Experimenting with Dry January for the first time or setting out to complete another year alcohol-free is a great way to refocus on your health. The popular trend can be assisted by a growing number of apps and online tools. Here’s some of the best available for Dry January 2024.
What Is Dry January?
Dry January® is a challenge created by the Alcohol Change UK charity. The goal is to avoid alcohol for the 31 days in January and note the positive impact on your physical health, mental health, and overall well-being. By not drinking, the group reports you may save money, get better sleep, and have higher energy levels.1
Want to drink less?
Sunnyside helps you ease into mindful drinking at your own pace. Think lifestyle change, not a fad diet. Develop new daily routines, so you maintain your new habits for life. Take a 3 Minute Quiz.
Who Can Participate in Dry January?
Attempting a Dry January is a healthy idea for many people who think alcohol is having an unwanted impact on their life. Those who are sober curious or have been mindful drinking could thrive with a Sober January.
There are a few restrictions, though. As the official site points out, people who are physically dependent on alcohol risk physical and emotional harm by suddenly stopping their intake. Those with an established alcohol use disorder should consult with an addiction specialist before trying a Sober January.1
Benefits of a Dry January
According to the official Alcohol Change UK site, there are many benefits of staying alcohol-free for a month. People who avoid alcohol could note:1
- Healthier skin
- Less money spent
- Feeling more rested in the morning
- Less stress
- Lower blood pressure
- Reduced risk of diabetes
- Lower cholesterol
- Lower levels of proteins linked to cancer in the blood
Physically and mentally, having a month without alcohol could be a productive decision.
How Do You Track Dry January?
Setting Dry January goals is fantastic, but doing so with a plan to track your progress will help you stay focused and accountable. Tracking can be as simple as marking red “Xs” on a calendar or as complex and multifaceted, multimedia tools. Consider a range of options before deciding on the best choice for you.
12 Dry January Apps to Support Your Journey
As the Dry January challenge grows in popularity, groups and app makers are creating specific tools to help your progression. Here are some of the most popular and highest rated apps to help you complete your sober January goals.
1. TRY DRY: The Dry January app
TRY DRY is the official app of Alcohol Change UK and the Dry January campaign. The app helps to set goals, track your benefits, and offer motivation to help maintain the plan. The app even offers free coaching via email to keep January dry.
Pricing & Details
TRY DRY is totally free with no costs and no ads.
Where to Get TRY DRY: The Dry January app
2. Sober January: Dry Day Tracker
Sober January: Dry Day Tracker touts a list of daily motivations and helpful reminders to keep you focused on your goals. Along with progress tracking, statistics regarding your journey, and daily motivation, this app highlights a benefit of sobriety each day of the month.
Pricing & Details
Sober January is a 100% free app with no ads.
Where to Get Sober January: Dry Day Tracker
3. I Am Sober
I Am Sober helps to track your sober days, but even more importantly, it works to build new, healthy habits by connecting you to a community of people focused on recovery and sobriety. The apps lets you know what recovery will feel like mentally and physically while helping you analyze the reasons for your drinking.
Pricing & Details
The basic app is free with the Sober Plus subscription unlocking additional features, like creating a group, backing up your data, and extra tracking features. The cost is $9.99 for one month or $39.99 for the year.
Where to Get I Am Sober
Help for Alcohol Use
Ria Health: Effective, Evidence-Based Alcohol Treatment 100% Online Quickly change your relationship to alcohol with our at-home program. On average, Ria Health members reduce their BAC levels by 50% in 3 months in the program. Services are covered by many major health plans. Visit Ria Health
Want to drink less? Sunnyside helps you ease into mindful drinking at your own pace. Think lifestyle change, not a fad diet. Develop new daily routines, so you maintain your new habits for life. Take a 3 Minute Quiz
4. This Naked Mind Companion App
Doing away with many of the labels frequently linked to alcohol use, like addiction, relapse, or addict, This Naked Mind Companion App treats people as unique individuals. Along those lines, this app allows people to personalize their goals, whether it’s complete sobriety or just to drink less. The app offers a 30-day challenge to re-examine your relationship with alcohol.
Pricing & Details
This app is free with no upgrades or in-app purchases.
Where to Get This Naked Mind Companion App
5. Clean Day – Sobriety Counter
This iOS exclusive app is for anyone interested in sobriety from alcohol, whether you are in recovery or sober curious. The app provides quotes referencing guiding principles of recovery, the opportunity to share your progress, and motivation to maintain your goal.
