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Best Of · Last reviewed August 24, 2026

The Best Free Mood Trackers (2026)

Most 'free mood trackers' paywall the trend data you actually need. We tested 6 that don't. Honest 2026 ranking — what's genuinely free, what's the implicit cost, and which mechanism fits which user.

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.

  • #1 · Daylio

    Daily mood tracking with the lowest friction in the market + free trend visualization

    Price
    Free with optional Premium ~$36/yr (premium adds custom activities + cloud backup)
    On
    iOS, Android
  • #2 · How We Feel

    Tracking emotion granularity beyond simple mood scales — built by Yale researchers

    Price
    Free, fully (nonprofit, Yale-affiliated)
    On
    iOS, Android
  • #3 · Bearable

    Pattern detection across mood, anxiety, sleep, medication, and lifestyle factors

    Price
    Free tier with deep functionality; Premium ~$50/yr
    On
    iOS, Android
  • #4 · Moodfit

    Users who want mood tracking plus CBT-based interventions in one app

    Price
    Free tier with most features; Pro ~$40/yr
    On
    iOS, Android
  • #5 · Stoic (free tier)

    Mood tracking paired with daily reflection prompts grounded in Stoic philosophy

    Price
    Free tier; Premium ~$30/yr
    On
    iOS, Android
  • #6 · ILTY

    Conversational mood reflection rather than structured tracking — supplement to a real tracker

    Price
    Free download; subscription after onboarding $12
    On
    iOS and Android

How we evaluated these apps

Inclusion rule: apps in this list must offer mood tracking with usable trend visualization at the free tier. Apps that paywall trend charts (the actual reason you track) were excluded.

Why this list: mood tracking has the highest 'free' rate of any mental-health category because the core feature (data entry) is cheap to deliver. The challenge is finding apps that don't paywall the analysis (charts, correlations, exports) you actually need.

Evaluation: each app tested for (1) free-tier trend visualization (the whole point), (2) friction of daily entry, (3) granularity (mood-only vs multi-factor), (4) export capability, (5) privacy posture (mood data is sensitive).

Disclosure

ILTY is the publisher of this roundup. ILTY is one of the apps reviewed; we are positioned at #6, not #1. ILTY is NOT a mood tracker — we're a conversational companion that includes mood reflection in conversations. For dedicated mood-pattern tracking with charts and correlations, Daylio or How We Feel are the right primary picks. Pricing accurate as of May 16, 2026. Update, August 13, 2026: every app on this list was re-verified against its live App Store listing, Google Play listing, and vendor site. This pass checked COMMERCIAL FACTS only — whether the app still exists, pricing, platforms, and store ratings. It did NOT re-run the hands-on testing protocol described above; rankings and hands-on impressions still date from the original testing round. We are saying that plainly rather than letting a fresh date imply a fresh test. What the pass found across the site: Sanvello's consumer app is discontinued (delisted from both stores; sanvello.com no longer resolves), Youper is shutting down September 30, 2026 (already delisted, data purged October 1), and GG OCD was renamed to OCD.app. Per-vendor records now live in src/data/appFacts.ts with the source checked and the date checked.

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 · Daylio

Best for: Daily mood tracking with the lowest friction in the market + free trend visualization

Gold-standard mood tracker — fast daily entry + free trend charts + free export.

Daylio is the right pick for most people. Fast daily entry, usable free trend charts, free CSV export — it's the gold standard for a reason. If you've tried mood trackers and stopped because the friction was too high, Daylio's 5-second logging is the answer.

Strengths

  • +Fastest daily entry — emoji-based 5-second logging is the design intent
  • +Free tier includes calendar view, mood charts, and basic statistics
  • +Custom activities (track what you did each day) lets you correlate mood with specific behaviors
  • +Export to CSV is free — own your data

Where it falls short

  • −Premium tier removes ads and adds advanced statistics (most users don't need it)
  • −Mood is the central feature; less depth for symptom tracking
  • −UI is functional rather than beautiful

Pricing

Free with optional Premium ~$36/yr (premium adds custom activities + cloud backup).

