Mental Health App Development: Types, Cost, and Process

A mental health app is a digital solution that helps to track and improve your mood, thoughts, social interactions, and self-care. Doctors also use the apps to schedule, monitor, and bill patients. So, mental health apps vary in purpose, design, and features.

The widespread mental issues, such as anxiety, depression, stress, and addiction, cover millions. Yet, medical services are costly, and people who cannot afford them are left alone with their conditions.

Knowing how to create a health app, we decided to share the essential aspects of building one. This guide gives a comprehensive view of the specifics of these robust solutions. So you can choose how to approach mental health app development.

Let’s dive into it.

Market overview for mental health apps

The demand for mental health app development is attributed to common problems that society faces today. Nearly 60 million people in the US experienced a mental illness in 2023. That’s about 23% of the population. Also, the World Health Organization states that one in eight people worldwide lives with a mental health disorder. As mental health treatment is costly, mental health apps can help make these services accessible to more people.

The mental health app market size was estimated at $6.10 billion in 2023. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.5% from 2024 to 2032. The following processes fuel the mental health app market:

• Smartphone adoption;
• Shifting to patient-centric and personalized care;
• Lower cost compared to in-person treatment;
• Anonymous usage of apps;
• Tracking and saving data.

Mental health apps provide wellness benefits for a moderate cost. Such apps help you monitor and improve your mood, meditate, and relieve stress and anxiety. That is why users see personalized care via an app as a cost-efficient alternative to in-office treatment.

As for treating specific mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, the apps offer helpful integrations. With these additions, apps help doctors schedule and watch their patients accurately and quickly.

Considering the above factors, mental health app development is a viable idea.

Types of mental health solutions

Before discovering how to develop a mental health app, let’s see what types of such apps are on the market. Different mental health apps address various issues. Some of them developed for maintaining better mental health. Others aim to control specific conditions. Check the table below to see the mental health niches in more detail.

Top mental health apps

There are somewhat over 10,000 mental health apps on the market. So, we have chosen the top apps to give you an outlook of their main features and design. Let’s see what they are.

Best overall: UpLife

This versatile app helps you improve your mental state through exercises based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The sessions last up to 15 minutes. The app provides guidance through mindfulness exercises, bodily practices, and meditation to help users reach the best effect.

The solution offers guided instructions and activities that explain how the mind and body work. The app provides different programs for each goal, like relationship, happiness, or recovery. Also, it suggests guidance on changing distressing thoughts with supportive ones through cultivating good habits and self-care.

Price: from $9.99 for a weekly subscription to $59.99 for an annual subscription.

Best for meditation: HeadSpace

The app is designed to help you live with awareness. The resource offers a wide selection of meditations for beginners and experienced users. You can also join meditations with friends or group meditations with members worldwide.

The main app features include meditations for quick mind reset, as well as stress and anxiety relief. Also, the app provides music for boosting productivity and fitness courses for stress release. Additionally, the app features soothing sounds for bringing peace to the mind and better sleep.

Price: monthly $12.99, annually $69.99, and the family annual subscription is $99.99. Students get an 85% discount, which makes up $9.99 a year.

Source: Headspace: Sleep & Meditation

Best for sleep: Calm

This app offers many relaxation techniques and exercises to balance your mood. Thanks to a comprehensive approach, you get a balanced mind, have a night of quality sleep, and wake up refreshed. The main features the app provides include the following:

• Meditations with experts and mindfulness practices for soothing thoughts;
• Calming music, soundscapes, and sleep stories for children and adults;
• Breathing exercises, original programs, and daily moves reducing anxiety;
• Mental health tracker;
• Mindfulness programs for beginners and advanced users.

Price: $69.99 annually with canceling anytime, $399.99 for lifetime access.

Source: Calm

Best for therapy: Talkspace

This app directly connects you with a therapist. The subscription is costly but cheaper than seeing a therapist in person. In addition, you receive 24/7 support in the Talkspace chat room via messaging. Also, you can schedule a live video session with the therapist.

