Choosing Therapy’s Scoring Criteria for Mental Health Apps
Using a mental health app as part of your daily wellness and self-care routine can be beneficial in many ways. Deciding which app is right for you might seem overwhelming at first, especially for those brand new to using these apps. If you’re considering one of the many mental health apps available, Choosing Therapy can help guide your decision.
Choosing Therapy’s in-depth, unbiased app reviews that are based on first-hand product use and testing, careful research, user input and reviews, and expert interviews, to help you find the best mental health app for you. For our independent scoring criteria, we’ve considered several factors including the quality of the main app features offered, credibility and effectiveness, interface design and user experience, extra features, cost, reliability and longevity, customer service, and privacy and security.
Below we review our scoring criteria for mental health apps, including definitions of each scoring category and a breakdown of the star rating system used in our mental health app reviews.
Quality of Main Features
A mental health app should solve the problem that it is intended to solve. The main features of the app should support the goal of the app, and result in users successfully using the app to achieve that goal themselves. If the main goal of an app is to help users make prioritized to-do lists, then the main features of the app should allow the user to successfully and efficiently create useful prioritized to-do lists. These main features should be the focus before additional features are offered. If an app has begun to focus on other features and resources to the detriment of its main goal, then it will incur a lower score with our rating.
Star Ratings for Quality of Main Features
5 Stars: The app’s main feature is implemented in a way that allows the user to achieve the goal of the app through regular/intended usage. Using the feature is seamless, and, whether or not extra features are good, the app accomplishes its main task to a high degree of effectiveness.
3 Stars: The app’s main feature is of adequate quality, but does not allow the user to accomplish its main goal successfully or efficiently through regular usage as intended by the app. Either the feature is not designed well, or it is somewhat obscured by distractions/ads. The app doesn’t work perfectly or works with a mild amount of frustration.
1 Star: This app’s main feature is ineffective and does not effectively accomplish whatever its intended purpose was. Perhaps it has other features that it accomplishes well, but its main feature offering has been neglected or is so badly obscured by distractions/ads that it is not realistically useful.
Variety/Amount of Content in the App
Regardless of the need that a particular mental health app fills, it should offer a large library of content with plenty of variety. Compared to the cost, an app must offer enough content to feel as though the cost was worth it. There should be enough content to satisfy the needs of both beginners and experienced users of the app.
Star Ratings for Variety/Amount of Content in the App
5 Stars: The app has plenty of content for anyone who might want to use it and both the variety and amount of content are more than you would expect for the cost. New content is continually being added and existing content is being updated.
3 Stars: The variety and amount of content offered by the app matches the cost to the user. Experienced users may begin to grow tired of the content offered if it isn’t updated. New content updates are sparse but still add meaningful content regularly.
1 Star: The app’s variety and amount of content do not match the cost. There is not nearly enough content, or it is far too narrow in scope to be worth the price. There are few or no content updates regularly.
Credibility & Effectiveness
Mental health apps should be based on credible research and sources, and sound ideas. Ideally, a mental health app should clearly state what ideas/research the app is based on. The best mental health apps will not only ensure their product is based on credible research but will also make efforts to document this for users in a transparent way.
Star Ratings for Credibility & Effectiveness
5 Stars: The app is a model of well-documented credibility and has volumes of data backing up its approach. The app documents the research/sources it is based on in a transparent way for users.
3 Stars: The credibility of the app is established, but there are other apps in this same space that are more effective, credible, or offer more documentation about credibility. The app documents the research/sources it is based on, but that information is difficult for users to find.
1 Star: The app either doesn’t offer adequate documentation about its credibility and effectiveness, or it simply is not based on credible or sound scientific facts.
Interface Design & User Experience
A mental health app should be easy to navigate, intuitive to use, and aesthetically pleasing. Many people turn to mental health apps during times of stress, anxiety, and more, which means they need something that works intuitively and quickly.
In addition, a mental health app should also be visually inviting with attractive designs that are based on best practices in user experience and design. The app should not have many distractions or advertisements that take away from the experience or frustrate the user. Ads may be present in a free version of an app but removed in a paid version of the app. Regardless, the ads should not be offensive or overly aggressive, and should somewhat fit the theme and aesthetic of the app so as not to be jarring.
Star Ratings for Interface & User Experience
5 Stars: The app is easy to navigate, intuitive, and users of any age within the app’s recommended age range can quickly figure out how to use it. It has a pleasing visual design and the entire experience matches well with user experience design best practices.
3 Stars: The app offers an average user experience, it’s somewhat tricky to navigate, and it takes more time to understand how to use the tools or find the features you want. The design, style, and organization aren’t as appealing as other mental health apps or may be of mediocre design quality.
1 Star: The app is difficult to use, poorly organized, and has an unappealing design or a design that significantly conflicts with user experience design best practices.
Extra Features & Resources
The best mental health apps offer more than just their main feature – if there is an opportunity, mental health apps should include additional features to help set themselves apart from the competition. However, extra features should not come at the detriment of the quality of an app’s main feature offering.
Star Ratings for Extra Features & Resources
5 Stars: The app offers a variety of extras that stand apart from the main feature offering of the app and add significant value to the goal of the app as a whole.
3 Stars: The app offers a handful of features but they aren’t perfectly implemented, or they might detract slightly from the quality of the main feature offering. Any extra features offer slightly more value to the app overall.
1 Star: The app does not have any extra features or resources that add to the value of the app, or any extra features are so poorly implemented that they make the app less useful.
