Elvie vs. Perifit Kegel Trainer Comparison

We have smart devices to count our steps and track our sleep. What about fitness trackers for the vagina?

The Elvie Trainer and Perifit are two of the most popular Kegel trainers, intravaginal devices that help you strengthen your pelvic floor muscles to improve issues like bladder leaks, pelvic organ prolapse and sexual dysfunction.

These European-designed devices not only count your Kegels but educate you on proper technique and turn tedious exercises into interactive games that are actually fun.

Both Perifit and Elvie Trainer are FDA-designated medical devices that use similar biofeedback technology to offer guided workouts through an app.

When you squeeze your pelvic floor muscles, the contractions appear on your phone screen as part of your game—whether you're hitting targets with a moving gem (as in Elvie workouts) or sitting behind the controls of a plane or racecar (as with Perifit).

But the two Kegel trainers differ in their design, the scope of their apps, and their approach to games and feedback—all factors that can determine your enjoyment of the device and, ultimately, your results from using it.

We'll review the similarities and differences between these two pelvic floor exercisers in this in-depth Elvie Trainer vs. Perifit comparison from Vagercise, an authorized retailer that offers both products in stock with free shipping and HSA/FSA payments.

(In a hurry? See our summary chart at the end of this post).

First, let's take a look at each product.

Elvie Trainer

Made by the British company known for its wireless breast pumps, the Elvie Trainer is one of the most compact Kegel devices offering the quickest workouts.

A 5-minute session takes you through several types of Kegels, including fast squeezes for agility, longer holds for endurance and maximum contractions for strength building as you progress through four levels.

Sensors measure both directional pull and contraction strength, allowing the device to alert you if you're incorrectly pushing down instead of lifting up.

Get a glimpse of the Elvie Trainer in the video below.

Perifit

Fly a firefighting plane through the forest or race a car around a track with Perifit, a French-designed Kegel trainer offering 14 games, as well as training exercises that help you practice your technique—and even compete against other users.

Whether you're struggling with your bladder or your sex life, Perifit customizes the games to your symptoms, incorporating a variety of Kegel types as you advance from simple contractions to complex muscle-control patterns.

Dual sensors near the vaginal entrance and cervix provide feedback on your technique, ensuring you're engaging the correct muscles and lifting instead of pushing.

Take a look at gaming with Perifit in the video below.

Elvie Trainer vs. Perifit Price

At $149, Perifit costs $50 less than the Elvie Trainer. 

Both devices are an affordable alternative or complement to pelvic floor physical therapy. With many PTs accepting only cash, not insurance, the cost of a single session might be similar to the Elvie Trainer or Perifit device that you can use for months or even years ahead to maintain your fitness.

• Elvie: $199
• Perifit: $149

Elvie vs. Perifit Size and Specifications

The Elvie consists of a pebble-shaped insert, with a tail that remains outside the body, while the Perifit insert has two rounded portions containing a deep pelvic floor sensor and superficial sensor. The white base of the device sits outside the vagina.

The external portion of both devices contains the Bluetooth antenna. The Bluetooth power is similar to those of other healthcare devices like a heart monitor or glucose monitor, as well as the Apple Watch.

Dimensions

At first glance, Perifit looks to be about twice the size of the Elvie Trainer. 

However, only the portion of the device with the rounded sensors is inserted into the vagina, while the base and white portion remains outside the body. That considered, Perifit is about an inch longer than the Elvie Trainer.

• Elvie: 1.18"D x 2"L (insertable portion)
• Perifit: 0.8"D x 3.1"L (insertable portion)

What's Included

Your purchase of the Elvie Trainer includes a carrying case that can be used for both wireless charging and concealing your device.

Perifit doesn't need to be charged. In fact, its battery is guaranteed to last five years, so it doesn't come with a charger or a case. Its lack of discreet storage could be a concern, considering it kind of looks like a different discreet object you might keep in a nightstand drawer.

