Comparison

EMDR vs EMDR Therapy

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

Head to head
About

EMDR

This app provides customizable bilateral stimulation across Apple devices, offering control over visual, auditory, and haptic feedback. It supports various use cases like research, education, focus enhancement, and relaxation, with accessibility features and online broadcasting capabilities.

Highlights
  • Customizable pace and auto-stop
  • Stereo sounds, animations, and vibrations
  • Cross-device connectivity (iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc.)
  • Game controller support
  • Online broadcasting via EMDR Connect
  • Full VoiceOver and Assistive Access support
Features
Read full description

The EMDR app puts you in full control of visual, audio, and haptic bilateral stimulation. Turn game controllers and Joy-Cons into tappers, position sound precisely in stereo, and fine-tune vibration intensity. Sync across your Apple devices or broadcast to any browser with EMDR Connect. Full VoiceOver and Assistive Access support is built in. STIMULATION YOUR WAY Tailor every session to your needs: • Set your pace with presets or fine-tune it with a slider. • Use auto-stop so you never have to count along. • Choose from a wide range of sounds, animations, and vibrations. • Hear the count spoken aloud in 21 languages. • Position stereo sound to the left, right, or center. • Fine-tune vibration intensity, automatically adapted to each device. • Personalize colors, patterns, and more. WORKS ACROSS YOUR DEVICES Connect iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, Joy-Cons, and game controllers. Alternate flashes or vibrations between devices, or use one as a remote control for another. No specialized tapper hardware is needed. The devices you already own do the work. BROADCAST WITH EMDR CONNECT Send your stimulation to a protected webpage on any computer, tablet, or phone, whether it's your own device or someone else's. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account is needed. Shared names are encrypted, and EMDR Connect session data is removed from the server when the session ends. START FROM ANYWHERE • Start stimulation from Control Center, the Lock Screen, or the Action button. • Ask Siri, or automate your setup with Shortcuts. • Control playback from your headphones or a widget, even in the background. BUILT FOR ACCESSIBILITY Full support for Assistive Access and VoiceOver makes the app usable for people with diverse needs, with specialized interfaces that don't compromise on capability. TRY ONE MONTH FREE Explore everything the EMDR app offers with a free one-month trial for new subscribers. EMDR+ unlocks the full feature set across your Apple devices. EMDR Connect adds broadcasting to any browser. Download today and see how it fits your routine. APP PURPOSE This app is a general-purpose tool for generating bilateral and other types of stimulation. It supports a wide range of applications, including: • Research, e.g. testing the effects of bilateral stimulation. • Education, e.g. illustrating bilateral stimulation principles. • Focus and attention, e.g. pacing tasks with timed signals. • Relaxation and wellness, e.g. promoting physical relaxation through bilateral vibration. This app is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

EMDR Therapy

This app simulates EMDR therapy using advanced digital techniques. It guides users through bilateral stimulation with visual, auditory, and vibration cues to help process distressing memories and reduce their emotional impact. Recommended by mental health professionals, it aims to aid recovery from trauma, depression, PTSD, and anxiety.

Highlights
  • Simulates EMDR therapy techniques
  • Bilateral stimulation (visual, auditory, vibration)
  • Guided processing of distressing memories
  • Aids recovery from trauma and anxiety
  • Customizable settings for user preference
Features
Read full description

