Comparison

CPT Coach vs Virtual Hope Box (new)

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

Head to head
About

CPT Coach

This app provides support materials for Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) to help patients manage their treatment. It includes between-session assignments, mobile worksheets, readings, and PTSD symptom monitoring. It is designed for use with a mental healthcare provider.

Highlights
  • Between-session assignments
  • Mobile CPT worksheets
  • Readings and educational materials
  • PTSD symptom monitoring
  • Treatment management tools
Features
Read full description

CPT Coach is for people who are participating in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) with a professional mental healthcare provider. This app contains support materials for a complete course of CPT to help patients manage their treatment, including between session assignments, mobile versions of CPT worksheets, readings, and PTSD symptom monitoring. CPT Coach is not intended to be used as self-help without the guidance of a professional mental healthcare provider. CPT Coach was made by the mobile mental health team of the National Center for PTSD, Dissemination & Training Division.

About

Virtual Hope Box (new)

This app provides tools to help users cope with difficult emotions, relax, and engage in positive thinking. It allows for personalized content creation with loved ones and therapists, offering distraction techniques and guided exercises.

Highlights
  • Multimedia content storage
  • Personalized coping cards
  • Positive activity planning
  • Distraction tools
  • Guided relaxation exercises
  • Controlled breathing techniques
Features
Read full description

The Virtual Hope Box (VHB) is a smartphone application designed for use by patients and their mental health providers as an accessory to treatment. The VHB contains simple tools to help patients with coping, relaxation, distraction, and positive thinking. Patients and providers can work together to personalize the VHB content on the patient's own smartphone according to the patient's specific needs. The patient can then use the VHB away from clinic, continuing to add or change content as needed. Patients can use the VHB to store a variety of rich multimedia content that they find personally supportive in times of need. For example, a patient can include family photos, videos and recorded messages from loved ones, inspirational quotes, music they find especially soothing, reminders of previous successes, positive life experiences and future aspirations, and affirmations of their worth in their VHB. A patient can also collaborate with their provider to create coping cards to use in response to personal problem areas they experience. Finally, the VHB provides the patient with positive activity planning, distraction tools, and interactive relaxation exercises including guided imagery, controlled breathing and muscle relaxation.

Screenshots

CPT Coach4 screens
Virtual Hope Box (new)4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Virtual Hope Box (new) at 4.1 against CPT Coach's 3.6. Virtual Hope Box (new) also leads on review sentiment (71% vs 42%). CPT Coach's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Virtual Hope Box (new) holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 25 and 16 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 42% of CPT Coach's written reviews are positive against 71% of Virtual Hope Box (new)'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CPT Coach ships an update every 5 months, Virtual Hope Box (new) every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
CPT Coach versus Virtual Hope Box (new): the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCPT CoachVirtual Hope Box (new)
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (25 ratings)4.1 (16 ratings) — better
Positive reviews41.7% of reviews71.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings25 — better16
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size133 MB64 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperUS Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)Defense Health Agency

Customer experience

CPT Coach

All ratings25 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative32.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive41.7%
Neutral8.3%
Negative50.0%

Virtual Hope Box (new)

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral14.3%
Negative14.3%

In-app purchases

None

CPT Coach

No in-app purchases

None

Virtual Hope Box (new)

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CPT Coach free?
CPT Coach is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Virtual Hope Box (new) free?
Virtual Hope Box (new) is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, CPT Coach or Virtual Hope Box (new)?
Virtual Hope Box (new) is rated higher. CPT Coach averages 3.6 out of 5 from 25 ratings, while Virtual Hope Box (new) averages 4.1 from 16 ratings.
Do CPT Coach or Virtual Hope Box (new) have ads?
Neither CPT Coach nor Virtual Hope Box (new) shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CPT Coach or Virtual Hope Box (new)?
CPT Coach ships an update every 5 months, and Virtual Hope Box (new) every 4 months. Most recently, CPT Coach was updated on October 25, 2026 and Virtual Hope Box (new) on October 24, 2026.

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