Release vs Heal EMDR
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Release
This app combines mindfulness and tapping exercises to reduce stress and improve mental well-being. It offers guided sessions for various needs, including focus, emotional regulation, and overcoming limiting beliefs. Tailored content is available for kids, athletes, students, and professionals.
- Guided mindfulness exercises
- Tapping (EFT) sessions
- Stress and emotion reduction
- Focus and attention building
- Exercises for kids and athletes
- Classroom and workplace sessions
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The Release App is a unique app incorporating both Mindfulness and Tapping exercises to promote positive mental health and relaxation. Used by parents, classroom teachers, athletes, coaches and even in the workplace, the Release app’s guided Mindfulness and Tapping exercises can help you reduce stress, difficult emotions and limiting beliefs that may be holding you back from living your best life. Release incorporates two wellness tools, Mindfulness and Tapping, to bring more peace and ease into your life. When practiced regularly, Mindfulness has been proven to increase focus and attention, while releasing stress, directly affecting performance at work, school and in other extra-curricular activities. Mindfulness can improve your social and emotional intelligence. The guided focus exercises can help you train your brain to gain awareness of your thought patterns and feelings, resulting in more positive actions. Instead of reacting automatically, you learn to pause and assess the situation choosing a less reactive, more positive response. Self-regulation is enhanced with a mindfulness practice, so you may live with more peace and ease. Mindfulness exercises include: awareness of your breath, a body relaxation, working with difficult emotions, building a positive mindset, a daily focus and relaxation exercise to begin the day in the space of the precious, present moment and more. Tapping is a simple tool to help you feel better fast. Related to acupuncture, and used in Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Tapping can help to release stress and decrease the intensity of difficult emotions and limiting beliefs. Choose from the many guided tapping exercises that corresponds with your most pressing issue or stressor. Tapping topics include “Releasing Fears From What-If Thinking”, “Releasing Stress From Conflict with a Co-Worker”, “Releasing Financial Stress” and many others. Although fairly unknown to most people, millions have already discovered this new resilience tool, yielding promising results for wellness. There are 5 categories in the Release App including exercises for kids, athletes, teens, adults and even specific sessions for classroom use. The Release for Kids category includes exercises for focus and relaxation. It allows you to relax and tap along with your child to empower them with tools for their own wellness, helping to decrease the intensity of stress, anxiety, fears and other difficult emotions. The Release in Education category promotes attention building and focus in the classroom, helping students to settle their thoughts and relax their bodies. The tapping sessions can help to decrease anxiety around tests, conflict with peers and even limiting beliefs that cause stress. Release for Athletes helps athletes to perform presently “in the zone” and helps to decrease limiting beliefs that get in the way of their peak performance. The exercises are a great addition to any mental strength training program. Release for Teens and Release for Adults addresses specific issues that many people face at work, school and in their personal and social lives. The guided exercises promote stress reduction and relaxation, and can help to decrease limiting beliefs. New content will be added regularly, including more Mindfulness and Tapping exercises to build resilience. The Release app is an effective wellness tool to help promote focus and calm for ourselves and those we care about. Terms & Conditions - www.thereleaseapp.com/terms-of-use.html Privacy Policy - www.thereleaseapp.com/privacy-policy.html
Heal EMDR
This app offers guided Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for managing anxiety, PTSD, and depression. It provides personalized sessions, progress tracking, and a resource library, all while ensuring user privacy.
