Sanvello App Review 2024: Pros & Cons, Cost, & Who It’s Right For

Key Takeaways

• Sanvello offers guided meditations, journals, and courses to help you learn and practice useful CBT skills.
• The Sanvello app has a free version and a premium version that costs $8.99 monthly or $53.99 annually.
• Sanvello has recently partnered with AbleTo, which is an online therapy platform that’s accessible nationwide.

What Is Sanvello?

The Sanvello app was originally designed to help people struggling with different types of stress, anxiety, and depression. It provides short courses, journaling tools, and mindfulness exercises that help its users learn and practice cognitive behavioral therapy skills. The most recent versions of the app have expanded content that targets even more aspects of physical and mental health.

Sanvello’s core content focuses on mental wellness, but can also be used to develop healthy lifestyle habits such as:

• Regular exercise
• Sleep hygiene
• Moderating caffeine intake
• Moderating alcohol/substance use

Sanvello’s “Community” hub allows you to join discussion groups and/or chat groups on topics ranging from body positivity to infertility and grief support. It may take time to find a group chat that is active daily, but the discussion boards are updated frequently.

Their mental health coaching provides text-based access to a coach who will offer helpful suggestions on how to use the app and which tools to start with. In my experience, this assistance isn’t worth the $50 price tag. I was hoping coaching would offer me some specific advice on my particular situation, but instead, felt like I got an assistant to help me navigate the app. That might be helpful for some people, but it wasn’t of value to me.

Sanvello also offers access to licensed therapists at their highest subscription level, but this is limited to certain states and specific insurance plans. Unfortunately, self-pay isn’t an option for therapy at this time.

An analysis of research-backed features for a mental health app identified 16 recommendations, and Sanvello’s app incorporates almost all of them,³ including the use of CBT, reminders, progress tracking, and logging of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Many of these features have also been found to improve user engagement.⁴

Who Is Sanvello Right For?

Sanvello is a decent place to start if you are new to mindfulness or CBT. It teaches the basics of using mindfulness for anxiety, such as breathing techniques and visualization tricks, and the CBT journaling features make it a useful tool for those trying to increase self-awareness. It’s a great additional resource for those already in therapy looking to expand upon their skills with a CBT app. Sanvello is also a good fit for those who want all of their meditations, learning courses, and mood-tracking tools in a single app.

Who Might Want an Alternative to Sanvello?

Sanvello offers a little bit of everything but is not as focused and in-depth as other mindfulness and meditation apps. People who are familiar with mindfulness exercises and meditation practices will likely want to find a different app to use.

People living with a serious mental illness will likely need more support than the app can offer. Much of the app is self-guided and there are no live people to talk with in the event of a crisis unless you choose to pay extra for a therapist on the AbleTo platform. You may be more interested in investing in treatment from an online platform like Talkspace or BetterHelp. To learn all about what these subscription-based therapy platforms offer, please read our detailed Talkspace review or our BetterHelp review.

While the app does include some healthy lifestyle trackers for sleep and exercise, people who are primarily interested in these features would be better served by an app more strictly focused on physical health.

Sanvello is geared towards adults and teens older than 13. Parents looking for meditation or mindfulness apps for their younger children can find better ones designed specifically for kids.

What Are Sanvello Users Saying?

Sanvello has a 4.8-star rating from 22.5K reviews in the Apple App Store and 4.5 star rating from 24.9K reviews in the Google Play Store. Several reviewers mentioned the CBT-based journals and thought the daily reminders were really helpful. However, many users also complained that the app would crash randomly or that they couldn’t sign in to their account at all.

Love the CBT Journals & Daily Reminders

Many users like the CBT-based journals and thought the daily reminders to log their moods, meditate, or go to sleep were really helpful. People also commented that the ‘Guided Journeys’ courses were easy to understand and that the app is an overall good addition to face-to-face therapy. I couldn’t agree more with the reviewers on these points.

Accepts Insurance

Users also really love that Sanvello takes insurance for therapy (Sanvello’s highest subscription tier), but mentioned the process to set everything up takes longer than they expected. Many users point out that this app is not a good fit for anyone in crisis and I absolutely agree.

Issues with the App Crashing

Several users complained that the app would crash randomly or that they couldn’t sign in to their account at all. Many people didn’t like the cost of the premium subscriptions and mentioned that the home page was too overwhelming to navigate. Some also said that the community chat groups were not very active, something they were hoping to utilize more.

