Top Mental Health Apps in 2025 to Support Emotional Wellness and Daily Self-Care
- Stephanie Underwood, RSW
- 2 days ago
- 9 min read
Written by Stephanie Underwood, RSW
In my work, I stress the importance of finding the right tools to manage mental health. With thousands of apps out there, staying consistent is key—and that means using tools you genuinely like. Below are nine outstanding apps I’ve tested, starting with your suggestions and adding five vetted by therapists and tech reviews. Each one offers unique support—from emotion identification to structured AI therapy. Let’s dive in!
How We Feel
App Store / Google Play:
Many people struggle to identify what they’re actually feeling—beyond just “good” or “stressed.” How We Feel was created by scientists and designers from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to address that exact issue. The app invites you to pause and check in throughout the day, helping you pinpoint and name your exact emotional state using the Mood Meter, a research-backed tool that expands your emotional vocabulary.
What sets this app apart is its AI‑powered reflection prompts that gently guide you to explore what might be behind your feelings. After logging your mood, the app suggests short questions and patterns to reflect on—such as what might have triggered the emotion or how your body is responding. Over time, it helps uncover patterns between emotions, sleep, activity, and habits, encouraging greater emotional literacy and self-awareness.
For anyone who often says, “I don’t know what I’m feeling,” this app offers a gentle, structured way to develop clarity and emotional insight—one check-in at a time.
Price: Free
Animi
App Store / Google Play:
Most of us are never taught how to listen to what our bodies are trying to tell us. Animi bridges that gap by helping users develop a deeper awareness of their bodily sensations and emotional states, which is essential for understanding stress responses, trauma triggers, and general emotional health.
When you open the app, it walks you through a series of gentle questions: What are you feeling in your body? Where do you feel it? From there, Animi helps you connect those sensations to specific emotional categories—like tension in the chest that may signal anxiety, or heaviness in the limbs that might relate to sadness or burnout.
This mind-body mapping process builds emotional granularity—the ability to distinguish between nuanced feelings like nervousness, dread, or excitement. With consistent use, the app begins to detect recurring patterns in your emotional and physical responses, offering personalized insights that help you notice what environments, thoughts, or relationships might be triggering dysregulation.
If you’re looking to get out of your head and reconnect with your body as a tool for emotional regulation, Animi offers a highly intuitive, science-informed way to do just that.
Price: Free basic version; optional premium features available (~CAD $4–6/month)
Daylio
App Store / Google Play:
Daylio is a beautifully designed mood and activity tracker that makes it easy to reflect on your emotional state—even if you don’t feel like writing. For those who struggle to maintain a daily journaling habit, Daylio provides a low-effort way to log how you’re feeling and what you’ve been doing in just a few taps.
Each check-in allows you to select a mood (ranging from “rad” to “awful”), and pair it with specific activities like working, socializing, exercising, or resting. Over time, the app collects this data and turns it into visual charts and graphs, helping you identify emotional trends, discover what improves or worsens your mood, and recognize behavioral patterns you may have missed.
This type of mood-pattern recognition is essential for emotional regulation and recovery. You might notice, for example, that your mood tends to dip after late nights, or that certain people or places leave you feeling more anxious.
Daylio also includes goal-setting features, reminders, and a “Year in Pixels” view that gives you a powerful emotional snapshot of your year—all without ever needing to write a single word. It’s perfect for anyone seeking clarity around emotional cycles and the subtle habits that influence well-being.
Price: Free basic version; Premium version ~CAD $5/month or ~CAD $25/year
Day One
App Store / Google Play:
If you’ve ever wished for a personal space to reflect, release, and grow—Day One delivers. This award-winning digital journaling app is ideal for deep emotional processing, reflection, and capturing meaningful life moments. Whether you’re healing from trauma, processing a difficult day, or tracking progress in therapy, Day One provides a secure and customizable container for your inner world.
The app allows for rich entries including text, photos, voice recordings, and even drawings. You can tag entries by emotion, location, or theme and revisit them using the built-in calendar, timeline, or map. Day One also supports Apple Health integration, which allows you to correlate your journal entries with other wellness data like sleep or step count.
