Comparison

FreeCBT vs tend. app

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Thought diary
  • Challenge automatic thoughts
  • Identify cognitive distortions
  • Train alternative thoughts
  • Open source
  • CBT self-help tool
Features
Read full description

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

About

tend. app

Features
Read full description

'tend' is a gentle daily companion for your mental wellbeing. Built around evidence-based techniques, it helps you build the small habits that make the hard days a little easier, one check-in at a time. Daily Check-In: Start each day with a gentle mood check-in. A few taps and a short note is all it takes. Over time your check-ins become a private record of how you have really been, showing you patterns you might not have noticed on your own. Grow: Your 8-Week Program: A structured program to build real, lasting mental wellbeing skills. Each week introduces one technique through a short intro, a guided exercise, and a real-world experiment to try in your own life. Complete exercises, write reflections, and unlock the next week at your own pace. Set personal goals alongside your program and track them as you go. Habit Tracker: Small actions done consistently are what actually move the needle. Build your own habits, track streaks, and link them to your goals. Your first three habits are free! Evidence-Based Toolkit: • Thought records - challenge anxious or unhelpful thinking, step by step • Grounding exercises - come back to the present moment • Worry postpone - schedule your worries for later so they do not take over now • Breathing exercises - slow down and reset • Guided Relaxation - Progressive Muscle Relaxation with a calm, guided voice. Work through each muscle group at your own pace. • Stability Plan - build your personal safety net for the moments things get hard. • Self-compassion - a guided exercise to meet yourself with kindness, even on the hardest days • Gratitude - a simple daily practice that trains your brain to notice what is good, not just what is hard Journal: A private space to write freely. No prompts, no structure, no rules. Everything stays on your device. Progress: A private record of everything you have done: check-ins, thought records, worry postpones, and more. Patterns emerge when you look back, and looking back matters! Meet Bisous! Bisous is a little dog with a lot of warmth. She shows up every day inside 'tend' to check in, adapts to how you are feeling, and reminds you that someone is in your corner. She celebrates the good days. She sits quietly with you through the hard ones. A note: 'tend' your mind is not a replacement for professional support. If you are struggling, please reach out to a therapist, your GP, or a crisis line in your country. Legal: Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

FreeCBT3 screens
tend. app4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: FreeCBT at none against tend. app's 3. tend. app's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 9 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. tend. app sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. FreeCBT asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

FreeCBT ships an update every 9 months, tend. app every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
FreeCBT versus tend. app: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFreeCBTtend. app
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (170 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews96.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings170 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.1
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB39 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperEvan RossonEmily Willis

Bugs and requests

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
Show 7 more
  • 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

tend. app

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

FreeCBT

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

tend. app

Subscriptions2
  • Pocket CBT Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Pocket CBT Pro Yearly$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pocket CBT Pro$3.99

Questions

Is FreeCBT free?
FreeCBT is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is tend. app free?
tend. app is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do FreeCBT or tend. app have ads?
Neither FreeCBT nor tend. app shows ads.
Which is updated more often, FreeCBT or tend. app?
FreeCBT ships an update every 9 months, and tend. app every 3 weeks. Most recently, FreeCBT was updated on November 3, 2026 and tend. app on October 30, 2026.

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