Pricing & Details
The basic version is free with a range of subscriptions that cost between $2.99 and $24.99. More recent reviews complain about the need to pay for the premium versions.
Where to Get Clean Day – Sobriety Counter
6. Sober Time – Sobriety Counter
With more than 10,000 reviews and a 4.8 star rating, Sober Time is a well-enjoyed sobriety app for Dry January. You can track your use, set goals, receive daily motivational messages, and check in with the forum filled with members of the sober community. Users appreciate the variety and helpfulness of tools available in Sober Time.
Pricing & Details
The basic version of Sober Time is free, but there are several paid options. From removing ads for $1.99 to a year of the premium version for $29.99, you could find some benefit in upgrading.
Where to Get Sober Time – Sobriety Counter
7. Clarity: Drink Less, Live Well
Anyone interested in cutting back, complete abstinence, or mindful drinking could find a match with Clarity. Using an approach based on science, compassion, and progress, not perfection, the app uses tools tailored to the individual. In 10 minutes each day, you can learn about alcohol and the impact of the substance in your life.
Pricing & Details
Clarity has a free version, but for the full benefits users will need the “Clarity Access.” On the pricier side, access costs $9.99 each month or up to $119.99 for the year.
Where to Get Clarity: Drink Less, Live Well
8. Reframe: Drink Less & Thrive
With a 4.8 rating from over 23,000 users, Reframe is a hugely popular and appreciated app. Whatever your goal, Reframe helps to achieve it with an evidence-backed, neuroscience-based approach. Packed full of education, progress tracking, community communication, and a host of tools, Reframe could be the app for Dry January and beyond.
Pricing & Details
Reframe is free for one week only. After that, you’ll need to pay at least $9.99 each month for the complete app.
Where to Get Reframe: Drink Less & Thrive
Am I Drinking Too Much? Stress, celebrations, social events — there’s always a “reason” to drink, but maybe you’ve found yourself reassessing the role alcohol plays in your life. Take a 2-minute quiz from Reframe to find out if your drinking may be negatively impacting your life.
9. Drinker’s Helper – Drink Less
Drinker’s Helper is a paid app that still offers plenty of benefits in the free version. In the free option, you can assess your drinking, set goals, track your use, and experience some exercises to motivate change. The paid version unlocks all exercises and allows you to join a personalized support group for people in your same situation. The paid version is free to try for one week.
Pricing & Details
Free option for some tools with a DH Plus optional plan. One month costs $14.99 while the six-month plan only costs $59.99.
Where to Get Drinker’s Helper – Drink Less
10. Nomo – Sobriety Clocks
Nomo – short for “No More” – is a simple clock that tracks your time being away from alcohol on the surface. Look a little deeper and you’ll find accountability partners, messaging when you have urges, breakdowns of your progress, and distraction exercises to get through your cravings.
Pricing & Details
Nomo is 100% free and described as a passion project by its creator, someone in recovery from alcohol use.
Where to Get Nomo – Sobriety Clocks
11. Habit Tracker
Habit Tracker is not specifically designed for Dry January, but the wildly popular app could be used to help complete your January goals, even if they include more than sobriety. With tracking, statistics, habit reports, and custom reminders, this app has a robust set of features that can integrate with Apple Health. It claims to simplify your routines, clear your mind, and help achieve your goals.
Pricing & Details
For all these benefits, Habit Tracker has a small price tag. For only $5.99, you can unlock all features for an entire year. One fee will cover you from one January to the next.
Where to Get Habit Tracker
12. The Phoenix: A Sober Community
The Phoenix focuses on providing a community of sobriety to people in need. The app helps connect you to sober events, fitness classes, and other activities that promote connections and support through fun. The app makers come from the position that sobriety isn’t a goal, it is a journey that people set out on together.
Pricing & Details
The Phoenix provides that app for no charge but claims the “cost” is 48 hours of sobriety.
Where to Get The Phoenix: A Sober Community
How to Choose the Right Dry January App
There is no sure way to select the best Dry January app the first time. Different apps will have a different combination of features that could be a better match for some. Because of this, experimenting with a combination of apps could be worth a try. Rather than putting too much emphasis on just one, try a few apps in January and see which ones you stick with all the way through to the 31st.
Beyond Dry January: Maintaining Progress
By the end of the month, it will be valuable for you to begin assessing yourself and reflecting on the month. How do you feel mentally and physically? How are people responding to you at home, work, school, and in the community?
