Comparison

Calm Harm vs BilateralBase

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

BilateralBase

This app provides an optimized EMDR therapy experience for iPad and iPhone users. It allows seamless joining of online therapy sessions via a therapist-provided link, ensuring all tools are available and the session is optimized for your device.

Highlights
  • Optimized EMDR therapy experience
  • Seamless online session joining
  • Therapist-provided link integration
  • Tool availability for therapy sessions
  • Device optimization for iPad/iPhone
Features
Read full description

An optimised EMDR therapy experience for iPad and iPhone users. If you are doing online sessions with your therapist using an iPad or iPhone, you should install this app to ensure all therapy tools are available and the session is optimised for your device. Once the app is installed, simply tap on the session invite link provided by your therapist to join the session using the app. We recommend that you connect a pair of wired headphones to your device for your session (or you can use the built-in speaker if you are not using auditory stimulus as part of your therapy - please ask your therapist if unsure about this). Wireless headphones are not currently compatible with this app. This app is not intended for use by therapists. If you are a therapist then please access Bilateral Base using the website.

Screenshots

Calm Harm4 screens
BilateralBase2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Calm Harm at 81% against BilateralBase's 0%. Calm Harm also leads on ratings volume (681 vs 1) and chart position (#24 vs unranked). BilateralBase's advantage is price (Free vs $1.99) and rating (5.0 vs 4.4). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

BilateralBase is free to download; Calm Harm costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BilateralBase holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calm Harm has 681 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 81% of Calm Harm's written reviews are positive against 0% of BilateralBase's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Calm Harm ships an update every 4 months, BilateralBase fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Calm Harm versus BilateralBase: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalm HarmBilateralBase
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (681 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.6% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings681 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#24 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.4 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB36 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperStem4Bilateral Base LTD

Customer experience

Calm Harm

All ratings681 ratings
Positive86.6%
Neutral3.4%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews242 reviews
Positive80.6%
Neutral5.4%
Negative14.0%

BilateralBase

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative50.0%

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

BilateralBase

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Calm Harm

No in-app purchases

None

BilateralBase

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Calm Harm free?
Calm Harm costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is BilateralBase free?
BilateralBase is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Calm Harm or BilateralBase?
BilateralBase is rated higher. Calm Harm averages 4.4 out of 5 from 681 ratings, while BilateralBase averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Calm Harm or BilateralBase have ads?
Neither Calm Harm nor BilateralBase shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Calm Harm or BilateralBase?
Calm Harm ships an update every 4 months, and BilateralBase fortnightly. Most recently, Calm Harm was updated on September 25, 2026 and BilateralBase on September 19, 2026.

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