CareFirst WellBeing vs Instead
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CareFirst WellBeing
This personalized digital wellness program offers tools and resources to support your physical, emotional, social, and financial well-being. Access virtual care, join health challenges, track your progress, and receive financial incentives for healthy activities.
- Virtual-first care
- Health goal challenges
- Personalized health insights
- Financial incentives for healthy activities
- Wearable device integration
- Health profile access
Read full descriptionHide full description
Your health isn’t a single number, statistic or goal. It’s a product of everything in your daily life. And what happens between doctors’ visits is just as important as the care you receive. To help you navigate it all—from the big moments to the spaces in between—we’ve created CareFirst WellBeing℠. CareFirst WellBeing is a personalized, digital wellness program that puts the power of health in your hands. You’ll find helpful, easy-to-use tools and resources that can help you and your family address every aspect of your well-being, from physical and emotion to social and financial. Features include: CloseKnit Experience simple, convenient, virtual-first care that’s designed to fit your life effortlessly. Get 24/7 support for all your healthcare needs—from allergies to anxiety, urgent care to surgery—all at no extra cost. Challenges Join a challenge and get a little extra motivation to pursue your health goals. Personalized Health Get insights, content and programs tailored to your goals and interests. Blue Rewards Choose healthy activities that fit with your goals and receive financial incentives for completing them. Trackers Connect your wearable devices by Apple’s Health app or enter your own data to monitor sleep, steps, nutrition and more. Health Profile Get quick access to important data like your biometrics, vaccine history, lab results and medications.
Instead
This app offers quick, ninety-second activities to help you manage cravings and difficult emotions. Choose from guided breathing exercises or physical challenges to ride out intense feelings. It also provides emergency contact options and tracks your progress without requiring an account.
- 90-second activities
- Guided breathing exercises
- Physical challenges
- Emergency contact shortcuts
- Streak tracking
- Journaling
- Data privacy
Read full descriptionHide full description
A craving is loud, and it feels like it will last forever. It won't. Most peak and pass in about ninety seconds. Instead gives you something to do with those ninety seconds. Open it when the craving hits. Pick how you feel, stressed or restless, and it hands you one thing to do until the wave passes RIDE THE WAVE A breathing circle to match: four seconds in, hold, five out. Calm music if you want it, silence in one tap if you don't. WORK IT OFF When sitting still is the problem. Fast taps, a climbing combo, a score to beat. Ninety seconds of somewhere else to put it. WHAT YOU KEEP Your streak, counted in days. The money you DIDN'T spend, Milestones at 24 hours, 72 hours, a week, a month, ninety days, six months, a year. Every craving you have beaten. A journal, if you want one: a blank page, capture you thoughts in the moment. IF YOU SLIP Your clean days move to a lifetime total instead of vanishing. The counter restarts. The total does not. You keep what you earned. WHEN IT IS MORE THAN A CRAVING One tap to call or text someone you chose in advance, and one tap to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Set your person up now, while things are calm, so the decision is already made when they are not. YOUR DATA IS YOURS No account. No sign-in. Your journal and your streak never reach us — they live on your phone, and in your own private iCloud or Google backup if you use one, so they come back on a new phone. Export a separate copy whenever you like. Instead is not therapy, medical care, or a crisis service, and it does not replace them. It is a way to get through the next ninety seconds.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Instead at 100% against CareFirst WellBeing's 26%. Instead also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). CareFirst WellBeing's advantage is ratings volume (515 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Instead holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CareFirst WellBeing has 515 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 26% of CareFirst WellBeing's written reviews are positive against 100% of Instead's.
CareFirst WellBeing ships an update monthly, Instead every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CareFirst WellBeing | Instead |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (515 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 25.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 515 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 198 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Sharecare, Inc. | MadApps Studios, LLC |
Customer experience
CareFirst WellBeing
Instead
Bugs and requests
CareFirst WellBeing
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes on startup or during function switching
- Face ID authentication causes app to hang
- Perpetual loading screens when selecting PCP
- Points and step entries not syncing or recording
- Apple Health sync broken since July 2023
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Forced logout and credential retention failures
- ShareCare integration prevents app access
- App closes when attempting to bypass ShareCare prompts
- Monthly forced sign-in and PIN reset requirements
- Gear icon missing in UI for accessing support
Requested features
6 requests- Simplified navigation and streamlined user interface
- Automatic prescription and health information updates
- Captions and accessibility features for deaf users
- Single unified login system (eliminate ShareCare requirement)
- Better Apple Health syncing functionality
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Improved support documentation within the app
Instead
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
CareFirst WellBeing
No in-app purchases
Instead
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is CareFirst WellBeing free?
Is Instead free?
Which has better reviews, CareFirst WellBeing or Instead?
Do CareFirst WellBeing or Instead have ads?
Which is updated more often, CareFirst WellBeing or Instead?
Other comparisons