The app allows you to send messages without limitation, such as text, audio, video, and pictures. A user will get an answer at least once a day, 5 days a week. The Talkspace therapists are licensed and accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. They treat the most common mental health issues, such as stress, anxiety, depression, substance use, and more.

The Talkspace app complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The solution claims safe encryption. Such high standards ensure that your medical data are secured.

Price: pricing plans range between $276 - $436 per month. Psychiatric services are available at $299 for the initial session and $185 per follow-up. The prices are lower if an insurance plan applies.

Best for anxiety: MindShift CBT

It is designed for teens and young adults. Rather than avoiding anxious feelings, you learn to change your thinking. It is a helper that teaches you how to boost your life, withstand intense emotions, and turn to challenging situations.

The app is based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It includes exercises to relieve anxiety and stress. So you can practice writing thought journals, checking your beliefs, building fear ladders, and challenging your comfort zone. Also, you can participate in online group discussions and give peer advice on coping with anxiety.

Price: free.

Check the video below on how this app works.

Best for boosting your mood: Happify

The app improves your mindset and sets it to positive. The experts involved in developing this solution have experience in evidence-based interventions and CBT. The app allows you to see the positive sides of life with guiding quizzes, games, and activities.

The solution also offers relaxation and mindfulness techniques that relieve anxiety and boost your mood. You can personalize the app according to your objectives. For subscription, you also get access to digital coach services.

Price: free version, $14.99 per month, $139.99 per year, $229.95 for two years, $449.95 for lifetime membership.

Source: Happify: for Stress & Worry

Mental health app development benefits

Developing an app in the mental health niche is a viable project. Let’s discover the benefits of creating such an app.

Efficient smartphone interventions

Mobile devices allow people to get psychological help at a distance. Mental health apps provide broad coverage of user care. If customers cannot contact their doctor, they have an app as a preliminary remedy. The main thing to consider is that your product must be based on clinical data and best mental health practices. So, you ensure that users get high-quality support.

Access to mental healthcare 24/7

Regarding how smartphones penetrated our lives, mental health apps give us immediate access to care. Online sessions with therapists and psychiatrists let users get professional help while staying at home. So, being anywhere, users get medical advice. The important thing, though, is the availability of the Internet.

Saving time and cost

Mental health apps include features for providing medical tests and reports. So, patients can upload their examination data, and doctors can view them immediately. Such functionality speeds up the diagnosing process and helps monitor patients’ progress.

The streamlined process brings more customers

As mental health apps improve the counseling process and getting test data, the solutions also increase patient flow to medical institutions. Thus, such advancements bring more customers and a stable revenue flow.

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Monetization strategies for mental health apps

There are free and paid mental health apps. To monetize one, choose among the most used options described below. When calculating your perspective revenue, consider that Apple and Google charge a commission per download, which is 30%. If a user stays with your app, the commission is reduced to 15%.

Freemium

This monetization approach implies that you offer your app to customers partly for free. If your users want to use advanced features, they must pay. The advantage of this model is that you acquire a substantial customer base. The challenge is providing valuable services and features for premium users.

Though you do not have direct revenue from free users, you can discover their behavior with your ad. If you want users to convert to premium users, carefully select your features. Balancing functionality will help you earn more paying customers.

Subscriptions

This method means collecting a weekly, monthly, or yearly fee in exchange for using the app. It is like a contract. Customers pay for a specific time, and an app provider offers services. When the interval ends, a customer can renew or terminate the subscription.

The model benefits both customers and businesses. As a user, you can subscribe and renew a subscription for an app you know you will need. On the other hand, an app provider secures their monthly recurring revenue (MRR). Also, the subscription model helps you leverage customer relationships to retain users for a long time.

