Self-Guided CBT Apps
Apps you use on your own to practice cognitive behavioral therapy techniques, track your mood, and build coping skills. Several offer optional coaching as an add-on, but the core experience is self-directed.
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Sanvello started as Pacifica in 2013 and has grown into one of the more complete self-help apps in the mental-health space. It pairs mood tracking, CBT exercises, and guided journeys with optional human coaching or therapy tiers, and some US insurers cover the therapy option in-network.
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MindShift CBT is a free app from Anxiety Canada designed specifically for anxiety. It teaches CBT techniques for calming physical symptoms, challenging unhelpful thoughts, and working through gradual exposure to feared situations.
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Wysa is an AI chatbot that guides you through CBT exercises and mood check-ins anonymously, with no account required to start. Optional human coaching is available as an add-on, and independent research has found it effective for reducing mild to moderate anxiety and depression symptoms.
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Youper is an AI-guided emotional health assistant that runs short conversational check-ins grounded in CBT, ACT, and DBT frameworks. It tracks mood patterns, suggests targeted exercises, and builds a picture of your emotional habits over weeks of use.
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Finch is a self-care app that uses a gamified virtual pet to make daily mental health habits stick. You complete mood check-ins, breathing exercises, and CBT-flavored reflections to earn care points for your bird, lowering the friction of showing up every day.
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Moodfit pairs mood tracking with a broad set of CBT tools, including a thought journal, gratitude log, and validated assessments for depression and anxiety. You can export mood and medication charts to share with a therapist or prescriber.