There are many mobile apps available to help people manage their mental health and practice meditation and mindfulness. Many of them seem to have similar features and functions – how do you know what to trust?

We had the same question. That’s why we enlisted the help of Doctorpedia’s Chief Medical Content Officer Dr. Alexandra Kreps, Chief Mental Health Officer Dr. Benjamin Hamburger, and a user seeking support for their mental health to help us review these apps from multiple perspectives.

We asked each of them to review the apps based on Doctorpedia’s comprehensive set of criteria, designed to fully encapsulate the quality of the app. These apps are rated on a scale of 1-10, where each aspect of the app has a separate rating. Categories that make up the total rating include Effectiveness, Functionality, Design, User-friendliness/Ease of use, and Credibility.

The Effectiveness category evaluates the effectiveness of the app; how well it does what it’s advertised to do.

The Functionality category evaluates the functions of the app; how many features it offers to the user.

The Design category evaluates the app’s design; how visually pleasing it is to the user.

The User-friendliness / Ease of use category evaluates how easy the app is to use; if it’s comprehensible or difficult to navigate.

The Credibility category evaluates the credibility of the app’s content; do its features have any scientific basis?

And finally, the Total Score category rates the app based on the combined rating of all the other categories.

In the chart below, you can see the scores for each of the apps arranged in order of their overall performance. Below the chart, we’ll give a more detailed overview of each of the apps, provide notes that each reviewer left, and provide you with links to download them if you’re interested in using them.

1. Headspace

Headspace is a meditation app packed with features to help you achieve mindfulness and be at peace with yourself. The app is geared towards beginners who want to start incorporating meditation into their lives. It offers a free “Basics” course for this exact purpose — to teach you the fundamentals of meditation.

The app is different from other meditation apps in part due to its “Sleep by Headspace” feature. It’s an option mainly for those who have trouble sleeping. It will help you drift off to sleep with peaceful soundtracks and calming music. Besides that, you can also opt for a sleep meditation which slowly guides you through the process of falling asleep until you are already there.

The “Basics” course is free, but if you want to unlock the full Headspace experience, you’ll need to sign up for a membership plan — at $12 per month or $69.99 per year. The app is incredibly popular, with 607,000 ratings on the App Store, and it’s even earned the honor of an Editors’ Choice emblem. So it seems that the premium option is definitely worth considering for those who want to make meditation a part of their lives.

After signing up for the paid plan, you’ll receive hundreds of guided meditations on any subject that you can think of. In addition, you will unlock the “meditate with friends” option which does exactly what it sounds like. You will also be able to participate in “mini meditations” which only require 2-3 minutes of your time to completely refresh your mental state.

2. Insight Timer

When someone is stressed out or worried, they often have trouble abandoning their negative feelings. Instead of fixing their problems, they may opt for an easier solution: using unhealthy coping mechanisms to forget their troubles. But many aren’t aware that there are healthy and effective ways to calm down and regain control. One solution in particular comes in the form of meditation, an ancient practice that makes it easy to clear your mind. 

With a little work, anyone can make meditation a part of their lives and turn to it when they’re feeling down. Beginners, though, may find it difficult to adopt such a foreign practice. With this in mind, thousands of developers have released meditation apps for mobile devices over the years. Not all of these apps are functional or user-friendly but a handful of them are of a high quality. Insight Timer is one of these.

The app, which received the App of the Year award from Time Magazine and claims to be the “number 1 free meditation app,” offers thousands of guided meditations, many of which are led by mindfulness experts, psychologists, and neuroscientists, along with researchers from prestigious schools like Harvard. The user-friendly interface makes it easy for beginners to jump right in and choose a meditation from any of the app’s categories, which include Anxiety, Stress, Sleep, Addiction Recovery, Focus and Concentration, and many more. 

Those who want some community advice can even join a number of groups where users can discuss various aspects of meditation and other spiritual topics.

The app is completely free to use. However, those who want a little more have the option to purchase a premium subscription to the app for $59.99 a year. The premium subscription unlocks features such as “insight courses,” offline listening, and advanced audio features along with improved sound quality.

3. Talkspace

Talkspace is an online therapy service that assigns you a therapist and lets you talk to them whenever you need to. The service first matches you up with a licensed therapist, depending on your specific needs, and then you can simply send them a message whenever. The Talkspace team partnered with thousands of therapists in order to give users a wide range of options to find the right match.

After signing up for the service – which starts at $65 per month for the basic plan – you chat with different therapists until you find one that you connect with. Then, you are “matched” with them and will continue to work with them from that point on. After the initial setup, you can message your therapist at any point during the day and they’ll respond accordingly. The entire process is completely encrypted through the Talkspace servers, so there should be no concerns about lack of privacy.

