Guide · Digital Tools
Best Mental Health Apps Clinicians Recommend
← All guides · By the Willow & Stone team · Updated September 2026
Key Takeaways
- The VA’s free apps (PTSD Coach, Mindfulness Coach, Insomnia Coach and others) are open to everyone, not just veterans, and have no ads or subscriptions.
- Some apps, such as CBT-i Coach, CPT Coach and PE Coach, are designed to be used with a therapist rather than alone.
- A few apps are FDA-cleared prescription devices, such as Rejoyn for depression and SleepioRx and DaylightRx for insomnia and anxiety. They need a clinician’s order.
- The American Psychiatric Association does not endorse specific apps. It offers an evaluation model instead: check privacy, evidence and usability before you download.
Thousands of mental health apps are available, and very few have been studied. The ones clinicians are comfortable pointing patients toward usually have three things: a credible maker, a clear link to an established therapy such as CBT or mindfulness, and honest limits on what the app can do. This list sticks to apps that meet that bar and are still maintained as of September 2026.
A note on the title: no professional body publishes an official list of "recommended" apps. The American Psychiatric Association offers an evaluation framework rather than endorsements, and the National Institute of Mental Health says more evidence is needed on how well most apps work. What follows are apps built by government health agencies, research groups or FDA-regulated companies. The descriptions come from each maker’s own page.
1. PTSD Coach
VA National Center for PTSD & DoD · Free · iOS, Android, web
PTSD Coach helps people learn about and manage symptoms after a trauma. It includes a self-assessment based on the PTSD Checklist, symptom tracking, guided relaxation, grounding tools and direct links to crisis and support resources. The VA describes it as free and open to anyone who wants to manage symptoms after trauma, not only veterans.
Clinicians like it because it is practical during hard moments: when a trigger hits, it offers a specific tool in a few taps. It is also useful for family members who want to understand what a loved one is dealing with.
Caveat: The VA states that the app does not replace treatment. Data you enter are only as secure as your phone, so use a passcode.
2. Mindfulness Coach
VA National Center for PTSD · Free · iOS, Android
Mindfulness Coach is a self-guided training program in mindfulness. It has a dozen audio-guided exercises, education about what mindfulness is and is not, progress tracking, goal setting and reminders. Its structured approach suits beginners who find open-ended meditation apps overwhelming.
Because it has no subscription, no ads and no social feed, many clinicians use it as a first step before a paid app or a formal MBSR or MBCT course.
Caveat: The VA notes that it supports care but does not replace treatment for PTSD or other conditions.
3. Insomnia Coach
VA · Free · iOS, Android · Self-guided CBT-I
Insomnia Coach turns the core of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) into a self-guided weekly training plan. It includes an interactive sleep diary, weekly feedback and a set of tools for winding down and managing a racing mind at night.
Poor sleep and anxiety or depression often feed each other, so better sleep can lift several problems at once. In a large randomized trial of digital CBT-I, better sleep also came with fewer paranoid thoughts and hallucinatory experiences, and insomnia was a mediator of those changes.
Caveat: The VA advises talking to a provider first if you do shift work or have sleep apnea, restless legs, bipolar disorder, a seizure disorder or excessive daytime sleepiness.
Source: Freeman et al., OASIS trial, Lancet Psychiatry 2017 (PMC)
4. CBT-i Coach
VA, Stanford School of Medicine & DoD · Free · With a clinician
CBT-i Coach is the companion app for people who are doing CBT-I with a clinician. It holds the sleep diary, sleep-window prescription, education and relaxation tools, so homework is easy to track between sessions.
If your clinician is guiding you through sleep restriction or stimulus control, this app keeps the data you both need in one place.
Caveat: The VA states that CBT-i Coach is designed to be used with a provider and is not meant for self-care. If you are working alone, use Insomnia Coach instead.
5. CPT Coach and PE Coach
VA National Center for PTSD · Free · Therapy companions
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Prolonged Exposure (PE) are two of the trauma-focused therapies the VA lists among those that work best for PTSD. Each has a companion app. CPT Coach holds the worksheets, readings, symptom tracking and homework reminders. PE Coach can record sessions for review and tracks exposure practice and breathing retraining.
If you are in either therapy, ask your therapist whether they want you to use the matching app. Many find it makes the between-session work easier to keep up with.
Caveat: Both apps are meant to be used alongside a trained therapist. The VA says that PE Coach on its own is not enough to treat PTSD.
