Best Of · Last reviewed August 24, 2026

The Best CBT Apps for Teens (2026)

Most CBT apps are designed for adults. We tested 6 with explicit teen content — what's age-appropriate, what's clinically grounded, what's safe. Honest 2026 ranking with parent + clinician considerations.

In crisis? Call or text 988 — Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, free and 24/7.

At a glance

Click any row for the in-depth section below.

#	App	Best for	Pricing	Platforms
1	Mightier	Younger teens (and tweens) building emotional regulation through gameplay + biofeedback	Subscription ~$25/mo or $300/yr (includes heart-rate monitor)	iOS, Android (tablet preferred)
2	MindShift CBT	Older teens (15-18) working through anxiety with structured CBT exercises	Free, fully	iOS, Android
3	Sanvello (DISCONTINUED)	(Used to be: a teen tier for ages 14-18 with structured CBT, mood tracking, and peer community)	(No longer available to consumers — access is via an employer or health plan)	(Delisted from the App Store and Google Play)
4	Wysa for Teens	Teens preferring chat-based interaction over journaling or exercises	Free tier; Premium varies; School/clinic partnerships often free for teens	iOS, Android
5	ILTY	Older teens (16-18) with parental support who want direct-talk over gentle support	Free download; subscription after onboarding $12	iOS and Android
6	Woebot (sunset notice)	Reference only — service discontinued	Discontinued	Discontinued.

#1 · Mightier
Younger teens (and tweens) building emotional regulation through gameplay + biofeedback
Price
Subscription ~$25/mo or $300/yr (includes heart-rate monitor)
On
iOS, Android (tablet preferred)
#2 · MindShift CBT
Older teens (15-18) working through anxiety with structured CBT exercises
Price
Free, fully
On
iOS, Android
#3 · Sanvello (DISCONTINUED)
(Used to be: a teen tier for ages 14-18 with structured CBT, mood tracking, and peer community)
Price
(No longer available to consumers — access is via an employer or health plan)
On
(Delisted from the App Store and Google Play)
#4 · Wysa for Teens
Teens preferring chat-based interaction over journaling or exercises
Price
Free tier; Premium varies; School/clinic partnerships often free for teens
On
iOS, Android
#5 · ILTY
Older teens (16-18) with parental support who want direct-talk over gentle support
Price
Free download; subscription after onboarding $12
On
iOS and Android
#6 · Woebot (sunset notice)
Reference only — service discontinued
Price
Discontinued
On
Discontinued.

How we evaluated these apps

Inclusion rule: apps in this list must either (a) have an explicit teen-targeted track, (b) be designed for ages 13-18 from the ground up, or (c) be clinically appropriate for teens with parental support. Adult-only general apps were excluded even if useful.

Why teen-specific matters: adolescent mental health is developmentally distinct from adult presentations. Apps that work for adult anxiety (long reflective journaling, dense psychoeducation) often fail with teens (low engagement, dropout). Teen-effective apps tend to use shorter sessions, gamification, biofeedback, or social-skill scaffolding.

Evaluation: each app tested for (1) age-appropriateness of content and UX, (2) clinical evidence base specifically in adolescent populations, (3) safety features (crisis routing, suicidal-ideation handling, content moderation), (4) parental visibility settings, (5) pricing accessibility for families.

YMYL caveat: this is a Your-Money-Your-Life topic and teens are a vulnerable population. If your teen has active suicidal ideation, self-harm, or eating disorder symptoms, no app is the right primary intervention — please see a clinician. These tools are for prevention, mild-to-moderate symptoms, and adjunct support.

Disclosure

ILTY is the publisher of this roundup. ILTY is one of the apps reviewed; we are positioned at #5, not #1. ILTY is NOT designed primarily for teens — our companion personalities are tuned for adult conversational patterns. We include ourselves with explicit caveats because some older teens (16-18) with parental support may find the direct-talk companion useful, but Mightier, MindShift, and Wysa Teen are better primary picks for most teens. (Sanvello used to sit in that list; its consumer app has been discontinued — see its entry below.) Pricing accurate as of May 16, 2026. Update, August 13, 2026: this list was audited for discontinued products after two apps were found still being recommended sitewide after they had shut down. Corrections applied here are marked in the entries themselves. Note the limit of this pass: it looked for dead and dying products, and did not re-verify pricing, ratings, or hands-on impressions for the apps that are still live — those still date from the original testing round.

The research behind this

Rankings on this page draw on The 2026 State of AI Mental Health Apps, our own study of 15 apps across 8 criteria. Crisis handling was tested by hand: the same four escalating messages typed into every app, screenshots kept. Four of them never produced a crisis number. Every score is published with the reasoning behind it, including ILTY’s, and the rubric is CC-BY if you would rather score apps yourself.

The apps, in detail

#1 · Mightier

Best for: Younger teens (and tweens) building emotional regulation through gameplay + biofeedback

Biofeedback-based emotional-regulation game clinically validated for ages 6-15.

