menu facebook twitter instagram pinterest youtube search chevron-down chevron-up
  • About
    • About Kristin
    • Press
    • Contact Me
    • Work With Me
  • Blog
    • Archives
    • Best of the Blog
  • YouTube
  • Solo Female Travel
  • Home
  • Tours
  • Destinations
  • Travel Resources
    • Outdoors 101
    • Itineraries
    • Spiritual Travel
  • SEARCH

Be My Travel Muse

Solo Female Travel

Elvie vs. Willow Go – I Tried Them Both So You Don’t Have to (2023 Comparison Review)

04/21/2022 by Kristin 2 Comments

Hey momma, I see you looking for the best wearable pump for your feeding journey. Whether you’re exclusive pumping or looking for something to complement breastfeeding, I’m here to help. I’ve tried six different pumps including the wearables – the Elvie and the Willow Go. Here’s everything to know about how they stack up against each other and which you should buy.

By the way, I paid full price for both of these pumps, so this is a truly unbiased review. Let’s compare each of the important features below to help you decide what’s most important.

Table of Contents

  • Comfort/Fit
  • Suction
  • Discreetness
  • The App
  • Battery Life
  • Spilling/Leakage
  • Parts and Cleaning
  • Warranty
  • Pricing
  • My Pick

Comfort/Fit

Elvie offerings
Willow Go offerings

I’m a fan of both pumps for the comfort and the fit. Each can fit into a nursing bra, or even a regular soft bra, without forcing me to change into a pumping bra like a standard pump would.

The Willow Go is larger at 5.3″ x 3.1″ x 4.7″, weighing 13.6oz. The Elvie is 5″ x 4.3″ x 2.7″ and weighs 7.4oz. The weight difference is only noticeable for me if I use the Elvie for a week or more and switch back to the Willow Go. I find them both simple enough to fit to the nipple, though there’s a big difference when it comes to flange size.

The Elvie comes with 24 and 28mm flanges. For me and many women like me, both of those are too large. You can purchase a 21mm flange, or off-brand flange inserts to make it even smaller. Unfortunately the Elvie doesn’t offer anything smaller than 21mm. Although it’s still workable with off-brand inserts, it would work even better with inserts or flanges made by Elvie for the pump, so this is a ding for me.

The Willow Go comes with 21mm and 24mm flanges as well as a helpful sizing sheet and guide. I still had to purchase the 19mm inserts separately, but since they’re Willow brand they fit securely and I don’t have to sacrifice any suction.

If you do go with the Elvie and need smaller inserts, I recommend the Willow ones as they’re softer and nicer than the Maymom brand.

Winner: Willow Go.

Suction

elvie pump vs willow go

A persistent rumor with wearable pumps is that they don’t empty the breast. I haven’t found this to be true for me. In the beginning, I used a hospital grade pump and once it was time to return it, transitioned to wearable pumps exclusively because I hate time-out and I get better output with them than my Spectra, believe it or not. However some people do see a dip in output.

This could be due to the lower suction offered by wearable pumps vs. a plug-in, though the Willow Go boasts hospital-grade suction at 280mmHG, and the Elvie is 220mmHG. To me this is irrelevant because I can’t go that high comfortably.

Winner: Willow Go has higher suction capabilities.

Discreetness

Wearing the Willow Go – Would not call this discreet

Can we agree that there’s no way for a wearable pump to be truly discreet, since it has to make at least some noise and must have room for the motor and milk catchment?

Both pumps will make you appear to gain seven cup sizes. Your outfit choices will make all the difference here!

Some complain that the Elvie has lights that will shine through a shirt. While true, if you’re wearing something that thin and form-fitting, the jig will be up either way. I find a scarf or loose jacket solves the visibility issue of both.

However the Elvie is much quieter.

Winner: Elvie.

The App

Willow Go’s dumb app
Elvie’s Robust app

There’s no contest here. The Elvie app will track your pumps, measure your output in real time, and allow you to control the pump from your phone. This is so helpful for those of us with mom brain — which is everyone, yes? — who can’t remember when we last pumped or what we got.

I can’t fathom what the point is of the Willow Go app, which has a sea of 1-star reviews. It’s essentially a timer with no other functions. My theory is Willow would rather not give it all the bells and whistles so that there’s still a reason to pay for the more expensive Willow 3.0, which has a more robust app.

