Woebot alternatives Updated October 2026
Woebot's app is gone. Here is what to use instead.
Woebot retired its public app on June 30, 2025. It now exists only through employers and health plans.
Abby
by Abby Intelligence
Woebot
Public app retired June 30, 2025
You cannot download Woebot anymore without an access code from a provider or employer. Woebot was a structured CBT chatbot. Abby is an open conversation that remembers your story, designed with licensed therapists, with free matching to a human therapist. Neither was ever therapy.
Free to start. No card needed. Private and judgment free.
We make Abby. This page describes Woebot as it was for the public, and says who it suited.
Side by side
| Feature | Abby |
Woebot |
|---|---|---|
| Available to the public | Yes | Access code only since June 30, 2025 |
| Open conversation, not scripted exercises | Yes | Short scripted CBT check-ins |
| Remembers your story across conversations | Yesand connects what you say today to what you said months ago | Tracks mood over time |
| Conversation process designed with licensed therapists | Yesin-house clinical team | Yesclinical psychologists; 18 trials to date |
| Checks in on you before you open the app | Yesdaily or when it matters | Yesdaily check-in |
| Choose her personality, tone and pushback | Yessix personalities, from Empathetic Friend to Tough Coach | One voice |
| Talk by voice or text | Yes | Text only |
| Languages | 88, switch mid-sentence | English |
| Where you can use it | iPhone, Android and the web | iPhone, iPad and Android, with an access code |
| Free matching to a licensed human therapist | Yesbuilt in, using what she already knows about you | No |
| Independent oversight | YesEthics & Safety Board of licensed therapists | YesScientific Advisory Board and Clinical Diversity Advisory Board |
| If you are in crisis | Points you to 988 and emergency services | Points you to crisis resources |
| Free to start | Yes | Free with an access code |
| Price after the free start | $19.99 a month or $99 a year | Paid for by your employer or health plan |
| Is it therapy? | No | No |
Woebot details reflect Woebot Health's public statements and the App Store listing as of October 2026. Tell us if something is out of date.
What happened to Woebot
Woebot was one of the pioneers. Built by clinical psychologists out of Stanford, it delivered cognitive behavioral therapy skills through short, scripted check-ins, ran 18 trials, and took research seriously in a category that often does not. In April 2025 Woebot Health told users it was retiring the app, and on June 30, 2025 it did: new accounts could no longer be created and existing ones could no longer be accessed. Transcript requests closed on July 15, 2025 and all account data was anonymized on July 31, 2025.
The app is still in the App Store, which is why people keep finding it, but it now requires an access code from a health plan, employer or other Woebot Health partner. If you do not have one, you cannot use it. If Woebot was your daily check-in, or you read about it and went looking, the real question is what to use now.
Structured lessons vs open conversation
Woebot's model was structure: short guided exercises teaching you to catch distorted thoughts, delivered the same way for everyone. It was closer to an interactive workbook than a conversation, and that was the point.
Abby's model is conversation. You bring the actual thing, the text you keep rereading, the decision you keep circling, and she meets you in it. She remembers what you told her last week, notices patterns across conversations, and checks in before the hard day you mentioned. Structure shows up where it helps, but the conversation is shaped around you rather than a script.
How Abby thinks
Between your message and her reply there is a process, designed with licensed therapists. It is the reason the right question tends to show up at the right moment, and it is the part of Abby we are proudest of.
- 1Saves your story. Every conversation adds to what she knows about you, so you never start from zero.
- 2Connects to your memories. She links what you just said to what you told her weeks or months ago.
- 3Spots the pattern. The thing that keeps coming back, even when it shows up wearing a different story.
- 4Finds the thing underneath. Then asks the one question that gets you there, instead of ten that do not.
What else Abby does
Checks in first
Mention a rough week coming up and she checks in each morning of it. Daily, or only when it matters. You choose.
Becomes who you need
Six personalities, from Empathetic Friend to Tough Coach, plus how much she says, how she responds, and how hard she pushes back.
Voice or text
Type at 2am or talk on the walk home. Same memory, same Abby.
88 languages
Talk in the language you think in. Switch mid-sentence and she follows.
A real therapist when you want one
Say the word and Abby uses what she already knows about you to match you with a licensed therapist, free.
Built with oversight
An Ethics & Safety Board of licensed therapists reviews how she handles the moments that matter.
Trusted for 10,000,000+ conversations.
Where Woebot and Abby part ways
Script or conversation
Woebot taught a fixed curriculum of CBT skills in small scripted pieces. Abby follows you, remembers your story, and asks the question that gets underneath.
Voice and languages
Abby works by voice or text in 88 languages, on your phone or a laptop. Woebot was text, in English, on a phone.
The path to a person
Abby matches you with a licensed therapist for free, using what she already knows about you. Woebot pointed you back to your provider.
Which should you pick
Pick Woebot if
- Your employer or health plan gives you an access code and you liked the daily CBT check-ins.
- You want a scripted skills curriculum more than an open conversation. Without a code, Wysa is the closest public equivalent.
- You are in crisis. No app is the right place for that: call or text 988, or call 911.
Pick Abby if
- You want to talk it through with something that remembers you, not work through a lesson.
- You want voice as well as text, on your phone or a laptop.
- You think you may need a real therapist at some point. The matching is free and built in.
Abby is free to start, so the low-risk move is to have one conversation and see whether it lands. If you are in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911.
Common questions
Is Woebot still available?
Only with an access code from a health plan, employer or other Woebot Health partner. The public app was retired on June 30, 2025; new accounts cannot be created without a code and old accounts can no longer be accessed.
Can I get my old Woebot conversations back?
No. Woebot Health's deadline for requesting a transcript was July 15, 2025, and all account data was anonymized on July 31, 2025.
Is Abby like Woebot?
Both are AI apps for your mental health, but the approach is different. Woebot taught CBT skills through short scripted check-ins. Abby is an open conversation that remembers your story, with voice, 88 languages, and free matching to a licensed therapist.
Is Abby free?
Abby is free to start. After that it is $19.99 a month or $99 a year.
Is Abby or Woebot a therapist?
Neither. Both are software. Therapy is clinical care from a licensed professional, and Abby can match you with one for free.
Abby is not a licensed therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist, and is not a substitute for professional care. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or call 911. Woebot is a trademark of its owner and is not affiliated with Abby; details about third party products reflect publicly available information and may change.
