Comparison

The Observing Ego vs MoodState

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

Head to head
About

The Observing Ego

This app is a doctor-built mood and mental health tracker that uses clinical screening instruments. It helps you identify patterns in your moods, sleep, exercise, and habits, and offers tools for self-reflection. Safety features and crisis resources are always free.

Highlights
  • Clinical mood tracking
  • Validated screening instruments
  • Pattern identification
  • Defense mechanism logging
  • Dream journaling
  • Mentalizing exercises
  • Free safety features
Features
Read full description

A mood tracker built by a doctoral-level clinician, with input from fellow clinical psychologists and neuropsychologists, using the actual clinical screening instruments your therapist uses: PHQ-9, GAD-7, WHO-5, DERS-16, SCS-SF, C-SSRS, ASQ, and STIPO-R. No AI therapy advice. No gamification. No social feed. No ads. Your data stays on your phone. Safety features are always free. Forever. No paywall on crisis resources, the safety plan, or the 988 Lifeline. — TRAUMA-INFORMED BY DESIGN — Built around the psychoanalytic concept of the "observing ego": the part of you that can step back and notice your own mental processes. The app is a mirror, not a therapist. It helps you see yourself clearly and bring that clarity to your own work, or to a clinician. — WHAT YOU CAN DO — Track moods with the precision your therapist would recognize. An age-adaptive picker (ages 7 through adult) draws from a 100+ emotion vocabulary mapped to validated affect models. Take the clinical screenings your therapist uses, scored to published thresholds. PHQ-9 for depression. GAD-7 for anxiety. WHO-5 for wellbeing. ASQ and C-SSRS for safety. STIPO-R for personality organization (uncommon outside research settings). See patterns over time. Mood correlations with sleep, exercise, medications, and habits. Year in Pixels view. Longitudinal assessment trends. Every correlation needs at least 7 data points and a moderate effect size before it surfaces. Quality over noise. Log defense mechanisms (Vaillant's three-tier hierarchy). Record dreams with psychodynamic framing. Practice mentalizing exercises drawn from MBT. Map body sensations to feelings. — PRIVACY BY DESIGN — No accounts. No servers. No ads. No analytics. No third parties. Your data syncs through your own iCloud, encrypted end-to-end. We cannot see your entries, your moods, or your reports. We do not want to. — SAFETY ALWAYS FREE — The safety plan, crisis resources, 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, and gentle check-ins when the app detects elevated risk are free forever. Mood check-ins and journal entries are unlimited and free. Premium covers the deeper features: longer insight ranges, Year in Pixels, the Mood Calendar, weekly reports, Apple Health insights, medication effects, and data export, plus more room for habits, assessments, and medications. Safety never goes behind a paywall. — BUILT BY — Casey Simon, Psy.D. (Doctor of Clinical Psychology), MFT (Marriage and Family Therapist), with input from fellow clinical psychologists and neuropsychologists. Designed for honest self-reflection, not performance. A tool meant to be shared with a clinician when you choose to. — PRICING — Free to download. 7-day free trial of Premium. Then $4.99 per month or $44.99 per year. Safety features stay free regardless of subscription. Cancel anytime in App Store settings. Terms of Use: https://myobservingego.com/terms-of-service/ Privacy Policy: https://myobservingego.com/privacy-policy/

About

MoodState

Read full description

MoodState is a private mood tracker designed for quick check-ins and useful reflection. Log how you feel in seconds, add optional emotion, context and notes, then review your mood patterns over time. MoodState keeps your entries on device first and gives you fast access from the app, Home Screen widget and Lock Screen widget. With MoodState Pro you can unlock deeper reporting, Apple Health sync, mood reminders, custom moods, exports and on-device AI Analysis powered by Apple Intelligence where available. Please note: MoodState is designed for personal reflection and wellbeing tracking. It is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment guidance! Key Features: • Quick mood logging with five simple mood states • Optional emotion, context and private notes • Recent mood history with date and time • Edit or delete mood entries • Mood trend chart by week, month, quarter, year or all time • Home Screen widget for fast mood logging • Lock Screen widget for quick access • Customizable Home Screen widget background • Private by design, saved on device first • Clear help section inside the app MoodState Pro Features: • Apple Health Sync: Write opted-in mood logs to Apple Health as State of Mind entries • Mood Reminders: Create multiple daily reminders for regular check-ins • Pro Reports: Review average mood, top context, top emotion, mood distribution and selected-period patterns • On-device AI Analysis: Generate a private Apple Intelligence summary for the selected period where supported (private notes are excluded unless you choose to include them) • Custom Moods: Personalize mood names, icons, colours and health values • CSV Exports: Export raw mood logs for spreadsheet review • PDF Summaries: Export readable reports with trend chart, deeper patterns, mood distribution and recent logs

Screenshots

The Observing Ego4 screens
MoodState4 screens

Verdict

The call

The Observing Ego and MoodState are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. The Observing Ego sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and MoodState sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
The Observing Ego versus MoodState: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Observing EgoMoodState
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB2 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperCasey SimonWolfram Wacker

In-app purchases

2 purchases

The Observing Ego

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly7 Days trial$44.991 Year
1 purchases

MoodState

One-time1
  • MoodState Pro$0.99

Questions

Is The Observing Ego free?
The Observing Ego is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MoodState free?
MoodState is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do The Observing Ego or MoodState have ads?
Neither The Observing Ego nor MoodState shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Observing Ego or MoodState?
The Observing Ego ships an update weekly, and MoodState weekly. Most recently, The Observing Ego was updated on October 9, 2026 and MoodState on October 28, 2026.

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