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Racing thoughts, difficulty concentrating, and being unable to fall asleep— are all common symptoms of anxiety. Being in this state can cause you to feel overwhelmed and feel as if the world is coming down hard on you. Besides therapy, there are alternatives such as health and wellness apps to reduce anxiety.
Unlike traditional therapy, these apps offer various features to help manage anxiety. You can expect to find guided meditations, breathing exercises, mood tracking, or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques. In this article, you’ll find a list of 8 best apps for anxiety relief in 2024.
Our Top Picks
Best Overall: ShutEye
Best for Meditation: Calm
Best for Positivity: Happify
Best for Mindfulness: Headspace
Best for Building Foundation: Balance
Best Free App: Mindshift
Best for Building Habits: Happier
Best for Kids: Worrydolls
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety can be defined as a feeling of fear, dread or worry. It can cause many symptoms such as rapid breathing, rapid heart rate, restlessness, and difficulty sleeping [1].
It is normal for us to feel overwhelmed and anxious due to the stresses that we face daily. However, it becomes a problem when this anxiety occurs frequently and interferes with our daily activities and relationships. It may indicate underlying anxiety disorders.
Anxiety symptoms
The common symptoms of anxiety may include:
- Excessive worry or fear
- Trouble concentrating
- Experiencing nausea
- Heart palpitations
- Sweating or shaking
- Trouble sleeping
- Feeling a sense of danger
Best Apps For Anxiety Ranking
Below is a list of the 8 best apps for anxiety. All of these anxiety apps are tested by our team and selected based on user ratings, main features, affordability, and suitability for certain groups of people.
1. Best Overall: ShutEye
ShutEye® is an app that tracks and analyzes your sleep cycle such that you’ll receive personalized recommendations on how to improve your sleep quality. Besides being a sleep tracker, it also offers plenty of coping tools to help manage anxiety symptoms before going to bed. From relaxing sleep sounds to calming guided meditations and bedtime stories, the app is one of the best for anxiety management.
Additionally, ShutEye offers both a free version and a paid version. While the free version offers limited features, it allows users to get a feel of the interface and quality of features before making a monthly or annual commitment. You can also opt to try a free 7-day trial of the premium by making an in-app purchase.
User rating: 4.8/5 Stars
Features:
- Advanced sleep tracking
- Recording that detects snoring
- Sleep quality analysis
- Personalized sleep insights
- Relaxing sleep sounds
- Bedtime stories
- Guided meditations
- Smart alarm clock
| Pros | Cons |
| Additional features offered for relaxation | May not be accurate if you have a bed partner |
| Affordable price for the premium version | Occasional technical issues with data |
| Able to record noises such as snoring and sleep-talking | Limited features on free version |
| Offers a detailed sleep report |
Price: Free, $9.99/month – $59.99/year (Premium Version)
2. Best for Meditation: Calm
Calm is probably one of the most well-known apps in the market for meditation and sleep stories. Featuring known celebrities such as Jay Shetty, Harry Styles, and more, it’s said to help you sleep better and provide mental health support. The app has an extensive collection of meditations and mindfulness exercises for calming anxiety.
Similar to ShutEye®, it offers a free version as well as the option to make in-app purchases.
User rating: 4.8/5 Stars
Features:
- Guided meditations
- Mindfulness exercises
- Sleep stories
- Breathing exercises
- Progress tracking
- Soundscapes and music for sleep
| Pros | Cons |
| Huge collection of guided meditation audios, stories, and more | Unable to organize or filter library of sounds |
| Sleep stories feature known celebrities’ voices | Overcomplicated app interface |
| Offers mindfulness programs for beginners and advanced users | Not enough sleep stories for adults |
Price: Free, $14.99/month – $ 69.99/year (Premium version)
3. Best for Positivity: Happify
Happify is a unique app that offers science-based activities and games to help users break negative thought patterns and overcome various stress and challenges faced on a daily basis. It is said to utilize techniques such as positive psychology, mindfulness, and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to cultivate a positive mindset.
