Companions
Challenge
Blog
Try ILTY for Free

Best Of · Last updated November 1, 2026 · Prices checked October 20, 2026

Last update: Updated ILTY's price for new subscribers

CBT Apps That Are Actually Free in 2026

Free-only: every app here is usable indefinitely without paying, no trial countdown. Want the full field including paid programs? See our main CBT apps roundup. Six genuinely free CBT apps tested for 30+ days each. Honest 2026 ranking — including what happened to Woebot in June 2025 and which alternatives actually filled the gap. Disclosed: we make ILTY (free download, paid subscription after onboarding).

In crisis? Call or text 988 in the US, 9-8-8 in Canada, or find your country's line at findahelpline.com.

At a glance

Click any row for the in-depth section below.

  • #1 · MindShift CBT

    Strictly-free CBT exercises with nonprofit roots

    Price
    Fully free, no upgrade tier
    On
    iOS, Android
  • #2 · MoodTools

    Free depression-focused CBT tools

    Price
    Core tools free; optional Pro subscription on iOS (export, sync, passcode)
    On
    iOS, Android
  • #3 · Sanvello (DISCONTINUED)

    (Used to be: free CBT exercises with polished UX)

    Price
    (No longer available — delisted from both app stores and its website is offline)
    On
    (Delisted from the App Store and Google Play)
  • #4 · ILTY

    Conversational CBT-adjacent processing (NOT strictly free)

    Price
    Free download; subscription required after onboarding ($14.99/mo or $129.99/yr)
    On
    iOS and Android
  • #5 · Wysa (free tier)

    Free CBT chatbot with optional paid coaching

    Price
    Free tier; Premium ~$99/yr; Human coach add-on
    On
    iOS, Android
  • #6 · Woebot (DISCONTINUED June 2025)

    (Used to be: free structured CBT learning)

    Price
    (Was free; consumer app discontinued)
    On
    (Discontinued)

How we evaluated these apps

We defined 'free' strictly: the core experience must be usable indefinitely without payment. Apps with 7-day trials that expire into a paywall did not qualify. Apps with limited free tiers that still deliver real CBT exercises did qualify, with the free-tier limits clearly noted.

Tested across four dimensions: CBT methodology fidelity (does the app teach actual CBT skills — cognitive restructuring, behavioral activation, thought records — versus generic 'wellness'), free-tier completeness (how much real content is behind the paywall), evidence base (published outcomes research), and friction (how often the app nags you to upgrade).

ILTY is disclosed and positioned at #4 with honest caveats: our download is free, but a hard paywall hits after onboarding. We include ourselves because users searching 'free CBT apps' deserve to know we're not strictly free, and because we want to point them to the actually-free options first.

Disclosure

ILTY is the publisher of this roundup. ILTY is included with the explicit honest disclosure that we are NOT free in the strict sense — our download is free but a subscription is required to use the app meaningfully. We rank ourselves at #4 in this list and direct users to the free options ranked above us if free is a hard requirement. Our price checks cover commercial facts only: whether each app still exists, its pricing, platforms and store ratings. They do not re-run the hands-on testing protocol described above, so hands-on impressions date from the original testing round; we say that plainly rather than letting a fresh date imply a fresh test. What the August 13, 2026 check found across the site: Sanvello's consumer app is discontinued (delisted from both stores; sanvello.com no longer resolves), Youper was shutting down on September 30, 2026 (already delisted; it has since shut down), and GG OCD was renamed to OCD.app.

Prices, platforms and availability last checked October 20, 2026 against each app's App Store and Google Play listings and its own website.

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. Three 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 · MindShift CBT

Best for: Strictly-free CBT exercises with nonprofit roots

Fully free CBT app, originally built by Anxiety Canada — no paywall anywhere.

MindShift is the best strictly-free CBT app available in 2026. If 'free' is a hard requirement, this is the answer. The trade-off is a less polished UX than paid alternatives, but the content is clinically credible and covers more conditions than most paid apps.

Strengths

  • +Truly free — originally built by Anxiety Canada, no subscription, no ads
  • +Covers anxiety, OCD, social anxiety, panic, perfectionism — multiple specific toolkits
  • +Strong educational content explaining each CBT concept
  • +No in-app purchases at all, so there is no upsell pressure

Where it falls short

  • −UX is functional but not polished — feels like a nonprofit product
  • −Less personalization than paid alternatives
  • −Static content — no AI conversation, no adaptive prompts

Pricing

Fully free, no upgrade tier.