Mightier is the strongest teen mental health tool in the market today, particularly for ages 8-14. The biofeedback game format works where traditional CBT apps fail with this age group. For older teens (16+), it may feel too young — but for tweens and younger teens with anxiety or anger regulation issues, this is the first pick.

Strengths

+Built by Boston Children's Hospital clinicians — strongest research base in this category
+Biofeedback approach (heart rate via included monitor) makes emotional-regulation skills tangible for teens
+Game format fits teen engagement patterns far better than journaling or chat
+Peer-reviewed evidence in pediatric populations

Where it falls short

−Subscription is expensive — though insurance reimbursement is sometimes available
−Designed for ages 6-15 — older teens may find it too gamified
−Hardware-dependent (heart-rate monitor included)

Pricing

Subscription ~$25/mo or $300/yr (includes heart-rate monitor).

Platforms

iOS, Android (tablet preferred)

vs. ILTY

Mightier is the right pick for younger teens (under 16). ILTY is conversational and adult-targeted; it's the wrong tool for this age group.

Visit Mightier →

#2 · MindShift CBT

Best for: Older teens (15-18) working through anxiety with structured CBT exercises

Free CBT app from Anxiety Canada — explicitly safe for teen use with parent oversight.

MindShift is the best free CBT option for teens. It's not teen-branded but it's clinically appropriate and the lack of cost matters for this demographic. For families that can't afford paid apps, this is the first pick — and even for families that can, MindShift competes on substance with paid options.

Strengths

+Fully free — eliminates the family-budget barrier for teens
+Built by Anxiety Canada, a respected nonprofit with strong evidence base
+Content is accessible for teens but doesn't talk down — older teens won't feel patronized
+Specific modules for social anxiety, perfectionism, and panic — all common teen presentations

Where it falls short

−UX is utilitarian — less polished than paid alternatives
−Self-guided only — no clinician or coach in the loop
−Some content assumes adult life context (work stress); teen-relevance varies by module

Pricing

Free, fully.

Platforms

iOS, Android

vs. ILTY

MindShift is structured CBT exercises; appropriate for teens. ILTY is conversational; designed for adults — most teens are better served by MindShift's structured format.

Visit MindShift CBT →

#3 · Sanvello (DISCONTINUED)

Best for: (Used to be: a teen tier for ages 14-18 with structured CBT, mood tracking, and peer community)

Consumer app delisted; folded into Optum/AbleTo as a health-plan benefit.

Kept as a historical entry because Sanvello's teen tier was widely recommended to families and parents still search for it by name. It is no longer downloadable: the consumer product was retired and absorbed into Optum/AbleTo, where access runs through an employer or health plan rather than the App Store. If Sanvello's teen tier was your plan, the closest living substitutes on this list are Wysa for Teens (the only remaining option here with an explicitly teen-tuned conversation model and teen crisis routing) and MindShift CBT (free, structured CBT appropriate for ages 15-18). Nothing on this list replaces the moderated teen peer community — that feature has no live equivalent here, and an unmoderated teen forum is not a safe substitute.

Strengths

+(Historical) Explicit teen tier with age-appropriate content moderation
+(Historical) Strong free tier — many teens didn't need to pay
+(Historical) Peer community was moderated and age-segregated
+(Historical) Therapy upgrade let older teens access licensed clinicians with parent enrollment

Where it falls short

−DISCONTINUED for consumers — verified 2026-08-13: the App Store listing returns no result, both Google Play packages 404, and sanvello.com no longer resolves. The product was folded into Optum/AbleTo, reachable only through an employer or health plan. Note that several 'Sanvello review 2026' pages still circulating quote a live 4.8 rating and $8.99/mo pricing; that data is dead.
−(Historical) Peer-community feature was a double-edged sword — both supportive and concerning content; needed parental awareness
−(Historical) Premium tier was necessary for full content depth
−(Historical) Not as clinically targeted as Mightier for younger teens

Pricing

(No longer available to consumers — access is via an employer or health plan)

Platforms

(Delisted from the App Store and Google Play)

vs. ILTY

Not a live comparison anymore. Sanvello had a teen tier and ILTY does not — but with Sanvello discontinued, the right teen picks are Mightier, MindShift CBT, or Wysa for Teens, not ILTY.

Read our full ILTY vs. Sanvello (DISCONTINUED) comparison →Visit Sanvello (DISCONTINUED) →

#4 · Wysa for Teens

Best for: Teens preferring chat-based interaction over journaling or exercises

AI chatbot with explicit teen-tuned conversation model and crisis routing.

Wysa's teen-specific tier is the best AI-chatbot option for adolescents. The conversation model is genuinely tuned for teen patterns and crisis routing is robust. If your teen wants to talk to something rather than work through exercises, this is the pick.