UPDATE: The Willow Go app now can be controlled from your phone, and will keep track of your pumps by date, but not time of day. The Elvie is still better, but by a less wide margin.

Winner: Elvie by FAR.

Battery Life

Both pumps last me five to six pumping sessions, and both are chargeable with a USB charger. Both take about two hours to reach a full charge, though in a pinch you can still charge partially and pump with either one.

If you’re finding the battery life sucks, reach out to customer service for a replacement. It shouldn’t be necessary to charge after every pump.

Winner: Tie.

Spilling/Leakage

As any pumping mama knows – we cry over spilled milk! I wish I could say neither pump has a problem with this, but both of them do. Unless you’re pumping with the Willow 3.0 and using the single-use bags, which are no friend to the planet and require constant re-purchasing, you’ll have to be careful about bending over, and you certainly can’t lie down to pump.

The Elvie sometimes leaks while I’m pumping, especially if I’ve filled a container and bend over too far. The gauge usually catches it before this happens, but if it doesn’t, I have a wet bra, which is annoying as hell.

The Willow Go’s issue is with pouring the milk out of the pump and into a bottle or storage bag. I almost always lost some in the beginning though I’ve gotten the hang of it now.

Winner: Nobody wins here!

Parts and Cleaning

The extra inserts I purchased

Both pumps have an equal amount of parts. Both pump parts can go in the dishwasher and I don’t find either one to be difficult to clean. However the Elvie comes with two extra milk containers for easy storage and less frequent cleaning.

Due to the design of the Willow Go, you have to empty the milk every time into another container in order to use it again. I find this annoying and greatly prefer the Elvie’s milk catchment system.

Winner: Elvie

Warranty

The Elvie pulls ahead with a two year warranty versus the Willow Go’s one year. There’s nothing more frustrating than running into an issue a few weeks after your one-year warranty runs out.

Winner: Elvie

Pricing

This is obviously a huge one. The Willow Go is currently $329 while Elvie is $549.99. If you need a 21mm flange, you can also add that to the cost of the Elvie.

The big question is whether it is worth the extra $220.99 for the Elvie.

My Pick

As an exclusive pumper (read my breastfeeding story for the ‘why’ behind that decision) who only uses the wearable pumps, I have been very happy to have both. There have been times when I forgot an essential part when on a flight and was glad to have back up, didn’t want to wash the parts while out and about and still had a clean option when I got home, or had one run out of battery.

Knowing what I know now, if I were to buy one, I would probably choose the Willow Go (read my full Willow Go review) since it’s cheaper. The app is annoying, but I have learned to live with it.

I hope this comparison helped you figure out which one would be best for YOU.

Got questions? Feel free to drop them in the comments below.

Traveling with your baby soon? Here’s a free baby travel packing list for you:

*If you choose to buy either pump through my affiliate links, you support me and this site at no extra cost to you. Thanks for reading and helping us do what we do!

4 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
Get the guidebook for solo female travelers!
« The 27 Best Babymoon Ideas
A Stylish, Easy Thailand Packing List »

Hello There!

headshot

Welcome to Be My Travel Muse, one of the top female travel blogs in the world, welcoming over 5 million readers annually.

I'm Kristin, and my vision of a better world is one where more women are empowered and living out their dreams. Solo traveling is the best method I've found to become the best, bravest version of me. This site is all about how YOU can have the adventure of a lifetime in an easy, fun, approachable way, so that you can feel empowered, too. Want to learn more about me?

Click here!

Get the Solo Female Travel Guidebook

Popular Posts

I am currently in:

The USA!

Check it out on Instagram Stories!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Rachel Kennedy says

    05/16/2023 at 8:30 am

    Thank you so much for writing this – helped me decide which of the two to buy and based on the flange sizing (which was so crucial that you went over) i’ll be doing Willow Go!

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      05/19/2023 at 9:51 am

      That’s awesome! LMK what you think of it!

      Reply

Stay Connected

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Me
  • Archives
  • Privacy Policy and Disclaimer

© 2023 · Be My Travel Muse. All Rights Reserved

footer-icon

4 shares