Noom Mood Review 2024: Pros & Cons, Cost, & Who It’s Right For

Key Takeaways

• Noom Mood is a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) app that aims to help users with stress and anxiety.
• In order to sign up for Noom Mood, you must download the Noom Weight Loss program app, and then choose Noom Mood.
• They do not offer a free trial, but they allow users to choose their introductory price during the trial ($0.50, $3.00, $10.00, or $17.27). The price you choose is applied to your seven-day trial.
• Subscriptions to Noom Mood include access to live coaches that text with you at least once or twice a day.

How to Sign Up For Noom Mood

You can sign up for Noom Mood on the Noom website.

What Is Noom Mood?

Noom Mood is a user-friendly cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) app that can help you learn skills to manage your daily stress and anxiety. There is one main screen where you can find all of your daily learning lessons and a straightforward mood check-in feature.

There are five to six mini-lessons to complete each day and these take about 10 minutes each to finish. Throughout the mini-lessons, there are small quizzes for you to take to help you remember what you have learned and reinforce your new skills. In addition to the mood check-in at the bottom of the main screen, there are also other habit trackers like weight, exercise, and even blood pressure. 

At the top of your screen, you will find an icon for your private chatroom and you will also see a drop-down menu where you can quickly access different features of the app. These features include the chatroom with your coach, your mood graph, a place to set daily reminders, any activities you are currently doing, and any lessons you have saved. You will also be able to access your app settings and the help function in the drop-down menu.

Once you complete your first day’s worth of lessons, you will be matched with your coach and you can begin messaging each other right away. Most of the coaches for Noom respond to messages Monday – Friday during normal business hours. At this time, you are not able to attend video sessions with your coach and it is unclear if this will become an option for future Mood users.

Who Is Noom Mood Right For?

Noom Mood would be a great program for anyone already familiar with Noom, those who want text-based coaching, and people who want a simple program that’s clearly laid out for them.

Existing Noom Weight Loss Users

Existing customers of the Noom weight program may like Noom Mood for several reasons. If you already have a weight program subscription, it is very easy to change to the mood program and you will not be charged extra for switching. Noom Mood also works exactly like the weight program, with the main screen having all of your lessons and any tracking functions at the bottom. If you are having success with the Noom weight program and want to learn how to better manage your stress and anxiety, Noom Mood might be a great tool for you to try.

You Want a Coach to Text With

A great part of Noom is they have live coaches that text with you at least once or twice a day. These coaches act as sounding boards for your concerns, give you encouragement, and act as accountability buddies. Coaching is not an additional cost on top of your subscription and you are automatically matched with a coach after you’ve completed your first day of lessons.

People Who Like Structure

Everything in Noom is laid out and organized for you on one screen, so there is no guessing about where to start or what to do next. This is great for people who need structure and guidance in their learning processes.

Who May Want an Alternative to Noom Mood?

Noom Mood may be a really great app for some people, but there are others that will need something different. Those who need more support than text-based coaching, people who like apps with more freedom to choose, and those who want a more challenging CBT curriculum will want an alternative.

You Need More Support Than Text-Based Coaching

The coaches on Noom can only interact with you through text messages and there is no option to have a live instant messaging session or a face-to-face session. While the coaches do go through some certification processes, it is unknown what this process is exactly and they are definitely not licensed therapists. If you are looking for more support than text-based coaching for your stress or anxiety, you may want to try an alternative like BetterHelp where you can send messages or attend live video or phone sessions with a licensed therapist in your state.

You Prefer More Freedom to Choose

The Noom Mood app has one main screen and all of your lessons must be completed in a certain order. There is absolutely no way to choose a different learning lesson until the previous one has been completed and there really is only one path to complete at a time. Because of this, Noom Mood may feel too rigid for those that like the freedom to choose different lessons as they need to. A great alternative to Noom Mood would be Happify, where you can easily change learning courses, play games, and journal much more freely.

To learn more, please read our detailed Happify app review.

You Want More Than the Basics

If you are already familiar with CBT techniques and skills, you may find Noom Mood to be too introductory. While Noom Mood does encourage you to do breathing techniques when your stress is high or to journal as a part of your “me time,” none of these are built-in features of the app. For someone who wants CBT skills, coaching, journaling, and mindfulness all in one app, you might want to try Sanvello. With Sanvello, you will have access to guided meditations, several types of CBT-based journals, and the option to enroll in text-based coaching.

To find out how this CBT program works, read our in-depth Sanvello app review.

