The 9 Best Health Apps of 2024
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Tracking and improving your health has become easier with the range and easy accessibility of high-quality health apps. There are health apps geared toward nearly every aspect of your physical and mental health, with countless options focused on diet, nutrition, fitness, workout programs, mental health, sleep and guided meditation.
Choosing the best health app involves considering which aspects of your health you’re seeking structure and guidance to improve on. You’ll also need to take into account your budget, the type of smartphone or device you will use, plus any other necessary tech that will work with your health app. Keep reading to learn more about the best health apps of 2024, and how to choose the best health app to reach your wellness goals.
This content is meant to be informative, but should not be taken as medical advice. It is not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention or treatment of health problems. Always speak with your doctor before starting any new supplement or exercise regimen.
Our Picks for the Best Health Apps (2024):
Key features:
- Price: Varies based on how long you subscribe, from $70/month to $209/year
- Free Trial: Seven-day free trial
- Ratings: 4.7 on iOS store | 4.3 stars on Google Play
- Best For: Weight loss support and behavioral change
Noom is designed to provide a completely revamped approach to traditional weight loss methods. Rather than strictly providing meal plans or food tracking, Noom uses a psychology-based approach to weight loss by helping you identify behaviors and triggers that lead to unhealthy eating habits. Once you’ve established those, you’ll learn how to replace them with healthier ones that support your weight loss and fitness goals.
Noom also lays out the framework to educate users about the important foundations of diet, nutrition and physical activity for achieving an optimal body weight with a series of 10 short lessons that subscribers can complete at their own pace. Topics include not only the psychology of weight loss but also useful things such as mindful eating versus emotional eating, the science of metabolism, emotional health, decision-making, habit forming and the 10 types of hunger. The lessons use scientifically proven approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction often used in psychology, fitness and health. In addition to the 10 mini lessons, Noom offers over 1,000 interactive lessons in its library to help you learn more behavioral tools and skills.
Even though Noom is primarily a weight loss app, it’s also one of the best nutrition apps, as the food logging portal is a robust database that has over one million food items already preloaded with their respective nutritional information. You can also scan the barcodes of nearly 150,000 food products to automatically log a food item into your diet tracker. There are hundreds of simple, healthy recipes and a water tracking feature to ensure that you are staying well hydrated. Each component of the app is expert-backed. The recipes and diet advice are created by nutritionists; certified personal trainers are involved in the exercise portion; and, doctors and psychologists compiled the behavioral aspects and overall structure of the weight loss program in the app. For those who want to take it up a notch, the premium version of the app has one-on-one coaching that can help you with personalized goal setting. You can also connect Noom to the Apple Health app to keep track of all of your activity and health data in one place, and you can share this information with your Noom coach.
Pros:
- Very high user reviews
- Scientific approach to weight loss with educational lessons to support lasting changes
- Easy to log foods
- Information and lessons developed by highly-qualified professionals
Cons:
- Much more expensive than most apps
- Can be time-consuming for some people
Key features:
- Price: $149/month, or prepaid membership plans, including three months for $405, six months for $760 and 12 months for $1,425
- Free Trial: No, but the first month is $19
- Ratings: 4.9 on iOS store | 4.3 stars on Google Play
- Best For: Individualized virtual personal training with a designated coach
Unlike many fitness or weightlifting apps, Future pairs you with a own personal coach who helps manage your workouts and your day-to-day progress. In this way, Future functions like a virtual personal training app. When you sign up for Future, you fill out a questionnaire to get matched with the expert coach that best meets your personality needs and preferred instructional style. After you are matched with your coach, you do a “Strategy Call” via FaceTime to discuss your goals. The coaches do all of the workout planning for you, helping you set and achieve appropriate fitness and health benchmarks to make an exercise routine a consistent habit. You will get your customized training plan based on your fitness level and personal workout preferences such as choosing between cardio, strength training or even group exercise classes. Your coach adjusts your personalized training plan in real time each week depending on how your workouts go, just as it would be should you be working with a personal trainer in person.