Platforms

iOS, Android

vs. ILTY

Daylio is structured tracking. ILTY is conversational reflection. Run both — Daylio for the data, ILTY when you need to process what the data shows.

Visit Daylio →

#2 · How We Feel

Best for: Tracking emotion granularity beyond simple mood scales — built by Yale researchers

Yale-built emotion tracker — unique granularity (track WHICH emotion, not just mood).

How We Feel is the right pick if you want to understand WHICH emotions you experience, not just how 'good' or 'bad' you feel each day. The Yale Mood Meter framework is a meaningful upgrade over typical 5-point mood scales — research consistently shows naming emotions specifically reduces their intensity. Free, beautiful, research-backed.

Strengths

  • +Fully free — Yale-affiliated nonprofit, no commercial pressure, no upsells
  • +Emotion-granularity feature is unique in this category — track precisely WHICH emotion (curious, anxious, content, longing, etc.) on the Mood Meter quadrant model
  • +Built by emotion-research scientists (Marc Brackett's group at Yale) — strong research grounding
  • +Beautiful UX, low-friction daily entry

Where it falls short

  • −No correlation tracking (no activities, sleep, etc.) — pure emotion tracking
  • −Mood Meter framework takes 5-10 minutes to learn (it's a 2x2 quadrant model)
  • −Less feature breadth than Daylio for power users

Pricing

Free, fully (nonprofit, Yale-affiliated).

Platforms

iOS, Android

vs. ILTY

How We Feel is granular emotion tracking. ILTY is conversational. Different mechanisms; pair them.

Visit How We Feel →

#3 · Bearable

Best for: Pattern detection across mood, anxiety, sleep, medication, and lifestyle factors

Comprehensive symptom + mood + medication tracker — deepest free tier in the market.

Bearable is the right pick if you want to investigate WHY your mood varies, not just track that it varies. The free tier is unusually deep — correlation analysis is the kind of feature most apps paywall. Best for users with hypothesis-driven tracking goals (e.g., 'I suspect caffeine is amplifying my anxiety').

Strengths

  • +Most flexible tracking system — track anything you want (mood, sleep, energy, medications, custom factors)
  • +Free tier includes correlation analysis (find what affects your mood)
  • +Built by a user with chronic illness — UX reflects real lived experience
  • +Strong for users investigating specific suspected triggers (caffeine, sleep, medication, etc.)

Where it falls short

  • −Steep setup — you have to configure what you want to track
  • −Long ramp before insights emerge (4-6 weeks of consistent logging)
  • −UI is utilitarian rather than polished

Pricing

Free tier with deep functionality; Premium ~$50/yr.

Platforms

iOS, Android

vs. ILTY

Bearable is quantitative pattern detection. ILTY is qualitative conversation. Different mechanisms; pair them.

Visit Bearable →

#4 · Moodfit

Best for: Users who want mood tracking plus CBT-based interventions in one app

All-in-one mood + sleep + exercise + gratitude + CBT tools — free tier is comprehensive.

Moodfit is the right pick if you want one app that does everything okay rather than several apps that each do one thing well. For pure mood tracking, Daylio is better; for emotion granularity, How We Feel; but for one-app-fits-all-needs simplicity, Moodfit is the strongest free option.

Strengths

  • +Free tier includes mood tracker, sleep tracker, gratitude journal, CBT thought records, breathing exercises
  • +All-in-one design — fewer apps to manage
  • +Strong educational content on mood patterns
  • +Reminders and habit-building features

Where it falls short

  • −Breadth over depth — each feature is okay but specialized alternatives are better at the specific thing
  • −Some advanced features locked behind Pro
  • −UI can feel busy compared to single-purpose apps

Pricing

Free tier with most features; Pro ~$40/yr.

