Best Mood Tracking Apps (2026): Tested and Ranked

A mood tracker is only as good as the habit it creates. We tested each app the same way we test every app on this site: how fast does it deliver something useful (time to first value), and are you still opening it after two weeks (stickiness)? Those two numbers cut through the demo-optimised onboarding and show you what life with the app actually looks like.

We also looked at the depth of the emotion vocabulary, whether the app does anything with your data beyond showing a colour chart, and how the price holds up over a year of use. Apps that include mood tracking alongside habits, journaling, or guided programmes were considered where the tracking itself is genuinely useful rather than a checkbox feature.

All scores, ratings, and prices come from our full review database, collected around June 2026. Prices in app stores can shift, so confirm current figures before you subscribe.

The picks below are drawn from our broader personal development app ranking. Each one has proper mood tracking as a core or strong supporting feature. We focused on apps where you will still be logging in month two, not just the first enthusiastic week.

Our overall top pick, Liven (4.5/5), sits at the top here too. It has mood tracking built into a full programme that includes journaling, courses, an AI companion, and habit building. The mood log is not an afterthought; it feeds into a personalised plan. That said, if you only want a mood tracker and nothing else, Liven is probably more app than you need and the price reflects it.

For anyone who wants a dedicated tracker without the extras, Daylio and How We Feel are the two we return to most. They do very different things, but both earn their place.

Liven scores 4.5/5 overall and earns a stickiness rating of 5/5 in our tests, the joint-highest on this list. Mood tracking is one piece of a broader self-discovery system: you log daily, the AI companion Livie can reflect with you, and the data feeds into your ongoing plan. If you already want journaling, meditations, CBT-style exercises, and a guided structure in the same place, Liven is the most coherent all-in-one option we have tested.

The downsides are real. Onboarding is upsell-heavy and several users have noted friction around cancellation and refunds, so read the terms before you start. At around $59.99 a year for the premium annual plan (confirm current pricing in-app or on the App Store), it costs more than a pure tracker. The preview available without subscribing is limited.

Available on iOS, Android, and Apple Watch. Trustpilot rating around 4.8 from roughly 24,000 reviews at the time of writing. Time to first value: 4/5.

Daylio (3.9/5 overall) scores 5/5 for time to first value, and it earns that rating. The whole idea is that you pick a mood face and tap a handful of activity icons; an entry takes about fifteen seconds. You do not need to write anything. Over days and weeks, the app builds charts showing which activities correlate with better or worse moods. That pattern-spotting is genuinely useful, even if it is simple by design.

The core tracker works on a no-cost basis, with a Premium upgrade at around $2.99 a month or $23.99 a year that adds advanced stats, export options, and removes entry limits. That is one of the lowest price points in this category. We found stickiness at 4/5 in our tests, solid for a minimalist tool.

Daylio does not offer courses, meditations, an AI companion, or a guided programme. If you decide you want those later, you will need a second app. But as a dedicated mood-and-activities log with surprisingly good stats, it is hard to beat. If you want to understand whether mood tracking has merit before committing to a fuller app, our does-mood-tracking-help post is worth a read first. Our Daylio review goes into the specifics of what each plan actually unlocks.

How We Feel is a nonprofit app and the full thing costs nothing. No paid tier, no upsell, no trial that converts to a subscription. That alone makes it unusual in this space. It scores 4.0/5 overall and 5/5 for time to first value, with an emotion vocabulary noticeably richer than most apps in this category. Rather than five mood faces, you navigate a wheel of nuanced states, which makes entries more meaningful to look back on.

The science backing is credible. The project is associated with researchers in emotion regulation, and the app includes short skill tips alongside the tracker. Store ratings run around 4.8 on the App Store and 4.6 on Google Play at the time of writing. Stickiness in our tests came in at 3/5, which suggests it works well as a daily check-in but may not hold attention the way a programme-based app does.

The tradeoff is depth. There are no courses, no journaling, no habits. The data stays on-device and you can export it, but the analysis is modest compared to premium apps. If you are sceptical about whether a mood tracker will stick, How We Feel is a sensible starting point with no financial commitment attached. See our How We Feel review and the does-mood-tracking-help post for more context.

Finch (4.2/5 overall) is a self-care app that includes mood tracking, but its main hook is a virtual bird you raise by completing daily goals. The gamification sounds gimmicky until you try it. Our stickiness rating for Finch is 5/5, the highest on this list, because people simply keep coming back to check on their bird. The mood log sits inside that daily ritual and ends up being completed consistently as a result.

Finch has a generous core experience available without paying, with a Plus tier at around $8.99 a month or $39.99 a year adding customisation and extra content. App Store rating around 4.8, Google Play around 4.7 at the time of writing. It does not have courses or a proper journal, but it offers breathing exercises, CBT-style prompts, and a habit builder. If you have tried mood trackers before and found them dull to maintain, Finch is worth a look.

Two apps sit in the mood-plus-reflection space without going full programme. Stoic (3.8/5) combines mood logging with philosophy-rooted prompts, morning and evening reflection exercises, and breathing tools. The premium plan runs around $49.99 a year at the time of writing. If you think best on the page and prefer a contemplative framing, it earns a look.

Reflectly (3.7/5) takes a warmer angle: friendly questions, mood logging inside a guided journaling flow, approachable visual design. Check pricing before committing, as much of the experience sits behind a subscription. Headspace and Calm both include a mood check-in feature worth noting for anyone already on those platforms, though neither is primarily a tracker.

The data is only useful if you review it. Most people log consistently for the first week and then trail off. The apps with the highest stickiness in our testing either tie the log to a daily habit (Finch's bird routine, Liven's programme check-in) or keep the entry so fast that friction is near zero, as Daylio does. Matching the app to your preferred style of commitment matters more than picking the one with the best charts.

Set a specific trigger rather than a vague intention. 'After I make my morning coffee' beats 'sometime in the morning'. Most apps support a reminder notification, but pairing the log to something you already do every day is more reliable than the notification alone.

Give it at least three weeks before looking for patterns. Four to six weeks gives you enough signal to spot genuine correlations between activities, sleep, and your mood states. Our does-mood-tracking-help post covers what the evidence says about when and why tracking helps.

If you want mood tracking as part of a structured growth programme with journaling, courses, and an AI companion: Liven. Budget about $60 a year and read the subscription terms before you start. See our Liven review for a full breakdown of what each plan includes.

If you want a dedicated tracker that is fast to log and affordable to keep: Daylio. The no-cost tier is usable indefinitely; Premium adds stats and export for around $24 a year.

If you want no financial commitment at all: How We Feel. It is a nonprofit app, fully no-cost, with a richer emotion vocabulary than most paid options. And if you are still deciding whether a tracker is worth your time, our does-mood-tracking-help post will help you make a more informed call before you commit to any of them.