ACT Coach vs Mindfulness Coach Explorer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ACT Coach
This app helps users practice Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to manage difficult thoughts and feelings. It provides exercises, tools, and tracking logs to support living a value-driven life. Developed in consultation with therapists, it's designed for individuals undergoing ACT.
- ACT exercises
- Tools for managing thoughts
- Commitment to values
- Tracking logs
- Information on ACT
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) aims to help you live with unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and impulses without avoiding them or being controlled by them. In ACT, you are encouraged to commit to actions so that you can live your life by your values, even in the face of these unpleasant experiences. This app was developed for Veterans, Service members, and other people who are in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in consultation with a therapist. It offers exercises, tools, information, and tracking logs so you can practice what you’re learning in your daily life. ACT Coach was created by VA’s National Center for PTSD.
Mindfulness Coach Explorer
This is a research version of a mindfulness application exclusively for participants in approved program evaluations. Access requires an invitation code from an approved investigator.
- Research version
- Invitation code required
- Program evaluation access
- Mindfulness tools
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This is a research version of Mindfulness Coach that is only for participants in approved program evaluation projects for NCPTSD. To unlock this app, you will need an invitation code from an approved investigator. Please contact your investigator if you need help.
Screenshots
Verdict
ACT Coach and Mindfulness Coach Explorer both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 67% of ACT Coach's written reviews are positive against 33% of Mindfulness Coach Explorer's. ACT Coach also leads on update cadence (every 14 months vs every 42 months). Mindfulness Coach Explorer's advantage is ratings volume (54 vs 16) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). On price, rating, 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for ACT Coach against 4.6 for Mindfulness Coach Explorer. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 54 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of ACT Coach's written reviews are positive against 33% of Mindfulness Coach Explorer's.
ACT Coach ships an update every 14 months, Mindfulness Coach Explorer every 42 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ACT Coach | Mindfulness Coach Explorer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (16 ratings) | 4.6 (54 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better | 33.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 16 | 54 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 14 months — better | Every 42 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 130 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) | Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research |
Customer experience
ACT Coach
Mindfulness Coach Explorer
In-app purchases
ACT Coach
No in-app purchases
Mindfulness Coach Explorer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ACT Coach free?
Is Mindfulness Coach Explorer free?
Which has better reviews, ACT Coach or Mindfulness Coach Explorer?
Do ACT Coach or Mindfulness Coach Explorer have ads?
Which is updated more often, ACT Coach or Mindfulness Coach Explorer?
Other comparisons