Strengths

+Conversation model is tuned for teen language and concerns — less likely to feel out-of-touch
+Strong crisis-routing logic (988 / Samaritans / Childline integration)
+Often deployed free through school or NHS partnerships in UK
+Built-in mood tracking and CBT exercises

Where it falls short

−Free-tier conversation quality is variable — less context retention than premium
−Some teens find AI chat lonely vs peer interaction
−Not as gamified as Mightier; engagement curve is steeper

Pricing

Free tier; Premium varies; School/clinic partnerships often free for teens.

Platforms

iOS, Android

vs. ILTY

Wysa has explicit teen tuning; ILTY does not. For teen users, Wysa is the more appropriate AI companion.

Visit Wysa for Teens →

#5 · ILTY

Best for: Older teens (16-18) with parental support who want direct-talk over gentle support

Adult-targeted AI companion. NOT teen-tuned. Older teens with parent support only.

Honest assessment: ILTY is not built for teens. We include ourselves with explicit caveats because some older teens (16-18) with parental support have reported the direct-talk companion useful. But for any teen under 16, please use Mightier, MindShift, or Wysa Teen instead — they're built for this age group. ILTY is an adult conversational tool that may have crossover use for older teens, not a teen-targeted product.

Strengths

+Direct-talk companion (Mr. Relentless) may resonate with teens frustrated by 'just breathe' messaging
+Five companion personalities allow matching to mood
+Conversation history persists across sessions

Where it falls short

−NOT designed for teens — conversation patterns assume adult context (work, relationships, finance)
−No specific teen-tuned safety features beyond standard crisis routing
−No parental visibility or oversight modes
−Hard paywall — most teens can't subscribe independently

Pricing

Free download; subscription after onboarding $12.99/mo or $99.99/yr.

Platforms

iOS and Android

Download ILTY

Free to download · 7-day trial · then $12.99/mo or $99.99/yr

Visit ILTY →

#6 · Woebot (sunset notice)

Best for: Reference only — service discontinued

Was a teen-friendly CBT chatbot; sunset June 2025. Listed for legacy reference.

Woebot was widely recommended for teens before its 2025 sunset. If you were referred to it (or have an old account), please migrate to Wysa Teen or MindShift — see our Woebot alternatives guide for the full migration map.

Strengths

+Was one of the most-cited teen CBT apps before sunset
+Strong published research base — Stanford / UCSF collaborations

Where it falls short

−Service sunset June 2025 — no longer available for new users
−If you were referred to Woebot, the closest replacements are Wysa Teen and MindShift

Pricing

Discontinued.

Platforms

Discontinued.

vs. ILTY

Woebot is discontinued; this entry exists so users searching 'Woebot for teens' find the alternatives.

Visit Woebot (sunset notice) →

Tired of evaluating apps?

ILTY is on iOS and Android. Free to download, 7-day trial, then $12.99/mo or $99.99/yr. Try it for the tough-love-processing scenario specifically — and see if the conversation feels different from the apps you've tried.

Download ILTY

Frequently asked questions

What's the best CBT app for a 14-year-old?

Mightier is the strongest evidence-based pick for ages 6-15 — biofeedback gameplay fits the developmental stage well and the clinical research is robust. For free options, MindShift CBT from Anxiety Canada is appropriate for ages 13+. For chat-based preference, Wysa Teen is age-tuned.

Are mental health apps safe for teenagers?

It depends on the app. Teen-tuned apps with explicit crisis routing (Wysa Teen, Mightier, MindShift) are generally safe for mild-to-moderate symptoms and prevention. (Sanvello's teen tier belonged on that list until its consumer app was discontinued — it is no longer downloadable.) Adult-targeted apps (most general CBT apps, ILTY, Pi, Replika) are not appropriate as primary teen tools because their conversation patterns, safety features, and content moderation are not tuned for adolescents. For any teen with active suicidal ideation, self-harm, or eating-disorder symptoms, apps are not the right primary intervention — please see a clinician.

Do CBT apps actually work for teens?

Evidence is mixed and age-dependent. Mightier has the strongest peer-reviewed evidence in pediatric populations. General CBT apps show moderate effects in older teens (16-18) similar to adult outcomes; engagement drops sharply in younger teens (13-15) using adult-format apps. Format matters more than content for this age group — games beat journaling, chat beats exercises, short beats long.

What's the best free mental health app for teens?

MindShift CBT (Anxiety Canada) is the best free CBT app appropriate for teens. Wysa Teen has a free tier that's usable. For families in the UK, NHS partnerships often provide free Wysa Teen access through schools. For US families, MindShift remains the best fully-free option.

The Best CBT Apps for Teens (2026)

At a glance

How we evaluated these apps

The apps, in detail

#1 · Mightier

#2 · MindShift CBT

#3 · Sanvello (DISCONTINUED)

#4 · Wysa for Teens

#5 · ILTY

#6 · Woebot (sunset notice)

Tired of evaluating apps?

Frequently asked questions

What's the best CBT app for a 14-year-old?

Are mental health apps safe for teenagers?

Do CBT apps actually work for teens?

What's the best free mental health app for teens?

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