What Users Are Saying About the App

Noom Mood was launched in October of 2021. At this time, the user reviews in both app stores are for the Noom weight loss program.

A theme I did notice in the negative reviews about the Noom app was how often the app seemed to crash for users. Since the Noom weight loss program and the mood program operate as mirror images of each other, I thought this was worth noting in the event others experienced this with the mood program—however, I have not had any issues with the app over the past month.

Another interesting note was the issue of users being charged for a full subscription even though they canceled their accounts within the seven-day trial period. While this did not happen to me exactly, I was charged for another four months of the weight loss program despite canceling it a month before the renewal date. When I emailed Noom to ask for a refund, they issued one to me within 2-3 business days.

How Much Does Noom Mood Cost?

Noom Mood has one subscription plan and it is billed in four-month blocks with a cost of $149. When you first sign up, you will be asked to choose to pay $0.50, $3, $10, or $17.27 for a seven-day trial depending on what you can afford.

There are currently no free-trials, discounts, or coupons available for Noom Mood.

What If I Want to Cancel Noom Mood?

You can cancel your subscription by going into your app and selecting settings, then “Manage Subscription.” You will see an option to cancel/delete your account. As a frequent Noom user, I recommend you also email Noom to let them know you have decided to cancel your account. In the past, I was charged for a subscription after I canceled. To contact Noom, you will have to go to the website and click “Support” in the bottom right corner. This will allow you to fill out a customer service form and they will email you back within 1 – 2 days usually. If you need to talk to someone faster than that, you can call (888) 266-5071.

Does Noom Mood Offer Refunds?

Yes, Noom can offer you a refund, but you must contact them through their website or call them. 

You can learn more about Noom’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy by visiting their website.

How to Get Started With Noom Mood

To get started with Noom Mood, head over to the Noom Mood websites.

1. On the Noom Mood homepage, you’ll be asked a series of questions about your mental health.
2. Complete an assessment that involves answering questions about yourself (your age, gender, and overall mood), what your goals are, and how often your mood affects your daily life.
3. You will receive a four-month “personalized” plan, which shows you a graph of how your mood can improve through using the program consistently and daily.
4. Choose how much you want to pay for a seven-day trial – you can pay $0.50, $3, $10, or $17.27.
5. After you pay for the trial period, you will be sent a text message with a link to follow that will give you instructions on how to set up the Mood program in the Noom app.
6. Download the Noom app and get started with your new Mood program.

Noom Mood: Detailed Review

Noom Mood is a very straightforward CBT app that has you complete daily learning lessons and mood check-ins. Noom Mood is billed in four-month blocks and costs $149, and no monthly or yearly subscriptions are available at this time. While Noom Mood offers a seven-day trial, it is not free and you will have to pay between $0.50 – $17.27 according to what amount you can afford. This charge goes toward your coaching cost during the seven-day period.

CBT Lessons & Activities

At the beginning of your program, you will spend time reading about how CBT can help you manage your daily stress and anxious thoughts. One of the first activities you will complete is called “Create Space.” This activity encourages you to take 15-minutes out of your day to lower your stress by being phone-free, relaxing, and enjoying your “me-time.” At the end of the 15 minutes, you are encouraged to write down any thoughts, positive or negative, that you encountered. It is important to note that there is not an in-app journal space, so you will need to have paper and a pen handy.

A great CBT technique you learn early on is reframing your thoughts. For those who are frequently stressed, they may encounter the thought “I Should…”. Noom focuses on this and asks you to think about the following two questions instead: “Do I want to?” and “Do I need to?” This small adjustment in thinking about daily tasks is actually one of the more helpful tips I learned from the Noom Mood app. It really helped me gain perspective and realized one of the things I should do is practice self-care much more often.

The mood tracker for Noom is very easy to find and use. It is always located at the bottom of the main screen and your mood can be logged very quickly—all you do is select a smiley face or frowning face that best describes your mood at that moment.

There is also the option to “Track More Progress” which will allow you to add information like your meals, exercise, weight, and blood pressure. While these extra tracking options are not essential to your mood program, they can be helpful indicators of what helps or harms your daily moods. Unfortunately, these do not show up on your mood graph and it is unclear if this is something that Noom Mood may include in the future.

The mood tracker for Noom is very easy to find and use. It is always located at the bottom of the main screen and your mood can be logged very quickly—all you do is select a smiley face or frowning face that best describes your mood at that moment.