Platforms

iOS, Android

vs. ILTY

Moodfit is multi-feature tracking + CBT tools. ILTY is conversational. Different shapes.

Visit Moodfit →

#5 · Stoic (free tier)

Best for: Mood tracking paired with daily reflection prompts grounded in Stoic philosophy

Mood tracker + reflection prompts + Stoic philosophy quotes — usable free tier.

Stoic is the right pick if you want mood tracking paired with intentional daily reflection rather than pure data logging. The Stoic-philosophy framing is the differentiator — for users frustrated by 'how are you feeling today?' apps that don't ask anything more, Stoic adds depth.

Strengths

  • +Free tier includes daily mood check-in, basic reflection prompts, and quote of the day
  • +Stoic-philosophy framing is differentiated — for users who want reflection over data
  • +Beautiful UX, low-friction interaction
  • +Pairs mood with intentional daily reflection (more thoughtful than pure emoji-tap)

Where it falls short

  • −Best content (deeper journaling prompts, exercises) behind premium
  • −Stoicism framing may feel narrow for non-Stoic users
  • −Less correlation analysis than Bearable or Daylio

Pricing

Free tier; Premium ~$30/yr.

Platforms

iOS, Android

vs. ILTY

Stoic is structured reflection prompts + tracking. ILTY's Stoic Advisor companion handles similar territory conversationally. Different formats; similar philosophical grounding.

Visit Stoic (free tier) →

#6 · ILTY

Best for: Conversational mood reflection rather than structured tracking — supplement to a real tracker

Not a mood tracker. AI companion that includes mood reflection in conversation — listed for honesty.

Honest assessment: ILTY is not a mood tracker. We're a conversational companion. We include ourselves because some users searching 'mood tracker' want reflection rather than data — they want to understand WHY their mood shifted, not just track THAT it shifted. For that adjunct use, pair ILTY with Daylio or How We Feel (Daylio for the data, ILTY for the processing). For pure mood tracking, use the actual trackers.

Strengths

  • +Mood reflection is conversational rather than emoji-tap — useful for 'why am I feeling this way' questions
  • +Conversation history persists — the AI notices when your mood patterns shift
  • +Five companions allow matching reflection style to current mood

Where it falls short

  • −NOT a structured mood tracker — no charts, no correlation analysis, no exports
  • −Hard paywall — no free tier
  • −Wrong tool if you want data; right tool if you want to process the data emotionally

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 →

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 free mood tracker?

Daylio is the gold standard — fastest daily entry, free trend charts, free CSV export. For emotion granularity (which emotion specifically, not just mood), How We Feel is the Yale-built option and is fully free. For correlation analysis (what affects your mood), Bearable's free tier is unusually deep. For one-app-for-everything simplicity, Moodfit.

Are mood trackers actually useful?

For pattern detection over weeks and months, yes — research consistently shows mood tracking helps users notice triggers, validate that 'good days happen' during depression, and surface correlations with sleep, exercise, medication, or specific behaviors. Less useful: tracking mood every hour expecting the act of tracking to change mood. Best practice: log once daily, review charts weekly, adjust life patterns based on what shows up.

Is Daylio really free?

Yes — Daylio's free tier includes the core tracker, calendar view, mood charts, custom activities, and CSV export. Premium ($36/yr) removes ads and adds advanced statistics, but the free tier is genuinely usable for most users. Many of the features Daylio offers free are paywalled in competing apps.

What's the difference between a mood tracker and an emotion tracker?

Mood trackers usually use a 5-point scale (terrible to great) and ask 'how was your mood today'. Emotion trackers ask 'WHICH emotion are you feeling' from a richer palette (curious, content, anxious, longing, frustrated, etc.). Emotion granularity research (Lisa Feldman Barrett, Marc Brackett) consistently shows naming emotions specifically reduces their intensity and supports regulation. How We Feel is the best free emotion tracker; Daylio is the best free mood tracker.

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