Comparison

Calm Harm vs Calm Urge

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

Head to head
About

Calm Harm

This app offers immediate techniques to help manage urges to self-harm. It provides activities to distract, comfort, and express oneself, along with breathing exercises and journaling tools. It aims to help users ride the wave of urges until they fade.

Highlights
  • Manage self-harm urges
  • Distraction activities
  • Comforting techniques
  • Express yourself tools
  • Breathing exercises
  • Journaling and self-reflection
Features
Read full description

The urge to self-harm is like a wave. It feels the most powerful when you start wanting to do it. Join over 2 million users and learn to ride the wave with the free Calm Harm app by choosing activities from these categories: Comfort, Distract, Express Yourself, Release, and Random. There is also a breathing technique to help be mindful and stay in the moment, regulate difficult emotions and reduce tension. When you ride the wave, the urge to self-harm will fade. Calm Harm is an award-winning app developed for teenage mental health charity stem4 by Clinical Psychologist Dr. Nihara Krause, in collaboration with young people, using principles from the evidence-based Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). It is built to NHS standards and approved by ORCHA. Calm Harm provides some immediate techniques to help break the cycle of self-harm behaviours and explore underlying trigger factors; build a ‘safety net’ of helpful thoughts, behaviours and access to supportive people; and provides the opportunity to journal and self-reflect. It also provides signposts to help. The Calm Harm app is private, anonymous and safe. Reviews from Calm Harm app users: • ‘This app helps me so much. I can't thank you enough for improving my life.’ • ‘I was told by my support worker to download this, best thing I ever did!! It’s helped me a lot through the tough times and I would definitely recommend this!!!’ • ‘This app saves lives. It is a beautiful, beautiful tool. Thank you endlessly.’ Awards for Calm Harm include: • Health Tech Awards Winner ‘Best Healthcare App of the Year’ 2021 • Digital Leaders 100 Awards Winner ‘Tech for Good Initiative of the Year’ 2020 (for stem4’s app portfolio, including Calm Harm) • Third Sector Awards Winner ‘Digital Innovation of the Year’ 2019 Please note that the Calm Harm app is not a substitute for the assessment and individualised treatment by a health/mental health professional. Please also note that if you forget both your passcode and security answer, these cannot be reset as we do not create user accounts. You will need to reinstall the app, losing any previous data.

About

Calm Urge

This app provides tools and activities to help users manage urges to self-harm. It allows for daily emotion tracking, offers calming exercises like breathing and music, and includes privacy features like password protection and emergency contacts.

Highlights
  • Urge tracking
  • Daily emotion journaling
  • Calming activities (breathing, music, drawing)
  • Password protection
  • Communication card
  • Emergency contacts
Features
Read full description

Calm Urge is the perfect app to help you resist the urge to self-harm. With a range of activities and tools, you can keep track of your emotions and worries, and develop new coping mechanisms to help you stay calm and in control. With a daily record of your feelings, you can easily identify patterns and trends in your emotions and concerns, helping you to build a better understanding of your triggers and responses. And with a range of calming activities, including breathing exercises, Tibetan bowls, musical instruments, and drawing tools, you can find the perfect way to soothe and distract yourself when the urge to self-harm strikes. You can also create a private password to keep your information completely secure, and use a communication card to let others know how you're feeling when you're not able to talk about it. Plus, with the ability to add emergency contacts, you can always have someone to call when you need help the most. So if you're looking for a powerful new tool to help you manage your emotions and resist the urge to self-harm, download Calm Urge today and start taking control of your life. Terms of Use: https://wisefoxapps.wordpress.com/terms-of-service/

Screenshots

Calm Harm4 screens
Calm Urge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Calm Urge at Free against Calm Harm's $1.99. Calm Urge also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 4 months) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). Calm Harm's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). On review sentiment and device support 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

Calm Urge is free to download; Calm Harm costs $1.99 up front. Calm Urge sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Calm Harm asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Calm Urge holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 682 and 2.1K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Calm Harm's written reviews are positive against 83% of Calm Urge's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Calm Harm ships an update every 4 months, Calm Urge every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Calm Harm versus Calm Urge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalm HarmCalm Urge
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (682 ratings)4.7 (2.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.3% of reviews82.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6822.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#12 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.4 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB142 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperStem4Shining Muffin LLC

Customer experience

Calm Harm

All ratings681 ratings
Positive86.6%
Neutral3.4%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews244 reviews
Positive80.3%
Neutral5.3%
Negative14.3%

Calm Urge

All ratings2,070 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral4.4%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews257 reviews
Positive82.9%
Neutral10.1%
Negative7.0%

User reviews

Calm Harm

From 682 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for self-harm, anxiety, and mental health issues
  • 🚀 Free app with no ads or in-app purchases
  • 💡 Wide range of activities and coping techniques
  • 👍 Customizable themes and mascots
  • 👍 Tracks progress and urge patterns

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Login/password issues, unable to reset or recover account
  • 🔒 Concerns about privacy and data usage
  • 👎 Some activities require physical resources not always available
  • 👎 Repetitive or boring activities for some users
  • 👎 Doesn't work for all users, not a substitute for professional help

Calm Urge

From 2.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for self-harm recovery
  • 🚀 Lots of free features
  • 🔒 Password protection for privacy
  • 💡 Variety of calming activities
  • 👍 Tracks progress and mood

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes or won't open
  • 💰 Premium features behind paywall
  • 🔍 Concerns about parents accessing app
  • 🔍 Ads can be poorly timed
  • 🔍 Limited emotion tracking options

Bugs and requests

Calm Harm

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App freezing or crashing on certain devices
  • Inconsistent or buggy behavior of certain features
  • Layout and UI issues on newer smartphone models
  • Syncing or data loss problems when switching devices

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add more in-app activities and distractions
  • Implement dark mode or customizable themes
  • Allow users to edit or delete journal entries
  • Add support for Apple Watch or other wearables
  • Provide more language options and localization
Show 1 more
  • Integrate with other mental health apps or services

Calm Urge

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Forgot password feature not working
  • Inconsistent app performance issues

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add milestones/achievements tracking
  • Improve sound/audio functionality
  • Allow customizing mood/emotion options
  • Provide more free access to analytics

In-app purchases

None

Calm Harm

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Calm Urge

Subscriptions2
  • Premium7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Premium$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Calm Harm free?
Calm Harm costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Calm Urge free?
Calm Urge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Calm Harm or Calm Urge?
Calm Urge is rated higher. Calm Harm averages 4.4 out of 5 from 682 ratings, while Calm Urge averages 4.7 from 2.1K ratings.
Do Calm Harm or Calm Urge have ads?
Calm Urge shows ads; Calm Harm does not.
Which is updated more often, Calm Harm or Calm Urge?
Calm Harm ships an update every 4 months, and Calm Urge every 8 days. Most recently, Calm Harm was updated on November 1, 2026 and Calm Urge on November 3, 2026.

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