Why is this important for mental health? Because consistent journaling has been shown to reduce rumination, regulate emotions, and increase self-awareness—all key components of healing. Day One makes this process more engaging and sustainable with features like daily writing prompts, streak tracking, and optional encryption to protect your privacy.
Whether you journal daily or only in moments of crisis, Day One offers a private space to understand yourself better and connect with your emotional landscape.
Price: Free basic version; Premium ~USD $35/year (~CAD $45/year)
Apple Health
Included on all iOS Devices:
Although Apple Health is best known for tracking physical health metrics, its mental health features have become significantly more robust—especially in iOS 17 and beyond. This app allows users to monitor everything from sleep, exercise, and mindfulness minutes to symptom tracking, mood logging, and validated screening tools like the GAD-7 (for anxiety) and PHQ-9 (for depression).
What makes Apple Health stand out is its ability to centralize data from multiple wellness apps—like meditation, journaling, and therapy platforms—into one streamlined dashboard. This offers a more holistic view of your mental health, especially if you’re trying to draw connections between physical habits (like movement or sleep) and emotional states.
Users can track daily moods, log factors influencing emotional well-being, and even export mental health data—including GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores—as PDFs to share with therapists or doctors. This feature is particularly helpful for those in therapy or managing ongoing mental health conditions.
Apple Health doesn’t replace therapy, but it does empower you to become a more informed and proactive participant in your mental health journey. Its built-in prompts and reflections help you stay engaged with your wellness goals in real time.
Price: Free (pre-installed on iPhones)
Motivation – Daily Quotes
App Store / Google Play:
Sometimes, it’s the simplest tools that leave the deepest impact. Motivation delivers daily affirmations and empowering quotes directly to your phone, helping you start your day with intention and anchor your thoughts in self-compassion.
Many people battling anxiety, depression, or low self-worth experience intrusive thoughts or chronic negative self-talk. Motivation acts as a gentle counterbalance to those internal narratives. You can customize the types of affirmations you want to see—from self-love and healing to productivity, resilience, breakups, and setting boundaries. Quotes can be scheduled as push notifications, set as widgets, or even read aloud for a stronger nervous system impact.
While it’s not a full mental health toolkit on its own, Motivation supports daily cognitive shifts, reinforcing healthier thought patterns and emotional resilience. Used alongside journaling or therapy, these micro-reminders become powerful reprogramming cues that help rewire your inner dialogue over time.
It’s especially ideal for those who want something quick, visual, and easy to integrate into their morning or bedtime routine.
Price:
Free basic version
Premium ~CAD $20/year or ~$3/month (includes additional themes, voice affirmations, and categories)
Headspace
App Store / Google Play:
Headspace is one of the most widely recognized and research-backed meditation apps on the market. What started as a guided meditation tool has grown into a comprehensive mental wellness platform—with features for stress, anxiety, sleep, focus, and emotional regulation. Whether you’re brand new to mindfulness or looking to deepen your practice, Headspace makes it easy to stay consistent. It offers hundreds of guided meditations tailored to themes like anxiety, grief, motivation, self-esteem, and burnout. Users can also access breathing exercises, mindful workouts, and “sleepcasts”—audio sessions designed to lull you into restful sleep.
A standout feature in 2025 is its AI companion tool called “Ebb,” which uses data and check-ins to personalize your meditation recommendations and support you through difficult moments with compassion-focused tools.
What makes Headspace compelling for mental health is its science-backed approach—the app has been included in clinical studies and partnerships with health systems to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. If you’re someone who struggles with overthinking, emotional overwhelm, or sleep disruption, this app offers a calming, structured space to regulate your nervous system and bring yourself back to center.
Price:
14-day free trial
Premium subscription ~CAD $13/month or ~CAD $70/year
Calm
App Store / Google Play:
Designed to soothe the nervous system and create a calming daily ritual, Calm is a multi-sensory mindfulness app that combines guided meditations, breathing exercises, sleep aids, music, and storytelling to support emotional well-being.
Calm stands out for its award-winning “Sleep Stories”—bedtime stories for adults, read by soothing voices (yes, even celebrities like Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba). This makes it especially appealing for those struggling with insomnia, nighttime anxiety, or racing thoughts.