The Elvie Trainer also comes with a silicone slipcover that can slightly enlarge the device, preventing it from falling out, while the Perifit is one-size-fits-all.

• Elvie: Device, carry case used for wireless charging, USB charging cable and optional device cover to customize sizing
• Perifit: Device 

Warranty

Elvie's warranty is double that of Perifit, at two years. However, Perifit will replace the device battery if it runs out within five years (and for a small fee after that time).

• Elvie: 2 years
• Perifit: 1 year

Compatibility

Both the Elvie Trainer and Perifit apps can be used with Apple and Android devices.

• Elvie: iPhones with iOS10 or newer, iPads with iPadOS13 or newer, Android devices with 6 or newer
• Perifit: iPhones and iPads with iOS13 or newer, Android phones and tablets with Android 5.0 or newer

Materials

If you're (rightfully) concerned about products that go inside your body, rest assured that both the Elvie Trainer and Perifit are made with safe ingredients designed to avoid bodily reactions.

Both devices are 100% waterproof, free of BPA chemicals and are made of medical-grade silicone that is non-toxic, hypoallergenic and bacteria-resistant.

Clean the device after each use, using warm water and mild soap or an intimate device cleaner.

How to Use Elvie Trainer and Perifit 

Both devices are inserted into the vaginal canal like a tampon (with the help of a water-based lubricant) and connect via Bluetooth to your smartphone. From there, you'll follow prompts in the app to begin squeezing and playing.

Elvie and Perifit both challenge users to build strength, control and endurance by adding more complicated Kegel routines over time.

With both devices, you can also customize your number of workout days, setting reminders at certain times to hold you accountable.

While the Elvie Trainer's workout length can't be customized, Perifit allows you to choose between a recommended routine or set your schedule, exercising as little as a few minutes or as much as 15 minutes per day.

Here's a look at the training programs inside each app.

Elvie Trainer Levels and Workouts

Elvie offers four training levels, with the app advancing users once they meet certain requirements.

• Training: Can advance to next level after doing 4-second lifts
• Beginner: Can advance after completing 10 workouts
• Intermediate: Can advance after completing 10 workouts
• Advanced: Continue on this level to maintain fitness 

The Training level consists of three gamified exercises:

• Lift: Perform a series of regular lift-and-squeeze Kegel contractions
• Pulse: Improve agility with a series of fast squeezes
• Strength: Measure a single, hard-as-you-can squeeze 

The same exercises continue but intensify with each new level. By the time you reach the Advanced level, for example, you're holding Lifts for 8 seconds rather than 4 seconds and completing 20 pulses, up from just five in Training.

You also add these exercises over time:

• Hold: Build endurance by holding a Kegel for as long as 25 seconds
• Speed: Increase reaction time by quickening the contraction pace
• Step: Learn control by executing varying patterns of holds and pulses

Perifit Levels and Workouts

Unlike the Elvie Trainer, which takes a singular approach to its workouts, Perifit customizes its exercise programs to your pelvic floor concerns.

When you begin using the app, Perifit asks you to choose one of these goals:

• Recover from pregnancy
• Stop leaks
• Reduce prolapse symptoms
• Improve sex life
• Prevent disorders in the future

Perifit doesn't have defined skill levels like the Elvie Trainer. But the app starts you off with four games, unlocking another eight games over time that add complexity and new challenges.

Elvie vs. Perifit Games

If Elvie Trainer is like old-school Pac-Man, Perifit is more like PlayStation when it comes to video game graphics.

The Elvie Trainer app offers the same scenery for every type of game: You use your Kegels to move a gem, whether you're lifting the object above a line or moving it higher on a strength scale.