- Guided EMDR therapy sessions
- Optional AI Therapist or questionnaire
- Targeted programs for anxiety, PTSD, trauma, depression, grief, phobias
- Personalized session settings
- Progress tracking dashboard
- Resource library with videos and articles
- 100% private data storage
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Heal EMDR is a self-guided EMDR therapy app that takes you through the full EMDR process at home. Each session follows the same steps a therapist uses, with a voice guiding you from start to finish, so you can work on PTSD, trauma, anxiety, depression and more at your own pace. WHAT IS EMDR THERAPY? EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured trauma therapy designed to help your mind reprocess distressing memories so they feel less overwhelming. EMDR therapy is recommended for PTSD by the World Health Organization, the UK's NICE and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. EMDR FOR PTSD, TRAUMA, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION AND MORE Pick the EMDR program that fits you: - Standard EMDR Program: start here if you're new to EMDR therapy - Conquer PTSD: flashbacks, nightmares and living on high alert - Process Trauma: childhood trauma, past relationships or one hard event - Beat Anxiety: chronic worry and overwhelming thoughts - Alleviate Depression: the low mood and the memories behind it - Overcome Panic Attacks: panic and the fear of the next attack - Phobia Relief: a specific fear, like flying, needles or public speaking - Coping with Grief: the hardest moments of losing someone - Break Free from Addiction: what's behind the urge, from drinking and smoking to gambling and scrolling MORE THAN EYE MOVEMENTS EMDR is known for its eye movements, but there's more to it than that. Every Heal EMDR session includes the full EMDR protocol: - Preparation: choose the memory to work on, the negative beliefs tied to it, and how distressing it feels right now - Processing and Installation: bilateral stimulation through your headphones to reprocess the memory, then strengthen a positive belief in its place - Closure: settle with a breathing exercise, calm place visualization or guided meditation before you return to your day NO EMDR KIT OR TAPPERS NEEDED This virtual EMDR app uses bilateral audio through your headphones instead of tappers or an EMDR kit. All you need is your phone and a quiet place. GUIDED EMDR, SET BY SET In Guided mode, a voice talks you through each set of bilateral stimulation, checks in between sets and tells you what to do next. Already familiar with EMDR? Switch to Advanced mode to skip the instructions. WHY PEOPLE CHOOSE HEAL EMDR - Online EMDR you can start today, with no waiting lists - Unlimited sessions for one subscription price - Private and secure: your sessions, notes and chats are stored securely, visible only to you, and never sold - Real human support: message us and a real person replies PINPOINT WHAT TO WORK ON Not sure where to start? Talk it through in a guided chat, or answer a few short questions. Either way, you end up with a clear EMDR target: the moment, the emotion and where you feel it in your body. GO DEEPER WITH A HEALING JOURNEY Some memories take more than one session. A Healing journey connects several EMDR sessions on one issue, so each session builds on the last. SEE THE SHIFT AFTER EVERY SESSION Rate your distress before and after each session and watch it change over time. Your progress page keeps your session history, therapy notes, streaks and badges in one place. SESSIONS THAT FIT YOUR DAY Choose a shorter, standard or longer session, or set your own. Pick your tone, speed and voice. LEARN ABOUT EMDR Short videos and articles explain how EMDR works and what to expect. FREE TRIAL AND FREE ACCESS Start with a free trial. Can't afford a subscription? We offer free access to people in need. Get in touch from the app. IMPORTANT Heal EMDR provides self-guided therapy tools and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always ask your doctor or another qualified health provider about any medical condition. If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, contact your local emergency number or a crisis line right away. Privacy Policy: https://www.healemdr.com/privacy Terms and Conditions: https://www.healemdr.com/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Heal EMDR at 228 against Release's 4. Heal EMDR also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). Release's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 88%) and iOS requirement (13.4 vs 16.0). On price, rating, ads 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
Both are free to download. Release sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $8.49 per month and Heal EMDR sells 19 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Release holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Heal EMDR has 228 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Release's written reviews are positive against 88% of Heal EMDR's.
Release ships an update every 2 months, Heal EMDR fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Release | Heal EMDR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better | 4.8 (228 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 88.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 228 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.4 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 118 MB | 72 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Present Moment Living | HEAL APP FOR INTERNET CONTENT PROVIDER |
Customer experience
Release
Heal EMDR
Bugs and requests
Release
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Heal EMDR
Reported bugs
2 issues- AI function gets stuck
- Intro videos are unnerving/uncanny valley
Requested features
5 requests- Alternative to bilateral audio
- Graphs for progress tracking
- Option to turn off bilateral audio
- Use real people instead of AI for intro videos
- Just use audio and no AI person for intro videos
In-app purchases
Release
- Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$8.491 Month
- Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$71.991 Year
Heal EMDR
- Weekly3 Days trial$4.997 Days
- Monthly1 Month trial$19.991 Month
- Monthly7 Days trial$19.991 Month
Show 13 moreShow fewer
- 3 Months3 Months trial$44.993 Months
- 3 Months14 Days trial$44.993 Months
- Monthly$49.991 Month
- Monthly - 1 Month Trial1 Month trial$59.991 Month
- Monthly - 3 Days Trial3 Days trial$59.991 Month
- Monthly$65.991 Month
- 3 Months$119.993 Months
- 3 Months - 1 Month Trial1 Month trial$149.993 Months
- 3 Months - 7 Days Trial7 Days trial$149.993 Months
- 6 Months$179.996 Months
- 6 Months - 7 Days Trial7 Days trial$239.996 Months
- 6 Months7 Days trial$274.996 Months
- Annual14 Days trial$434.991 Year
- One Therapy Session$8.99
- Five Therapy Sessions$39.99
- Ten Therapy Sessions$59.99









