Stelo (Dexcom) and Lingo (Abbott) are both sold without a prescription to adults 18 and over. The difference that matters most is regulatory: Stelo is cleared for adults who do not use insulin, including people with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, while Lingo is positioned as a wellness product and is not cleared to help manage diabetes. If you have a diagnosis, that distinction should decide it for you.
Two things happened quickly. The FDA cleared the first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor, and within months there was a competitive consumer market for a device that had spent two decades behind a prescription pad.
Patients now arrive having bought one, or wanting to, and asking which. Almost every comparison they have read was written by someone earning a commission on the answer. Here is the version without that.
01 The short answer
If you have type 2 diabetes not managed with insulin, or a prediabetes diagnosis, buy the Stelo. If you have no diagnosis and you are simply curious about your metabolism, either will do the job and you should pick on price and app preference.
That recommendation rests on a regulatory distinction that most reviews mention in passing, if at all.
02 The distinction nobody leads with
Dexcom's Stelo was cleared by the FDA in March 2024 as the first over-the-counter integrated continuous glucose monitor, for adults 18 and over who do not use insulin. That population explicitly includes people with type 2 diabetes managed without insulin and people with prediabetes.
Abbott's Lingo, cleared later in 2024, is marketed as a wellness and metabolic-insight product. It is not cleared to help manage diabetes. Abbott is clear about this in its own materials, and it is not a knock on the hardware, which is built on well-validated sensor technology. It is a statement about intended use.
One distinction decides most of these purchases: Stelo is cleared for adults with type 2 diabetes not on insulin. Lingo is a wellness device and is not cleared to manage diabetes. If you have a diagnosis, this is not a close call.
Neither device is for anyone using insulin. Both are cleared specifically for people who are not, because they lack the alarms and the accuracy validation required to make insulin dosing decisions safely. If you take insulin, this entire category is the wrong one, and you should be using a prescription CGM chosen with your physician.
03 How they compare in practice
Wear time
Stelo sensors are designed for a 15-day wear, Lingo for 14. Over a year that difference is real but modest, and it matters mainly for cost per day rather than convenience.
The app and the philosophy
This is where they actually diverge. Stelo's app is oriented around behavioral insight, showing how particular foods, activity, and sleep move your glucose, and it supports sharing data with a clinician. Lingo leans harder into a coaching and scoring experience, translating your curve into a metric it wants you to improve.
I have a mild preference for the former, and it is a clinical preference rather than an aesthetic one. Gamified metabolic scores tend to encourage exactly the behavior I spend the most time undoing in the clinic: treating a normal post-meal rise as a personal failure, then eliminating foods that were never the problem. A rise after eating is physiology, not a bad grade.
Sharing with your doctor
If you intend to bring this data to a physician, and you should, Stelo currently has the more straightforward path for getting the data out and in front of someone who can interpret it. If your monitor's data lives only inside a consumer app that summarizes it into a score, it is considerably less useful to me.
04 What neither device will tell you
Both monitors measure glucose. Neither measures insulin, and insulin is the number that breaks first.
In the early years of insulin resistance the body compensates, releasing progressively more insulin to hold glucose in a normal range. During that period, which can run for years, a CGM will produce a reassuring picture while the underlying problem quietly advances. Glucose is a late signal. A fasting insulin level, drawn at the same time as a fasting glucose, is the thing that catches this early, and it costs a fraction of what either device does.
So if you are going to spend money here, spend some of it on the bloodwork. A CGM plus a fasting insulin tells you far more than a CGM alone, and a CGM alone can actively mislead you.
05 Is it worth the money?
For two to four weeks, as a way of learning how your own body responds to your own real meals, I think it is often money well spent. It converts a lecture into an experiment, and people change behavior based on experiments in a way they never do based on lectures.
As a permanent subscription for a healthy person with no symptoms, I am unconvinced, and the published evidence does not support it. Buy it, learn from it, apply what you learned, and stop. The goal is to need the device less, not to need it forever.
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The most important difference is regulatory. Dexcom's Stelo is FDA-cleared for adults 18 and over who do not use insulin, which explicitly includes people with type 2 diabetes managed without insulin and people with prediabetes. Abbott's Lingo is positioned as a wellness device and is not cleared to help manage diabetes. Stelo sensors run 15 days, Lingo 14.
No. Neither device is cleared for people using insulin. They lack the alarms and the accuracy validation needed to support insulin dosing decisions safely. If you use insulin, you need a prescription CGM selected with your physician.
No. Both are sold over the counter to adults 18 and over. Stelo was the first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor cleared by the FDA, in March 2024.
It can be worthwhile for a defined period, roughly two to four weeks, as a way to learn how your specific meals, activity, and sleep affect your glucose. It is less compelling as a permanent purchase for a healthy person with no symptoms, and the evidence for long-term benefit in people without diabetes is limited.
If you can only do one, get the blood test, specifically a fasting insulin drawn alongside a fasting glucose. Insulin rises years before glucose does, so a CGM can look completely reassuring while insulin resistance is already well established. The two together are far more informative than either alone.
Matthew Everett, MD
Board-certified physician specializing in environmental medicine. Dr. Everett developed the 5M Framework after years of treating patients whose complex symptoms were dismissed by conventional medicine.
Sources
- FDA: First over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor cleared
- Johns Hopkins: Is glucose monitoring useful for non-diabetics?
This article is for general informational purposes and does not replace personalized medical advice. Consult a qualified physician about your specific situation.
