How We Feel Review: 2026 Overview

How We Feel is a no-cost mood-tracking app from The How We Feel Project, a nonprofit. There is no premium tier, no trial that converts, and nothing fenced off for paying users. The developer describes the full app as available without paying, and in testing that held up. It runs on iOS and Android.

The centrepiece is an emotion wheel that arranges feelings by energy and pleasantness, then steers you toward a specific word, not just "bad" but "discouraged," "restless" or "lonely." You log a check-in, add an optional note about what is going on, and over time the app assembles a calendar and a trends view. There are also light skill tips and short exercises for moments when a feeling is hard to sit with.

This is the app we would hand to someone who has never tracked their mood and is wary of yet another subscription. The barrier is close to zero, no payment and a few taps a day, and the emotional-vocabulary angle makes it quietly educational. If you have ever stumbled trying to explain how you feel to a partner, a friend or a clinician, the practice it builds is genuinely useful.

It also works as a clean companion alongside other tools: a quick feelings log that syncs to your phone's health data and exports cleanly if you want to share trends with a professional. What it will not do is walk you through a structured program. For that you will want something broader.

The emotion vocabulary is the headline. Plenty of trackers ask you to pick a smiley face. How We Feel asks you to find the right word, and that one extra step changes the experience. We came away noticing finer gradients in our own days, the gap between anxious and overwhelmed, between content and relieved, which is exactly the kind of awareness that makes a check-in worth the bother.

Then there is the tone. With a perfect score from us on starter-tier value, it is about as relaxed and undemanding as self care apps get: no streak you will dread breaking, no pop-ups badgering you to upgrade, no dark patterns. The design stays calm and unhurried, and a nonprofit giving it away with strong privacy intentions is a rare thing worth noting.

Breadth is the catch. How We Feel is a focused tool, and our depth sub-score of 3.4 reflects that. There is no AI companion to talk things through, no real journaling beyond short notes, no course library and no habit builder. The skill tips and exercises help in the moment but stay light. If you want one app that also teaches, plans and coaches, this is not it, and it never pretends otherwise.

It is also a mirror rather than a map. It will show you that your Tuesdays run low or that work weeks spike your stress, but it will not turn that into a personalised next step on a hard day. You bring the interpretation. For some people that simplicity is the draw. For others it stops just where they wanted help to begin.

There is nothing to weigh here, which is the point: the full app costs nothing, with no paid tier, no trial and no subscription to cancel. On value it is close to unbeatable, and its 4.9 value sub-score is among the highest in the whole list. If your only goal is to start tracking how you feel without spending anything, How We Feel is the easiest recommendation we can make. Figures are approximate as of June 2026, verify on the App Store or Google Play.

Our top pick, Liven, is a different sort of app: an all-in-one self-discovery program bundling mood tracking, journaling, courses, habits and an AI companion called Livie, drawing on CBT, ACT, DBT and positive psychology. It covers far more of real self-care, which is why it leads our ranking, and it is a paid program, from $59.99 a year for premium, where How We Feel costs nothing.

Fairness cuts both ways. How We Feel beats Liven on starter-tier value (a perfect 5 to Liven's 2) and on sheer value for money, and its emotion wheel is more squarely about naming feelings than anything in Liven's wider toolkit. If you specifically want a gentle mood tracker that costs nothing, How We Feel is the better fit. If you want one guided app for the whole journey, Liven reaches further. Neither tool is a substitute for professional care.

How We Feel earns its 4.0 and its place in our top ten by being honest about what it is: a beautifully made mood tracker, available without paying, that helps you name your feelings and notice your patterns, from a nonprofit that is not trying to upsell you. It will not replace a broader app like Liven, and it is not therapy or a crisis service. But as a first step into self-awareness, or a calm companion to keep around for good, it is one of the more likeable self care apps we have tested. If anything ever feels unsafe, set the app aside and call or text 988, free and available 24/7, in the US and Canada.