This application uses many advanced digital technics and simulates EMDR therapy. EMDR is a technique recommended by psychotherapists and Psychologists. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an extensively researched psychotherapy method proven to be effective and help people recover from trauma and other distressing life experiences which are including depression, PTSD, panic disorders, anxiety. The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs/Dept. of Defense, The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the World Health Organization among many other national and international organizations recognize and recommend EMDR therapy as an effective treatment. First, put on your headphones, think of a traumatic and disturbing event. Follow the ball in the EMDR tool, focus on the transition of sounds in your left and right ears, and feel the vibrations. Thus, the effect of traumatic disturbing events that will provide the data flow between the right and left brain as in REM sleep will decrease. Focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories. While you bring the details of that memory to mind, This tool will guide you through a series of side-to-side eye movements, auditory (with direction), and vibrations. As you learn to process the memory and related feelings it brings up, you’ll gradually be able to reframe that memory in a more positive light. Use three types of BLS: visual, auditory (with direction), and vibrations and modify your settings to suit your preferences. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy developed by Francine Shapiro in the 1980s that was originally designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In EMDR, the person being treated recalls distressing experiences whilst doing bilateral stimulation, such as side-to-side eye movement or physical stimulation, such as tapping either side of the body. According to the theory behind the approach, traumatic and painful memories can cause post-traumatic stress when you don’t process them completely. Then, when sights, sounds, words, or smells trigger those unprocessed memories, you re-experience them. The 2013 World Health Organization (WHO) practice guideline states that EMDR "is based on the idea that negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are the result of unprocessed memories. The treatment involves standardized procedures that include focusing simultaneously on spontaneous associations of traumatic images, thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations and bilateral stimulation that is most commonly in the form of repeated eye movements. This re-experiencing leads to the emotional distress and other symptoms recognized as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). EMDR aims to reduce symptoms of trauma by changing how your memories are stored in your brain. In a nutshell, an EMDR therapist does this by leading you through a series of bilateral (side-to-side) eye movements as you recall traumatic or triggering experiences in small segments, until those memories no longer cause distress.

Screenshots

EMDR4 screens
EMDR Therapy3 screens

Verdict

The call

EMDR and EMDR Therapy both sit at 4.4 stars, but that hides the real split: 89% of EMDR Therapy's written reviews are positive against 46% of EMDR's. EMDR Therapy also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 7) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15). EMDR's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (172 vs 12). On price, rating and update cadence 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. EMDR sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. EMDR Therapy asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for EMDR against 4.4 for EMDR Therapy. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EMDR has 172 ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 46% of EMDR's written reviews are positive against 89% of EMDR Therapy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

EMDR ships an update weekly, EMDR Therapy every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and August 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
EMDR versus EMDR Therapy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEMDREMDR Therapy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (172 ratings)4.4 (12 ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.8% of reviews88.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings172 — better12
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS1513.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size112 MB108 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBas OppenheimAhmet Emre Kilinc

Customer experience

EMDR

All ratings172 ratings
Positive84.9%
Neutral3.5%
Negative11.6%
Written reviews48 reviews
Positive45.8%
Neutral4.2%
Negative50.0%

EMDR Therapy

All ratings12 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive88.9%
Neutral11.1%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

EMDR

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Apple Watch app won't launch after update
  • Sound issues (thudding noise, stereo problems)
  • Apple TV app doesn't work
  • Session disrupted by upsell window
  • App crashes when selecting features
Show 5 more
  • Sound doesn't work after purchasing
  • App doesn't work without internet
  • Trial starts without warning
  • Trial period doesn't work
  • App doesn't play in background or when screen is locked

Requested features

13 requests
  • Gradient effect for circle
  • More customization for circle
  • Alternating controller vibration
  • Timer feature
  • Slower BPM options (down to 30)
Show 8 more
  • More frame rates per second
  • Additional movements (Achten, Kreise)
  • Slower option for Slow EMDR
  • Use two Nintendo controllers for each hand
  • Pitch control for tone option
  • Option for 48 repeats
  • Ability to run with screen locked or in background
  • Manual input for repetitions and speed

EMDR Therapy

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

EMDR

Subscriptions5
  • EMDR+1 Month trial$4.991 Month
  • EMDR+ with Connect1 Month trial$19.991 Month
  • EMDR+ with Connect (Monthly)1 Month trial$39.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • EMDR+ (Yearly)1 Month trial$49.991 Year
  • EMDR+ with Connect (Yearly)1 Month trial2 variants$199.991 Year
One-time1
  • EMDR+ for Research$9.99
None

EMDR Therapy

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is EMDR free?
EMDR is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is EMDR Therapy free?
EMDR Therapy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, EMDR or EMDR Therapy?
EMDR Therapy is rated higher. EMDR averages 4.4 out of 5 from 172 ratings, while EMDR Therapy averages 4.4 from 12 ratings.
Do EMDR or EMDR Therapy have ads?
EMDR Therapy shows ads; EMDR does not.
Which is updated more often, EMDR or EMDR Therapy?
EMDR ships an update weekly, and EMDR Therapy every 4 days. Most recently, EMDR was updated on September 23, 2026 and EMDR Therapy on August 12, 2026.

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