While I didn’t have issues with the app crashing, I did find the home page overwhelming and cluttered at first. But the more time I spent looking around the app, the easier it was to navigate and find what I was looking for.

How Much Does Sanvello Cost?

Sanvello offers a free version and a premium version for $8.99 monthly or $53.99 annually. Sanvello Premium gives you access to a full mediation library, psychologist-designed journeys with skill-building exercises, health tracking, and CBT journals.

Does Sanvello Take Insurance?

Insurance can be used for Sanvello’s therapy through AbleTo, but you must have an in-network insurance provider such as Beacon Health Options, Cigna, Magellan Healthcare, MultiPlan, Tufts Health Plan, UnitedHealthcare, Optum, Zelis, and more.

Can I use my HSA or FSA for Sanvello?

Yes, you can use your Health Savings Accounts (HSA) or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for Sanvello, but only for therapy with AbleTo. You can use your HSA or FSA for therapy costs including copay, co-insurance, or deductibles.

What If I Want to Cancel or Change Subscriptions?

You can cancel your subscription anytime, but Sanvello does not offer any refunds. Before your next billing cycle, you can choose to cancel your current plan and either upgrade or downgrade for the next month or year. You have to log in through either the Google Play Store, Apple Store, or the web to cancel, upgrade or downgrade your account. Sanvello will not do it for you through email.

Is Sanvello Private, HIPAA Compliant, and Safe?

Yes, Sanvello is HIPAA compliant. To read more about Sanvello’s terms of service and privacy policy, you can visit their website.

How To Get Started With Sanvello

To get started, simply visit the Sanvello website and follow the instructions below.

Step 1

To get started with the free version of Sanvello, download the app through Google Play or Apple Store.

Step 2

Use the ‘Get Started’ button to begin building your account and customizing the content you will see. You will be able to choose a theme, select up to three goals you want to focus on, and pick a specific time of day to focus on yourself.

Step 3

After you have customized your content, the app will ask for basic information to complete the registration process. The information required to set up an account includes choosing a username, your email address, and creating a new password. You can also opt to use your Facebook or Google account to log in instead.

Step 4

When your account has been registered, you will be prompted to complete a check-in. This includes basic questions that help assess your anxiety, stress, and depression. After completing the check-in questions, you are given a baseline score for each category. This score can be used as a point of comparison for future check-ins.

Step 5

Choose if you’d like to upgrade to Sanvello Premium. If so, complete the insurance check to see if you qualify.

Sanvello Free Version: Detailed Review

Sanvello’s free version has a lot to offer to those who are unsure whether they want to pay for a subscription. Currently, Sanvello has several article ‘Collections’, ‘Guided Journeys’ courses, CBT ‘Thoughts’ journals, a handful of guided meditations, and the entire ‘Community’ space is available for free.

Feature 1: Free Article “Collections”

Sanvello’s article ‘Collections’ helps you learn to manage different mental health issues, like social anxiety or dealing with work stress. All of them include interactive, supplemental activities, such as meditation, journaling, joining a community group, or beginning a suggested “Guided Journeys” course. Having activities to do while I was reading really helped me to stay engaged in the topic and made me want to read more articles.

Feature 2: Free “Thoughts” Journals

Sanvello’s free version gives you access to four of the nine “Thoughts” Journals. All of these journals for mental health use CBT techniques to help you examine how you are feeling and how to recognize the relationship between your feelings and your experiences.

Feature 3: The “Community” Space

When you click the “Community” hub, you will have the opportunity to post on a public discussion board or join a chat group. The discussion boards range in topics from gratitude to loneliness or parenting. All of your posts on the boards can be seen by other Sanvello users and they can give you ‘likes’ or make comments.

There are eight main topics to choose from in the chat area, and each one has several different groups to join. I noticed that some of the chat groups were more active than others, and finding these took some time and patience.

Sanvello Premium: Detailed Review

Sanvello Premium gives you complete access to the ‘Explore’ hub for either $8.99 monthly or $53.99 annually. This hub includes expanded material in articles, thought journals, guided journeys, and meditation collections. It also includes tools that help you set reminders to check in with your support network, track your sleep and health, and stay focused on your goals.

Feature 1: “Guided Journeys”

Five “Guided Journeys” learning courses use CBT skills to help manage anxiety and depression. Each course has several modules to complete. For example, in the ‘Braving Anxiety’ course, you have modules like “Anxiety & The Body” and “Sleep & Anxiety.” Because Sanvello has its roots in CBT techniques and skills, there is also a dedicated 11-module-long CBT course that is only available in the premium subscription.