In addition, Talkspace works with many employers and organizations to provide discounted plans for employees. If you are eligible for a discount, you may choose your relevant organization from an extensive list and proceed. This is an attractive feature for those concerned about pricing.

Finally, the entire system is based on a scientific study from Columbia University which claims that Talkspace users experience a whopping 50% reduction in depression symptoms and a 57% drop in anxiety symptoms after only 4 months of using the app. Not only do users of the app experience a severe reduction in symptoms, but employers also benefit: according to the Talkspace website, users of the app are 36% more productive in the workplace.

4. Calm

Calm is one of the highest-rated apps for improving sleep quality, learning to meditate, and simply entering a relaxed state of mind. In fact, it’s the #2 app in the “Health & Fitness” category on the App Store and has close to a million reviews. The app boasts a number of titles such as “Best of 2018 Award Winner,” “2017 App of the Year,” and “Happiest App in the World.” Based on this info alone, you can tell that Calm is likely very effective at helping users ease all sorts of mental troubles.

The app is separated into categories, which are related to sleep, meditation, and relaxation. If you’re having sleep troubles, you can choose a bedtime story from an extensive list and listen to it while drifting off. Many of these stories are voiced by celebrities, including Stephen Fry, Matthew McConaughey, Leona Lewis, and Jerome Flynn. Those who prefer to meditate can also treat themselves by choosing a mindfulness meditation such as Managing Stress, Happiness, Gratitude, Self-Esteem and Forgiveness. More seasoned meditators can enter one of Calm’s series of mindfulness programs, or an audio-based Calm Masterclass. Finally, those who simply want to relax and unwind can listen to a calming soundtrack while performing a breathing exercise — all within the app. 

Calm is free to use but offers a premium membership for $69.99 a year. Premium users get access to more meditations and other features. More dedicated users can even purchase a lifetime subscription for $399.99.

5. Relax Melodies

Relax Melodies is an app for people who have trouble falling asleep. It has reached the #35 spot in the Health & Fitness category in the App Store, and has over 180,000 reviews. According to Business Insider, it’s “the most positively reviewed app in the history of the Apple App Store.”  What makes it so popular?

For starters, Relax Melodies claims to help you fall asleep in minutes. It aims to help you accomplish this with a combination of Soothing Sounds, Bedtime Stories, Sleep Meditations, and SleepMoves, which are key features of the app. According to the Relax Melodies team, millions of people use it to fall asleep every night. The app comes with over 100 relaxing audio tracks including nature sounds, ASMR sounds, meditation music, and white noise.

But that’s not all: A big component of Relax Melodies is its selection of guided meditations, one for every condition in the book. These techniques were developed by sleep professionals. And for kids who can’t fall asleep, you have the option to choose from a selection of bedtime stories of different genres. For those who have tried meditation and nature sounds and found them to be ineffective, there are ASMR tracks and binaural beats as well.

6. Stop, Breathe & Think

Stop, Breathe & Think is an award winning app that helps you manage your feelings via guided meditations. The app has won the 2017 Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Health App and has been featured by numerous magazines and publications. It has over 3 million downloads on Apple’s App Store.

The app’s creators emphasize the importance of taking a few minutes per day to calm your mind. In the app itself, you’ll find over 55 meditations to accomplish this task. The meditations are focused on stress, anxiety, depression, focus, compassion, sleep, and more.

The app features a customizable meditation timer, an option to meditate at the start and end of your day, and an emotion tracker to see how you feel before and after completing a meditation exercise. Of course, you can also share meditations with your friends. The app also integrates with Apple Health.

Women’s entertainment magazine Cosmopolitan said that the app “stands out with its customization tools: it analyzes your current mood through a short survey, then leads you through guided meditations based on the results.”

Stop, Breathe & Think is free to use, but offers a paid subscription which unlocks premium content such as additional meditations. The premium plan is $9.99 per month or $58.99 per year.

7. MoodKit

MoodKit is an app that uses the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help you change your life and develop a positive mindset. The app was developed by two clinical psychologists. Features of MoodKit include over 200 mood improvement activities, calendar integration, custom journal templates, exportable Mood Charts and much more. 

MoodKit comes with a variety of tools to help you improve your mood, such as MoodKit Activities – a number of psychological techniques that you can utilize to improve your well-being. Another tool is MoodTracker, which enables you to track and rate your daily mood. You can rate your mood multiple times per day and even view a chart of your mood over time. Additionally, MoodKit Journal is another feature that allows you to keep a journal of your mood-related activities and observations. You can also create your own journal templates to use repeatedly.

