PFA Mobile vs Bounce Back Now
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PFA Mobile
This app assists responders in providing psychological first aid to adults, families, and children. It offers summaries of PFA fundamentals, interventions, mentor tips, a self-assessment tool, and a survivor needs form for data collection and referrals.
- PFA fundamentals summaries
- Interventions for specific survivor needs
- Mentor tips for field application
- Self-assessment tool for responder readiness
- Survivor needs form for data collection
- Easy referral system
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PFA Mobile was designed to assist responders who provide psychological first aid (PFA) to adults, families, and children as part of an organized response effort. This app provides responders with summaries of PFA fundamentals, PFA interventions matched to specific concerns and needs of survivors, mentor tips for applying PFA in the field, a self-assessment tool for readiness to conduct PFA, and a survivors' needs form for simplified data collection and easy referral. PFA Mobile was created by VA's National Center for PTSD in partnership with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) and DoD's National Center for Telehealth & Technology.
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.
- 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
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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.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Bounce Back Now at 5.0 against PFA Mobile's 4.5. Bounce Back Now also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 13 months). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Bounce Back Now holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 4 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
PFA Mobile ships an update every 13 months, Bounce Back Now fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on June 10, 2026 and June 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PFA Mobile | Bounce Back Now |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (11 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 11 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 13 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) | The Medical University of South Carolina |
Customer experience
PFA Mobile
Bounce Back Now
In-app purchases
PFA Mobile
No in-app purchases
Bounce Back Now
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is PFA Mobile free?
Is Bounce Back Now free?
Which has better reviews, PFA Mobile or Bounce Back Now?
Do PFA Mobile or Bounce Back Now have ads?
Which is updated more often, PFA Mobile or Bounce Back Now?
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