How to Develop a Mental Health App in 2025: A Complete Guide

Life today has become busier than ever, right? 

You’re juggling work, family, personal wellness, and an endless to-do list. 

And while managing all this, you also have to take care of your mental health. 

After the COVID pandemic, taking care of mental health has become a new norm, and moreover, it is also important to live a happy life. 

But let’s be honest! Do we really have time for it? 

Because finding time to drive to a therapy session or spend a weekend at a wellness retreat feels impossible. 

Well, that’s exactly why mental health apps have become popular.

People need support that fits into their lifestyle. 

So, if you’re thinking about developing a mental health app, you have come to the right blog. 

In this guide, we’ll teach you how to develop a mental health app in detail and will also discuss other aspects you need to keep in mind while creating a mental health app. 

Ready to get started?

Types of Mental Health Apps

You can create mental health apps that encourage users to manage stress and anxiety or take therapy sessions. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the different types of mental health apps:

1. Mental Self Improvement Apps

If you want to help people improve their mental well-being and personal growth, you should consider the development of such mental health apps. 

However, while developing them, make sure to include features that support self-reflection and help users build healthy habits.

Example:

• Moodpath (which was recently rebranded as MindDoc)
• Sanvello
• Reflect

2. Meditation & Mindfulness Apps

With this type of mental health app development, you can help people practice meditation and mindfulness techniques in their day-to-day lives and help them reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. 

Example:

• Headspace
• Calm
• Insight Timer

2025 and the upcoming years focus more on mental health quality as stress and anxiety have taken over every sphere of our lives. If you are focusing on developing a similar app like Calm and Headspace, connect with our mental health app developers now!

3. Behavioral Therapy Appsser

If you want to help people overcome their negative thoughts, then you should create a mental health app that offers psychological treatments like CBT, ACT, etc. 

Example:

• Woebot 
• Moodnotes
• Happify

4. Mood Monitoring Apps

These mental health apps help users monitor their moods and emotions over time and identify patterns that affect their thought processes and trigger mental disorders.  

Example:

• Daylio
• MoodKit
• Bearable

5. Workplace Mental Health Apps

Nowadays, work has become stressful. Therefore, with these apps, organizations can focus on reducing workplace stress and improving the mental well-being of employees. 

Example:

• Unmind
• LifeWorks
• Calm for Business

Mental Health App Development Benefits

Emotional health has become necessary. Nowadays, people are looking for mental health support groups that fit into their daily lives. 

Here are some key mental health app development benefits: 

1. 24/7 Support for Patients

The primary benefit of a mental health app development is that patients can get access to round-the-clock mental health services, which allow them to manage stress, anxiety, or depression whenever they need it. Because mental health specialists cannot be available 24X7, mental health issues can arise at times.

2. Convenience and Accessibility

 Another benefit of a mental health app is convenience at the doorstep. With mental disorder apps, users can get professional advice or therapy at their fingertips without having to go through the hassle of scheduling appointments or traveling. 

3. Personalized Experience

The next benefit of developing a mental health app is personalized treatment. These apps have AI-powered features that collect valuable mental health data on user behaviour and preferences. With these valuable insights, the users will get tailored mental health practices.

4. Cost-Effective Solution

The cost of healthcare is touching the sky, and not everyone can afford it. Traditional therapy can be expensive. Hence, mental health apps can be an affordable alternative and help users with self-help programs, group sessions, or text-based counseling. 

Overall, a mental health app is more than an investment in technology. It’s an investment in people’s well-being and their productivity. 

A mental health app can also integrate with AI-driven tools like AI medical scribe to enhance the overall efficiency of the application. You can also read more about the benefits of medical AI scribes for the same.

Steps to Developing a Mental Health App

Building a mental health app might sound like rocket science, but it is actually simple. 

Don’t believe me? 

Well, here I have explained how to Develop a Mental Health App 

Step 1: Understand What You Want to Build

First things first, you need to get super clear on what kind of mental health app you want to create.

Ask yourself:

• Are you helping people manage anxiety or stress?
• Are you offering meditation or relaxation tools?
• Will users talk to therapists through your app, or is it more for self-help?

Knowing your core purpose will make every other step easier.

Also, don’t forget to think about who your users are. Understanding your users and their needs helps you to build the app that is genuinely needed in the mental health market.

Step 2: Research The Market

Before you start with the mental health application development, check out what’s already out there in the market.

Headspace, Calm, or BetterHelp are popular mental health apps that are widely used. Hence, you should download them, use them for a few days, and see what is missing in them. 

A Helpful tip: You can also evaluate their user reviews to see what users think is missing in them. 

This will give you ideas for your app – and help you avoid common mistakes.

Moreover, you should also talk to mental health experts like therapists or counselors to make sure you add important functionalities that actually help people.

Step 3: Plan the Features for Your App

Once your research is ready, it’s time to list the key and advanced features you will be adding to your app.

Here are the features you can consider to add in your app

• Mood Tracking to ensure your users can check how they feel daily.
• Guided Meditations for Short, calming audio sessions.
• Journaling to create a space to write down thoughts privately.
• Therapy Access allows users to chat or video-call with professionals.
• Notifications that give timely reminders to check in on them
• A Crisis Help button that quickly connects to helplines.

Step 4:  Design Your App

Now, you need to design the interface wireframes using tools like Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD. 