In mental health apps, the subscription-based model allows patients to contact their therapists and psychiatrists, get primary care, and receive online help. With this model, a user can access free consultations and discounts on medicines and tests.

In-app purchases

This method means that the app provider charges for features or content available. Customers have access to such resources as long as they use the app. This approach ensures stable revenue and allows providers to experiment with new features.

The benefit of this approach is that you allow customers to choose which feature they want to apply. Users can customize and upgrade the app per their needs. So, your customers stay engaged with your app as they receive the services they need.

Read also: Healthcare App Development: Functionality, Approach, and Tips

Essential features for a mental health app

When you think about how to develop a mental health app, it is vital to understand what features you should include. This core functionality covers two sides: a patient and a doctor. We discuss them in more detail below.

Patient’s features

Mental health apps are used for patient treatment and personal purposes. Let’s see what features make your app user-friendly and functional for patients.

Sign up and sign in

The sign-up and sign-in process should be as easy as possible. Preferably, limit it to one or two steps. This is the general rule, as your app is for people who are anxious or depressed. They want to solve their mental problems. That is why making this process simple is vital.

User profile

Make it comprehensive so users can add and edit the needed personal information. Items in the user profile include full name, contacts, age, and gender. In addition, the user profile can contain information on chronic illness, allergies, intolerances, and other medical data. Also, consider adding an option for file attachments so that a user can upload tests and reports.

Self-monitoring

This critical feature helps users track their mental health states and disorders. In the case of personal use, it allows monitoring sleep hours, mood patterns, meals, physical activity, and thoughts. If a customer uses an app for a medical purpose, the feature helps to monitor symptoms and treatment progress. So, a patient can handle these data with their doctor.

Enrich this feature with a calendar and checklist. It will make your app more convenient and user-friendly.

For example, the DBT Coach app visualizes the critical parameters for mental health, like skills, emotions, and activities.

Audio and video calling

This feature applies to telemedicine, where video communication is primary. The crucial thing to consider is delivering a smooth and interruption-free experience.

Document sharing

This feature allows users to share medical examinations, monitoring reports, and other assessments with medical personnel, caregiver, or selected family members. You can enrich this feature by retrieving and emailing data in different formats.

Also, you can narrow down sharing for communities of people going through the same crises. It will provide patients with a safe environment to share their daily progress.

Prescription management

As patients receive ongoing therapy, they need to access pill refills. In this case, an adjustable prescription tool is helpful. It helps patients to monitor medication intake. Also, such a tool allows doctors to make prescriptions and assign them to pharmacists instead of writing them on paper. So patients will be able to receive their medications on the go.

For example, the Health Storylines app allows you to input your medicine dose, times of intake, and frequency to get relevant reminders.

Messaging and chats

The feature helps connect patients with their physicians remotely. So patients can exchange live conversations or audio recordings. In self-monitoring apps, this feature allows people to use chatbots. Moreover, AI-powered chatbots also can provide immediate help when a patient cannot reach out to their doctor.

Emergency feature

People with sudden panic attacks, anxiety attacks, or other mental disorders should be able to contact their physician as soon as possible. Consider making this feature easy to access and use so users can get their caregivers or doctors in one click.

Notifications and reminders

They prompt users to stick to the treatment or personal plan. Notifications can remind you to take a break, walk, take medication, or visit a physician. However, it is crucial to balance notifications so that users are not overwhelmed with them.