Platforms

iOS, Android

vs. ILTY

MindShift is the better pick if 'free' is non-negotiable and you want CBT exercises. ILTY's free download requires a subscription to use meaningfully, which doesn't fit the same use case.

Visit MindShift CBT →

#2 · MoodTools

Best for: Free depression-focused CBT tools

CBT app focused on depression, with free core tools — built by clinicians as a research project.

MoodTools is the free pick for depression specifically (core tools free, Pro optional). Behavioral activation is the most empirically supported intervention for depression, and MoodTools includes a working version of it. Less useful for non-depression conditions, but credible and free for what it does.

Strengths

  • +Built by clinicians as part of a research project — credibility is high
  • +Includes PHQ-9 depression screening tool
  • +Behavioral activation planner (the most-evidence-backed depression intervention) is included
  • +Core tools genuinely free, no ads (the Pro tier is optional)

Where it falls short

  • −Depression-focused — less useful for general anxiety or other conditions
  • −UX is basic; the iOS build hasn't been updated since 2021 (Android is maintained)
  • −No AI or conversational features — purely static tools

Pricing

Core tools free; optional Pro subscription on iOS (export, sync, passcode).

Platforms

iOS, Android

vs. ILTY

MoodTools is the better pick for free depression-focused CBT tools. ILTY's depression handling is conversational rather than tool-based.

Visit MoodTools →

#3 · Sanvello (DISCONTINUED)

Best for: (Used to be: free CBT exercises with polished UX)

Consumer app delisted from both app stores; its website is offline.

Listed as a historical entry because Sanvello was one of the most-recommended free CBT apps and people still search for it by name. It is no longer downloadable. If you came here for it, the living free-CBT picks on this list are MindShift CBT (genuinely free, no IAP, originally built by Anxiety Canada) and MoodTools.

Strengths

  • +(Historical) Free tier included daily mood tracking, guided journeys, and a peer community
  • +(Historical) Most polished UX of the strictly-free options
  • +(Historical) Insurance partnerships in some US states

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. No current employer or health-plan route could be verified either: re-checked 2026-10-20, ableto.com redirects to Optum Behavioral Care, which does not mention Sanvello. Several 'Sanvello review 2026' pages still quote a live 4.8 rating and $8.99/mo pricing; that data is dead.
  • −(Historical) Premium nudges were persistent in the free tier

Pricing

(No longer available — delisted from both app stores and its website is offline)

Platforms

(Delisted from the App Store and Google Play)

vs. ILTY

Not a live comparison anymore. For free, polished CBT the closest surviving option is MindShift CBT; ILTY is paid after onboarding and is a conversational companion rather than a CBT exercise library.

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

#4 · ILTY

Best for: Conversational CBT-adjacent processing (NOT strictly free)

AI conversational companion — free download, but subscription required after onboarding.

Honest assessment: if 'free' is a hard requirement, use MindShift or MoodTools instead — we're not the right answer. We include ourselves here because the search query 'free CBT apps' partially overlaps with users who'll convert from free to paid if the product earns it. If you're open to paying for a more conversational CBT experience after trying the free download, ILTY is one option among many.

Strengths

  • +Five distinct companion personalities for different CBT-adjacent modalities
  • +Mr. Relentless companion does cognitive challenging the way CBT teaches it — pushes back on distortions in real time
  • +Conversations stay on-device

Where it falls short

  • −NOT strictly free — paywall after onboarding
  • −Not a structured CBT curriculum — it's conversational, not exercise-based

Pricing

Free download; subscription required after onboarding ($14.99/mo or $129.99/yr).

Platforms

iOS and Android

Download ILTY

Free to download · 7-day trial for new subscribers · then $14.99/mo or $129.99/yr

Visit ILTY →

#5 · Wysa (free tier)

Best for: Free CBT chatbot with optional paid coaching

Free tier of a CBT-based AI chatbot with optional Premium and human-coach upgrades.

Wysa's free tier is the best free CBT chatbot we tested in 2026 (now that Woebot is gone — see below). The penguin avatar is divisive but the underlying CBT structure is sound and the free tier gives you real value.

