The sharpest divide is between apps built with clinicians and apps trained on the open internet. After that: whether it speaks your language, whether it adapts to you, and whether it remembers you between conversations. Below are eight criteria you can hold any app to — including ours.
Last updated August 2026
An app developed with clinical psychologists rests on a different foundation than one built on general information from the web. Look for named professionals with stated backgrounds — not just "developed with experts".
Putting words to something difficult is easier in your first language. A translated app can miss cultural references, and a conversation about shame or family lands differently in a second language.
Some apps give everyone the same content. Others build on a personality assessment such as Big Five and use it to shape questions and exercises. Ask whether the app could have given you a different answer than it gave your neighbour.
This is the line between a tool and a process. An app that does not remember the last conversation makes you explain yourself again each time, and it cannot point to patterns over time.
Check what the app actually stores about you and whether you can use it without giving your full name. Read the privacy policy: it should say what is kept, for how long, and how you get it deleted.
Many apps explain well and stop there. Look for whether the app closes with a concrete next step — an exercise, a reflection, something you actually do — and whether it follows up on it.
Look for the monthly price, the trial period, and whether the trial asks for card details. Check whether you can cancel inside the app or have to contact support.
This may be the most important one. A serious app states plainly that it does not diagnose and does not replace health care, and it points you onward when needed. An app hinting that it treats something is promising more than it can keep.
Mental health apps are not one category. Knowing which kind you are looking at makes the choice easier.
Apps such as Headspace and Calm are built around guided exercises and audio. A good fit when you know what you want to practise and need structure to do it.
Structured courses you work through in a set order. A good fit when you want a clear plan rather than a conversation.
You write or speak, and get answers shaped to your situation. A good fit when your question is your own and does not fit a ready-made course. BeBalanced.ai belongs here.
Services with health professionals involved, often through the health system or insurance. If you are in a situation that calls for assessment or treatment, this is what you need — none of the three categories above replaces it.
None of the tools above are health care. If things are hard over time, or you are thinking of harming yourself, contact your doctor or call Mental Helse on 116 123 — open around the clock and free. In an emergency, call 113. Helsenorge.no lists the help that exists.
No. An app can be a place to sort your thoughts between sessions, or while you wait, but it does not diagnose and does not treat. If you need health care, your doctor is the way in.
Most sit between 100 and 300 kroner a month, and many have a free trial. Check whether the trial asks for card details — that varies.
It depends on the app. Look for whether you can use it without your full name, whether conversations are encrypted, and whether the privacy policy explains how you get your data deleted.
Many people find that putting something into words makes it more manageable, and an AI is there when the need arises. That is not the same as treatment, and it varies from person to person.
Developed with clinical psychologists carrying more than 50 years of combined practice. Norwegian, English, Swedish and Danish. Adapts through Big Five. Remembers your conversations. Does not require your full name. Closes with a concrete next step. 149 kroner a month, seven days free with no card details. And it does not diagnose — we say so in the app too.
This guide is written by the team behind BeBalanced.ai. We obviously have an interest in your choice, so the criteria above are phrased so you can apply them to any app — including ours, and including to choose something else.