The app was featured in a number of magazines including London Times, NY Times, LA Times, Harvard Business Review, CNET, Discover Magazine and more. Numerous experts use MoodKit, including Dennis Greenberger, Ph.D., Co-author of Mind Over Mood, who said, about the app: “If you are looking for a greater sense of optimism, an improved mood and a greater sense of control over your life, open up the MoodKit app.”

MoodKit has an average 4.5 star rating on the Apple App Store and takes the #143 spot in the Health and Fitness category. The app is unfortunately unavailable for Android. MoodKit costs $4.99 per month.

8. Declutter The Mind

Declutter The Mind is an app that does what its name says. It offers free guided meditations to aid various conditions including anxiety, stress, sleep, anger, and more. The goal of the app is to help you to achieve peace of mind. All you have to do is find a quiet spot somewhere, choose a guided meditation from the extensive list that the app offers, and begin.

The app offers different meditations that are all different lengths. If you don’t have an hour to spare, you can choose a 20-minute guided meditation and relax. Meditation is a timeless art that is proven to promote feelings of relaxation and calmness, and help you deal with the stress of everyday life. Declutter The Mind provides meditations without the need for any external devices or special meditation equipment.

Features include daily guided meditations, a 30-day mindfulness course, a daily reminder option to help you remember to meditate, statistics that track how long you’ve been meditating, and even a timer that you can set for a custom-length meditation session. Upcoming features include live guided meditations, group sessions, and a friends list so you can share different meditations with friends and family.

Besides the numerous free guided meditations that the app offers, you also have the option to register for meditation courses which cost $7.99 per month, or $79.99 per year. 

9. Moodnotes

Moodnotes is an app that aims to help you improve your thinking habits with CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.) It was developed by a team of design experts and clinical psychologists.

The app takes a step-by-step approach to help you take control of your feelings. First, you tell Moodnotes how you’re feeling. The app will ask you a series of questions about your mood, including your current emotional state. Based on your input, Moodnotes will offer you advice on how you can think more positively in the future. The app focuses on the idea of “traps” which are essentially predictions that your brain makes, which cause you to approach situations with a negative mindset. The goal of the app is to help you avoid these mental traps and live life with healthier thinking habits.

Moodnotes was featured by Apple in the App Store Today tab story “All The Feels,” and made the Tech Insider “100 World’s Greatest Apps” list. Additionally, Moodnotes was a Fast Company’s 2016 Innovation By Design Awards finalist. The app has also been featured in numerous publications including Wired, The Guardian, Business Insider, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Lifehacker, Mindful, Mashable, Vogue, and more.

10. Moment

Moment is an app designed to help you use your phone less. Nowadays, people use their phones far too often and spend hours a day on social media, which can lead to depression and decreased quality of life. Moment aims to help you cut down on your phone usage and track how long you spend on your phone every day. 

The app features a number of different methods to help you spend less time on your phone. One of these features is “Device Addiction Coaching” which, according to their App Store description, will “improve health, wellness and focus by reducing your phone usage.” Another feature is “Screen Time Management & Measurement,” a section of the app which allows you to monitor how much time you spend using various apps on your phone, and which ones you use most frequently.

Moment also has a “Parental Control & Family Time” option to set screen time limits for your kids, allowing you to spend more time with them doing other offline activities. 

The app does offer a paid subscription at $7.99 per month or $59.99 per year, which unlocks “pro” features for advanced users.

11. Self-Help for Anxiety Management (SAM)

Self-Help for Anxiety Management (abbreviated as SAM) is an anxiety management app developed by the University of the West of England that offers various self-help methods of managing anxiety. The application offers a range of features, including clear menus, 25 self-help options and a closed social network of SAM users.

The app was developed by a team of scientists and researchers, and it made the 2018 Best Apps Anxiety list on Healthline. In the app itself, you’ll find numerous activities and functions designed to curb your anxious thoughts, such as breathing exercises and an anxiety monitor that you can adjust accordingly and use to track your anxiety over time. Additionally, the application features external links which you can visit if you need further resources on managing your anxiety.

12. Breathe2Relax

Breathe2Relax is a stress management app that aims to help you control your breathing to manage stress in times of need. It is known that controlling your breathing can promote positive feelings, calm you down, and reduce anxiety and anger. This app helps you do just that, with a simple mechanism that guides you through the process of breathing in a certain way to minimize stress and negative thoughts.

The app is very easy to use: just tap the blue “breathe” button and begin. It tells you exactly when, how, and for how long to inhale and exhale, making the process very easy. The app can also connect to your Apple Watch to measure your exact heart rate, however this is not required for it to function. 

Breathe2Relax was developed by the National Center for Telehealth and Technology, an agency of the Military Health System in the United States. Other stress management apps developed by the agency include PTSD Coach, Tactical Breather, and T2 MoodTracker.

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