9 Best Gratitude Apps For Your Phone
| App Name | Best For | Key Features | AC Rating | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life7 | Complete mental wellness and gratitude practice | Mood tracking, affirmations, meditations, breathing exercises, sleep sounds | 4.8/5 | Free trial, then subscription plans available |
| Gratitude | Beginners starting a gratitude habit | Vision boards, daily prompts, affirmations, gratitude challenges | 4.7/5 | Free with premium upgrades |
| Five Minute Journal | Quick daily structured journaling | Morning and evening prompts, photo attachments, streak tracking | 4.6/5 | Free with premium subscription |
| 365 Gratitude Journal | Community support and gamification | AI coach, gratitude jar, community feed, medallions and rewards | 4.5/5 | Free with premium subscription |
| Presently | Minimalist no frills journaling | Simple entries, daily reminders, 27+ themes, completely free | 4.8/5 | 100% Free |
| Happyfeed | Visual gratitude journaling with photos | Photo and video support, Happiness Jar, group sharing pods | 4.7/5 | Free with Plus subscription |
| Reflectly | AI powered personalized journaling | AI mood analysis, personalized prompts, mood tracking | 4.4/5 | Free with premium subscription |
| Delightful | Simple private journaling | Three good things format, motivational quotes, calendar view | 4.6/5 | Free with one time purchase for extras |
| Three Good Things | Science backed simplicity | Research based prompts, PDF export, daily reflections | 4.5/5 | Free |
#1. Life7 – Best for Complete Mental Wellness and Gratitude Practice
Life7 is an all in one mental wellness app that goes way beyond basic gratitude journaling. It combines gratitude tracking with powerful tools for meditation, sleep, and emotional healing. The app has earned over 1200 editorial mentions and helped users log more than 312 million meditation minutes.
What makes Life7 special is how it connects gratitude with your overall mental health. You can track your mood, save thoughts for the day, and build streaks to stay motivated. The gamified approach lets you earn XP and unlock premium content as you practice.
Key Features:
- Daily check ins, meditations, music therapy, and wisdom sessions to build a consistent gratitude routine
- Mood tracking and thought journaling to reflect on what you are thankful for each day
- Powerful affirmations and breathing exercises to calm your nervous system
What I like: I really appreciate how Life7 brings everything together in one place. You do not need five different apps for meditation, sleep, and gratitude. The daily sessions keep me coming back, and the streak feature makes it feel like a fun challenge. The variety of sounds like green noise, brown noise, and binaural beats helps me relax before journaling. It truly supports your whole wellbeing journey.
What I don’t like: The free version is a bit limited. You will want to upgrade to get the full experience with all the premium soundscapes and features. But the 7 day free trial lets you test everything first.
Pricing: 7 day free trial available. Weekly, monthly, and yearly subscription plans offered. Frequent special offers available.
Platforms: iOS and Android
#2. Gratitude – Best for Beginners Starting a Gratitude Habit
Gratitude is a colorful and welcoming app that makes starting a gratitude practice super easy. It guides you through everything with gentle prompts and a friendly design. With over 3.5 million downloads, it is one of the most popular gratitude apps out there.
The app offers gratitude challenges like a 7 day challenge and 14 day thanksgiving challenge. These help you build the habit step by step. You can also create a digital vision board with photos of your goals and dreams.
Key Features:
- Daily journal prompts with inspiration to help you know what to write
- Vision boards to visualize your goals and stay motivated
- Gratitude challenges and daily affirmations for building consistent habits
What I like: This app is perfect if you are just starting out. The prompts are really helpful when you are not sure what to write. I love how the free version includes almost everything you need. The vision board feature is a nice bonus that helps me stay focused on my bigger goals alongside daily gratitude.
What I don’t like: Some users report occasional glitches. Also, the free version limits how many photos you can add to your vision board.
Pricing: Free basic version. Premium plans available monthly, quarterly, and annually for extra features.
