Best apps to stop drinking alcohol

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A quick look at 10 of the best apps to stop drinking alcohol

• Best for a virtual community: Sober Grid
• Best for daily meditations: Twenty-Four Hours a Day
• Best for a health tracker: Sobriety Counter
• Best for a money tracker: Nomo
• Best for estimating blood alcohol content: AlcoDroid Alcohol Tracker
• Best for motivation: I Am Sober
• Best for changing behavior: Happify
• Best for virtual coaching: Coach.me
• Best for breaking habits: Stop Drinking with Andrew Johnson
• Best for those attending Alcoholics Anonymous: 12 Steps Companion AA Big Book

Medical News Today includes apps that are reputable and well-received, with a range of price points and features.

Additionally, MNT looks at some of the following:

• Health claims: MNT includes companies that make no questionable health claims.
• Trust: MNT includes companies that operate with transparency regarding their products, services, and leadership. Also, where relevant, that companies have certifications from reputable, third-party organizations.
• Business standards: MNT will choose companies that follow safe and ethical business and marketing practices.
• Reputation: MNT will choose companies that have no warnings from governing bodies or unresolved lawsuits and have positive standings with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Below are some apps a person may consider to help stop drinking alcohol.

Best for a virtual community: Sober Grid

• Price: free
• Platforms: iOS and Android
• Features: virtual community and blogging

Sober Grid connects those who want to get sober or who are in recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) with other people focused on sobriety. Some individuals join the app to receive support, while others join to give support.

If a person needs to speak to someone right away, they can reach out to Sober Grid’s virtual community for support by selecting the “Burning Desire” button. Users of Sober Grid can also find friends while traveling, as the network connects people locally and anywhere in the world.

The Sober Grid newsfeed allows people to share their thoughts, experiences, challenges, and triumphs related to recovery from addiction and sobriety.

While Sober Grid is free to download, people can purchase optional in-app memberships, starting at $3.99 per month.

Best for daily meditations: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

• Price: free
• Platforms: iOS and Android
• Features: daily meditations and shareable messages

Twenty-Four Hours a Day is an app based on a self-help book of the same name by Richmond Walker.

The app gives people access to 366 daily meditations that may help a person focus on the 12-step system from support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

Swiping back and forth brings up daily messages that people can share. People can also bookmark their favorite meditations for easy access.

Best for a health tracker: Sobriety Counter

• Price: free
• Platforms: iOS and Android
• Features: tracks how stopping drinking improves health

Sobriety Counter is an app that aims to gamify a person’s stop drinking journey. The dashboard shows people how much money they have saved by not drinking. People can also set up a treat as a goal with a personal image, and the app will show them the duration until they reach their target.

People can also view trackers showing how stopping drinking improves health, such as blood circulation, cell regeneration, gray matter, mental health, and the risk for heart disease and cancer.

This app also has games that may help a person distract themself from alcohol cravings. People can earn shareable badges as rewards for not drinking alcohol.

Best for a money tracker: Nomo

• Price: free
• Platforms: iOS and Android
• Features: tracks time sober and money saved

Nomo tracks how long a person has been sober in terms of years, months, weeks, days, hours, and minutes. Each time a person reaches a recovery milestone, the app issues a chip to celebrate the achievement and keep people motivated.

People can track time and money saved on the app and share successes and new chips on social media. They can also share their sobriety clock.

Best for estimating blood alcohol content: AlcoDroid Alcohol Tracker

• Price: free
• Platform: Android
• Features: estimates blood alcohol content and has an alcohol diary

AlcoDroid is an app that tracks alcohol consumption. People can also use it as a drinks diary and a calculator to determine blood alcohol content. The app estimates blood alcohol content based on the drinks people log.

AlcoDroid charts a person’s drinking habits daily, weekly, or monthly and displays their consumption statistics. People can set up targets to see how alcohol intake matches those goals over a set timeframe.

Best for motivation: I Am Sober

• Price: free
• Platforms: iOS and Android
• Features: time and milestone tracker

I Am Sober is a motivational companion app that tracks a person’s sobriety. It lets people track the hours, minutes, and seconds they have been sober and the total number of days without alcohol.

Daily notifications may keep people focused on recovery, and special notifications alert a person when they have reached a key milestone. People can add memorable photos for each milestone and save or share their achievements.

A person can customize their experience by manually configuring their sober start date, habit, and notification times.

Best for changing behavior: Happify

• Price: free
• Platforms: iOS
• Features: uses games and mindfulness to reduce stress

While not an app for AUD, Happify may help people with negative moods that can lead to unhealthful behaviors.

