Manual biomarker entry: unlimited on the free tier

Manual biomarker entry in HealthLab is free and unlimited, on every tier, indefinitely — no counter, no subscription gate. A value typed in by hand lands in the same trend chart and the same reference band as one pulled out of a report by AI recognition; once it’s saved, the app treats the two identically. Entering one result is four short steps, and none of them require Pro.

What to do and where

Step 1. Create the entry for the actual date

Open “Lab results” and start a new entry by hand, setting the date to when the sample was actually drawn — not whatever date the app defaults to today. This matters even more for an old paper report: if a 2019 result gets entered now, it’s the date on the report, not the day it’s typed in, that decides where the dot lands on the trend chart. One entry corresponds to one visit to a lab, even when it covers several markers at once — the same way one uploaded PDF corresponds to one visit during AI import. Creating a full entry like this also offers a lab name field with autocomplete as you type — pick a matching lab from the list, or leave your own; that autocomplete isn’t there when adding a single extra result to an entry that already exists, where the marker just joins what’s on record.

Step 2. Add each biomarker with its value and unit

Inside that entry, add each marker separately: a name, a number, and the unit the lab actually printed the result in. Alongside the value, the app stores that unit and the reference range for that marker on that date — the same three pieces of information it keeps for a value pulled from a PDF or photo. A 12-marker panel becomes 12 separate entries, one after another, not one bulk paste. That’s slower than the single tap that starts AI recognition, but each entry only takes a few seconds, and none of them depend on having a connection. Neither the unit nor the reference range is locked to a catalog default: the unit is a free-text field, entered exactly as the lab printed it, and the Min and Max of the reference range can be typed in or edited by hand straight from the same form. A marker that isn’t in the catalog at all can be added under its own free-text name, and from then on it behaves like any catalog marker — its own card, its own trend chart.

Step 3. Check the value against its reference range

Once entered, a value shows up right next to its reference range immediately — inside it or outside it. That’s the same range printed on the lab’s own report, just carried into the app; what a value’s position relative to that range actually means for a person is a separate question, covered in how to read your lab results — this article is only about getting the number in. If a report prints the range in small type in its own column, it’s worth checking again before moving to the next marker — that detail is the easiest one to miss, whether a value was typed in or confirmed after AI recognition.

Step 4. Watch it join the trend chart

As soon as the same marker has two or more results — whether typed in by hand or recognized by AI, it makes no difference — a trend line appears. A years-old result entered manually becomes exactly the same kind of dot on that line as one saved five minutes ago through recognition; for reading the line itself, see how to read a trend chart. The order values arrive in — manual first, AI recognition first, or the other way around — doesn’t change where a dot sits; only the date set in step 1 does.

Step 5. Switch to personalized norms (Pro)

On Pro, the reference range every entered value is checked against can switch to personalized norms — adjusted for age, sex and pregnancy instead of one generic adult range. That switch applies to any value already in the app, regardless of whether it arrived by typing it in or through AI recognition, and it doesn’t require re-entering a single number.

A real scenario: an old report and three used-up imports

A paper lab report from 2019 lists ferritin at 18 ng/mL. Today’s result for the same marker is 42 ng/mL. Neither number on its own says anything about direction — but the two of them, entered under their actual dates, immediately produce a line on the trend chart, while one figure alone cannot. What that particular gap means for a particular person is a question for a doctor, not for the app; what matters here is only that both points, old and new, land on the same chart regardless of which one was typed in by hand.

The more common case looks different: the three free AI imports are already spent on earlier panels, and there’s another 12-marker report on the table. Typing in 12 entries by hand takes longer than waiting on recognition, but it isn’t a paid action and it isn’t rationed by any counter — the twentieth manually entered marker this month costs exactly the same as the first one did. Subscribing to Pro just for this one report isn’t necessary either: if AI import is only needed occasionally, typing in twelve values by hand is faster than waiting on a subscription.

Edge cases

• The lab reports a marker in a different unit than last time. Enter the unit exactly as printed on that particular report — the app stores the unit alongside the value for each date separately, so an earlier result and a new one don’t need to match on units to both be correct.
• An old paper report dated years back. Set the actual date the sample was drawn, not the day it’s being typed in, or the dot lands in the wrong place on the trend chart.
• The three free AI imports are used up. This is not a dead end: every result after that can be entered manually with no limit on how many.
• No internet connection. Manual entry needs no connection at all — unlike AI recognition of a photo or PDF, which only works online.

None of these situations block the entry itself — they only affect which details are worth double-checking before saving. In every one of these cases the result still gets into the app through the same path: date, marker, value, unit — none of them call for a separate setup step or anything beyond ordinary manual entry.

Free or Pro

Unlimited manual biomarker entry, the trend chart, the reference band around it, and PDF export of any result or chart are all available on the free tier, with no limit and no subscription required. That’s the same foundation the rest of the app is built on: the basic ability to record a result and watch it over time is never behind a paywall.

What’s paid here is two AI features layered on top of that foundation: unlimited AI import — recognition of a photo or a PDF — and personalized norms, which adjust the reference range for age, sex and pregnancy. The three free AI imports at the start exist so a new user can try recognition on their own reports, not as a crippled version of manual entry: manual entry is unlimited from day one, before those three imports run out and after.

The app is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment recommendations — that holds regardless of whether a value made it into the app by typing or by AI recognition.

Frequently asked questions

HealthLab: from a report to a chart, no subscription needed

When AI recognition isn’t the right tool — a short report, the three free tries already spent, or simply no connection at hand — manual entry lands in the same place: a value on the trend chart next to every earlier one. For the AI path and when it’s worth using, see AI import from a PDF or photo.

What the line on the chart is actually showing, and how to read the reference band around it, is covered in how to read a trend chart; what a specific value means for health, rather than just the direction of the line, is the subject of how to read your lab results, not this one.

Enter a first result by hand on the lab results page — no account, no registration, your data stays on your device.