One of the unique features of the Future workout app is its cutting-edge fitness technology to better tailor your workouts and track your progress. Future uses biometrics captured by the Apple Watch and iPhone to provide data and metrics to your coach, and you also have access to a direct line to chat with your coach should questions arise. You can also listen to your own playlists or podcasts during your workouts. Although the Future subscription is only available for Apple iOS at this time, it’s a great way to have a customized training plan and guided support by expert coaches.
Pros:
- Very high user reviews
- Tons of coaches to choose from
- Truly individualized fitness training
Cons:
- Expensive
- No Android app
- Requires Apple Watch for full functionality
Key features:
- Price: Caliber Premium starts at $200 per month and there’s also a free version of the app
- Free Trial: Free version of the app
- Ratings: 4.9/5 stars on Apple App Store, 4.7/5 stars on Google Play
- Best For: People who want a custom workout plan with an optional one-on-one coach who can offer feedback and encouragement
Caliber is a fitness app that offers customized workout plans, nutrition syncing, several metrics to track your progress, educational content and video demonstrations of exercises in your workout—all for free. It’s an incredible offer on its own, but you can also upgrade to a Caliber Premium membership, which starts at $200 a month, to get access to more personalized features like a one-on-one coach, a customized nutrition plan and more.
After you download the Caliber app, you’ll be asked to create an account using your email. Then you’ll be asked to give Caliber some general information such as your height, weight, age and gender. The app uses this information to estimate your fitness needs, but you’ll also have the opportunity to create workouts based on your personal goals. You’ll answer multiple choice questions about the equipment you have available, your strength training experience and how long you want your workouts to be. All of this is free, plus you get the option to try Caliber Pro for free for seven days.
Caliber is a very intuitive app. The home screen has a calendar to help track your days and a list of lessons available to complete. Other tabs you’ll see will take you to your workouts, allow you to join groups to stay connected to a community and track your personal progress. Caliber was designed to help you live the healthy life you want to live, and the amount of free features Caliber gives you really highlights that mission.
Pros:
- Valuable free features that don’t have a paywall or ads
- Educational material to help you understand your goals
- Syncing available so that you can do you own workouts
- Easy-to-use app
Cons:
- You need a smartwatch to get the most out of the tracking features
- You’ll need to buy the Pro or Premium membership to access meal plans
Key features:
- Price: Free, but pro version requires membership; $19.99 for 3 months or $39.99 for 12 months
- Free Trial: Basic version of the app is free
- Ratings: 4.7 on iOS store | 4.3 stars on Google Play
- Best For: Calorie counting, meal tracking, guidance on intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is an eating plan that focuses on when you eat rather than what you eat. Health experts say intermittent fasting has many benefits like burning fat, improving blood pressure and even sharpening memory. Yazio is our pick for the best app for fasting because of the guidance and support it offers. The free version of Yazio includes a fasting tracker, and a basic calorie counter that helps you track your macros and recipes. When you download the app, you’ll answer a questionnaire about your height, weight, activity level, goals and potential challenges you face to meet those goals. If you choose to practice intermittent fasting, the app has a stopwatch feature that allows you to time your fast. The app has multiple fasting plans, however only 16:8 (an eight-hour eating window paired with 16 hours of fasting) is available on the free version. The pro version of the app unlocks more fasting trackers, healthy recipes and options to track more nutrients in your meals.
For more information on this app, check out our in-depth Yazio review.
Pros
- Large database of food makes for easy calorie counting
- Can sync with fitness tracker to keep track of your workouts, steps and activity during the day
Cons
- Only one fasting tracker available in free version of the app
- Users complain the calories are often listed incorrectly for food items in the database
Key features:
- Price: Starting at $110.99/week
- Free Trial: No
- Ratings: 4.3/5 stars on iOS, 4.3/5 stars on Google Play
- Best For: Prepared meals designed by a registered dietitian, eco-friendly packaging
Trifecta is a healthy meal delivery service marketed to athletes, but useful for anyone who has specific fitness goals in mind. Trifecta’s “normal” menu options include clean meal plan, keto meal plan, paleo meal plan, Whole30 approved meal plan, vegan meal plan and vegetarian meal plan. All of these plans have meals designed by registered dietitians. The meals are portion controlled and nutrient balanced to help you maintain a balanced diet.