Strengths

  • +Free tier includes daily CBT chat, mood tracking, and basic exercises
  • +Strong evidence base — multiple peer-reviewed studies
  • +AI conversation is more dynamic than static-tool apps
  • +Cross-platform

Where it falls short

  • −Advanced exercises are paywalled
  • −Free tier nudges hard toward Premium
  • −Penguin avatar UX is divisive — some find it cute, some find it infantilizing

Pricing

Free tier; Premium ~$99/yr; Human coach add-on.

Platforms

iOS, Android

vs. ILTY

Wysa's free tier is the better pick for free conversational CBT. ILTY is conversational but not free.

Read our full ILTY vs. Wysa (free tier) comparison →Visit Wysa (free tier) →

#6 · Woebot (DISCONTINUED June 2025)

Best for: (Used to be: free structured CBT learning)

Stanford-built CBT chatbot — consumer app shut down June 30, 2025.

Included to document the gap. Woebot was the gold standard for free CBT chatbots until June 30, 2025, when Woebot Health shut down the consumer app. If you were a Woebot user, see our Woebot alternatives roundup. The closest free replacements: Wysa's free tier (most conversational) and MindShift (the most clinically credible, built by a nonprofit). Sanvello's free tier used to round out that list; it has since been discontinued for consumers too.

Strengths

  • +(Historical) Built by Stanford clinical psychologists; first major published RCT (2017)
  • +(Historical) Excellent at teaching CBT concepts systematically
  • +(Historical) Genuinely free for consumers

Where it falls short

  • −DISCONTINUED — the consumer app shut down June 30, 2025. Woebot Health still exists as a B2B product for healthcare orgs, but you can't use it as a consumer in 2026 (the iOS app needs an access code from a provider, employer or Woebot Health partner)
  • −(Historical) Decision-tree structure could feel scripted

Pricing

(Was free; consumer app discontinued)

Platforms

(Discontinued)

vs. ILTY

Woebot doesn't exist as a consumer app anymore. For our positioning vs the historical Woebot, see /compare/woebot.

Read our full ILTY vs. Woebot (DISCONTINUED June 2025) comparison →Visit Woebot (DISCONTINUED June 2025) →

Tired of evaluating apps?

ILTY is on iOS and Android. Free to download, 7-day trial for new subscribers, then $14.99/mo or $129.99/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 is the best free CBT app in 2026?

If you want strictly free with no upgrade pressure, MindShift CBT (originally built by Anxiety Canada) is the answer. If you want polished UX with an optional upgrade path, Wysa's free tier — which is also the answer if you want a conversational AI CBT chatbot for free. Two apps that used to answer this question are gone: Woebot shut down its consumer app in June 2025, and Sanvello's free tier was discontinued for consumers.

Are free CBT apps as good as paid CBT apps?

Often, surprisingly, yes. CBT itself is highly standardized — the techniques don't differ across apps. The difference between free and paid apps is usually UX polish, personalization, and AI features, not therapeutic content. MindShift's free CBT content is taught the same way Sanvello's Premium CBT content was taught before that app was discontinued; the difference was the wrapper.

Why did Woebot shut down?

Woebot Health retired the consumer-facing Woebot app on June 30, 2025, to focus on B2B partnerships with healthcare organizations. The business model of giving away the consumer app while monetizing through enterprise didn't scale as planned. The technology and clinical methodology still exist — they're just no longer available to individual consumers. We covered this in detail at /best/woebot-alternatives-2026.

Is free CBT enough, or do I need a therapist?

Depends on severity. Free CBT apps can be sufficient for mild-to-moderate anxiety and mood symptoms, especially when used consistently. They become inadequate for severe depression, OCD, PTSD, eating disorders, or any condition with safety concerns. Rule of thumb: if symptoms are affecting work, relationships, or daily function, you need at least one conversation with a human clinician (a primary care doctor is the cheapest starting point). Apps are good adjuncts, rarely sufficient as standalone treatment for moderate-or-worse.

Related reading

→
The Complete Guide to AI Mental Health Apps

The pillar guide explaining what AI mental-health apps are, what works, and what to avoid.

→
All ILTY vs. comparison pages

Head-to-head comparisons between ILTY and individual competitors.

→
Mental Health Without Therapy

The full ladder of affordable options when paid apps aren't the right answer.