Wysa is an AI ‘chatbot therapist’ you can talk to on your phone. It uses CBT-style questions, journaling prompts, and exercises to help with anxiety, low mood, stress, and burnout. You can work through packs for sleep, work stress, or relationships, and check in with your mood daily. There is a free version with core tools, plus paid options to chat with human coaches. It is not a replacement for a real therapist or crisis care, but can be a helpful self-care tool between sessions or while you’re on a waitlist.
AI Mental Health Chatbot
Early research suggests that Wysa can be a helpful companion for managing everyday anxiety, low mood, and stress—especially when you use it regularly and combine it with other care (therapy, medication, or self-help). It is best thought of as a support tool, not a stand-alone cure.
Wysa is best for people who:
You message a friendly penguin character that guides you through CBT-style questions, reframing thoughts, and problem-solving. The chatbot is available 24/7 and never gets tired.
Evidence: Chat-based CBT and journaling are supported by decades of evidence for cognitive behavioral techniques and self-help approaches.
Curated collections of exercises for anxiety, low mood, work stress, relationships, and sleep. Packs combine psychoeducation, CBT techniques, and short practices.
Evidence: Structured digital CBT programs have repeatedly shown benefit for mild to moderate anxiety and depression when used regularly.
Daily mood tracking and prompts help you notice patterns in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors over time.
Evidence: Self-monitoring and mood tracking are standard CBT tools that support behavior change and relapse prevention.
Short exercises for grounding, breathing, relaxation, and mindfulness to use in the moment when you feel overwhelmed.
Evidence: Brief skills-based interventions can reduce acute anxiety and help people tolerate distress in real-world situations.
In some regions, you can upgrade to text-based or live support from coaches or licensed clinicians who use Wysa’s tools as part of care.
Evidence: Blended models (digital tools plus human support) often lead to better engagement and outcomes than self-help alone.
Wysa uses a freemium model: core self-care tools are free, and human support is paid.
Free
Trying the app and using basic CBT tools, journaling, and mood tracking.
Subscription (price varies by region)
Access to the full library of packs and exercises, more depth and variety of content.
Subscription or program-based pricing
People who want human guidance alongside the app; available in select countries and through some employers and insurers.
In some programs, Wysa may be offered through employers, health plans, or health systems. Direct reimbursement by insurance varies by region.
Wysa emphasizes privacy and secure handling of sensitive mental health conversations, and has been recognized by independent reviewers as one of the more privacy-respecting mental health apps.
Consumer use of Wysa is not generally covered under HIPAA. For clinical or enterprise deployments, organizations may have separate agreements and requirements.
Another CBT-based AI chatbot focused on depression and anxiety. Woebot uses short, structured daily conversations; Wysa offers a broader toolkit-style experience and optional human coaching.
Better if you prefer guided audio meditations and structured mindfulness courses. Wysa is more chat-based and skills-focused rather than meditation-focused.
Great if you want simple mood tracking and visual patterns over time. Daylio is a tracker with journaling; Wysa adds an AI coach and CBT tools on top of mood logging.
CBT-style thought-challenging, worry journaling, and grounding exercises can help people with mild to moderate generalized anxiety as an add-on to therapy or self-help.
CBT-based mood tracking and behavioral activation tools may help with mild depressive symptoms or relapse prevention, but are not a replacement for full treatment in moderate to severe depression.
Brief, situational distress due to life changes (work, relationship, medical diagnosis) can be supported with coping skills and problem-solving exercises in Wysa.