There is also the option to “Track More Progress” which will allow you to add information like your meals, exercise, weight, and blood pressure. While these extra tracking options are not essential to your mood program, they can be helpful indicators of what helps or harms your daily moods. Unfortunately, these do not show up on your mood graph and it is unclear if this is something that Noom Mood may include in the future.

Coaching

All Noom plans come with a coach included in every subscription. After completing the first day of lessons, you will be automatically matched with a coach (who is a live person). These coaches can help support you as you complete your lessons, answer any questions you may have about your program, and offer encouraging words each day.

What Is Coaching With Noom Mood?

When you first begin your Noom program, the coaching feature will be a chatbot. However, after you’ve completed the first day of lessons, you will be assigned a live coach. These coaching sessions are always done in-app, are text-based, and there is no option to video chat with them at this time.

A great thing about the coaching program with Noom is that it is included in the cost of the subscription, unlike other apps, like Wysa or Sanvello, where you have to pay an additional fee for coaching. You can learn more about how coaching works with Wysa when you read our in-depth Wysa app review.

Who Are the Coaches for Noom?

Based on the Noom Careers page, it seems coaches are certified coaches from the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching training courses. The website explains that Noom offers this training to coaches for free, as well as any continuing education they need to continue being coaches. However, there is nothing in the FAQ’s to help answer this question more clearly.

How Are the Coaches Vetted & Credentialed?

It is our understanding that Noom runs internal National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching training courses for their coaches. This will allow coaches that qualify to sit for the Health and Wellness Coach Certifying Examination. It is unclear who may apply to be a coach and what background checks are required. We have reached out to Noom for more clarification about their coaches and have not heard from them at this time.

Noom Mood Vs Competitors

Noom Mood is a newer CBT app to the mental health scene and is up against some big competition. Most notable are the apps Happify and Sanvello, which are both CBT apps that offer a wider range of content than Noom Mood currently does.

Noom Mood Vs Happify

Noom Mood and Happify are both apps that use CBT techniques to help manage stress and anxiety. However, Happify also uses positive psychology in its curriculum and features learning courses for healthy relationships, workplace-related issues, and families & kids. Whereas Noom Mood is rather bare-bones and offers only text-based lessons, Happify has audio tasks, in-app activities like journals, meditations, and games, plus a large community space. You can also read interesting articles in their learning library and watch free webinars. 

Cost-wise, Noom Mood is billed in four-month blocks at $149. Happify, on the other hand, costs $14.99 monthly or $139 yearly. Despite the fact that Happify does not offer text-based coaching, you will definitely get more in-app activities and have a wider variety of content to keep you engaged.

You can see the differences yourself when you read our detailed Happify app review.

Visit Happify

Noom Mood Vs Sanvello

Much like Noom Mood, Sanvello is a CBT-based app that offers learning lessons and text-based coaching. Once again, Noom Mood is a stripped-down option when compared to Sanvello. With Sanvello, you will be able to choose from five or six learning courses, read lessons, listen to audio presentations, watch videos, and complete different in-app activities. Much like Happify, Sanvello offers in-app journals, articles, and meditations, which can keep you from getting bored with the app. There is also text-based coaching available, with live group coaching sessions available. 

Costwise, Sanvello is $50 monthly for their CBT tools and activities plus coaching, versus Noom Mood which is $149 for a four-month subscription. Despite the fact that Sanvello is the pricier option over four months than Noom Mood, you get much more for your money. Plus, with Sanvello, if you need to you can upgrade your account to receive therapy with a licensed therapist in your state.

Visit Sanvello

Final Verdict

Noom Mood is an effective CBT app if you’re looking for the basics. If you are a current Noom Weight user and are thinking about trying out something to help with your daily stress, this could be a fair option for you. This is especially true since you don’t have to pay anything extra to switch programs, but it is frustrating that you can only use one program at a time. Overall, the Noom Mood program could definitely be better with some adjustments.

History of Noom Mood

Noom originally began as a weight loss program and was founded by two friends, Saeju Jeong and Artem Petakov, in 2008. The Noom website says they created Noom out of dissatisfaction with the American healthcare system and wanted to create something that was a force of good in healthcare.¹ Noom Mood was recently launched in October of 2021.

Noom has been in the media lately as they laid off over 500 of their wellness coaches in April of 2022.² It is thought that these layoffs are to jump-start the switch from text-based coaching to live coaching. It is unclear if live coaching will become an option for those using the Noom Mood program, or if live coaching will only be offered to Noom Weight users. We have reached out to Noom for clarification, but have not heard back from them at this time.