Trifecta also offers a couple of plans that allow you to craft your own meals. With the classic meal plan and meal prep plan, you’ll be able to pick your protein and sides. Trifecta will still prepare and deliver the meals, but you’ll have more control of what’s on your plate.
Like most meal delivery services, Trifecta has a membership cost that’s separate from the cost of the actual meals. A monthly membership with Trifecta is $9.99, and there’s an annual payment option of $69.99. With the membership, you’ll get access to the full Trifecta app, plus the ability to pause shipments of meals at your convenience. However, keep in mind that Trifecta requires a seven-day notice to pause meals because their meals are prepared in advance.
If you’re looking for a meal delivery service that’s fitness-focused and designed by registered dietitians to fuel your body for weight loss and performance, then Trifecta might be a great option to try.
Pros:
- Multiple meal plans to accommodate dietary preferences
- All meals take macro count into consideration
- Designed by registered dietitians for your specific needs
- Eco-friendly packaging for all shipments
Cons:
- Canceling an order requires seven-day advanced notice
- You have to pay for a subscription and the meals separately
Key features:
- Price: Varies based type of plan (messaging, live therapy or psychiatry); messaging plans run $276 per month, $744 per quarter or $1320 per year; live therapy (four sessions/month) costs $396 per month or $1,896 per year; psychiatry is $249 for the initial evaluation and $125 for each follow-up session.
- Free Trial: No
- Ratings: 4.7 on iOS store | 4.3 stars on Google Play
- Best For: Online therapy via text, phone and video
Talkspace is one of the top-rated mental health apps designed to make therapy approachable, convenient and affordable to everyday users. When you sign up for the app, you are paired with a licensed therapist who practices in your state. Talkspace’s therapists have experience treating common mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, stress, substance abuse, relationship issues, PTSD and eating disorders.
You can communicate with your therapist via text, phone call or even video right from your phone or tablet. Talkspace subscription gives you unlimited messaging, and your dedicated therapist is required to respond at least once a day five days a week. One of the benefits of Talkspace for therapy is that it is covered by many insurance plans, allowing users to potentially be at least partially reimbursed for the subscription fees. All therapy sessions and communications occur over a secure network through the app using banking-grade encryption that is compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Pros:
- Very high user reviews
- Unlimited messaging with your dedicated therapist
- More accessible than going to in-person therapy
- Sessions with licensed therapists
- Costs may be covered by insurance
- All communication is secure and private
Cons:
- It can take several days to be matched with a therapist
- Pricing structure can be confusing
- Expensive
Key features:
- Price: Premium subscription costs $9.99 per month or $39.99 per year.
- Free Trial: 7-day free trial
- Ratings: 4.7 on iOS store | 4.4 stars on Google Play
- Best For: Sleep tracking, alarm clock and sleep optimization
When it comes to sophisticated features, comprehensive data and an overall user-friendly approach, it’s hard to beat the Sleep Cycle app. Simply put your phone to bed with you before going to sleep, and the sleep tracking app will do the rest. The app monitors your sleep cycles, patterns, restlessness and time spent in different sleep phases. This is accomplished with the help of your phone’s accelerometer to track your movements, and it uses your device’s microphone as a sleep recorder to detect sounds like snoring or sleep talking.
To avoid grogginess, you can use the app’s smart alarm clock feature, programmed to wake you up when the app determines that you are in your lightest sleep phase. You can set a customizable wake-up window, and there is a snooze function that can be initiated by shaking or tapping the phone. There are premium features in the app to support better sleep, such as a story library with relaxing sleep stories and sleep sounds, guided meditations, plus mindfulness tips and exercises. You can also get a detailed analysis of how different factors affect your sleeping patterns, such as stress and diet.
Your sleep data is fully integrated into Apple Health, exchanging sleep analysis. Sleep Cycle is also compatible with Wear OS, enabling you to wake up with a gentle vibration on your wrist, without needing to play an audible alarm that might wake up others.