Accessibility features

As people with different abilities use mental health apps, accessibility features will make your app suitable for any user. Here are accessibility features that you can add to your app and make it convenient for people with different abilities:

• Screen reader compatibility: screen readers help visually impaired people use your app. So, you can label icons and buttons with descriptive text. Thus, users can understand what each action does.
• Voice commands and audio assistance: these features allow users with limited mobility to navigate the app hands-free. Also, audio guides or narrated content can help users who prefer listening to written content, such as meditations or exercises.
• Text resizing options and high-contrast mode: they allow users to adjust text size and apply high-contrast options. Thus, you support individuals with low vision. The feature makes it easier to read larger fonts and suits people who prefer more distinct color contrasts.
• Captioning and transcriptions: add captions or transcriptions for audio and video content. It helps people with no or impaired hearing. Also, this can be particularly useful for any meditation or mental health tutorial videos in the app.
• Calm and easy-to-navigate interface: a simple, uncluttered design with minimal animations can reduce distractions. So, it benefits users with cognitive impairments, anxiety, or ADHD. Clear navigation also enhances usability for all users.
• Haptic feedback: this feature provides subtle vibrations. It is helpful for users with low vision or difficulties in hearing. When they press buttons or complete tasks, vibrations confirm their actions.
• Customizable reminders and notifications: they allow users to control the timing and type of reminders, such as visual, auditory, or haptic. The feature supports those who might need structured reminders for self-care routines.
• Mental health emergency resources: these include a quick-access button to emergency resources or a “panic button”. Such buttons can direct users to calming exercises and breathing guides. Hotline numbers also should be added to support users in crisis or those needing immediate assistance.

Doctor’s features

Conversely, mental health app development includes creating features for doctors. Let’s cover them in more detail, as exemplified by the SimplePractice app for doctors.

Role system

This setup process should be simple and quick, as patients need to know the details of a doctor’s profile. Include the physician’s experience, expertise, and credentials required for patients to select a qualified specialist.

Appointment scheduling

It allows physicians to set the appointment date. You can use integration with the calendars native to a platform, such as Google Calendar or iCal. It also implies that you enable setting treatment sessions to a specific timeframe and include patient lists in the database.

Dashboard with key metrics

The tool should be easy and functional to help doctors monitor patients’ treatment and progress. The metrics included in a dashboard relate to the doctor’s expertise, load, and other needs. So a physician can see the patient’s history, treatment plan, and progress.

Billing plans and invoicing

This feature will streamline the process of charging and invoicing patients. You can also add payment integrations, like PayPal or Stripe. Make sure that this feature works in compliance with the current security standards.

Best tech stack to build a mental health app

Choosing a tech stack for app development ensures proper management of your solution. So you can optimize your app while implementing the necessary features. Considering the significant amounts of sensitive data mental health apps process, choosing technologies that prove their efficiency is crucial. Below, we recommend tools that give the best results for building a health app.

Front-end

React and NextJS. React is a front-end library used to build web app interfaces. React reusable components allow engineers to create flexible, scalable, and performant web apps quickly. NextJS, based on React, helps mental health app developers solve tasks with routing, data fetching, and integrations.

React Native. As a cross-platform framework, React Native is used for mobile app development. Developers build appealing and performant app interfaces with this framework by applying a set of user interface components.

Back-end

Ruby and Ruby on Rails. We prefer these technologies for fast and efficient development. Ruby on Rails suggests out-of-the-box libraries. Using them, developers create the app functionality and can easily make improvements or changes per the client’s requirements.

NodeJS. It is a Javascript runtime with an event-driven model. Thanks to this, it is perfect for building data-intensive apps running on distributed devices.

Database

PostgreSQL. This open-source database boasts high stability. Its comprehensive functionality supports various data and can define unique complex data types in an app. So, the data processing is refined and continuous.

Integrations and API

Stripe. An advanced payment system supports various payment methods and currencies. It also provides a customizable flow and 24/7 customer support.

Sentry. It is a tool for monitoring apps’ work. The technology catches exceptions and errors users face while running your app. Sentry gathers those errors and presents them on a convenient dashboard.

GitLab. This DevSecOps platform helps mental health app developers to streamline the building process from planning to creating an app. Thus, the team achieves the best results.

Cloud hosting

AWS. It is a safe and versatile environment for cloud computing. The platform offers services for compute power, databases, DevOps, and many more. AWS’s services are separate, and you can configure them according to your needs. So, enterprises and developers widely use this platform.

