I Am Sober vs Reframe — Which Sobriety App Is Right for You?
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These days, as they say, there’s an app for that — whatever “it” may be. But what about sobriety? Can an app actually help you find freedom from alcohol and discover a healthier, more vibrant version of yourself? Millions of people who have tried a sobriety app themselves would say yes, it absolutely can.
It’s no secret that alcohol misuse is a significant problem. According to the 2022 survey by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 28.8 million adults in the U.S. (11.2% of everyone 18 and older) had alcohol use disorder (AUD) in the past year (17.1 million men and 11.7 million women). The National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics reports that AUD accounts for a staggering 3 million deaths globally each year (6% of total deaths), with around 140,557 of those being Americans.
The good news? People are also making a conscious effort to cut back or quit alcohol altogether. This is where sobriety apps come in — with a modern approach to an age-old problem.
First, let’s take a look at the purpose of sobriety apps and how they can help. These digital sidekicks can play an important role in our sobriety journey in a number of useful ways:
Two apps — Reframe and I Am Sober — stand out as top choices among their digital counterparts. They both provide support on the journey to sobriety, but in somewhat different ways.
I Am Sober focuses on tracking your alcohol intake with the support of an active community of users on a similar path. It’s also about reaffirming your new identity — reminding you that you are now sober and proud of it — which can help you stay on track.
Reframe, on the other hand, is designed to actually rewire your brain. It strives to shift your thinking around alcohol, creating a new mindset where alcohol simply doesn’t fit the way it did in the past. It tailors resources to your goals and needs and tracks your sobriety. Like I Am Sober, it comes with a thriving community of users eager to share their stories and encourage you every step of the way.
Let’s take a bird’s eye view of both apps. What are they all about?
Reframe was started by Georgia Tech graduates Ziyi Gao and Vedant Pradeep, who worked together with a team of psychologists and scientists to create an accessible, user-friendly, science-based app to help people change their relationship with alcohol. Launched in 2020, the app proved especially helpful to those who found themselves drinking excessively during the COVID-19 pandemic — and it continues to gain popularity.
Reframe stands out among competitors in the digital sobriety world for its ability to customize each user’s journey. This personalization sets you up to succeed on your terms and helps you change your relationship with alcohol in a way that fits your life. It allows progress tracking and has all the other features that make sobriety apps successful (such as urge surfing tools, milestone celebrations, and community connections). But its genius lies in its ability to actually rebuild your mindset.
Science-Backed and Revolutionary
Reframe is an evidence-based toolkit designed to rewire the parts of your mind linked to alcohol. Leveraging the latest neuroscience research, it capitalizes on the significant strides made in the last few decades in understanding the brain and addiction. Applying this knowledge in practical ways can elevate your sobriety journey to new levels of empowerment.
University of Washington graduate Andrew Murray is the founder and CEO of the I Am Sober app. It was designed and built by its head of product, Nick Redmond, as a tool to assist people struggling with addiction.
I Am Sober bills itself as a “sobriety tracker” with a community behind it — and that’s exactly what it is. Its tracking capabilities are also pretty top-notch. It helps users track their sobriety along with their peers — and does an excellent job of it by including other addictions and trackable aspects of the journey.
Streamlined and Supportive
What distinguishes I Am Sober from counterparts is its simple and effective method of visualizing sobriety progress. Its trademark feature is the streamlined sobriety clock that provides precise information on the duration of your sobriety, even down to the second. When users are asked how long it’s been since they’ve had a drink, they can give a very specific answer: “2 years, 3 months, 21 days, 1 hour, 24 minutes and 39 — wait, 40 — seconds.”
Moreover, the app gives users the ability to track multiple addictions. Trying to quit smoking while saying goodbye to alcohol? I Am Sober helps you stub out cigarettes as you put down the glass. Find yourself overspending, overeating, or gambling? Add all your “vices” to the list and keep tabs as they lose their grip over you day by day (and second by second).
When you tap the blue brain icon of the Reframe app, you immediately grasp its essence — it's like "logging in" to your own brain.
The interface highlights the core program, which appears as a timeline of days you spent on your journey within the app. When you open each day, you’ll see a list of daily tasks and resources, which include an insightful daily reading, an inspirational quote, a journal prompt, a meditation, and a drink counter. Once you complete the daily tasks, the day number lights up with a celebratory flame, which gets added to the string of completed days ablaze in the timeline (and cheers you on with encouragement like, “You’re on fire! Keep going!”).
Scroll down and you’ll find “Discover” and “Tools” tabs which provide access to a treasure trove of resources, including monthly challenges, informative science-based courses, the community forum, and an urge surfing toolkit that keeps you busy for 20 minutes — roughly the amount of time it takes for a craving to pass.
As one user writes, “I struggled at first to show up daily, but when I finally caught up I promised myself that I would commit. Every single day. That’s when it clicked. I don’t want to write a novel, but I could rave about this program for hours on end. The knowledge I’ve gained, the changes I’ve made to my brain and to my body, the way I’m completely in charge of my alcohol intake, it’s all so priceless.”
