Therapy apps, coaching apps, relaxation apps: 13 apps compared

Type “therapy”, “psychology” or “mindfulness” into the App Store and you get hundreds of results, almost all with 4.5 stars or more. We cannot test them all. But we took a closer look at 13 well-known apps: what their App Store pages promise, what studies and consumer testers found, and what users actually write.

This article complements our basic guide Therapy app or coaching app?, which covers what apps can do in principle. Here we look at specific apps.

The overview: three categories

For context: a large meta-analysis led by the Australian psychologist Jake Linardon, the American psychiatrist John Torous and the Dutch psychologist Pim Cuijpers found small but reliable effects of apps on symptoms of depression and anxiety across 176 trials¹. Individual apps may do better or worse. That is exactly why it pays to look at the specific app.

Category 1: Relaxation and meditation apps

In 2021, Stiftung Warentest tested ten meditation apps with German-language guidance, including Headspace, Calm, 7Mind and Insight Timer. It could recommend only two. Six apps were rated only “adequate”, often because of a missing coherent concept or weak evidence, and it found clear data protection shortcomings in all of them⁵. The test dates from 2021, and the apps have changed since. The individual ratings are behind a paywall.

An independent trial from the University of Jena led by Constance Karing stands out: students who practised with 7Mind for four weeks improved in mindfulness and stress. But so did all the other groups, including a communication course used for comparison⁴. Meditation can do you good. That the app itself makes the difference has not been shown.

Category 2: Therapy apps (DiGA) and therapy-oriented self-help

In Stiftung Warentest’s 2021 test of nine apps for anxiety disorders, HelloBetter and Velibra were rated “good” because their concept is coherent and their effectiveness is shown in robust studies. The testers stress that such apps do not replace a session with a psychiatrist or psychotherapist, but can bridge the waiting time and complement therapy⁶. Many users in the App Store describe them in exactly this way.

An important difference between the apps is human support. Harald Baumeister and colleagues found that guided online programmes are completed more often and work better than programmes people work through entirely alone²¹.

Category 3: Coaching and self-reflection apps

With AI apps in particular, it is worth looking at what people write in online communities. A team led by Sanguk Lee analysed 517 Reddit posts about AI and mental well-being. The most frequently named benefits were emotional support, companionship and accessibility. Among the challenges, possible adverse effects came first, followed by a lack of depth and emotional connection¹⁸. In mental health communities, a lack of depth was named about 2.5 times as often as in AI communities¹⁸.

All apps at a glance

“Partly” for trials: evidence only for individual programmes, with limitations, only as an observational study, or without published results yet. “Partly” for support: optional or only at extra cost. As of 5 November 2026.

What users really write

In the App Store, almost all apps in this comparison have 4.6 stars or more. Only Selfapy is clearly lower at 3.1. On Trustpilot, the picture for the big meditation apps is very different:

The difference has a simple reason: in the App Store, it is mostly people who are using and enjoying the app who leave ratings. On Trustpilot, it is mostly people who are annoyed, usually about automatic subscription renewals, refused refunds and hard-to-reach support¹⁹²⁰. Trustpilot itself notes that these reviews may not be representative¹⁹. The low scores say little about the content. They do say something about the business model.

Studies that systematically analyse large numbers of reviews paint a similar picture:

• Usability decides. An analysis of 13,549 reviews of 106 apps found that poor usability was the most common reason for giving up an app. People praised simple interfaces, variety and settings they could adapt¹⁶.
• Paywalls and ads annoy. In more than 750 App Store reviews of five mood and journaling apps, people mainly complained about technical problems after updates, paywalls, subscription prompts and ads¹⁷.
• Stars say little. The conclusion of the same study: star ratings alone are not enough to show whether an app meets users’ needs¹⁷.
• Recommendations keep people going. People who had an app recommended by friends, family or a therapist were more likely to stick with it, even despite technical problems¹⁷.

Which app suits you?

1. Are you in an acute crisis right now?

   YesNo app. Get help now: crisis line or 112

   NoOn to the next question

2. Have you been feeling bad for weeks, or is daily life barely working?

   YesTalk to your GP or a psychotherapy practice. In Germany, they can also prescribe a DiGA such as HelloBetter, Selfapy or deprexis.

   NoOn to the next question

3. What would you like?

   To switch offRelaxation apps like 7Mind, Headspace, Calm or Insight Timer

   To understand myselfCoaching and reflection apps like How We Feel, Rosebud or MindMotion

Before you sign up for an annual subscription, the checklist from the American Psychiatric Association’s evaluation model helps: who is behind it, what happens to my data, what is the app based on, and do I like coming back²²? And a very practical tip from the Trustpilot reviews: note down when your free trial ends.

Where MindMotion stands

MindMotion is not a therapy app and does not provide psychotherapy. We are a tool for psychological self-reflection, closer to coaching. The difference from the apps above: MindMotion starts with a specific conflict in your daily life, at work or in your relationship for example, and looks for the inner pattern behind it together with you. Its foundation is the OPD conflict model; read more in Understanding inner conflicts.

To be honest: MindMotion is still a prototype, and there is no study of it yet. Which change factors we implement and where we are still weak is shown openly in What makes change work. What the app looks like can be seen in How MindMotion works.

Frequently asked questions

Try our prototype

The prototype is free and works without sign-up. Start the Mind-Check, pick a conflict from your daily life and see which pattern lies behind it. And tell us honestly what is better than in other apps and what is worse.