Comparison

Bounce Back Now vs CPT Explorer

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

Head to head
About

Bounce Back Now

This app offers private, self-paced emotional recovery tools for individuals and families impacted by trauma or stressful life events. It helps track well-being, provides coping strategies for stress, anxiety, and mood, and connects users to support resources.

Highlights
  • Emotional well-being assessment and tracking
  • Understanding trauma symptoms
  • Coping tools for stress, anxiety, and mood
  • Mindfulness and relaxation techniques
  • Sleep monitoring and improvement
  • Parenting tips for young children
  • Connection to crisis support helplines
Read full description

Bounce Back Now (BBN) is a free app to support the emotional recovery of individuals and families affected by a traumatic event, privately and at their own pace. Most content in the app is also highly relevant to people who have experienced other stressful life events. BBN was developed by healthcare professionals at the Medical University of South Carolina, Boston University, and University of Nebraska and was rigorously tested in research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health to provide an effective recovery tool for trauma survivors worldwide. Many people experience stress, anxiety, low mood, or sleep problems after a traumatic event, but don’t know where to turn for help. This app will help you track your emotional recovery and will provide you with coping tools to help you manage stress, anxiety, mood, and sleep problems based on best practice guidelines. If you want to talk to or text a disaster crisis counseling and support specialist via the Disaster Distress Helpline (which is administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), the BBN app will help connect you to them. Download BBN today to support your and your family’s recovery after a traumatic event. What you will get: - Ability to assess your emotional well-being and track your recovery over time. - Gain an understanding of symptoms that commonly occur after a traumatic event. - Easy access to best-practice mobile tools that support emotional recovery and health across a range of domains, including stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep. - Effective coping tools that include relaxation skills, mindfulness, scheduling pleasurable activities, monitoring and improving sleep, writing about your experience, and tools to manage stress and anxiety. - Apply coping tools to improve mood and rate your experiences. - Coping tips for adults and helpful parenting tips for young children and adolescents. - Resources for additional help, such as Disaster Distress Helpline, American Red Cross, and National Institutes of Health, all in one place. - By practicing these skills over time, you may become less distressed and more quickly able to return to your daily activities. This mobile app is intended for information, education, and self-help purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical advice from a doctor or health care provider. Use of this application does not establish a doctor-patient relationship between you and the Medical University of South Carolina, Boston University School of Public Health, University of Nebraska, the National Institutes of Health, or any affiliated institutions. Persons using this application assume full responsibility for the use of this application and agree that the Medical University of South Carolina, Boston University School of Public Health, University of Nebraska, or any affiliated institutions are not responsible or liable for any claims, losses, or harms arising from use of the application. If you have any questions about the app, please contact the BBN Team at bbn@musc.edu or visit bouncebacknow.org.

About

CPT Explorer

Features
Read full description

This is an evaluation version of CPT Coach that is only for participants in approved program evaluation projects for NCPTSD. To unlock this evaluation version, you will need a login code from an investigator. Please contact your investigator if you need help. If you are NOT enrolled in a program evaluation project, please instead download the regular version of CPT Coach. That app does not require a login code.

Screenshots

Bounce Back Now3 screens
CPT Explorer2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Bounce Back Now at fortnightly against CPT Explorer's every 3 months. CPT Explorer's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bounce Back Now ships an update fortnightly, CPT Explorer every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on June 4, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Bounce Back Now versus CPT Explorer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBounce Back NowCPT Explorer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB133 MB
Age rating12+17+
DeveloperThe Medical University of South CarolinaPalo Alto Veterans Institute for Research

In-app purchases

None

Bounce Back Now

No in-app purchases

None

CPT Explorer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bounce Back Now free?
Bounce Back Now is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CPT Explorer free?
CPT Explorer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Bounce Back Now or CPT Explorer have ads?
Neither Bounce Back Now nor CPT Explorer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bounce Back Now or CPT Explorer?
Bounce Back Now ships an update fortnightly, and CPT Explorer every 3 months. Most recently, Bounce Back Now was updated on June 4, 2026 and CPT Explorer on September 18, 2026.

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