Comparison

FreeCBT vs Three Word Diary

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

Three Word Diary

Features
Read full description

I wanted a diary I'd actually use, long entries never worked for me, I'd lose the habit or run out of words. Three Word Diary reminds you to write three words each day. Moments, feelings, or little things you don't want to forget. Sometimes it's gratitude. Sometimes it's memory. Sometimes it's just a reminder. No sign-ups, no cloud, no noise. Nothing leaves your device. Nothing asks for attention.

Screenshots

FreeCBT3 screens
Three Word Diary4 screens

Verdict

The call

FreeCBT and Three Word Diary are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
FreeCBT versus Three Word Diary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFreeCBTThree Word Diary
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (143 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews96.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings143 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.1
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB34 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperEvan RossonERIK HENRIK HOLMSTROM

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

Three Word Diary

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

FreeCBT

No in-app purchases

None

Three Word Diary

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is FreeCBT free?
FreeCBT is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Three Word Diary free?
Three Word Diary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do FreeCBT or Three Word Diary have ads?
Neither FreeCBT nor Three Word Diary shows ads.

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