Comparison

Nerva vs Calm and Confident

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

Head to head
About

Nerva

This app offers a personalized gut-brain therapy program to manage symptoms of IBS, FD, GERD, and other gut-brain disorders. It aims to retrain the nervous system and improve communication between the gut and brain through daily sessions and practical tools.

Highlights
  • Personalized gut-brain therapy program
  • Daily 15-minute retraining sessions
  • Flare-up management tools
  • Long-term symptom maintenance plan
  • AI-driven personalization
  • Evidence-based clinical research
Features
Read full description

Address the miscommunication between your gut and brain. Designed for people living with IBS, functional dyspepsia (FD), GERD, bloating symptoms, and other gut–brain disorders - as well as those seeking additional support alongside IBD care - Nerva is a personalized gut–brain program that supports symptom management through daily sessions, practical tools, and structured guidance. Target the root cause Many people spend years cutting out foods in an effort to calm their gut - a difficult path that can miss what’s really driving symptoms. In disorders of gut–brain interaction (DGBIs), the root cause is gut–brain hypersensitivity. After a trigger like illness, antibiotics, or prolonged stress, the nerves in the gut can become over-reactive. Even once the gut tissue heals, the nervous system may keep the alarm turned up. Normal digestion, gas, or movement are then misread as danger - leading to pain, bloating, reflux, urgency, constipation, or diarrhea. Diets and medications can reduce symptoms temporarily, but they don’t retrain this signaling system. That’s why symptoms often return or shift over time. Lasting relief means calming the nervous system and restoring healthy gut–brain communication - where the symptoms actually start. How Nerva helps Nerva is a structured gut–brain program that helps you practice brain-gut techniques shown to support a calmer response to gut sensations. Over the program you'll learn to: - Respond differently to uncomfortable gut signals - Practice calming the gut–brain stress response - Build daily habits that support digestive comfort Tailored to you No two guts are the same. Nerva adapts your program to your symptoms, triggers, and progress - using AI to adjust the coaching and guidance as you go. The sessions, the tools you receive, and the coaching you follow are all shaped around your experience. Evidence-based Unlike most apps, Nerva is built on clinical research. In a randomized controlled trial at Monash University, Nerva helped 81% of people significantly manage their gastrointestinal symptoms. Since then, more than 300,000 people have used Nerva, and over 11,000 healthcare providers recommend it. Features of Nerva - Daily 15-minute sessions designed to retrain gut-brain miscommunication - Flare-up tools for pain, bloating, constipation, reflux and diarrhea - Long-term maintenance plan to keep symptoms under control after the program - AI personalization to tailor the program to your selected triggers and progress Who is the team behind Nerva? Nerva was built by Dr. Simone Peters, GI psychophysiologist, together with clinicians, dietitians, and researchers. Many of us live with gut conditions ourselves. Member stories “Nerva has really worked for me. I’ve been using the app for several months now, and I’ve noticed that I’m experiencing less negative instances with my stomach. I would highly recommend to anyone - absolutely worth the subscription” Disclaimer: Nerva is a self-guided program that may help people self-manage and live well with a diagnosed disorder of the gut-brain interaction. It is not a substitute for professional medical care, diagnosis, or treatment, and has not been evaluated by the FDA, TGA, MHRA, or equivalent bodies. Do not change prescribed medication or treatment without professional advice. Some content is personalized or generated by AI for educational and wellness purposes only. It is not therapy or mental health care, is not from a licensed professional, and is not monitored in real time. If you are in distress or thinking of harming yourself or others, call your local emergency number right away. Subscription and trial 7-day free trial After the trial, your account is charged according to the plan you choose Subscriptions renew until cancelled Cancel anytime in iOS Settings, Apple ID, Subscriptions Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.mindsethealth.com/privacy

About

Calm and Confident

This app uses guided meditations based on trauma therapy principles to help reverse anxiety and tension, fostering natural confidence. It employs applied neuroscience and bilateral stimulation to retrain your nervous system for improved self-awareness and emotional regulation.

Highlights
  • Guided meditations based on trauma therapy
  • Applied neuroscience techniques
  • Bilateral stimulation for nervous system regulation
  • Sessions for healing anxiety and childhood neglect
  • Enhances self-awareness and emotional regulation
  • Promotes natural confidence and relaxation
Features
Read full description