Developed by scientists and experts in mindfulness, positive psychology, and cognitive behavioral therapy, Happify’s techniques and programs aim to reduce stress and build greater resilience.

By completing a few games and activities each week, Happify aims to improve a person’s life satisfaction and empower them to manage negativity.

While Happify is free to download, people can purchase extra features through the app, starting at $9.99.

Best for virtual coaching: Coach.me

• Price: free
• Platforms: iOS and Android
• Features: offers virtual communities and coaches

Although not specifically designed for addiction, Coach.me allows people to set a goal and helps them work toward achieving their objectives. After choosing a goal, the Coach.me community can help keep people motivated — a person can even hire one of the app’s coaches.

The app tracks a person’s progress and provides rewards when they hit milestones. There is always someone available from the community to answer questions and give feedback on a person’s achievements and challenges.

Best for breaking habits: Stop Drinking with Andrew Johnson

• Price: $2.99 on the App Store and $2.49 on Google Play
• Platforms: iOS and Android
• Features: hypnotization and visualization to help stop drinking

Stop Drinking with Andrew Johnson is a motivational app that aims to help people overcome physical and emotional cravings for alcohol. The app aims to give people tools to change their thinking, break unwanted habits, and regain control of their thoughts, money, health, and well-being.

The app uses hypnotherapy, relaxation, visualization, and positive suggestion.

Best for those attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): 12 Steps Companion AA Big Book

• Price: $2.99 on the App Store and $1.99 on Google Play
• Platforms: iOS and Android
• Features: provides the Big Book of AA and tracks time sober

The 12 Steps AA Companion provides the Big Book of AA and includes more than 60 stories.

People can also access morning and night prayers, 12 Steps promises on experience, hope, and strength, and notes. A person can also share these on social media.

The dashboard clearly shows how many years, months, days, and hours people have been sober every time they open the app. A person can also calculate the sobriety time of their friends.

The following table compares the apps in this article.

People may wish to consider the following factors when looking for an app to help stop or moderate their alcohol consumption:

• Price: Many apps are free to download. However, some apps offer in-app purchases that allow people to access additional features, and some may charge a flat fee to use.
• Content: People may wish to consider the content of the app. For example, some offer time, money, health trackers, and milestone badges. Others may offer a virtual community or be suitable as a companion app to alcohol support groups.
• Platform: People should ensure that the app they wish to use is available on the App Store or Google Play.

Low or moderate amounts of drinking may have protective effects against the following conditions:

• inflammation
• thrombosis
• acute myocardial infarction
• stroke
• type 2 diabetes

However, people with AUD drink alcohol even if it negatively affects their lives.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), around 14.5 million people aged 12 years and over had AUD in 2019. Of this number, 9 million were males, and 5.5 million were females.

The NIAAA also reports that from 2011–2015, the leading causes of alcohol-related death were:

• alcohol-related liver disease
• heart disease
• stroke
• liver cirrhosis
• mouth and throat cancer
• liver cancer
• cardiac dysrhythmia
• AUD
• breast cancer
• hypertension

Around 95,000 people die annually from alcohol-related causes, making it the third leading cause of death in the United States. Moderating or stopping alcohol consumption involves lifestyle changes and support. Some people may choose to use apps alongside medical treatment and alcohol support groups to achieve their goals.

People should contact a doctor if they are considering treatment for AUD or if drinking alcohol negatively affects their lives.

Doctors will offer treatment options and can help with any withdrawal symptoms, such as:

• sweating
• anxiety
• nausea and vomiting
• headaches
• fever
• fatigue
• body tremors
• seizures
• changes in heart rate

Below are some frequently asked questions about drinking apps.

Is there an app to help me stay sober?

There are several apps that aim to help a person stay sober.

These apps offer different features, such as a virtual community, coaching, and milestone trackers. Some apps may be more suitable for certain alcohol support groups and offer literature and meditations.

How long does it take to recover from alcohol use disorder?

Experts no longer use the word “recovery” with addiction. Instead, they discuss abstinence and remission, which can indicate recovery.

According to the surgeon general of the U.S., it can take up to 5 years after being in remission for alcohol use disorder for the risk of relapse to fall below 15%. The surgeon general defines remission as 2 years after stopping alcohol consumption.

Recovery-oriented systems of care, such as long-term outpatient care, recovery coaching, and check-ups, can decrease the likelihood of relapsing. People may also choose to use other forms of support alongside, such as alcohol support groups.

Alcohol use disorder affects around 14.5 million people in the U.S. It is currently the third leading cause of death and can cause several health conditions, such as cancer, stroke, and liver disease.

Several apps may help support a person to moderate or stop their alcohol consumption. Most apps are available on iOS and Android and are free or charge a low flat fee for access.