Perifit offers more complex graphics in depicting these 14 games:

• Golden Lotus: Your Kegels appear on screen as a bird that you're guiding to avoid crows and collect lotuses (the Perifit logo)
• Flappy Bird: Navigate a bird around pipes to fly home
• Under the Sea: You're a dolphin munching fish and watching out for bombs
• Aerial Firefighter: Save the forest by extinguishing flames from the air
• Cloud Gate: Control clouds to block stones and let gems pass
• Space Odyssey: Dodge asteroids in your spaceship while returning to Earth
• Scarlet's Melodies: You're a parrot collecting orbs and avoiding ghosts
• Between the Lines: Keep the dot between the lines 
• Concentric: Catch descending hoops as you squeeze and relax
• Kite Runner: Guide a kite through hoops
• Sling Drift: Drive your car around a track
• Vortex: Catch fruits in a vortex
• Jetpack Pug: Catch bones and steaks as a flying dog
• Dragon Ride: Fly your dragon through the hoops

Perifit is multi-faceted not only in its visuals, but in the exercise regimen behind its games.

In every Perifit game, you'll perform an array of contraction types that work both your fast-twitch muscle fibers (the ones that need to fire quickly when you sneeze) and the slow-twitch fibers needed to build endurance on the way to the bathroom.

The Elvie Trainer also incorporates Kegel variations, separating each type into its own game: The Pulse game improves agility, Hold works on endurance and Speed challenges you to pick up the pace, and so on.

While Elvie's visuals aren't as entertaining, the simplified game structure might help you focus on your technique and understand opportunities for improvement. The goal is always clear with Elvie's exercises; with Perifit, you might not understand if you're supposed to hold one long contraction or do a number of quick pulses when you're a whale catching fish.

But outside of its games, the Perifit app also offers three exercise modules to help you hone a specific technique:

• Picasso: Trace a line drawing to improve Kegel quality
• Flipper Beach: Tap a beach ball with a pinball handle to practice speed
• Pong: Hit targets while playing against another Perifit user

Elvie vs. Perifit Features

Why can't you just do Kegels on your own? 

First of all, it's pretty boring to work muscles you can't see.

And even if you can manage to sustain an exercise program for the weeks required to see results, you still might not make much progress. A quarter of women do Kegels with incorrect form, according to a study in the Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery Journal.

Both Perifit and Elvie are equipped with features to combat the biggest problems behind Kegels.

Sensors

Both devices contain sensors that can detect the difference between a proper Kegel (a lift and a squeeze) and an incorrect movement (a downward push or strain).

Elvie Trainer may interrupt your workout with this message: "Try lifting upwards instead of pushing down. Pushing down can cause problems over the long term. You may benefit from visiting a physiotherapist who can help you improve your technique."

Similarly, Perifit offers dual sensors that measure the strength of your Kegel and the amount of pressure in your abdomen—a metric that may mean that you're engaging the wrong muscles, bearing down instead of lifting up.

A quality gauge appears in the corner of the screen during each game so that you can correct your form in real time.

 

Support and Training

Kegels are not only boring, but confusing and lonely, too. That's why Perifit offers training tools and a community forum in addition to its games.

The Perifit app includes these resources:

• Focused Exercises for practicing a specific technique, like speed or agility
• Learn the Perfect Kegel, a section that includes a Practice Lab for managing your pelvic floor-abdominal connection and a 3D Pelvis that shows what your muscles are doing
• Train Differently, a section with that allows you to train without your device or with audio instead of video 

In Perifit's Community section, users connect to answer each other's questions, share accomplishments and send words of encouragement.

While Elvie's app offers articles in its Help section, it doesn't have a forum or an area for practicing your technique. 

Progress Tracking

If counting your steps motivates you to exercise, you'll like the progress tracking features of the Elvie Trainer and Perifit. 

Both apps summarize your workouts into charts, providing an understanding of your pelvic fitness.

The Elvie chart rates your performance in each game over time, showing that, perhaps, your speed has improved but you still need to develop endurance.

Similarly, Perifit synthesizes your results into a chart showing quality, strength, endurance, speed and control.

Perifit also offers two quizzes to track your physical and emotional health over time: a Pelvic Fitness test that measures your strength, control, speed and endurance, and a Pelvic Wellbeing questionnaire that addresses your symptoms and quality of life.