User rating: 3.5-4.5/5 Stars
Features:
- Tracks for different goals
- Games
- Meditations
- Character strength report
- Progress tracking
| Pros | Cons |
| Unique app offering activities and games to overcome negative thoughts | Can be quite expensive for an annual subscription plan |
| Techniques developed by scientists and experts | Limited features |
| Offers progress tracking | Some games may induce stress and anxiety |
Price: Free, $9.99/month – $499.99/year (Premium Version)
4. Best for Mindfulness: Headspace
Headspace is a popular mental health app that helps to improve anxiety symptoms with the use of mindfulness techniques and meditation. It offers hundreds of meditation sessions and mindfulness exercises to support your health needs daily.
It also has numerous positive reviews from users, solidifying the app’s efficacy in addressing mental health concerns.
User rating: 4.4-4.8/5 Stars
Features:
- Daily meditations
- Mindfulness exercises
- Sleep sounds
- Mental health coaching
- Self-care resources
- Progress tracking and daily reminders
| Pros | Cons |
| Offers a wide range of meditations and mindfulness exercises | A little expensive for the premium version |
| One-to-one mental health coaching offered | Unable to track sleep |
| Compatible with Apple Health | The app can feel cluttered and confusing for users |
Price: Free, $12.99/month – $94.99/year (Premium version)
5. Best For Building Foundation: Balance
Balance is one of the best free apps for meditation. It offers a series of programs that teach you breathing techniques to calm anxiety and alleviate stress. With these programs, you also learn about the fundamentals of meditating and build a solid foundation. Once you have a strong grasp, you will be able to move to a more advanced level, elevating your meditation practice.
Unfortunately, this app is not free and requires app users to pay for a subscription plan. As a consolation, they do offer a 7-day free trial for you to try all the features and decide.
User rating: 4.8/5 Stars
Features:
- Personalized guided meditations
- 10-day meditation training program
- Immersive meditation experience
- Integration with Apple Health
- 10 Meditation techniques
| Pros | Cons |
| Personalized meditation program for users | Requires a subscription plan |
| Apple Health integration | Not suited for kids |
| Helps to build foundational meditation skills | Can feel too structured |
Price: $11.99/month – $69.99/year
6. Best Free App: Mindshift
Mindshift is a self-help anxiety relief app that helps you manage your worries, panic attacks, performance anxiety, test anxiety, perfectionism, and phobias. It uses strategies such as CBT for anxiety management. It is a completely free app for users on a tight budget but looking for a solution to stay on track.
User rating: 3.7-4.2/5 Stars
Features:
- Daily check-in
- Evidence-based strategies and tools
- Easy-to-follow guides for anxiety
- Goal setting tools
- Facts and tips for overcoming worries
- Journalling entry per day
| Pros | Cons |
| Free app with no subscription | Limit to making 5 journal entries per day |
| Uses CBT as a strategy | Not very suited for older adults |
| Helps with different types of anxiety | Limited features |
Price: Free
7. Best for Building Habits: Happier
Happier is a great app to use when it comes to building positive habits. Track your habits and also receive daily tips to help you gain knowledge and discover new strategies to help you create the life you want. If you find yourself constantly ruminating and feeling anxious, Happier can help you to break these bad habits.
User rating: 3.4-4.3/5 Stars
Features:
- Habit tracking
- Daily habit-formation tips
- Daily challenges
- Happiness boosting insights
| Pros | Cons |
| Daily tips and challenges | Limit to making 5 journal entries per day |
| Helps to build a positive mindset | Overpriced |
| Limited features |
Price: Free, $7.99/month – $79.99/year (Premium version)
8. Best for Kids: Worrydolls
Worrydolls is an app that is suitable for kids to use. This app features tiny and adorable dolls who act as listening ears to your worries. It carries your worries with them, helping you to manage your anxiety better. Unlike other apps, you’ll find that it is rather simple to use and doesn’t overcomplicate the process with too many features.
User rating: 4.8/5 Stars
Features:
- Virtual worry dolls
- Mood and worry tracker
- Custom journal
| Pros | Cons |
| Very affordable | Word character limit |
| Best suited for kids | App may sometimes freeze |
| Simple interface | |
| Acts as a method of journaling |
Price: Free or $1.99 (Magic mode version)
Conclusion
If you are ever struggling with anxious thoughts or excessive worrying, hopefully, one of these apps will be able to teach you some thinking strategies and coping skills for relief.
Don’t let anxiety keep you up at night. Download the ShutEye® app and explore relaxing features such as sleep sounds, guided meditations, sleep stories and sleep music to help ease the mind and get ready for a deep sleep.