Your goal should be to make their experience super easy and calming.

Here is how you can do it: 

• Use soft colors and minimalistic design to make them feel calm
• Make it accessible for people with disabilities
• It should be intuitive, allowing users to easily navigate the app without any confusion

Step 5: Choose the Right Technology Stack

Deciding the tech stack for your mental health app is an important step.

Why? 

Because the success of your app depends on it! 

Here are the different frontend technologies you can consider as per your platform choice: 

If you are going with Native app development, then go for Swift or Kotlin. Whereas if you are going with Cross-Platform, then React Native & Flutter are the best. 

 You can also consult any healthcare app development company, as they will have experts who can help you choose the right tech stack to build your mental health application. 

Step 6: Develop the Mental Health App

Now, finally, it is the time to develop the mental health app. You can either code it yourself or hire a mobile app development company if you don’t know how to code. Such companies have a team of experts that can help you to code the application efficiently. 

Step 7. Test Your App

Once your app is ready, test it first. Instead, let a small group of people test it.

You can let a small group of people use your app and test it. Once they have used it, you can take feedback from them by asking questions like:

• Is it working properly?
• Is it easy to use?
• Does it actually help them feel better?
• Is there anything confusing?

Before going live, fix any issues or bugs they mention. 

Step 8:  Launch the App

Once you’re confident about the app, it’s time to launch them in the real world!

You can launch them on Google and Apple App Store.

However, launching them isn’t enough. You also need to market them on social media platforms and in mental health communities. 

Must-Have Key Features For Mental Health Apps

Here is the list of features you should keep in mind whenever you create a mental health app: 

1. Easy Onboarding

The first thing you should keep in mind during your mental health app development process is to make the app simple because when someone is feeling anxious or low, the last thing they need is a complicated app setup.

The patients should be able to sign up quickly using just an email, phone number, or even social login.

2. Self-Assessment Tools

Most of the time, patients suffering from mental health issues don’t know what is wrong with them; they just know something feels off. Therefore, when you create a mental health app, make sure it has self-assessment features, which can be in the form of short quizzes or daily mood check-ins that help users understand their feelings. 

3. Guided Therapy Exercises

Make sure your mental health app has breathing exercises, meditation audios, or simple behavioral therapy techniques that help patients manage their stress and anxiety.

4 . Real-Time Chat & Professional Support

Having a real-time chat feature in your mental health app is very important. It helps patients connect with mental health professionals 24/7 or with an AI-powered chatbot that can offer essential guidance. 

Moreover, make sure that the users should also have access to emergency helplines directly from the app. 

5. Daily Reminders

A good mental health app should send daily check-in reminders or motivational messages because improving mental health is not a one-day job. It is all about small, steady progress. Moreover, the idea here is to make the app feel like a supportive friend, not another task on their to-do list.

6. Privacy & Data Security

Mental health is deeply personal, and users will not open up till they feel their information is safe. Therefore, your mental health app should have essential privacy with end-to-end encryption and a clear, easy-to-understand privacy policy. 

Also, there can be some users who may prefer to stay anonymous; therefore, there should be an option to use the app without sharing personal details, which can help them feel secure. 

7. Emergency SOS Feature

Make sure your mental health app has an easy-to-access emergency button that connects users to helplines or their emergency contacts so that in the critical moments, users can take help from their loved ones who are just one tap away.

8. Progress Tracking

Your mental health app should show simple progress charts or mood graphs that users can see to know how far they’ve come. These small wins can boost their confidence and keep them motivated. These small wins can also be in the form of milestones – like completing five mindfulness sessions – with a small message of encouragement. 

What is The Mental Health App Development Cost

Now, as you have decided to build a mental health app, one of the first questions that will probably come to your mind is: “How much will it cost?” 

Well, the cost of developing a mental health app can vary widely based on several factors like:

• App Features
• Design Complexity
• Platform Choice
• Development Team
• App Maintenance

Should You Hire Mental Health App Developers or Build In-House?

We have almost covered everything about mental health app development. Now, it is time to decide whether you should hire mental health app developers or build an in-house team. 

Here is the detailed breakdown of the same to give you a better understanding: 

Criteria	Hire Mental Health App Developers (Outsource)	Build In-House Team
Cost	Generally lower upfront cost; pay per project or hourly	Higher initial costs, salaries, benefits, and infrastructure
Expertise	Access to specialized talent with experience in mental health apps	Can build domain expertise over time but may start from scratch
Speed	Faster development: experienced teams can deliver quickly	Slower initially; the time needed for hiring and team building
Flexibility	Scale up or down as needed	Less flexible; fixed team size and costs
Control	Limited control over processes and quality	Full control over development and quality
Maintenance & Support	May need ongoing contracts for updates and support	Continuous in-house support and quick issue resolution
Innovation & Customization	Can leverage external creativity and the latest trends	Tailored solutions aligned with your company’s vision

Final Thought – Along with Empathy, Technology Is Also Important

At the end of the day, mental health is not just about getting empathy. It is also about having a companion during the toughest days.

That is where you need technology! 

If you are ready to transform the mental well-being of everyone, partner with SolGuruz. 

We lead in providing Healthcare App Development Services and have been delivering bespoke software for 5+ years. 

You can hire mental health app developers from SolGuruz and create a solution using cutting-edge technology.