The amount of time it takes to complete each module within a course varies on how much work you decide to put into it. It is doable to complete one module per day and one course per week and a half, but it’s also important not to rush through your courses and modules.

Feature 2: Premium “Thoughts” Journals

In the premium version, you will have access to all nine of the “Thoughts” journals. The unlocked ‘Thoughts’ journals will help you further explore the connection between your experiences, your emotions, and your responses.

As you work your way through the ‘Guided Journeys’, the ‘Thoughts’ journals begin to correspond with them and play a bigger role in your learning. In my experience, the more effort you put into your ‘Guided Journeys’ and how you choose to use the ‘Thoughts’ journals will dictate how much progress you are making towards the goals you set when you first began the app.

Feature 3: “Meditate”

Sanvello’s compact library of introductory mindfulness and meditation exercises for anxiety is a perfect place to start for novices. In the Premium subscription, there are over 40 mindfulness and meditation exercises to choose from and none of them are longer than 15 minutes.

You can learn the basics of breathing, visualization, and how to perform a body scan. With topics ranging from quieting your inner critic to being present in the moment, there are several ways for you to practice mindfulness and meditation in your daily life.

Many of the meditations in Sanvello’s app seemed a little slow to me and I already knew many of the techniques being taught. While it’s always good to have a refresher, I felt like I needed to go to a different app for meditations that were slightly more advanced. That said, I think this is a great starting point for those unfamiliar with meditation practices.

Sanvello & AbleTo

Sanvello has partnered with AbleTo, a personalized mental healthcare online platform, to connect its users with live licensed therapists. When you download Sanvello, you’ll see an option to choose one-on-one therapy services with AbleTo. Simply click on the ‘Get Started’ prompt and you’ll be taken to AbleTo’s main homepage where you can register and be matched with a therapist.

Sanvello Vs Headspace Vs BetterHelp

There are a growing number of apps in the mental health sector, many of which offer the same services as Sanvello. Two major competitors in the market are Headspace and BetterHelp. Headspace is strictly a mindfulness and meditation app, while BetterHelp is a teletherapy platform like Sanvello.

Sanvello Vs Headspace

Headspace is focused on mindfulness and meditation, whereas Sanvello also includes CBT skills and exercises. Those looking exclusively for meditation exercises will be more pleased with Headspace. Those with other goals might be drawn to Sanvello because of the more diverse skills and features of the app.

Sanvello’s Self-Care option is also cheaper at $8.99 per month compared to Headspace at $12.99 per month. But by and far, Headspace offers a wider range of meditation topics and mindfulness skills to learn. To learn all about this amazing meditation app, you can read our detailed Headspace review.

Sanvello Vs BetterHelp

Much like Sanvello, BetterHelp is an online teletherapy provider. They have emerged as a leading provider of online counseling, connecting you with a designated licensed therapist. BetterHelp is also a subscription-based service, with monthly subscriptions ranging between $60 to $90 per week which is billed monthly. If you have insurance and AbleTo (Sanvello’s partner) is in-network, then you might find Sanvello’s therapy much more affordable than BetterHelp, which does not accept insurance.

BetterHelp’s subscription cost provides you with options to communicate with your therapist through online chats or messaging, or through weekly phone or video sessions. A big difference here is that Sanvello only offers video sessions. BetterHelp is more established in the teletherapy sector, and Sanvello is new to the scene. To see how subscription-based therapy can work for you, read our in-depth review of BetterHelp.

How Has Sanvello Changed Over The Years?

Sanvello, formerly called Pacifica, was founded in 2014 by CEO Dale Beermann and developer Chris Goettel. Their goal was to create an app based in cognitive behavior therapy and mindfulness. Beermann used mindfulness practices to help overcome insomnia, while Goettell reduced his social anxiety with CBT. Pacifica was renamed in 2019 after being acquired by Sanvello, Inc., a branch of the insurance company UnitedHealth.5

Sanvello has made its way into already crowded mental health app sectors with its new updates, like health tracking and teletherapy sessions. After the switch from Pacifica, people complained that they had a hard time navigating the updated app. Some users also complain that Sanvello has strayed from its original roots of using CBT and mindfulness to help manage stress, anxiety, and depression. It now offers meditation exercises, and therapy with AbleTo, all of which come with an additional cost.