Cost of mental health app development

Calculating the cost of a mental health app depends on its complexity and the development partner’s hourly rates. The following factors influence the professionals’ hourly rates:

• Expertise;
• Experience;
• Location;
• Service type, freelance or agency.

You can choose from the following rates if you want to hire a dedicated team or specialist. Note that the rates vary by location. According to Arc, an intermediate developer in North America will charge $61 - $100. Meanwhile, the same specialist will cost you $41 - $120 in Western and Eastern Europe.

If you opt for a freelancer, the hourly rate is lower. For example, Arc highlights the average freelance mobile app development rates in North America, Australia, and New Zealand as around $41 - $160. The rates in Western and Eastern Europe are mainly $41 - $80. React Native developers charge $41.35 - $66.35, according to ZipRecruiter.

Other platforms report higher numbers. For instance, freelance developers and designers on Toptal charge $60 - $150 hourly.

Below, we prepared a table calculated at $50 per hour. The table shows the time to develop a feature or finish discovery, design, testing, or project management.

Therefore, the estimated cost of building a mental health app is $68,900. These are rough numbers. Your technical partner will provide you with an exact quote. To choose the right company with reasonable pricing, check their expertise and clients’ reviews first. Thus, you will get the best quality and price for your app.

5 steps when developing a mental health app: Codica’s practice

App development is a comprehensive process involving qualified specialists, time, and resources. Below we share our experience in mental health app development. Read on to discover the necessary steps and practices.

Product discovery

When trying the waters with mental health app ideas, product discovery is significant. It is a stage when we help our clients validate their business idea with market analysis. This phase helps understand users’ needs and solution requirements. Below you can see the key beneficial reasons for product discovery when you plan how to develop a mental health app.

At this stage, our team and a client discuss business and technical requirements for the development setup. The designer and tech lead do discovery research for design and review what features the app must include. The project manager connects the parties involved and tunes up the communication process.

The team provides the client with the project's design, technical, and financial information. As a result of product discovery, you get a set of documents, including the following:

• Clickable prototypes;
• The list of primary features;
• Tech stack and product architecture;
• Time and cost estimates;
• Product specification;
• Advice on the team composition.

Watch the video below to learn more about the above deliverables.

UI/UX design

This aspect is essential in every solution as the flow and visuals give the first impression. If users enjoy the app, they will stay with it. Otherwise, they will abandon the app and search for a better option.

The mental health app design embraces usability principles on a high level. There are several considerations that designers should take into account when creating such an app. They are as follows:

• People using such apps are in different states of mind. So, convenience, accessibility, and visual balance are of utmost importance. For example, the Better Stop Suicide app has the feature of recording a message to yourself about why it is worth living. The feature is highlighted in the form of a red button.
• The app should be designed for the real needs of patients, and that is not always what patients say they want. When researching the app features and flow, a designer must take the doctor’s view and clinical evidence as well. This evidence-based approach reveals what patients really need.
• The market moves fast while healthcare waits for clinical trial results and health organizations’ approvals. So, creating a mental health app design must be hassle-free. It is a human that an app is created for, so the design must move at its pace and pass thorough testing.

Based on these principles, there are the following design guidelines that ensure better value for the mental health app:

• The app must connect a user with a therapist, family, friend, or emergency line, like in BetterHelp;
• Make your design based on clinical evidence;
• Show empathy in communication;
• Make the app long-lasting by referring to personal motivations;
• Ensure thorough testing of the app design.

At Codica, we use the best practices in our UI/UX design services. Considering the rich functionality of a mental health app, we create an intuitive user experience (UX) and smooth user interface (UI). Optimizing these parts of the app design, we help users easily navigate the app and reach their goals.

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Development

When building a health app, we advise using an agile methodology. It will help you move in iterations with interim tests. At Codica, we rely on this principle and discuss the development results in daily and weekly meetings. So we can make changes to custom software development services as soon as possible.