Platforms: iOS and Android
#3. Five Minute Journal – Best for Quick Daily Structured Journaling
The Five Minute Journal app is based on a bestselling physical journal. It uses a proven format that takes just five minutes each day. You answer specific prompts in the morning and reflect again in the evening.
This structured approach is backed by positive psychology. The morning prompts ask about gratitude and daily goals. The evening prompts help you reflect on highlights and lessons learned.
Key Features:
- Guided morning and evening journaling flow with specific prompts
- Photo and video attachments to capture magical moments
- Streak tracking and daily quotes to keep you motivated
What I like: The structure is what makes this app shine. I do not have to think about what to write. The prompts guide me every time. It is also super quick, so even on busy days I can stick with it. Looking back at old entries with photos attached is really rewarding.
What I don’t like: You cannot customize the prompts much in the basic version. The premium subscription is needed to unlock personalized questions and other features.
Pricing: Free to download with optional premium subscription for advanced features.
Platforms: iOS and Android
#4. 365 Gratitude Journal – Best for Community Support and Gamification
365 Gratitude stands out because it combines journaling with a supportive global community. You can share what you are grateful for and connect with others on the same journey. The app also makes gratitude fun with rewards and challenges.
The AI powered coach uses CBT techniques to help with anxiety and stress. Daily prompts are thoughtful and really make you think. There is also a gratitude jar where you can save your favorite memories.
Key Features:
- ChatGPT powered AI coach for interactive CBT exercises and anxiety relief
- Global community to share gratitude and support others
- Gamified experience with medallions, points, and rewards for completing challenges
What I like: Being part of a community makes such a difference. On tough days, seeing what others are grateful for lifts me up. The rewards system keeps things interesting and motivates me to keep my streak going. The AI coach is surprisingly helpful for working through stressful moments.
What I don’t like: The onboarding process is quite long. Some users find the free version limiting since premium prompts are more varied. The app can feel overwhelming at first with all its features.
Pricing: Free version with limited prompts. Premium subscription unlocks daily prompts and advanced features.
Platforms: iOS and Android
#5. Presently – Best for Minimalist No Frills Journaling
Presently is a simple and elegant gratitude journal that gets right to the point. There are no fancy features or complicated menus. You just write what you are grateful for each day.
The app is completely free with no ads or hidden costs. It is open source and created for people who want privacy and simplicity. Your entries stay on your device and are never sent to third parties.
Key Features:
- Simple daily journaling with no distracting extras
- 27+ customizable themes to personalize your experience
- Password protection with fingerprint or face unlock for privacy
What I like: I love how clean and peaceful this app feels. There is nothing pulling my attention away. Just me and my thoughts. The fact that it is totally free with no ads is amazing. The different color themes let me match my mood each day.
What I don’t like: It is only available for Android, not iOS. There are no guided prompts, so beginners might feel stuck on what to write.
Pricing: 100% free. No ads, no subscriptions, no in app purchases.
Platforms: Android only
#6. Happyfeed – Best for Visual Gratitude Journaling with Photos
Happyfeed turns your gratitude practice into a beautiful photo diary. You record three good things each day and can attach pictures or videos to each entry. It is like creating a personal happy Instagram feed.
The Happiness Jar feature is really cool. You can shake your phone to pull up a random happy memory when you need a mood boost. Group sharing lets you celebrate good moments with friends and family.
Key Features:
- Photo and video support to create a visual gratitude journal
- Shake to access random happy memories from your Happiness Jar
- Pods feature for sharing moments privately with friends and family
What I like: Adding photos makes my entries so much more meaningful. I can scroll back and actually see the happy moments, not just read about them. The throwback feature that shows memories from this day in the past is wonderful. Sharing with my family through Pods keeps us connected.
What I don’t like: Photo customization is limited. The commenting features in group Pods can be confusing at times. Some advanced features require a Plus subscription.
Pricing: Free forever with optional Plus subscription for advanced features.