Source: PE Coach on VA Mobile; VA National Center for PTSD: Treatment basics
6. Safety Plan
VA · Free · iOS, Android
Safety Plan helps people who have had suicidal thoughts build a personal six-step plan. The plan covers warning signs, coping strategies, distractions, people to contact, professional resources and ways to make the environment safer. It also includes mood tracking and quick access to crisis resources.
Clinicians often complete the plan together with a patient during a visit, so it is on the phone and ready when it is needed.
Caveat: The VA notes the app works best when the plan is made with a mental health provider and does not replace professional care. In a crisis, call or text 988.
7. Healthy Minds Program
Humin (formerly Healthy Minds Innovations) · Free · iOS, Android
Healthy Minds Program is a free meditation and well-being app built on work by neuroscientist Richard Davidson and colleagues. Its lessons are organized around four skills: awareness, connection, insight and purpose. It offers both seated practices and "active" practices you can do while walking or doing chores.
Its maker says the app has been used as a research intervention in an estimated 50 or more scientific studies. Its structure suits people who want mindfulness framed as skill-building rather than relaxation.
Caveat: The research figures on the maker’s page come from specific study groups. Your results may differ, and meditation is a supplement to care, not a treatment for a diagnosed disorder.
8. Rejoyn (prescription)
Otsuka & Click Therapeutics · FDA-cleared 2024 · Prescription only
Rejoyn was the first prescription digital therapeutic cleared by the FDA for depression. According to its maker, it is cleared as an add-on to clinician-managed outpatient care for adults aged 22 and older with major depressive disorder who are taking an antidepressant. It is a six-week program of cognitive-emotional training exercises and brief therapy lessons.
It is designed for people who are already on medication and want a structured, app-based add-on. That is why it belongs in a conversation with your prescriber rather than in the app store.
Caveat: FDA clearance means the device met the FDA’s standard for its intended use. It does not guarantee it will help you. Ask your prescriber about the trial results, the cost and whether it fits your plan.
Source: Rejoyn official site
9. SleepioRx and DaylightRx (prescription)
Big Health · FDA-cleared 2024 · Prescription only
Big Health makes two FDA-cleared digital treatments. SleepioRx delivers CBT for insomnia through video and audio lessons and is cleared as an adjunct to usual care for adults 18 and older. DaylightRx delivers CBT for generalized anxiety disorder over about 90 days and is cleared as an adjunct to usual care for adults 22 and older. It covers applied relaxation, cognitive restructuring and exposure.
Both need an order from a licensed clinician. They are one way to get structured CBT when therapist waitlists are long.
Caveat: Availability and coverage vary by health plan. The outcome figures on the maker’s pages come from its own trials.
How to judge any mental health app
The American Psychiatric Association’s App Evaluation Model asks questions in order. First: who made the app, who funds it and what does it cost? Next, does it work on your device, and is it accessible? Then: what happens to your data, and is it shared with third parties? After that, is there evidence behind it, and is it easy to use? Finally, can it share information with your care team? The APA is clear that it does not certify apps. The model is meant to help you and your clinician decide together.
The National Institute of Mental Health raises similar questions: whether an app works as well as in-person methods, whether it works for people like you, and how it protects privacy when no industry-wide quality standard exists.
Where apps fit in a treatment plan
Apps are best at practice between visits, symptom tracking and skills you can reach at 2 a.m. They are weaker at diagnosis, medication decisions and complex trauma. If you track mood or sleep in an app, bring the data to your appointment. In medication management visits, a few weeks of real tracking data is often more useful than memory.
Common Questions
Are the VA apps only for veterans?
No. The VA describes apps such as PTSD Coach and Mindfulness Coach as free and publicly available. Anyone can download them from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Does the American Psychiatric Association recommend specific apps?
No. The APA publishes an App Evaluation Model to help clinicians and patients judge apps on privacy, evidence, usability and fit with care, but it does not endorse individual products.
What is a prescription digital therapeutic?
It is software that the FDA has cleared as a medical device for a specific use, and it needs a clinician’s order. Rejoyn, SleepioRx and DaylightRx are examples. Each is cleared as an add-on to usual care, not as a stand-alone treatment.
Can an app replace my medication or therapy?
No app on this list is meant to replace treatment. If you are thinking about changing a medication because an app is helping, talk to your prescriber first.
Is my data safe in a mental health app?
It depends on the app. Read the privacy policy, check whether data are sold or shared, and use a phone passcode. The VA notes that data in PTSD Coach are only as secure as the device itself.
Sources
- American Psychiatric Association: The App Evaluation Model
- NIMH: Technology and the Future of Mental Health Treatment
- VA Mobile app store
- FDA: Device software functions including mobile medical applications
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