Pros:
- Annual fee is reasonable
- Detailed sleep analysis can be quite helpful
- Easy to use
- Smart alarm clock leads to less grogginess upon waking
- Can vibrate your watch to wake you up, so as not to disturb others
- Compare your sleep habits with trends and averages around the world.
Cons:
- Monthly fee is expensive
- Uses a lot of battery life
- May not be as accurate as a wearable sleep tracker
- Auto renews
Key features:
- Price: Annual plan is $69.99 /year($5.83/month) and monthly plan is $12.99/month
- Free Trial: 14-day free trial for annual plan and seven-day free trial for monthly plan
- Ratings: 4.8 on iOS store | 4.8 stars on Google Play
- Best For: Guided meditations and stress relief
Headspace aims to make meditation approachable for every experience level and time commitment. Even if you’ve never meditated before, this meditation app has all sorts of short introductory lessons, as well as a vast library of more targeted and extensive meditation sessions for better sleep and stress management. All of the guided meditations are led by world-class experts, and you can get daily personalized recommendations based on your goals and how you’re feeling.
Along with guided meditations and breath work exercises, there are full courses and mindfulness exercises geared towards topics like general anxiety, building resilience and being present. Headspace also offers sleep stories, calming sounds and music. You can also peruse video lessons and exercises about mindful movement and releasing both physical and mental tension. Overall, even if you feel like meditation has never been your thing, Headspace is designed to ease you in and help you get started.
Related Post: The Best Meditation Apps
Pros:
- Very high user reviews via App store
- Lots of very short meditations to choose from, making it beginner-friendly
- Intuitive interface
- Extensive library of subjects to choose from
Cons:
- Auto-renews so you need to remember to cancel
- Fairly expensive subscription fees
Key features:
- Price: $60-90 per week, depending on plan
- Free Trial: No
- Ratings: 4.8/5 stars on Apple App Store | 4.6/5 stars on Google Play
- Best For: Online counseling over text, phone or video
If you’re uninsured but want to give therapy a shot, BetterHelp is one of the top app-based ways to gain access to high-quality online counseling. Signing up is simple: On the app or website, you’ll take about half an hour to answer questions about the type of care and support you’re seeking from a therapist. BetterHelp will match you with a list of providers who are potentially a good fit for your needs. And if you’re phone-shy when making the initial introduction, you can direct message your chosen provider through the platform. From there, counseling can also be conducted via messaging, or by phone or video chat.
Check out our BetterHelp review for more information on this popular online counseling platform.
A hallmark of positive reviews for BetterHelp are people who describe online therapy as being just as—if not more—fulfilling than their experience with in-office counseling. While we can’t say which is better than the other, BetterHelp may give you a choice where you’d otherwise have none—research has found many parts of the country experience a dearth of in-person therapy options.
Related Post: Headway Review: Connect With a Therapist Who Accepts Insurance
Pros:
- BetterHelp counselors are accredited, plus boast a range of specializations to address specific needs
- Eliminates many traditional barriers toward getting counseling, like time constraints and location
- Well-reviewed on the Apple App store (4.8/5 stars among 124,000+ ratings)
Cons:
- Unlike Talkspace, BetterHelp does not accept insurance
- Generally, online therapy is not suitable for addressing severe or pressing mental health challenges
How to Choose the Best Health App for You
There are several important factors to consider when choosing the best health app for you.
Focus
“Health” is a broad term that encompasses every aspect of your physical and mental health. As such, the breadth of available health apps is extensive, with many different categories of health apps to choose from. It is important to consider which aspects of your health you are most seeking support and structure for and then look for apps that specialize in these areas.
There are extensive options for diet, nutrition, exercise, weight loss and general health apps. You may need to choose several different apps covering different facets of your health, depending on your particular needs and goals. Some of the best health apps pack in features to give comprehensive data to monitor your overall physical and mental health.
Compatibility
Most of the top health apps are compatible with both Apple iOS and Android devices, but some apps may or may not also be compatible with an iPad, Android tablet, Apple Watch or other smartwatches. If you would like to use some of these types of technology with your app, read all of the compatibility notes before choosing the best health app for you.