Harness your innate survival responses to reverse anxiety and tension and feel more confident, naturally. Based on the popular CD of the same name, Calm and Confident is for anyone who is struggling with too much stress and not enough confidence. As the name suggests, this app is designed to help you feel both calm and confident. The app comprises innovative 10 guided meditations based on trauma therapy principles. Two of the central sessions are the 19 and 27 minute respectively Calm and Confident sessions. These transformative sessions incorporate focused attention, sensory stimulation, relaxation and re-connection with personal resources to change how you feel about yourself. Another session (‘Healing Anxiety’) addresses the role that childhood emotional neglect plays in maintaining anxiety. Other sessions are designed to stimulate increased self-awareness, emotional regulation and security through various combinations of auditory, visual and mental stimuli. Feeling calm is essential for health and wellbeing, but without confidence it's just a nice feeling. Confidence is the end-product of feeling calm; it means experiencing yourself as connected, self-aware, energized, whole, and capable. Confidence is feeling okay about your feelings, needs and wants - it’s about feeling able to become the best version of yourself – not necessarily perfect, but the best ‘you’. As Lao Tzu said, ‘Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend.’ Calm and Confident will help you to find your inner friend. Based on recent discoveries regarding brain structure and functioning, Calm and Confident uses applied neuroscience to teach you how to communicate more effectively with your nervous system to effect change. The deepest learning comes from experience, activities which stimulate sensory-emotional learning. This is different to the ‘2+2 = 4’ kind of learning you got in school – it’s the learning that comes from doing something which changes how you feel about yourself – leading to new connections, new neural pathways. This kind of learning takes you from ‘I’m worthless’ to ‘I’m okay’; from ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can.’ The secret to achieving such confidence (when stress is getting in the way) is focused attention + bilateral stimulation (BLS), a unique combination which stimulates an in-built activation-deactivation circuit in your nervous system. BLS enables you to ‘hijack’ your own fight-flight response and transform anxiety and tension into relaxation and calm, naturally and effortlessly. It does this by harnessing your brain’s innate information processing capabilities. When your brain detects a stimuli such as BLS it‘s threat systems get activated while it figures out what’s going on. After a few seconds, once your brain recognizes there is no threat (no sabre-toothed tiger), it returns to normal levels of arousal, bringing your body with it. This happens naturally and quickly, without your having to try. The resulting feelings of relaxation not only reduce stress – they also facilitate increased confidence. When your nervous system is in a relaxed state it is more receptive to the true real-life affirmations embedded in the tracks on this app, resulting a more positive self-state. The amazing part is that this all happens as naturally as you might experience the pleasure that comes from watching a sunset or walking on a beach. This effect has been confirmed by research. Bilateral stimulation is a treatment element of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) EMDR, the revolutionary treatment for PTSD. The method seems to resolve trauma-related memories and feelings more rapidly and effectively than traditional methods. The app can be used for emotional ‘first-aid’, as an adjunct to psychotherapy and as part of long-term efforts to feel more confident. You can learn to feel different - you know much more than you think.

Screenshots

Nerva4 screens
Calm and Confident4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Nerva at Free against Calm and Confident's $4.99. Nerva also leads on ratings volume (15K vs 9). Calm and Confident's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and review sentiment (100% vs 72%). On rating, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Nerva is free to download; Calm and Confident costs $4.99 up front. Nerva sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $99.00 per month. Calm and Confident asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Nerva against 4.8 for Calm and Confident. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nerva has 15K ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 72% of Nerva's written reviews are positive against 100% of Calm and Confident's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Nerva ships an update weekly, Calm and Confident every 9 days. Both last shipped on October 27, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Nerva versus Calm and Confident: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNervaCalm and Confident
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.7 (15K ratings)4.8 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15K — better9
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.113.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size138 MB568 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperMindset Health Pty Ltdtrauma and pain management services pty ltd

Customer experience

Nerva

All ratings15,087 ratings
Positive93.1%
Neutral3.3%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews880 reviews
Positive72.4%
Neutral5.9%
Negative21.7%

Calm and Confident

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Nerva

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App getting stuck on certain days
  • Difficulty accessing previous sessions
  • Inconsistent user experience across devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • More variety in guided visualizations
  • Ability to skip or replace certain sessions
  • Maintenance plan with reduced pricing
  • Offline access to recordings

Calm and Confident

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Nerva

Subscriptions4
  • Nerva IBS program (Monthly)7 Days trial$99.001 Month
  • Nerva IBS program (3 Month)7 Days trial$149.003 Months
  • 30% Off Nerva IBS (3 Month)7 Days trial$149.003 Months
Show 1 more
  • Nerva Full Access7 Days trial$199.001 Year
None

Calm and Confident

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Nerva free?
Nerva is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Calm and Confident free?
Calm and Confident costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Nerva or Calm and Confident?
Calm and Confident is rated higher. Nerva averages 4.7 out of 5 from 15K ratings, while Calm and Confident averages 4.8 from 9 ratings.
Do Nerva or Calm and Confident have ads?
Neither Nerva nor Calm and Confident shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Nerva or Calm and Confident?
Nerva ships an update weekly, and Calm and Confident every 9 days. Most recently, Nerva was updated on October 27, 2026 and Calm and Confident on October 27, 2026.

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