Comparison

Urge Surfer vs Reframe CBT Thought Journal

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

Head to head
About

Urge Surfer

This wellness app offers a calm space to manage intense moments with guided breathing and visual cues. It helps users pause, breathe, and reconnect with the present, providing gentle exercises to navigate urges and temptations.

Highlights
  • Guided breathing exercises
  • Calming visual guidance
  • Simple, distraction-free interface
  • Instant use, no account needed
  • Short grounding exercises
  • Designed for quick resets
Features
Read full description

Urge Surfer is a simple wellness app designed to help you pause and ride out intense moments through calm, focused breathing and gentle visual guidance. When urges feel overwhelming, Urge Surfer gives you a quiet space to slow down, breathe, and reconnect with the present moment. The app uses guided breathing patterns, smooth wave-inspired visuals, and short grounding exercises to help you create space with whatever you’re feeling, whether it shifts quickly or stays for a while. Features • Guided breathing exercises you can start instantly • Smooth, calming visuals designed to support focus • Simple, distraction-free interface • No account required — open and use immediately • Designed for quick moments when you need to reset Urge Surfer is meant to be easy to use and approachable. There are no complex settings, no tracking, and no pressure to do anything perfectly. Just open the app, follow along, and take a moment for yourself. Whether you’re facing an urge, a moment of temptation, or the fear of slipping back into old habits, Urge Surfer is there to support you in slowing down and responding with intention.

About

Reframe CBT Thought Journal

This app offers a digital journal with AI-powered support for managing anxious thoughts. It guides users through cognitive behavioral therapy techniques to reframe negative thinking patterns and provides a space for freeform writing and reflection on personal values.

Highlights
  • AI-assisted thought reframing
  • Guided CBT exercises
  • Freeform journaling
  • Mood and emotion tracking
  • Value-based reflection
  • On-device privacy for chats
  • Crisis language detection
Features
Read full description

Reframe is a CBT thought journal with an AI companion. Turn anxious, spiraling thoughts into balanced ones in a few minutes — not a few sessions. Write freely when you need the page. Work a structured cognitive behavioral therapy reframe when you need a method. Or just open Chat and talk it out. NEW — CHAT Talk through what's on your mind with a supportive AI companion grounded in CBT. It listens first, then helps you notice the patterns underneath and find a kinder way to see things. Replies stream in live, like texting a thoughtful friend. • Conversations are stored only on your device — never on our servers, never synced to iCloud • Delete any chat, or all of them, any time • 10 messages a day free; unlimited with Pro THE REFRAME WIZARD A guided CBT flow that takes a hard moment apart, one step at a time: • Situation — what actually happened • Automatic thoughts — catch what your mind said • Emotions — name them and rate how strong they were • The reframe — an AI-assisted, more balanced way to see it • Outcome — notice what shifted JOURNAL YOUR WAY • Freeform writing when you just want an empty page • Guided reflection when you want the structure • Tag a feeling and a category, or don't • Photo attachments, a calendar view, and your full entry history VALUES Journal against what actually matters to you — relationships, health, work, growth — and see which parts of your life you've been tending and which you've been skipping. YOUR PATTERNS Streaks, entries this week, and your most-journaled category, right on the home screen. Progress you can see without it becoming another chore. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Your entries are yours — no ads, and your journal content is never sent to analytics • Chats never leave your device • Sign in with Apple — nothing else required SAFETY FIRST Reframe detects crisis language on-device and responds immediately with real support resources, before anything is sent anywhere. FREE & PRO Free — 3 AI reframes a day, 10 chat messages a day, unlimited journaling Pro — unlimited reframes and unlimited chat Reframe is a self-reflection tool built on widely studied CBT techniques. It is not therapy, and it is not a substitute for professional care. If you are in crisis, please contact your local emergency services or a crisis line. Terms of Use: https://reframe-journal-web.vercel.app/terms

Screenshots

Urge Surfer4 screens
Reframe CBT Thought Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Urge Surfer at none against Reframe CBT Thought Journal's 2. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Reframe CBT Thought Journal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Urge Surfer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Urge Surfer against 5.0 for Reframe CBT Thought Journal. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 5 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Urge Surfer ships an update fortnightly, Reframe CBT Thought Journal every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Urge Surfer versus Reframe CBT Thought Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUrge SurferReframe CBT Thought Journal
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings45 — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperArman DaneshPLATON APPLICATIONS LLC

Customer experience

Urge Surfer

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Reframe CBT Thought Journal

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Urge Surfer

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Reframe CBT Thought Journal

Subscriptions2
  • Reframe Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Reframe Pro Yearly$20.001 Year

Questions

Is Urge Surfer free?
Urge Surfer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Reframe CBT Thought Journal free?
Reframe CBT Thought Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Urge Surfer or Reframe CBT Thought Journal?
Urge Surfer and Reframe CBT Thought Journal are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 5 ratings respectively.
Do Urge Surfer or Reframe CBT Thought Journal have ads?
Neither Urge Surfer nor Reframe CBT Thought Journal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Urge Surfer or Reframe CBT Thought Journal?
Urge Surfer ships an update fortnightly, and Reframe CBT Thought Journal every 3 weeks. Most recently, Urge Surfer was updated on October 24, 2026 and Reframe CBT Thought Journal on October 13, 2026.

Other comparisons