DBT Coach vs FreeCBT
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DBT Coach
Learn and practice Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills to manage emotions, build resilience, and improve relationships. This app offers expert-created lessons, interactive exercises, and progress tracking to support personal growth and emotional well-being.
- Comprehensive DBT skills library
- Interactive video lessons and animated guides
- AI-powered personalized skills coach
- Intuitive diary card for mood tracking
- Progress visualization and clinician sharing
- Guided meditations and self-reflection questionnaires
- Crisis support hotlines
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Transform Your Life with Evidence-Based Skills. Feel more in control. Build resilience. Transform overwhelming emotions into actionable skills. DBT Coach is the most comprehensive DBT app available - trusted by over 3 million users. WHY DBT COACH WORKS Real Results: Most users show measurable improvement within 90 days. Our evidence-based approach combines DBT expertise with engaging, memorable content. Learn Skills That Stick 100+ expert video lessons 60+ animated skill guides Interactive exercises that reinforce learning Effortless Progress Tracking: Your intuitive diary card makes daily tracking simple. Visualize patterns, celebrate wins, and share seamlessly with your therapist - no more weekly emails. WHAT'S INSIDE - Comprehensive, beautifully designed DBT Diary tracking which lets you control what you want to track, how much detail (context) you want to provide. Additional context lets you to see advanced analytics - your patterns, progress, risk and provides recommendations. - Ability to share in graphical format as well as the traditional (tabular) diary card format - Complete DBT Skills Library Master Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Distress Tolerance, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. - Each skill includes videos, exercises, and real-world guides. 1,000+ Guided Meditations World-class teachers across mindfulness, crisis management, sleep, and self-compassion themes. - Smart Analytics and Insights Discover connections between skills practice and emotional well-being with data-driven insights. - Motivation System Earn achievements, track streaks, and celebrate milestones as you build your practice. 100+ Interactive Worksheets Practice exercises linked to lessons. - Review history to see your progress. - Crisis Survival Toolkit Quick access to distress tolerance skills when you need them most. - Therapist Integration Share diary cards, exercises, and progress with your clinician in real-time through our companion platform. - Beautiful Design Dark mode, customizable tracking, and intuitive interface. WHO IT'S FOR - Dealing with stress or emotional overwhelm - In DBT therapy and need a companion tool - Committed to personal growth and wellness WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT - Comprehensive: Complete DBT curriculum coverage - Clinically rigorous: Expert-reviewed, cited in journals - Visual and engaging: Video, animation, and interaction - Therapist-connected: Seamless clinical care integration - Proven effective: Real outcomes, real data SUBSCRIPTION Free trial available $11.99/month or $59.99/6 months (save 17%) Cancel anytime in settings Auto-renews unless turned off 24 hours before period ends Payment charged to account at confirmation IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER DBT Coach is an educational and self-help wellness app. It is NOT a medical device and does NOT provide medical diagnoses, treatment plans, or prescriptions. All content is psychoeducational in nature, designed to teach general Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) coping skills. The AI coach feature is a skills coaching tool, not a licensed therapist or medical professional. This app complements - not replaces - professional therapy. For best results, use alongside a qualified mental health provider. If you are in crisis, please contact emergency services or the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You deserve support that meets you where you are. Download DBT Coach and take the next step toward a life worth living. Privacy: https://www.resiliens.com/privacy Terms: https://www.resiliens.com/terms
FreeCBT
This app provides a digital thought diary to practice Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). It helps users identify and challenge negative automatic thoughts, retrain their brains, and ultimately improve mood and behavior. It's an open-source tool for self-help and as a companion to traditional therapy.