Cost & Free Trial Periods
One of our top goals is to protect consumers from costly apps that do not meet expectations or quality standards. Some mental health apps will cost more than others, and we want to identify how companies support each price tag. An affordable mental health app will not necessarily be rated higher than an expensive app, or vice versa. The cost should be reflective of what the app offers. In other words, an app must actually be worth what it costs.
We also believe that it is very important for consumers to have a free trial period before committing to a monthly or annual subscription. This is especially true for those apps that do not offer any content for free. Being able to experience the app, engage with content, and use additional features is very important to a purchasing decision.
Star Ratings for Cost & Free Trial Periods
5 Stars: The app’s cost is directly reflected in its quality – the variety and quality of content is high, the app grows frequently and is continually well-supported by developers, and there are no hidden costs. The cost of the app is justified, you’re getting exactly what you paid for, and there are no surprise costs or additional in-app fees. Members get a free trial period to learn about the app and try it before purchasing. If there’s no free trial, there is a free basic version that gives users a solid idea of what the app offers.
3 Stars: The app’s quality isn’t totally reflective of its price. Maybe the price is slightly too high, or the app is only worth it to some groups, and not to others. Or, the price is justified, but there is no free trial period and no options for users to engage with the app prior to subscribing.
1 Star: The price does not match the quality of the app. It’s entirely too expensive for what users are getting.
Reliability & Longevity
The reliability and longevity score of a mental health app is determined by how long an app has been around, how many reviews it has, how often upgrades or updates are conducted, and how often it produces new content.
We want to direct users toward apps that will continue to grow and won’t disappear or phase out after a user purchases an annual subscription. It’s important to note that we also conduct updates to our mental health app reviews frequently, so a newly released app may receive a higher score after it proves its credibility over time.
Star Ratings for Reliability & Longevity
5 Stars: The mental health app has over 5K (mostly positive) reviews and has existed for more than five years. The developers conduct regular updates, routine upgrades, and new content is added frequently.
3 Stars: The app has over 1K (mostly positive) reviews and has existed for more than two years. The developers conduct updates and upgrades once or twice a year. New content is not added particularly frequently.
1 Star: The app has less than 500 reviews and has existed for less than a year. OR the app has existed for many years but has limited or heavily negative reviews, no upgrades or updates have been made, and it’s been over a year since new content has been added.
User Reviews
As a part of our review process, we read through user reviews in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. We also read user reviewers from trusted sites like the Better Business Bureau, Trustpilot, and more. There are four main things we look for in these user reviews.
These things are:
- What users say they loved or liked about the app and which features they were most impressed with. What are the trends among positive user reviews?
- User review trends that skew negative. What are the most common themes among negative reviews that are applicable to the app as a whole?
- How companies respond to both positive and negative user reviews.
- Whether companies are offering genuine solutions and responses to customer complaints.
Star Ratings for User Reviews
5 Stars: The app’s user reviews are overwhelmingly positive, any complaints are dealt with and resolved quickly and effectively. As a trend, there are very few complaints and negative reviews for this app and users seem to find it very valuable.
3 Stars: The app has a mix of positive and negative user reviews. Aside from isolated incidents, the trend of reviews indicates that it is overall well-received by users, but there may be a few instances of user problems. Negative reviews are indicative of broader problems, but nothing that breaks the app entirely.
1 Star: The app’s user reviews are overwhelmingly negative. Users tend to be very frustrated with the app and the business practices behind it. Complaints are not dealt with quickly or effectively, or the creators of the app just don’t respond at all.
Customer Service
The quality of a mental health app’s customer service is a significant rating factor – mental health apps may be penalized if it is hard or frustrating to find contact information, connect with a representative, or if it lacks channels of communication (e.g., only has email, no phone numbers listed). Additionally, we take into consideration how long it takes customer service to respond to us when we send questions to them.
Star Ratings for Customer Service
5 Stars: The app offers excellent customer service. There are multiple channels to communicate with a representative, including email, text, chat, and phone. Responses to issues and complaints are completed within 24 hours. There are very few, if any, customer complaints in reviews online. When issues are reported in reviews online, the app developers respond efficiently and effectively.
3 Stars: The app provides an average level of customer service. There are limited channels to communicate with a representative, and you may only find an email or a phone number to call. Response time takes more than two days and app developers only sometimes respond to issues reported in reviews online.
1 Star: The app provides poor customer service. You can only reach a representative through one channel. Response time takes over one business week (5 days) and many issues are left unresolved. App developers do not respond to reported issues in reviews online.
Privacy & Security
Digital privacy and security are important to consider when choosing an app. An ideal mental health app keeps the user’s account information, such as credit card numbers, email addresses, or other identifying data, private and protected at all times. When ranking for this category, our objective is to promote companies that have transparent and ethical privacy and security policies, as well as data-sharing practices, and who consistently meet users’ privacy expectations. Companies that are unclear about these policies and/or exhibit unethical actions regarding privacy, security, and data sharing, will receive lower scores.
Star Ratings for Privacy & Security
5 Stars: Privacy policies are easy to find, clearly stated, and specific. The company is transparent about data-sharing practices and consistently meets users’ expectations. There are no reports of security issues, such as personal information or credit card information being stolen.
3 Stars: Privacy policies and data sharing practices are difficult to find and/or generic and unspecific. There have been some incidents of users facing security issues with private information.
1 Star: The company has no privacy policy. There have been many reports of security issues with private user information. The company shares member account information without informing the user.
For more information, check out or editorial policies and our advertising policies.
This content was last updated 4/09/2024 by the Choosing Therapy team.
