Comparison

ACT iCoach vs The Self Compassion App

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ACT iCoach

Learn and practice Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) skills through video lessons, animations, and interactive tools. Track your mood, journal your thoughts, and monitor progress with analytics. Share data with your therapist for real-time engagement and motivation.

Highlights
  • Video lessons and animations
  • Mood and emotion tracking
  • Journaling and ACT measures
  • Progress summaries and analytics
  • Therapist sharing
  • Over 100 exercises
  • 1000+ meditations
Features
Read full description

ACT iCoach is a comprehensive app that covers all aspects of Acceptance Commitment Therapy Learn and practice ACT skills using video lessons and fun animations which helps you to remember skills longer. Features over video lessons and easy to read content from some of the leading ACT Practitioners and researchers in the world. You can also take notes on these lessons for future use. User friendly tools to track your mood, emotions, journal and ACT measures. Summary screens to check your progress. Analytics to get insight into your own behavior as you learn new skills. Ability to share with therapists and care team. Track your progress on how you are doing and get motivated to obtain new skills. Get awards for tasks done towards obtaining new skills or keeping up with one you already know. Complete exercises and practice ideas that are similar to worksheets in actual ACT Therapy. There are over 100 exercises. Each of the exercise link directly to lessons. Over 1000 meditations ranging across multiple themes from some of the best teachers in the world. Favorites list to save skills and meditations you use frequently. Weekly and Daily ACT Measure tracking. Finally, the app integrates with a clinician app. If your therapist is signed up and you are set up to share your diary card and exercises then you don’t have to share via email every week. Your therapist can engage with you in real time. The app also integrates with Apple's HealthKit to record your meditation minutes to Health Kit mindfulness. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase *You have a choice of being billed monthly for $9.99/month or a discounted price of $49.99 every six months. • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Privacy Policy:https://www.resiliens.com/privacy Terms of use: https://www.resiliens.com/terms DISCLAIMER: This is not a substitute for a Therapist or a Medical Professional. It works best when you use as a companion app along with your ACT Therapist / Counselor.

About

The Self Compassion App

This app offers scientifically-validated practices from Compassion Focused Therapy to help users feel happier, calmer, and more connected. It provides over 50 tools, including guided meditations, breathing exercises, and journaling prompts, to manage stress, anxiety, and self-criticism.

Highlights
  • Compassion Focused Therapy practices
  • Guided meditations and mindfulness audio
  • Breathing tools for present moment awareness
  • Journaling for positivity habits
  • Reflective exercises for difficult emotions
  • Progress tracking surveys
  • Sleep stories and yoga videos
Features
Read full description

The Self-Compassion App is for you if you want to feel happier, calmer & more connected. Whether you get caught up in cycles of stress and anxiety, regularly give yourself a hard time or struggle to relax and enjoy the moment – this app can help. The app includes scientifically-validated practices from Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), with 50+ tools to help you when life gets hard. Be guided by Drs Chris Irons and Elaine Beaumont – leading authorities on self-compassion, who collectively have 40+ years of experience as therapists and have helped tens of thousands of people. This app has undergone a nationwide study, with participants showing significant reductions in stress, anxiety, self criticism, and increases in wellbeing. Anyone can develop self-compassion and enjoy all its benefits – we look forward to showing you how. Why self-compassion? We are often our own harshest critic, talking to ourselves in ways that we would never do our close friends. Given that we spend more time with ourselves than anyone else, isn’t it strange that many of us don’t treat ourselves with the same level of kindness, care and support as we do our close friends? Now is your time to start. With evidence based ideas and exercises from CFT, this app will teach you how to cultivate compassion for yourself and others. Through the course, you’ll learn how to strike a balance between self improvement & self acceptance: teaching you how to have a realistic but kind view of difficulties that arise in life, and giving you the confidence you need to achieve your goals in life, work and relationships. A toolkit for managing the ups and downs of life. Reduce anxiety, stress & depression Improve mood & wellbeing Reduce feelings of shame & low self-esteem Better understand yourself Increase your confidence Improve your productivity Appreciate the good in every day Develop your relationships Feel calm & grounded Be kinder to yourself And more... There’s something for everyone: Visual breathing tools to bring you back to the present Sleep stories & meditations HIIT and yoga videos to get you moving Mindfulness audio guides Cutting-edge tools to measure & improve your heart rate variability Journaling to create habits of positivity Step-by-step reflective exercises to help you manage difficult emotions Surveys to measure your progress And more! About Chris Irons & Elaine Beaumont Dr Chris Irons and Dr Elaine Beaumont are leading therapists and researchers in the field of CFT and compassionate mind training. They have written extensively about the topic, publishing the best seller The Compassionate Mind Workbook: A Step by Step Guide to Cultivating your Compassionate self. Join our community We’re so excited to see you all loving the app – we’re passionate about the benefits of self-compassion and feel very lucky to be able to share the joys of it with others. "I've had a problem with low self-esteem, always thinking that I'm not good enough and this app has helped me immensely." Stacey Hodkinson "It's been really helpful and made me much more aware of my negative thought patterns ... I'm feeling more confident and more courageous." Patricia Quinn "It's almost like 28 therapy sessions, but with tools to support you when you need." Dan Stone We know how tricky it can be on your own to turn advice into action. That’s why we’ve created this app – to guide you into applying the best insights from CFT to your own life in daily, actionable steps so that you can create meaningful change. We know therapy isn’t an option for everyone – our mission is to create an app that is more effective than a book, and more accessible than therapy. Terms of use https://www.psyt.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/

