The smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets we spend significant time on are powerful tools that can give us deeper insights into our mental health and well-being. These devices allow us to use various apps to track our moods, practice mindfulness, get inspiration, and seek support for our mental health concerns. However, not all mental health apps are created equally. Many companies claim their apps can improve your mental well-being—but they have no clinical authority or research to back it up.
While these apps can be helpful, if you have (or think you have) a mental health condition, it’s important to seek a proper diagnosis and specialized care from a licensed healthcare provider.
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Do mental health apps actually help?
How do you know if using a mental health app is actually beneficial? According to Tracie Zinman-Ibrahim, LMFT, CST, a therapist at NOCD, these apps can support your well-being, but they won’t ever get the full picture of what you’re going through, which is why a healthcare provider should always be involved.
“Let’s say you have anxiety and you’re using an anxiety reduction app, but it’s not working,” she says. “What if it’s because your doctor put you on a medication that causes anxiety? All the apps in the world aren’t going to solve that for you. You need to go to your doctor.”
Then there’s the issue where some apps claim that they’re research-based, but are unable to prove it. “A mental health app might say that this is a scientific way to solve this problem, and it’s actually not a scientific way to solve the problem,” Zinman-Ibrahim says. “They’re quoting things that aren’t from evidence-based research. Some apps can cause more harm than good with false advertising.”
The best apps for your mental health
To help you navigate the many mental health apps currently available, we’ve selected a few of our favorites based on their efficacy and scientific approach. Here are our top picks for the best free mental health apps supported by research:
Best apps for anxiety and depression
Happify: Happify was developed by mental health experts who have studied evidence-based interventions in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and positive psychology. It’s designed to help relieve anxiety and depression and encourage positive thinking. The app lets you access games, meditations, and exercises to improve your emotional well-being. A 2020 study found that using Happify significantly improved users’ well-being within six weeks.
Happify offers a monthly subscription and lifetime membership if you want access to more features—such as additional games, activities, and a 20-page character report.
MindShift CBT: The MindShift CBT app uses science-backed CBT strategies to help you become more relaxed and mindful, develop new ways of thinking, and take proactive steps to manage your anxiety and depression. According to research, MindShift CBT can help reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression among its users.
The app offers several features, including healthy habits, coping cards, a thought journal, guided meditations, and much more. If you’re seeking community, Mindshift CBT recently added a forum that provides peer-to-peer support with others managing anxiety and depression.
Best apps for PTSD
PTSD Coach: PTSD Coach is a free app from the National Center for PTSD and the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Center for Telehealth & Technology. It was initially designed for veterans who have experienced trauma, but it is now available for public use. A randomized controlled trial involving veterans discovered that the PTSD Coach app improved patient-reported symptoms of severe PTSD.
The app offers information on PTSD and a variety of helpful tools, such as guided relaxation exercises, soothing sounds, and screening and tracking tools to help you manage your symptoms.
Best apps for ADHD
Inflow: Inflow uses a science-based program backed by CBT principles to help people regain control of their ADHD. A 2022 study revealed that using this ADHD app over seven weeks led to self-reported decreases in ADHD symptoms and impairment. The Inflow app offers features like journaling, daily challenges, accountability coaching, self-paced courses, a community with other ADHDers, and access to live events with experts.
Before joining the app, you’ll take an ADHD quiz and be invited to do a free, 7-week trial to get a feel for what Inflow offers. Once the trial commences, you can continue your membership with a monthly or annual subscription.
Best apps for OCD
NOCD: If you have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the evidence-based NOCD app can provide helpful resources and support as you navigate treatment. A 2023 retrospective observational analysis discovered that participants who completed therapy with NOCD experienced a reduction in severe OCD symptoms. On the free version of the app, you can access insightful articles on OCD and many other mental health conditions, connect with others in the community and share your experiences, log your fears (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions), and join in on live Q&A sessions with OCD experts.
If you become a paid member, you’ll unlock additional features like treatment with a licensed therapist specializing in exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy—the gold standard treatment for OCD—and the ability to enroll in various support groups that cover common OCD challenges, such as managing OCD, teens with OCD, hoarding, and more.
Virtual OCD treatment that accepts insurance
Best apps for insomnia
CBT-i Coach: Developed by the National Center for PTSD, Stanford School of Medicine, and the National Center for Telehealth and Technology, CBT-i Coach is an app designed for people receiving CBT for insomnia. In a 2022 study, researchers discovered that the app improved insomnia symptoms and reduced daytime sleepiness.
The free app shares helpful knowledge on improving your sleep routine to relieve insomnia symptoms. It can be used alone but is intended to supplement treatment with a licensed healthcare professional.