Reframe Puts You in the Driver’s Seat
The Reframe app is exceptionally intuitive and easy to navigate. The user ratings reflect this: Reframe has 4.8 stars from 23,6000 ratings at the Apple store. Its users report significant shifts in a relatively short amount of time: 91% report a decrease in their drinking in the first three months, while 82% say they saw a significant shift in only two.
Crucial to the Reframe experience is empowering users to take charge of their own recovery. You get to decide which track you choose — cutback or quit — and you pick the goal that you want to reach. Reframe is a supportive, knowledgeable companion, offering tools and science-backed evidence to enhance your skills and enable you to make more informed decisions.
One user explained, “All the resources that this app provides gave me tools I didn’t know I needed. I have averaged no more than 11 drinks per month over the last hundred days. And I have a drink when I really want to have one, but not because of some of the triggered reasons that I used to have. It really has given me the power back.”
I Am Sober’s crisp green and blue interface feels calming and clutter-free. The home screen’s focal point is a sobriety counter, a straightforward yet powerful tool that tracks progress with a clear, no-fuss display. After logging in, you’re greeted by a well-organized, sleek counter that provides details of your sobriety — in years, months, days, hours, minutes, and even seconds that tick by as you watch.
As one user writes, “One of the best things about this app is its elegant and user-friendly interface, which makes it simple and easy to use. The app's feature-rich design and intuitive navigation complement the real-time tracking and management capabilities, allowing users to stay on top of their recovery journey at all times.”
The app, which has 4.9 stars from 133.9K ratings at the Apple store, can track several addictions at the same time. Tracking this much could easily get messy or feel cluttered, but the interface keeps things tidy. Each addiction is compartmentalized separately and you can pick between them easily by clicking on the menu in the top left hand corner.
I Am Sober also allows you to make daily pledges to stay sober and post them for others to see. You can add pictures that symbolize your motivation for staying sober, making the posts more personal and meaningful.
Striking a Balance
The I Am Sober app strikes a balance between straightforward and engaging. Its intuitive design ensures that users can navigate the app with ease, making the most of its features without any hassle.
The app also skillfully blends a focus on individual sobriety (starting from the first-person declaration in the name) with the strength of a supportive community. Through its community feature, users can share stories and connect with others on similar paths, fostering a sense of belonging and mutual support.
Now, let’s take a deeper dive into the tools and resources of both apps.
Reframe has an easy and user-friendly sign-up process. After completing a questionnaire to generate a customized plan, you can sign up for a free, risk-free 7-day trial. After that, an annual membership comes in at $100/yr. Once you sign up, Reframe promises 100% satisfaction guaranteed or your money back! Reframe is available on iPhone and Android.
Options include a free version that offers access to features such as "Progress," "Today," "Community," and "Motivation." Unlocking the full capabilities of the app (including the ability to create private groups, participate in challenges, and join activities) requires a paid membership. I Am Sober offers a 7-day free trial and an annual membership with a price of $119. Like Reframe, I Am Sober is available on iPhone and Android.
To deliver the personalized service and customized program that defines the app, the team behind Reframe gathers certain personal information, such as demographic information or other pertinent details. However, information is accessible only to team members who are there to make your experience the best it can be.
The team takes great care not to share this information with third parties and adheres to an extensive data protection policy outlined on their site. This policy assures users that great care is taken to prevent any misuse of personal information — it is only retained as long as necessary.
The I Am Sober app maintains a privacy and confidentiality policy that prioritizes user data protection and adheres to legal standards, including GDPR compliance for European Union users. The data is stored securely on Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the USA, ensuring that it's protected and encrypted both in transit and at rest.
There’s one caveat, however: when users share their "story" upon reaching a milestone, the username, profile photo, and the story content become public information. Users are advised to exercise caution and avoid posting personal information in these areas.
The Reframe app's versatility is its key asset. It’s an excellent choice for almost anyone, whether you’re trying to cut back or eliminate alcohol completely. It’s perfect for users who want to understand the “why” behind their habits and create new patterns that better serve them on the path to authentic happiness and health.
Reframe’s core program is based on daily engagement. The ideal user views sobriety as a structured process and is committed to dedicating daily time to their sobriety. It’s a journey with a defined roadmap, milestones to celebrate, and setbacks to overcome. Along the way, there are stories to share and friendships to forge. Despite its comprehensive approach, it doesn’t require a lot of time — as little as 10 minutes per day. Many users utilize it as a tool to rebuild their lives as a whole — or just tune up the areas that need attention — and feel happier than ever in a few short months.
Here’s what one user writes: “The numbers don’t lie. If you engage the app, honestly account for your drinks (you’re only lying to yourself if you don’t report the drinks as consumed) you WILL see improvement. Your life will change. Your body will heal. Your mind will grow. Whether you want to stop drinking altogether or want to cut back how much you do, you’ll find the support, tools, and structure to do it. Do it! It’s worth every penny and more.”