Elvie vs. Perifit Safety and Effectiveness

FDA Status

You can trust that both Elvie Trainer and Perifit are medical devices, with an equivalent FDA status.

Perifit is "cleared" by the FDA because it was registered as a perineometer, an instrument for measuring the strength of voluntary pelvic floor contractions.

Elvie pursued a different device classification, "genital vibrator for therapeutic use," even though the device doesn't vibrate. This device class can only be registered, not cleared, with the FDA.

• Elvie: Class II medical device registered as a genital vibrator for therapeutic use
• Perifit: Class II medical device cleared as a perineometer 

Clinical Research

Neither Elvie Trainer nor Perifit has been included in published clinical trials validating their effectiveness. 

However, Perifit representatives said a clinical study about their device is under review for publication.

Perifit surveyed 6,060 users about their urinary incontinence symptoms after they completed approximately 50, 100 and 300 games with the device. The majority of users reported that Perifit helped improve their urinary incontinence, and improvement rates increased with continued exercise.

71 percent of users noted improvement when questioned after 50 games, and 85 percent recorded improvement after 300 games (or after 4 months, on average).

How Long to Use

Your Kegel trainer workout should depend on your individual needs and goals, but here's what Elvie and Perifit recommend as a starting point.

• Elvie: 5 minute sessions, 3 times weekly
• Perifit: 10 minute sessions, 3 to 5 times weekly

Neither manufacturer promises results within a time period, as strength varies widely between users.

Whether you're using a device or doing pelvic floor workouts on your own, it will probably take a few weeks to a few months of consistent exercise to notice improvement.

Once you've achieved your goal, you can exercise less frequently. But just like you'll never retire from doing bicep curls at the gym, you'll need to keep exercising to maintain your strength.

Reviews

Perifit has the better online reviews of the two devices, averaging 4.5 of 5 stars, compared with 3.9 stars for the Elvie Trainer.

Reviewers of both products said the devices were more convenient than physical therapy, helping to improve bladder leaks and sexual confidence at all stages of life. And, both Perifit and Elvie users said, the devices were actually kind of fun.

"The sessions fly by and I have to stop myself from continuing to play," a Perifit reviewer wrote.

"It's like playing Candy Crush with your lady parts," an Elvie Trainer user said.

What reviewers didn't like was similar, too: Negative reviews typically focused on positioning or Bluetooth connectivity issues.

Hear what hundreds of women had to say about each device in these Perifit reviews and Elvie Trainer reviews.

Elvie vs. Perifit: Which is Better?

So which is better: the Elvie Trainer or Perifit? Only you can decide which Kegel trainer is best for your needs, but here are the pros and cons to consider for each device.

Elvie Pros

• Device is more compact than Perifit, making for more comfortable insertion
• App offers 5-minute workouts that are shorter than Perifit's default games
• Comes with discreet carrying case
• Games are separated by Kegel type, helping you focus on specific techniques like fast pulses

Elvie Cons

• Costs $50 more than Perifit
• Requires regular charging
• App does not offer detailed Kegel instructions or practice options
• Has lower reviews than Perifit (3.9 stars, compared with 4.5)
• App does not allow customization of workout duration or choice of game
• No community forum offered

Perifit Pros

• Costs $50 less than the Elvie Trainer
• Offers 14 games, compared with six for Elvie, with graphics more similar to real video games
• Customizes workouts to concerns like incontinence or postpartum recovery
• App allows choice of game and workout duration
• Device does not not require charging, with 5-year battery warranty
• App offers programs for practicing Kegel technique and community forum for pelvic health topics
• Has better online reviews than Elvie Trainer (4.5 stars, compared with 3.9)
• Forthcoming clinical research shows 85 percent of users improved urinary incontinence symptoms after 300 games

Perifit Cons

• Larger size may be uncomfortable for some users
• Does not include carrying case
• Games are multifaceted and may be more difficult to follow than Elvie