Tools & Apps - our picks
Apps and everyday tools we actually use with clients, for mood tracking, sleep, focus, and habit change. Everything here works without a subscription trap.
- Chosen by people
- Payment never buys ranking
- Who each one is for, stated plainly
Daylio Journal App
Mood tracking and micro-journaling app. We recommend this to clients between sessions for self-awareness building.
Who it's for: ADHD self-monitoring
Why we chose it: Genuinely low-friction daily use
Premium meditation and sleep app with team plans. Perfect for clinician self-care and client recommendations.
Who it's for: Sleep-onset insomnia
Why we chose it: CBT-I sleep programme included
Gamified self-care app that turns habits into caring for a virtual pet.
Who it's for: ADHD adjunct
Why we chose it: Genuinely motivating gamification
How We Feel
Free emotion-granularity app built with Yale's Center for Emotional Intelligence.
Who it's for: Anxiety
Why we chose it: Free forever, no ads
RISE Sleep
Circadian-based sleep and energy timing app.
Who it's for: Shift workers
Why we chose it: Genuine circadian science
Sleepio (Big Health)
NICE-recommended digital CBT-I for chronic insomnia.
Who it's for: Chronic insomnia
Why we chose it: NICE-recommended
Wearable ring for sleep, HRV, cycle and metabolic tracking.
Who it's for: Sleep tracking
Why we chose it: Best-in-class sleep tracking
Woebot CBT Chatbot
CBT-informed chatbot for low-mood and anxiety self-management.
Who it's for: Mild low mood
Why we chose it: Genuine CBT framing
Head-to-head
What you are actually buying
Apps, wearables and digital programmes. Some are free with an optional paid tier, some are annual subscriptions, and one or two need hardware. They run on your own phone or device, and the data stays in the provider's account, not in your Take a Seat record.
How tools & apps pricing works
Prices are the UK consumer rate at the time of review. Free tiers are genuinely usable in most cases, and the paid tier normally unlocks history, export or coaching rather than the core function, so start free where a free tier exists. Hardware costs are listed separately from any ongoing subscription.
Who this suits, and who it does not
Best suited to self-monitoring and habit work between appointments: tracking mood, sleep, medication response or symptoms across weeks so patterns become visible. They are a poor substitute for assessment or treatment, and a tracker that raises your anxiety rather than lowering it is the wrong tool for you.
What happens next
Download or order direct from the provider. If you are working with a specialist, look for an export function on day one, a few weeks of your own data is one of the most useful things you can bring to a first consultation.
How this shelf is chosen
The list is short on purpose. Options are added by our clinical team when they are already used or recommended in practice, and each one is written up with its trade-offs alongside what it does well, so a page that only sells is a page we have got wrong. Some of the outbound links are affiliate links, which is how the shelf pays for itself, but placement, order and the wording of any review are never sold and a partner cannot pay to appear here. We recheck prices and inclusions at review and remove anything we would no longer recommend rather than leave it up for the traffic.
Prices and inclusions are checked at review and change without notice, always confirm on the provider's own page. Nothing here is a diagnosis or a treatment recommendation, if you want one, speak to a specialist or build a pathway.
Keep exploring mental health
Curated by our clinical team