Trace vs MDacne
MDacne sells you a personalized acne routine. Trace measures whether the one you already have is working. Different categories doing different jobs.
What each is
MDacne is a direct-to-consumer telehealth product. You scan your face, answer a quiz, and it ships you a personalized acne kit (cleanser, treatment, moisturizer, often with prescription tretinoin or benzoyl peroxide). Progress check-ins are part of the subscription. Trace is a free measurement app. You bring your own products, scan once a day, and Trace tells you whether the metrics are moving across a thirty day test of one product.
What each measures, and how
MDacne shows a Lesion Counter and Severity Score on your selfie. The thing being tracked is your improvement on the MDacne kit. Trace measures four metrics on every scan with separate trend lines:
- Acne: comedones, papules, pustules, nodulocystic lesions, plus IGA grade.
- Redness: Lab a* color channel quantification.
- Pores: pore-level texture across forehead, cheeks, and nose.
- Spots: luminance evenness and post-inflammatory marks.
Both use AI on a daily selfie. Trace standardizes lighting with a forced flash and a distance window so day 1 is comparable to day 30. Trace runs entirely on-device, MDacne uses cloud analysis tied to your account.
Where each fits
If you do not know what to use and you want a curated kit shipped to you, MDacne removes that decision. The product is the routine plus the tracking. If you already have a routine, or you are testing a single product (a new retinol, an azelaic acid, a benzoyl peroxide cleanser), and you want to verify whether that one product is moving your skin, Trace is the measurement layer. The two apps are not really competing for the same job at the same time.
Side by side
| MDacne | Trace | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | Curated acne kit shipped (subscription) | Free measurement app, no products |
| Bias | Their kit is the recommended one | Brand neutral, no product line |
| Acne taxonomy | Lesion count + severity | Comedone / papule / pustule / nodulocystic + IGA grade |
| Other metrics | Acne focused | Acne + redness + pores + spots |
| Standardized capture | Selfie | Forced flash, distance window, 12 MP |
| Pricing | Kit subscription | Free |
| Privacy | Cloud analysis | On-device inference |
| Best for | Wants a routine decided for them | Wants to verify one product over 30 days |
How people use both
Some users start on an MDacne kit, then move to tracking the kit's effect with Trace because they want a measurement layer that does not have a commercial interest in the answer. Others use Trace first to figure out which product in their existing routine is the problem, then bring that information to a dermatologist or to a service like MDacne. Use whichever fits the stage you are at.
Disclosure: Trace is the free iOS app described here. We compared MDacne based on its public features as of mid-2026. Trace does not have an affiliate or any commercial relationship with MDacne.
Frequently asked
Is Trace an MDacne alternative?
Trace and MDacne overlap in the AI selfie scan, but they are doing different jobs. MDacne sells you a personalized acne kit and tracks your progress on that kit. Trace is a free measurement app that works with any routine and asks whether one specific product is moving your skin. If you want the kit-plus-tracking bundle, MDacne. If you want the measurement layer for whatever you already use, Trace.
Can I use Trace alongside MDacne?
Yes. Trace is product neutral so you can run a thirty day test of the MDacne kit (or any single component of it) and get an independent read on whether the change is real.
Does Trace cost anything?
No. Trace is free on the iOS App Store. No subscription, no kit, no upsell.