdays.app is the honest competitor to the idea below: a text-message birthday reminder with no app. Add friends by hand, by texting "Joe Aug 8", or by importing Google Calendar; it texts you on the day. $3 a year for ten friends, $9 a year for unlimited friends and early reminders; it reports over 360,000 reminders sent. US-number based, so check it works from your country before paying.

NagMeLater (WhatsApp)

Ours, so weigh it accordingly. A birthday is a yearly reminder: "Remind me every year on 3 March that it is Priya's birthday" sets it once and it arrives every year on WhatsApp. Add a second one two days earlier for the gift. There is no import from contacts, which is the honest limitation; it suits the twenty birthdays you actually care about, not the four hundred in your address book. First 7 days free, no app to install.

Your first 7 days are free and unlimited

No app, no account. Save the number, send a message, done.

Which One, Then

  • You forget birthdays you have in your contacts: turn Google Calendar or Apple Calendar birthday alerts on. Free, already installed.
  • You want countdowns, ages and widgets: Birthday Reminder & Countdown on iPhone; a contact-syncing app on Android.
  • You forget the card and the gift, not the date: hip.
  • You swipe away notifications but read messages: birthdays.app by SMS, or NagMeLater on WhatsApp for the birthdays that matter, with a gift reminder two days before.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Google Calendar remind me of birthdays automatically?

Yes. Birthdays from Google Contacts sync to Google Calendar and it notifies you a week before and on the day; you can add other notifications or hide birthdays in Settings under Birthdays. If one is missing, add the birthday to the contact.

Is there a birthday reminder that works by text message?

Two. birthdays.app texts you by SMS on the day, from $3 a year for ten friends. NagMeLater sends a WhatsApp message: "Remind me every year on 3 March that it is Priya's birthday" repeats every year, and a second reminder two days earlier covers the gift.

Can I import birthdays from my contacts into NagMeLater?

No. You set each one by hand, once, and it repeats every year. That suits the birthdays you actually care about; for hundreds of contacts, use your phone's calendar and keep NagMeLater for the ones that need a gift and a call.

What is the best birthday reminder app for Android?

Google Calendar, which is already installed and syncs contact birthdays with a week-before and on-the-day alert. If you want more, Google Play has several contact-syncing birthday apps; pick one updated this year that works offline. We could not verify their store pages on the day of writing, so we do not rank them.