Best apps for kids
Breath, Think, Do with Sesame Street: Created by the popular children’s television show, the Breathe, Think, Do app is a resource for children to develop social-emotional learning (SEL) skills like problem-solving, planning, self-control, and task persistence. A 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis reported that using SEL interventions can help children self-regulate their emotions and build their interpersonal skills.
In this research-based app, kids must help their Sesame Street friends navigate various challenges through deep breathing exercises, brainstorming, and problem-solving. Kids are also exposed to emotional vocabulary and personalized motivational messaging to support their mental well-being while playing on the app.
Mightier: Mightier is a kid’s app tested and developed at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital. The app combines digital gaming with off-screen activities to help kids learn coping skills to improve their emotional well-being. Tailored to kids ages 6 to 14, Mightier offers more than 25 games that teach emotion regulation. Research revealed that the games on this app can significantly reduce aggressive behaviors in children with anger dyscontrol.
The Mightier Parent app is a supplemental app to Mightier that helps parents and guardians track their child’s progress, connect with other parents in the program, and get live tech support. Mightier offers a two-week free trial to try out all the features before requiring an annual subscription.
Best apps for addiction recovery
SMART Recovery: The SMART Recovery app provides support, guidance, and community during addiction recovery. SMART (Self-Management and Recovery Training) is an evidence-based method that implements Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) and CBT strategies that can help with substance use recovery. A 2023 study revealed that among several SMART Recovery groups, many participants reported improvements in alcohol abstinence and their mental and physical well-being. The free app offers an educational toolkit, a meeting finder to connect with the community in-person or online, daily motivation, and a log to manage cravings.
Best apps for meditation
Calm: You may already be familiar with this app, but if you aren’t, Calm encourages mindfulness and relaxation that can relieve stress and anxiety and improve your sleep. The app uses evidence-based strategies to create a variety of guided meditations, sleep stories narrated by celebrities, and curated soundtracks. You can also access other content, including breathing exercises and journal prompts. One randomized controlled trial revealed that Calm improves sleep, while another found that it can also increase self-compassion and reduce stress.
Calm offers some features for free, but a premium membership is required to access everything the app offers.
Headspace: Headspace is a mindfulness and meditation app that aims to provide lifelong mental health support to its users. It uses evidence-based strategies like Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) to reduce stress and anxiety, boost mood, and improve sleep. The app’s features include daily meditations, sleep sounds, breathing exercises, mental health coaching, progress trackers, self-care tools, and much more. One randomized controlled trial discovered that using Headspace could reduce stress and aggression and improve self-compassion and focus.
You can try Headspace for free by signing up for a 7 or 14-day trial. However, a monthly or annual subscription is required when the trial commences.
Healthy Minds Program: Healthy Minds Program is a free app that teaches you practical skills to “train” your mind. The app guides you through a framework of four pillars—awareness, connection, insight, and purpose—to help you improve your mental health and well-being. According to a 2020 study, these four pillars are linked to specific networks in the brain and can be strengthened through meditation and other mindful activities. In the app, you can partake in active and seated meditations, listen to podcast-style lessons, and track changes in your well-being.
Mental health apps are not a substitute for professional help
Although these apps can be great for your mental health, they shouldn’t replace treatment with a licensed mental health professional. “You can’t use only an app to solve mental health problems,” Zinman-Ibrahim says. “There aren’t any apps that provide a licensed therapist who can do a proper assessment, keep track of what’s going on, and then figure out if there are other disorders that need a different treatment.”
You can’t use only an app to solve mental health problems.
Specialized treatment is necessary for mental health conditions. Treatment for OCD, in particular, is most successful if you’re receiving ERP therapy. ERP involves a therapist specializing in this evidence-based therapy, exposing you to what triggers your intrusive thoughts, images, or urges. The second aspect of ERP includes response prevention techniques, which are strategies you can use to resist compulsions and go on about your day.
OCD treatment you can afford
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How to find the help you need
All things considered, it’s probably best not to rely entirely on these apps for your mental health needs. Mental health conditions require diagnosis, treatment, and management from licensed health professionals who have your best interest in mind.
That said, a few of the mental health apps on this list can supplement therapy or medication treatments. “If somebody is in treatment for a sleep issue, having a sleep app can be helpful, as you can plug that in as part of your treatment,” Zinman-Ibrahim says. “Also, for instance, if I have somebody who has anxiety at work, I might say, ‘You can open the Calm app and do one of those 5-minute mindfulness exercises,’ or something along those lines.”
Another example is the NOCD app, a tool designed to be used in conjunction with treatment from a therapist. According to Zinman-Ibrahim, you can access your therapy homework and exchange messages with your assigned therapist through a paid membership. However, the actual OCD treatment is not delivered directly in the app and is done on a separate platform.
These apps are a great starting point for supporting your mental well-being, but working with a licensed therapist is what can make a world of a difference.