Screenshots

ACT iCoach4 screens
The Self Compassion App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: The Self Compassion App at free with in-app purchases against ACT iCoach's subscription. The Self Compassion App also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.6) and review sentiment (94% vs 85%). ACT iCoach's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. ACT iCoach sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and The Self Compassion App sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $56.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Self Compassion App holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 187 and 249 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of ACT iCoach's written reviews are positive against 94% of The Self Compassion App's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ACT iCoach ships an update every 4 weeks, The Self Compassion App monthly. Both last shipped on November 8, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ACT iCoach versus The Self Compassion App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterACT iCoachThe Self Compassion App
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (187 ratings)4.8 (249 ratings) — better
Positive reviews84.6% of reviews94.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings187249 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS14.113.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB476 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperResiliens Inc.PSYT

Customer experience

ACT iCoach

All ratings187 ratings
Positive89.3%
Neutral1.1%
Negative9.6%
Written reviews91 reviews
Positive84.6%
Neutral1.1%
Negative14.3%

The Self Compassion App

All ratings249 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral2.4%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews135 reviews
Positive94.1%
Neutral1.5%
Negative4.4%

User reviews

ACT iCoach

From 187 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 User-friendly and intuitive interface
  • 📊 Excellent tracking and analytics tools
  • 🎓 Comprehensive ACT lessons and educational content
  • 🧘 Helpful guided meditations and exercises
  • 👥 Ability to share data with therapists

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription model ($10/month or $50/6 months)
  • 🔒 Limited free functionality without premium
  • 🐛 App freezes after entries or assessments
  • 🐛 Crashes and connection failures
  • ❌ Poor onboarding and unclear instructions

The Self Compassion App

From 249 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful self-help app
  • 🚀 Great variety of tools and resources
  • 💡 Excellent for developing self-compassion
  • 🤗 Calming and supportive voices
  • 📚 Informative and well-structured content

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription cost
  • 🔍 Overwhelming amount of features
  • 🔁 Difficulty canceling subscription

Bugs and requests

ACT iCoach

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • App freezes after every entry or assessment
  • Failed to connect to store error
  • Login page resets during account creation
  • Account existence conflicts (user exists/does not exist)
  • Intermittent crashes and connection issues
Show 4 more
  • Premium membership status not persisting after reinstall
  • UI elements not aligned properly on older iPhones
  • Scroll functionality issues preventing access to all answer options
  • Data loss when signed out of Apple ID

Requested features

7 requests
  • Offline functionality
  • Goals section in addition to journal
  • Better onboarding tutorial ("ACT & This App 101")
  • Clearer password requirements during signup
  • Clinician subscription bundling options
Show 2 more
  • Free trial period before requiring payment
  • One-time purchase option instead of recurring subscription

The Self Compassion App

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Abrupt ending of audio sessions
  • Occasional issues with sound and connectivity

Requested features

3 requests
  • Quarterly payment plan option
  • Improved synchronization across devices
  • Simpler version with fewer features

In-app purchases

2 purchases

ACT iCoach

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly subscription3 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Six Month Subscription$49.996 Months
2 purchases

The Self Compassion App

Subscriptions2
  • Self-Compassion Premium7 Days trial$56.991 Year
  • Self-Compassion App Premium3 Days trial$56.991 Year

Questions

Is ACT iCoach free?
ACT iCoach is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Self Compassion App free?
The Self Compassion App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ACT iCoach or The Self Compassion App?
The Self Compassion App is rated higher. ACT iCoach averages 4.6 out of 5 from 187 ratings, while The Self Compassion App averages 4.8 from 249 ratings.
Do ACT iCoach or The Self Compassion App have ads?
The Self Compassion App shows ads; ACT iCoach does not.
Which is updated more often, ACT iCoach or The Self Compassion App?
ACT iCoach ships an update every 4 weeks, and The Self Compassion App monthly. Most recently, ACT iCoach was updated on November 8, 2026 and The Self Compassion App on November 8, 2026.

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