Platforms: iOS and Android
#7. Reflectly – Best for AI Powered Personalized Journaling
Reflectly uses artificial intelligence to learn about you and personalize your experience. The app analyzes your entries and creates custom prompts based on your mood and patterns. It feels like having a smart companion for your journaling journey.
You start by rating your mood each day. Then the AI guides you through reflection with questions tailored to how you are feeling. Over time, it learns what helps you most.
Key Features:
- AI powered personalized prompts based on your mood and past entries
- Detailed mood tracking to spot emotional patterns over time
- Intelligent insights that help you understand yourself better
What I like: The personalization is what makes Reflectly different. The prompts feel relevant to what I am actually going through. The mood tracking has helped me notice patterns I never saw before. It is like the app really knows me.
What I don’t like: The AI features are mostly behind a paywall. Some users have reported the app can be slow at times. The subscription cost can add up.
Pricing: Free basic version. Premium subscription unlocks AI features and personalized challenges.
Platforms: iOS and Android
#8. Delightful – Best for Simple Private Journaling
Delightful keeps things simple with a focus on listing three good things from your day. Everything stays private on your device. There are no accounts required and no data leaves your phone.
The app offers gentle prompts when you need inspiration. A calendar view helps you look back at past entries. Daily reminders keep you on track without being annoying.
Key Features:
- Three good things format based on positive psychology research
- Complete privacy with all data stored locally on your device
- Motivational quotes and simple prompts for daily inspiration
What I like: This app respects my privacy completely. I do not worry about my personal thoughts being stored somewhere. The three things format keeps it quick and focused. No fluff, no distractions. Just gratitude.
What I don’t like: Features are very basic. No photos or advanced tracking. A one time purchase is needed to unlock extras like search and Face ID lock.
Pricing: Free basic version. One time purchase unlocks extras like privacy lock and search features.
Platforms: iOS and Android
#9. Three Good Things – Best for Science Backed Simplicity
Three Good Things is based on real research from Duke University. The study found that listing three good things each day can boost happiness more than some medications. This app brings that science to your phone.
The format is simple. Each day you write three positive things and reflect on your role in making them happen. This active approach is key to the method’s effectiveness.
Key Features:
- Research backed format proven to increase happiness
- Daily reflections with emphasis on your active role in positive events
- PDF export to print and save your gratitude entries
What I like: Knowing this app is based on actual research makes it feel more meaningful. The focus on how I contributed to good things changes my perspective. It is simple enough to stick with every day. And it is free without any ads.
What I don’t like: Very minimal features compared to other apps. No photos, no community, no customization. Just the basics.
Pricing: Completely free with no ads or in app purchases.
Platforms: iOS
Do Gratitude Apps Really Work?
Yes, gratitude apps can really help improve your mood and mindset. Research shows that practicing gratitude regularly can increase happiness by about 10%. The key is consistency.
Apps make it easier to build the habit because they send reminders and guide you with prompts. Many people find it hard to remember to journal on their own. An app on your phone is always there to nudge you.
The best results come when you use the app daily for at least a few weeks. It takes time for gratitude to become second nature. Stick with it and you will start noticing more good things in your everyday life.
What Should I Look For in a Gratitude App?
The best app for you depends on your style and needs. Think about whether you want something simple or feature rich. Some people prefer a quick daily prompt. Others enjoy vision boards, mood tracking, and community features.
Privacy is important to consider. Some apps store your data locally. Others sync to the cloud. Decide what makes you comfortable.
Also think about cost. Many apps offer solid free versions. Premium upgrades usually add extra prompts, photo features, and advanced tracking. Try the free versions first to see what clicks.
How Often Should I Use a Gratitude App?
Daily use is ideal for building a strong gratitude habit. Even just one to two minutes each day makes a difference. The goal is to train your brain to notice positive things.
Many people like journaling in the morning to start the day with a grateful mindset. Others prefer evening reflection to end the day on a good note. Pick whatever time works best for your schedule.
If daily feels like too much at first, start with three times a week. The most important thing is to be consistent. A little gratitude every day adds up to big changes over time.