Based on these answers, you may want to continue a sober lifestyle year round. Apps may help for a month, but looking into support groups, making sober friends, or adding professional mental health treatment could help these changes take hold in the long-term.
Treatment Options For Alcohol Abuse
People with concerning levels of alcohol use or those with an alcohol use disorder will need more than an app to manage their symptoms. In these cases, the person will need professional treatment options led by a team of addiction experts. The level of care will depend on the needs of individuals with inpatient, residential, or outpatient care options.
Some treatment options for alcohol abuse include:2,3
- Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT): CBT for addiction is helpful because it encourages people to find connections between the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that lead to alcohol cravings. It builds coping skills to help manage situations without alcohol.
- Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET)/ Motivational Interviewing (MI): Motivational interviewing treatment encourages increased internal desire to remain substance free.
- Family Therapy: Family therapy principles help people address and resolve the communication issues that trigger alcohol use.
- Contingency Management: By offering tangible, desirable rewards for sober-focused behaviors, the person gains external motivation for change. Going to meetings, having clean alcohol screenings, and participating in sober activities can earn reinforcers.
- 12-Step Facilitation: Acting like a combination of therapy and support group, this professional treatment uses trained experts to teach and encourage values from the 12-step process.
- Other Therapies: If your alcohol use is linked to anxiety, depression, or trauma, using therapies that target these underlying conditions could produce good results for your alcohol use.
Ria Health: Effective, Evidence-Based Alcohol Treatment 100% Online
Quickly change your relationship to alcohol with our at-home program. On average, Ria Health members reduce their BAC levels by 50% in 3 months in the program. Services are covered by many major health plans. Visit Ria Health
When to Consider Therapy for Alcohol Use
If you have seen first-hand the pain caused by your alcohol use or people in your life continue to encourage action, it’s time to consider therapy for alcohol use. In therapy, be honest and open about your use, how it impacts your life, and how you’d like your life to be in the future. Perhaps the therapist will see no issue with your use, or they will identify some problems that could arise from ongoing use.3
If online therapy seems to make sense for you, check out the best online therapy options and the online therapist directory. If you’re interested in medications, browse the online psychiatrist options to find a good choice for alcohol use medication management?
Use a Dry January App to Help You Drink Less Infographics
ChoosingTherapy.com strives to provide our readers with mental health content that is accurate and actionable. We have high standards for what can be cited within our articles. Acceptable sources include government agencies, universities and colleges, scholarly journals, industry and professional associations, and other high-integrity sources of mental health journalism. Learn more by reviewing our full editorial policy.
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Alcohol Change UK. (n.d.). Why do Dry January? Retrieved from https://alcoholchange.org.uk/help-and-support/managing-your-drinking/dry-january/why-do-dry-january-1/why-do-dry-january
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National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2014, January). Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide (Third Edition). Retrieved from https://nida.nih.gov/sites/default/files/podat-3rdEd-508.pdf
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National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2023, September). Treatment for Alcohol Problems: Finding and Getting Help. Retrieved from https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/treatment-alcohol-problems-finding-and-getting-help
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Alcohol Treatment – Cut Back or Quit Entirely
Ria Health – Quickly change your relationship to alcohol with our at-home program. On average, members reduce their BAC levels by 50% in 3 months in the program. Services are covered by many major health plans. Visit Ria Health
Drinking Moderation
Sunnyside – Want to drink less? Sunnyside helps you ease into mindful drinking at your own pace. Think lifestyle change, not a fad diet. Develop new daily routines, so you maintain your new habits for life. Take a 3 Minute Quiz
Treatment for Mental Health Conditions That Coexist With SUD
Talkiatry – Get help from a doctor who can treat the mental health conditions that commonly lead to or coexist with substance use disorders. Take our online assessment and have your first appointment in days. Take Assessment
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Best Online Medication-Assisted Treatment Programs
Online medication-assisted treatment programs are fairly new to the telehealth industry, but existing companies are expanding quickly with new programs emerging every day. It’s important to explore your options and understand the level of virtual care available so you can choose the best addiction treatment program for you.
Best Mindful Drinking Apps
If you’re thinking about joining the sober curious movement and you’d like to cut back on drinking, mindful drinking apps are a great place to start. Practicing mindful drinking can take some time, attention, and patience, but with the help of the right app, you can completely transform your relationship with alcohol.