- Thought diary
- Challenge automatic thoughts
- Identify cognitive distortions
- Train alternative thoughts
- Open source
- CBT self-help tool
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FreeCBT is an open source thought diary for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the "gold standard" of psychotherapy and is widely considered to be one of the most effective, evidence backed treatments for depression, anxiety, and panic. If you go into just about any therapist or psychiatrist, CBT will likely be one of the first treatments they try. FreeCBT is a companion and self-help app for one of the most common formats of CBT. You may have heard it called "the three column technique" or "catch it, check it, change it." Your brain is really good at making you feel exactly what you're thinking. Often, we find ourselves thinking "automatic negative thoughts" that lead us to fume on something that may not be true. That can cause us to feel depressed or anxious. CBT helps you record "automatic thoughts," challenge them with cognitive distortions and then train your brain with an alternative thought. If you do it enough, you can change your thoughts, your moods and your behavior. FreeCBT, a fork of Quirk, is open source under the GPL. You can find the code on Github at: https://github.com/erosson/freecbt
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: FreeCBT at none against DBT Coach's 3. FreeCBT also leads on review sentiment (96% vs 69%). DBT Coach's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 9 months) and ratings volume (1.7K vs 170). On price, rating, ads and device support 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
Both are free to download. DBT Coach sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. FreeCBT asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for DBT Coach against 4.7 for FreeCBT. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DBT Coach has 1.7K ratings behind it against 170, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 69% of DBT Coach's written reviews are positive against 96% of FreeCBT's.
DBT Coach ships an update fortnightly, FreeCBT every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DBT Coach | FreeCBT |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (1.7K ratings) | 4.7 (170 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 68.7% of reviews | 96.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.7K — better | 170 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 9 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 139 MB | 35 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Resiliens Inc. | Evan Rosson |
Customer experience
DBT Coach
FreeCBT
User reviews
DBT Coach
From 1.7K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent interface and packed with skills and tools
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 🌟 Helpful for managing BPD, anxiety, and depression
- 📚 Comprehensive DBT content and lessons
- 💻 Seamless integration with therapist's app
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive subscription, especially for those with limited means
- 🔒 Paywall blocks access to important features like crisis support
- 🐛 Frequent bugs, crashes, and login issues
- 🔄 Constantly logging users out, requiring re-authentication
- 📝 Editing and customization options are limited
FreeCBT
From 170 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and intuitive user interface
- 💰 Completely free with no ads or subscriptions
- 🎯 Effective CBT methodology in 3-column format
- ⚡ Quick and easy to use in the moment
- 🔒 Private and secure thought tracking
Room to improve
- 🐛 Swipe navigation causes accidental distortion selection
- 💾 Data loss issue after app updates
- ⌨️ Keyboard covers input area while typing
- 📱 Limited cross-device synchronization
- 🎨 Missing dark mode option
Bugs and requests
DBT Coach
Reported bugs
5 issues- Diary card entries not saving properly
- Inability to log food or physical activity
- Apple Health integration not working
- Certain meditations and lessons not functioning
- Inconsistent performance and unexpected crashes
Requested features
5 requests- Allow more customization of diary card and tracked items
- Improve stability and reduce bugs
- Offer more affordable subscription options
- Add ability to share diary entries with multiple providers
- Improve navigation and make the app more user-friendly
FreeCBT
Reported bugs
5 issues- Swiping from distortion page selects/deselects distortions unintentionally
- App update deleted all past user entries
- Keyboard covers answer input area on some screens
- Swipe navigation doesn't work properly on certain screens
- Inconsistent touch response during navigation
Requested features
12 requests- Dark mode option
- Analytics to track thoughts and patterns over time
- Export feature to share entries with therapist or notes app
- Cross-device synchronization
- Bottom navigation bar
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- Ability to tag or categorize thoughts by topic
- Filter and view thoughts by category
- Evidence section with for/against columns
- Worst case scenario section with probability assessment
- More detailed examples for alternative thought step
- Additional cognitive distortion options (jumping to conclusions)
- Better help documentation and explanations
In-app purchases
DBT Coach
- Monthly Subscription3 Days trial$11.991 Month
- Family Monthly Subscription$19.991 Month
- Six Month Subscription3 Days trial$59.996 Months
FreeCBT
No in-app purchases








