Jul 18, 2024
Rates of mental illness and mental health issues are increasing. Although talk therapy is one of the most powerful methods to address mental health issues, it isn’t always possible for everyone. Most therapists aren’t available 24/7, for one, and your anxiety or depression likely doesn’t take a break on the weekends.
If you find yourself wanting a little extra support in between therapy sessions, you may turn to mental health apps. But this can prove to be a frustrating experience. Mental health apps will boast being free and then hide their most useful tools behind expensive paywalls and subscription fees. Finding affordable therapy is important for those who don’t have insurance or can’t afford their copay amounts.
At Lifebulb, we believe everyone has the right to quality mental health. Our experts have put together a list of 7 of the best mental health apps, and they’re all completely free! No need to sign up for a free trial you’ll forget to cancel, just download the app and start feeling better today.
Screen time can negatively affect our mental health, but technology also offers so many positives. Make your phone work for you by engaging in helpful, fun, and comforting apps.
7 Best Mental Health Apps for Free
Here are seven mental health apps that are free to use. While not substitutes for proffesional counseling and therapy, these apps are a good option for people looking for a little extra support, bridge the gaps in between therapy sessions, or who can't afford to see a full-time counselor.
1. Best for creating happiness: Happify
Created by scientists, researchers, and therapists, Happify uses mood tracking, games, and exercises to stop negative thoughts and create positivity. Relying heavily on positive psychology, their scientists based their free mental health app on four core findings: Humans are hardwired for negativity (because of evolution!). However, our brains can change (because of neuroplasticity), adapting new thoughts is possible (by training our brain like a muscle), and it’s easier than most people think! They claim only a few minutes of their brain-training exercises will result in less negativity and more positivity.
2. Best CBT app: Mindshift
Mindshift CBT uses scientifically proven cognitive-behavioral methods to help you relax, release anxiety, and become less stressed. It is specifically for anxiety disorders, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety, and Phobias, as well as issues like perfectionism and worry. Mindshift helps you form healthier habits, and restructure thoughts through “coping cards”, a thought journal, and belief experiments where users can learn how to set up experiments that test beliefs that fuel anxiety. In their newest upgrade, they added a community forum, so you can get peer-to-peer support from people who understand what you’re going through.
3. Best for addictions: QuitNow!
It can be a long and lonely journey towards sobriety. QuitNow! seeks to change that by combining a community forum with habit trackers to stay on track with your quitting. Originally built for smokers, you can now add other addictions you want to quit. Track more than one at a time or focus on just one. It tracks how many days you’ve been substance-free, how much money you’ve saved, and other helpful information. It also breaks down quitting into actionable steps so it’s not quite so overwhelming.
There is a pro version of this, but we’ve found the free version to be just as effective.
4. Best for depression: Shmoody
Is it helpful to have cute graphics and gentle music as you track your depression symptoms? It certainly doesn’t hurt! Shmoody calls itself “the fun to use mental health app”, and we have to agree. From a soothing color palette to in-app gentle music and cute graphics, Shmoody makes it easy to track mood and symptoms, make a plan for the day based on your energy levels and goals, practice healthy coping skills like breathing exercises, and connect with friends and others who are going through similar things.
One of our favorite things about this app is its ability to add an “inner circle” and send encouragement to your friends. It also hosts a number of free meditation music and sounds, making it quick and easy to find some peace and calm.
For an extra cost, Shmoody can also connect you with a personal therapist. While we found we didn’t need this extra function to fully enjoy the app, it’s nice to have the option in the app.
5. Best for anxiety: Rootd
Rootd has made it clear that they plan to keep their core functions free, so you can rest assured that your favorite features won't be hidden behind a paywall one day. One of our favorite aspects of Rootd is their “Panic button”. It’s a big button you can press on the app at any point when you start to feel panicked. It gives you two options: address the anxiety head-on or get comfort right away. The app can guide you through panic attacks, but it also helps you with many preventative measures. It teaches users about anxiety, healthy coping mechanisms that can provide immediate anxiety relief, and habits that can lead to long-term healing.
If you’re someone who struggles with anxiety or panic attacks, Rootd is a great free option for you.
6. Best for sleep: BetterSleep
Many sleep apps are putting their best sleep sounds, sleepscapes, and sleep meditations behind a paywall. While BetterSleep does offer premium sounds, recordings, and meditations, we’re impressed by the amount of access their free version still has. It kept its interface simple, with a focus on sleep sounds, stories, and sleep scapes that can help you sleep. It also has helpful reminders to start winding down, you can track your sleep, and you can record yourself to know what kinds of noises you make as you sleep.
7. Best for meditation: Insight Timer
Insight timer boasts one of the biggest free libraries of meditations. It also has a premium version, but unless you’re racking a lot of hours of meditation, we think this is the perfect app for beginner to intermediate meditations or people who want to learn about mindfulness and meditation. They offer diverse meditations for varying needs. Choose a favorite instructor, type, or length of meditation and get immediate relief from anxiety, depression, grief, insomnia, worry, panic, and more.
Affordable Therapy for Mental Health
If these apps aren’t enough, you could benefit from the support of a licensed therapist. Lifebulb has a team of over 100 licensed therapists, social workers, and couples counselors you can choose from. We accept most major insurances, so the average cost of therapy is between $30-$50.
Reach out to our team and be connected with a therapist near you who specializes in anxiety, depression, trauma, relationships, or more.