Cost
To unlock all the features the app has to offer, many health apps have subscription fees. Although there are plenty of good free apps, even the best free health apps are usually ad-supported. This can be tedious to navigate when you are trying to use the app, and the functions are usually rather basic and limited. Most user reviews will note that it is worth upgrading to a premium subscription, not only to avoid all of the ads and in-app purchases but also to unlock the advanced features. These features can often include personalized diets, exercise recommendations, meal tracking, customized goal setting and progress reports.
Most premium health apps do offer a free trial. Taking advantage of the free trial will help you get a sense of whether the app will work well for what you are looking for. You can even try several different apps with free trials and compare their respective offerings. However, keep in mind that it is important to cancel all of the apps that you do not want before the end of the free trial because almost all of these have an auto-renewal program and you will get charged after the free trial if you do not cancel in time.
Although the best health apps can be costly—upwards of $15-100 per month or more depending on the features of the app—even the most expensive health apps are often a more budget-friendly alternative to paying for in-person nutrition coaching, psychotherapy and personal training. Using a health app also is more accessible and convenient for many people, and removes certain barriers of entry such as intimidation of going to a gym or finding a local therapist.
User reviews
User reviews in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store can help choose the best health app. Reading numerous reviews and looking at the overall rating of an app can give you a fairly decent overall picture of how well people like the app and the common perks and shortcomings of the app.
Quality
Vetting the quality of a health app is particularly important because your health is important. Many of the best health apps provide information and programs that are designed by certified professionals and experts in their respective fields.
For example, the best workout apps should have workouts and training programs created by certified personal trainers and coaches. The best diet and nutrition apps should have all of the recipes, meal plans, diet tips and nutritional information created by registered dietitians and certified nutritionists. Any mental health app should provide guidance only by licensed psychotherapists, counselors, physiatrists or social workers or similar professionals in the field. You want to make sure that you are getting accurate, up-to-date health advice that is safe, sound and effective.
How We Chose the Best Health Apps
We chose the best health apps by looking at the top-rated health apps across a variety of common health categories such as nutrition, fitness, sleep, mental health and stress relief. Then, we considered the features and functions of the app, looking at what the app offered and how helpful it could be in supporting that particular facet of physical or mental health. We paid particular attention to the quality of the information and services provided by the app, ensuring that any educational content, workouts and diet advice was provided by experts in the field.
We considered the versatility, functionality and user-friendliness of the app. We also analyzed pricing structures versus the functions of the app to ensure that it was a good value for the money and if a premium subscription would be worth it.
User reviews, the ability to integrate the app with Apple Health or Google Fit, the extensiveness of the library offered in the app (such as the number of workout videos for fitness apps or the number of foods in the database for diet diets) and the safety and security of your private information garnered by the app were also considered.
Best Health Apps FAQs
How can I monitor my health at home?
Using a health app can be an effective way to monitor your health at home, but there are other devices as well. A fitness tracker is an easy way to monitor day-to-day exercise and heart rate while working well with your app of choice. A blood pressure monitor, a body fat scale and a glucometer are examples of other common devices that can be used to help monitor your health at home.
Do health apps actually work?
Health apps have the potential to work if you use them consistently and follow the advice or support that they provide. For example, if you are using a weight loss app, you will only lose weight if you are following the diet and performing the workouts suggested in the app.
Certain health apps may work better than others, depending on what the app is intended to do and its features. For example, if you are using a meditation app to help reduce stress, using the app alone may not be sufficient to make an appreciable difference and your stress level, and you may need a more comprehensive approach to stress relief.
Do health apps do more harm than good?
In most cases, when used appropriately, health apps should not do more harm than good. If you ever have any concerns, talk to your healthcare provider for their input.
Final Thoughts: Is a Health App Right for You?
Using a health app can be an effective way to provide structure, guidance and motivation to set goals and stay on track with various aspects of your physical and mental health. The best health apps are user-friendly, offer useful features and functions and provide a good value compared to paying for private services from personal trainers, nutrition coaches and other health professionals. Although top-of-the-line health apps can be costly, many people find that consistently using a health app can indeed be an effective way to support your weight loss, fitness, nutrition and overall health journey.
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