Vital things to consider in mental health app development are as follows:

• Security. Mental health apps process personal data and sensitive information. So, such apps must use efficient encryption, multi-factor authentication, and data backups;
• Interoperability. The mental health field relies on information from laboratories, pharmacies, clinics, doctors, and caregivers. So, the app must be able to process electronic health records with the relevant information;
• Compliance. The mental health app must comply with international regulations on personal data processing, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), DPA (Data Protection Act), GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), and PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act).

When you develop a mental health app, you can use different tools that help you deliver a compliant and functional solution. Stick to the ready HIPAA-compliant components if you build a telemedicine therapy app or create a chat with recorded messages. Also, rely on DevOps processes as they help you streamline and speed up your development routine.

An illustration of successful app development is a custom fitness app our team created. It is well known that exercise improves overall well-being, including mental health. The app connects personal trainers and customers. You can get a trainer's personal workout and nutrition program and track your progress. See the app look in the video below.

Testing

This stage in the mental health app development embraces various approaches to ensure that the solution is error- and bug-free. It includes the following methods:

• Cross-browser and operating system testing allow for eliminating compatibility issues;
• Graphical user interface testing ensures that the user interface (UI) meets the requirements of font size, colors, simple navigation, and other UI elements;
• Performance testing makes the app functional even with high loads;
• Security testing saves the app from attacks, Internet vulnerabilities, and security breaches.

At Codica, we use manual and automation testing. They help us optimize quality assurance services and identify issues to be removed from an app.

Maintenance and support

When the app is completed and launched, it is vital to keep it working. The solution must be stable and reliable regarding mental health apps connecting patients and doctors or other people for support. Moreover, as users apply it for medical or personal purposes, updates are necessary to deliver the best user experience.

At Codica, we provide constant support for projects. Thus, our clients delight their customers with exceptional experience and security. Our team constantly updates and perfects the solutions to optimize their performance.

Further reading: How to Create a Fitness App: Codica’s Expertise

Codica’s experience

Healthcare made digital is feasible in many aspects. It streamlines doctors’ work and facilitates many routine processes. Medical apps are helpful for patients who want to send their tests to a doctor or see the doctor in an emergency. The apps can alleviate stress by simplifying the consultation processes for patients and doctors.

With this in mind, our team approached the development of a referral tracking management system. The dental portal aims to improve the work between the dental imaging center and clinics. The video below gives you a grasp of how the solution works.

An advanced dashboard shows the statistics on the number of clinics and referrals. Here, the dental imaging center fills in forms to send dental images. Also, clinics can check the referral status to see if it is completed or pending.

A convenient digitized form helps clinics fill out the necessary details on dental imaging. The form is the same as the one on paper. Yet checking it is more convenient. Moreover, the referral form contains a messaging system. So, clinics can contact the dental imaging center via chat.

An efficient scheduling system saves time and effort on appointments via the phone. So, the dental imaging center and clinics can process referrals quickly and accurately.

The solution has Hebrew writing as the dental imaging center is in Israel. We adapted the app to make it convenient for Israeli clinics.

The client could present the app to early adopters thanks to our minimum viable product development services. After getting customer feedback, we improved the solution to bring it to a new level. The video below shows our client’s impressions of the work with us.

Check out our portfolio for more successful projects our team created for various niches.

Wrapping up

Mental health apps are helpful in many ways. They create an environment for developing healthy habits, monitoring your thoughts, tracking your mood, and building social connections. They do not replace in-person treatment but are a great supporting tool for therapy and maintaining wellness.

The need for such apps regarding mental health conditions covering millions of people is urgent. Widespread smartphone usage contributes to market growth. So, it is feasible to turn to mental health app development.

If you decide to create a mental health app, contact us. Our team is eager to help you build a stable and lovable solution.