The I Am Sober app is best suited for those who are serious about their sobriety, but are not necessarily looking for a structured program. It’s a great way to track your progress — especially if you have multiple addictions and want to keep all of your recovery under one roof. It’s also great for connecting with others on the same path.
Here’s how one user describes it: “I’ve always been looking for an app to help me kick several addictions … This app has so many amazing features, like a live clock that tracks your sobriety down to the second. The reminder that you are making progress, even if it’s just been 20 minutes plus a few seconds, that truly serves as a helper for me.”
Strengths of Reframe:
When Healthline editor Christy Snyder tried the app, she said, “I would recommend Reframe for anyone who wants to take a mindful and scientific approach to alcohol consumption … I really like how science-driven the app is … I wanted to learn more about the first few weeks of not consuming alcohol and how one’s body and mind may respond.”
Limitations and Areas of Improvement:
Strengths of I Am Sober:
Limitations and Areas of Improvement:
In the end, choosing a sobriety app comes down to your personal goals and preferences. If your goal is recovery in a deeper sense — understanding your own mindset and taking concrete steps to change it — then Reframe is certainly your best option. Its scientific foundation is hard to beat, and with its wealth of resources you’ll never run out of engaging content to keep you inspired and motivated. It matches all the features of I Am Sober (including tracking capabilities and community connections), but also offers much more.
However, if you’re looking mainly for a tracker that keeps you accountable while connecting you to others on a similar path, I Am Sober can certainly help you do that.
Regardless of what you choose, congrats on taking this vital step! A healthier, happier life awaits you, filled with inspiring and meaningful experiences.
1. What are the primary differences between Reframe and I Am Sober?
Reframe is based on neuroscience and psychology and focuses on shifting your mindset regarding alcohol. I Am Sober focuses more on tracking sobriety time and milestones while promoting community support.
2. How do these apps support individuals in their sobriety journey?
Reframe provides a wide range of tools, including daily readings, drink tracking, urge surfing tools, motivational quotes, journal prompts, and monthly challenges. It also offers in-depth courses and has a vibrant community, as well as daily check-in meetings with coaches over Zoom.
I Am Sober tracks the time users spent in sobriety (and can do so for multiple addictions). It connects users with others on a similar journey and encourages them to post daily pledges, share encouragement, and celebrate recovery milestones together on community message boards.
3. Are there any costs associated with these apps?
Reframe has a free 7-day trial and offers a $100.00 annual subscription. I Am Sober has a limited free version; however, for access to all features users must purchase a membership (which is offered at $9.99 per month or $119 per year).
4. How do user experiences differ between the two apps?
The Reframe experience is structured as a core 160-day journey during which users shift their mindset around alcohol by engaging with the app’s science-backed resources and tools. After that, the program continues with a holistic look at health and well-being. I Am Sober is built as a sobriety tracker with some additional capabilities, such as community engagement with others on a similar journey.
5. Can these apps replace professional therapy or counseling?
No, the apps cannot replace professional therapy or counseling. However, Reframe’s licensed coaches can provide support that acts as an excellent complement to therapy or other treatment.
We just covered a very sensitive and complex topic. Suicide risk may be a subject that resonates on some level with you. The good thing is that help is available in many forms. If you are interested in finding ways of improving your well-being physically and emotionally, or you want to examine your relationship with alcohol, then have a look at Reframe.
Although it isn’t a treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD), the Reframe app can help you cut back on drinking gradually, with science-backed knowledge to empower you 100% of the way. Our proven program has helped millions worldwide drink less and live more. And we want to help you get there, too!
The Reframe app equips you with the knowledge and skills to survive drinking less and thrive while navigating the journey. Our daily research-backed readings teach you the neuroscience of alcohol, and our in-app Toolkit provides the resources and activities you need to navigate each challenge.
You’ll meet millions of fellow Reframers in our 24/7 Forum chat and daily Zoom check-in meetings. Receive encouragement from people worldwide who know exactly what you’re going through! You’ll also be able to connect with our licensed Reframe coaches for more personalized guidance.
Plus, we’re constantly introducing new features to optimize your in-app experience. We recently launched our in-app chatbot, Melody, powered by the world’s most powerful AI technology. Melody is here to help you adjust to a life with less (or no) alcohol.
And that’s not all! We launch fun challenges monthly, like Dry/Damp January, Mental Health May, and Outdoorsy June. You won’t want to miss out on the chance to participate alongside fellow Reframers (or solo if that’s more your thing!).
The Reframe app is free for seven days, so you have nothing to lose by trying it. Are you ready to feel empowered and discover life beyond alcohol? Then download our app through the App Store or Google Play today!
Reframe supports you in reducing alcohol consumption and enhancing your well-being.