Best mental health apps for anyone in Australia

For many people, mental health support starts with a small step. You might open a mindfulness app before bed, complete a mood check-in during a stressful week, save a safety plan for difficult moments, or look at the wellbeing support available through your workplace.

Apps and online tools can lower the barrier to getting help. You can use them privately, often for free, and at a pace that feels manageable. They can also help you build awareness of what’s happening in your mind and body before you’re ready to speak with someone.

How mental health apps can support you

A well-designed mental health app gives you a simple place to start. It might help you pause during a stressful moment, write down what you’re feeling, practise a breathing exercise, or learn a skill you can use between therapy sessions.

Digital support can be especially useful when getting to an appointment feels hard. You may live regionally, work changing hours, care for children or family members, or feel unsure about which service to contact. An app won’t remove every barrier, but it can give you something practical to use while you decide what kind of support you need.

It’s also important to be realistic. Most mental health apps are best used for everyday wellbeing, early support, and skill practice. A therapist can listen to your story, understand your circumstances, assess risk, and tailor support in a way a self-guided tool can’t.

What to check before using a mental health app

Look for evidence-informed support

A mental health app should offer more than positive quotes and a calm-looking interface. Look for tools based on recognised approaches, such as CBT, mindfulness, breathing exercises, behavioural activation, mood tracking, or safety planning.

Evidence-informed tools won’t suit every person or every situation. Still, they’re usually a better choice than apps that only offer generic advice or motivation.

Check who created it

You’ll usually get more relevant support from resources created by Australian health organisations, universities, not-for-profits, government-funded services, or Australian mental health providers. These services are more likely to include Australian crisis contacts, local referral pathways, and language that fits our healthcare system.

Read the privacy information

Mental health apps can collect sensitive information, including your mood, sleep, thoughts, symptoms, relationships, and safety concerns. Before you enter personal details, check what data the app collects, where it’s stored, and who can access it.

Australia’s National Safety and Quality Digital Mental Health Standards were developed to improve the safety and quality of digital mental health services. They support accurate information, safer service delivery, and protection from harm.

Look for support beyond the app

A helpful mental health app should guide you towards extra care when you need it. This matters if you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts, self-harm urges, panic attacks, trauma symptoms, severe distress, or feeling unsafe.

Best mental health apps worth trying

1. Talked app

The Talked app is a workplace mental health support option for employees whose organisation uses Talked as its EAP provider. It’s not a public self-help app that anyone can download and use for free. Access is exclusive to Talked EAP clients.

If your employer has partnered with Talked, the app can help you access various forms of wellbeing support, including, among others, self-paced resources and psychology or counselling sessions.

A core benefit is that you’re not limited to self-guided exercises. If you’re eligible, you can use Talked as a pathway to human support. That may be helpful if stress, burnout, anxiety, low mood, grief, family concerns, relationship strain, or personal issues are starting to affect your work or daily life.

2. Smiling Mind

Smiling Mind is one of Australia’s most established free wellbeing apps. It’s run by an Australian not-for-profit and offers mindfulness tools for different ages and life stages.

You may find Smiling Mind useful if you want a no-cost way to build a calmer routine. The app includes short exercises, sleep support, stress management tools, and family-friendly content. Its programs are developed with psychologists and educators, which gives it a stronger foundation than many general meditation apps.

3. myCompass

myCompass is a free online self-help program from Black Dog Institute. It was designed for adults managing mild to moderate symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.

You may prefer myCompass if you like structure. The program includes interactive learning modules and tracking tools that help you notice links between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. Black Dog Institute says myCompass was developed by its researchers and has been shown to reduce mild to moderate symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress.

myCompass may suit you if you’re stressed, low, or worried, but still feel able to work through activities on your own. If your symptoms feel intense, have lasted for a while, or are affecting your relationships, work, study, or sleep, it’s worth speaking with a therapist, GP, or another mental health professional.

4. MindSpot

MindSpot offers free, confidential psychological assessments and digital treatment for Australian adults. It also provides access to qualified therapists, which makes it more comprehensive than a standard wellbeing app.

This can be useful if you’re unsure what kind of support fits your situation. A mindfulness app may help with day-to-day stress, but persistent anxiety, low mood, worry, or depression symptoms often need a more structured assessment.

MindSpot can help you understand your symptoms, access online treatment, and take a supported step towards care. For some people, it may also act as a bridge between self-help and speaking with a GP, psychologist, or counsellor.

5. Beyond Now

Beyond Now is a free safety planning app and website provided through Lifeline. It helps you create a plan for moments when you feel overwhelmed or have thoughts of suicide.

A safety plan can include warning signs, coping strategies, ways to make your environment safer, reasons to stay alive, trusted contacts, and professional support. Lifeline notes that Beyond Now can help users recognise warning signs, identify reasons to live, and reach out to trusted or professional contacts.

This type of tool is usually most useful when you create it before a crisis, ideally with a therapist, GP, trusted person, or crisis worker.

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 000. If you’re in crisis and need support, Lifeline is available on 13 11 14 for 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention counselling.

How to choose the right mental health app

Start with the concern you most want help with. If workplace stress or personal concerns are affecting your wellbeing and your employer uses Talked, the Talked app may give you a direct route to EAP support. If you want mindfulness or sleep support, Smiling Mind may fit better. If you want structured self-help, myCompass and THIS WAY UP are worth considering.

MindSpot may suit you if you want an assessment and access to digital psychological care. Beyond Now is designed for safety planning. 

Before you commit to an app, take a moment to check who created it, how your data is handled, what the app recommends during moments of risk, and what extra support it points you towards.

Also notice how you feel after using it. A good resource should help you feel steadier, better informed, or more supported. If it leaves you feeling judged, overloaded, or more anxious, it may not be the right fit.

When an app may not be enough

Mental health apps can support your daily wellbeing, but there are times when you’ll likely benefit more from speaking with a therapist, GP, or crisis service.

Consider professional support if your symptoms have lasted more than a few weeks, anxiety or low mood is affecting work or relationships, panic is becoming frequent, sleep or appetite has changed significantly, or you’re using alcohol, drugs, gambling, or other behaviours to cope.

It’s also important to seek support if you feel stuck in patterns you don’t understand, have thoughts of self-harm or suicide, or feel unsafe.

Therapy gives you something an app can’t provide: a relationship with a trained person who can listen, ask careful questions, and tailor support to your situation. Apps can help you practise skills, track patterns, and stay engaged between appointments. A therapist can help you understand what’s keeping the problem going and what kind of care may fit.