Beyond sleep, Calm offers structured meditation programs that target anxiety, panic, grief, and self-compassion. Its Daily Calm feature is a short, digestible meditation paired with a gentle reflection, making it ideal for busy mornings or winding down after work. There’s also a “Breathe Bubble” tool—perfect for grounding during stressful moments or panic attacks.
Calm is ideal for anyone who needs a calming, non-clinical space to unwind, manage stress, and reconnect with themselves through sensory regulation and present-moment awareness.
Price:
7-day free trial
Premium subscription ~USD $70/year (~CAD $95/year)
Sanvello
App Store / Google Play:
Built on the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Sanvello offers a robust, all-in-one platform for managing anxiety, depression, and stress. Whether you’re just beginning your mental health journey or looking for structure between therapy sessions, Sanvello gives you the tools to track, understand, and work through emotional challenges.
What makes Sanvello different is its step-by-step, goal-oriented design. It combines guided mental health journeys with mood tracking, thought record tools, breathing techniques, and interactive coping strategies. Users can track daily emotions and habits, then receive tailored content based on what they log.
Sanvello also offers self-assessments using clinically validated measures (like the GAD-7 and PHQ-9), and includes progress visualization tools so you can measure your mental health growth over time. For those who feel isolated in their experiences, it features peer support communities—anonymous forums where users can connect over shared challenges in a safe, moderated environment.
This app is a great choice if you’re looking for a blend of clinical-grade tools and approachable content that can support you on a day-to-day basis.
Price:
Free basic version (limited access to tools)
Premium ~CAD $8/month or ~CAD $60/year
Covered by some insurance plans in the U.S.
Wysa
(AI‑powered companion) App Store / Google Play: iOS & Android
App Store / Google Play:
Wysa is a groundbreaking mental health app that combines the power of AI conversation with evidence-based therapeutic tools to help users manage depression, anxiety, loneliness, and stress—especially in moments when a human therapist isn’t available.
At the heart of Wysa is its AI chatbot: a non-judgmental, emotionally intelligent companion that uses natural language to help you vent, reframe thoughts, and process emotions. It’s trained in techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and mindfulness.
You can talk to Wysa about your day, your triggers, or simply your mood—and it will guide you through exercises like cognitive restructuring, grounding, self-compassion prompts, or breathing tools. For users who want deeper support, Wysa also offers access to real human coaches (available with a paid subscription).
What makes Wysa especially powerful is its accessibility. It creates a safe, 24/7 space to unload emotional burdens without fear of judgment or stigma, while gradually teaching you emotional regulation and thought-shifting skills.
Price:
Free AI support with access to core tools
Premium plan with human coaching ~USD $30–$50/month (~CAD $40–$65/month)
PTSD COACH
App Store / Google Play / Web:
Developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD, PTSD Coach is one of the most comprehensive and trusted apps for anyone struggling with trauma—whether you’ve been diagnosed with PTSD or are simply managing trauma symptoms.
The app is grounded in evidence-based trauma care and offers a wide range of tools to help users cope with symptoms such as hypervigilance, nightmares, intrusive thoughts, dissociation, and emotional numbness. It includes self-assessments like the PTSD Checklist (PCL-5), daily symptom tracking, and dozens of customizable coping strategies—from breathing and grounding techniques to guided imagery, progressive relaxation, and positive affirmations.
You can personalize the app by uploading calming music, photos, or emergency contacts. There’s also educational content to help you understand PTSD, its symptoms, and how trauma impacts the nervous system. Whether you’re working with a therapist or navigating recovery on your own, PTSD Coach provides real-time support tools to help you de-escalate, regulate, and reorient.
It’s trauma-sensitive, private, and doesn’t require an account—making it an excellent resource for those concerned about privacy or stigma.
Price: Completely free
Why the Right Tools Matter
Consistency is key. You’re more likely to stick with an app that feels supportive and enjoyable. That’s why I tested these myself—and chose ones with strengths ranging from self‑awareness tools to professional‑grade emotional support. Select the app that aligns best with your mental health goals and style—whether it’s reflection, relaxation, or cognitive restructuring—and make it a daily companion.
Next Steps
Pick one or two apps that resonate; don’t overwhelm yourself.
Test-drive them with free trials, then assess what sticks.
Be patient—healthier mental habits often start with small daily entries or two‑minute breathing exercises.
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