ThinkUp

Positive thoughts have a great impact on our motivation because the quality of our thoughts determines what we experience. ¹Faisal Hoque (2014). 7 Ways to Practice Positivity and Optimism Every Day. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/7-ways-to-practice-positivity-and-optimism-every-day_b_5606981?guccounter=1 That’s why the affirmations app ThinkUp sends you daily quotes, mantras and affirmations that you can use to positively influence your thinking. 

You can record the mantras yourself and accompany them with music to listen to them over and over again. The creators of ThinkUp are convinced that listening to positive affirmations in your own voice makes them ten times more meaningful. This way you can reduce negative inner monologues that keep you from achieving your goals and learn to motivate yourself instead.

• Android, rating: ø 4.4 with 3.218 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.8 with 6000 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile + Desktop
• Special features: Recite affirmations yourself, numerous quotes
• Language options: English
• Recommended for: Anyone who wants to promote positive thinking.

Cost: In-app purchases from €8.49

Mindset: Daily Motivational Speeches App (Android)

The Mindset motivation app provides you with a daily source of motivation and helps you cultivate the right mindset. You can listen to free inspirational and educational audios from some of the world’s best speakers to keep you engaged. Search the library, curate playlists, and download motivational speeches. Topics include positivity, productivity, morning routines, business, and self-care.

• Android, rating: ø 4.6 with 543 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile
• Special features: iPad, various mindsets & playlists
• Language options: English
• Recommended for: Anyone who enjoys being motivated by inspirational speakers.

Cost: In-app purchases from €6.49

Motivation – Daily Quotes

A good quote at the right time can be just the thing to fire up your motivation now and then. The Motivation app is free and contains thousands of different quotes for every occasion and mood. You can save your favorite quotes to read them over and over again. The application is simple yet effective.

• Android, rating: ø 4.8 with 32.790 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.8 with 501.900 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile
• Special features: Apple Watch, iPad, iMessage
• Language options: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
• Recommended for: Anyone who wants a daily quote for motivation and inspiration.

Cost: In-app purchases starting at €2.99

Always Positive – Daily Quotes 

Always Positive also provides you with a daily quote to remind you to stick with your goals, helping you break negative thought spirals and unhealthy habits. In addition to well-known quotes, users can also share quotes here. The app benefits from its dedicated community.

• Android, rating: ø 4.6 with 7.460 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.8 with 624 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile + Desktop
• Special Features: User generated quotes
• Language options: English
• Recommended for: Anyone who wants to shed negative thoughts.

Cost: In-app purchases from €2.99

I Am – Daily Affirmations

I Am is an affirmation app that sends you affirmations throughout the day that you choose by yourself. You will find many intentions and affirmations for your individual life situation, which will accompany you through your everyday life. I have summarized how affirmations can be used effectively in another article for you.

• Android, rating: ø 4.8 with 19.959 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.9 with 136.300 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile + Desktop
• Special Features: Daily reminders & curated affirmations
• Language options: English, Spanish
• Recommended for: Anyone who wants to motivate themselves with positive affirmations.

Cost: In-app purchases from €3.49

Motivate: Daily Motivation

The goal of Motivate is to inspire you to take control of your life. In the app, you’ll find thousands of selected motivational videos from mentors around the world. Custom notifications remind you of your new habits, and the Quotes widget provides you with regular quotes. When you’re not in the mood for new input, the app lets you listen to music that helps you relax, focus, or energizes you.

• Android, rating: ø 4.6 with 376 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.8 with 4.200 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile
• Special functions: iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, iMessage, various categories & playlists, download function, music player, notifications
• Language options: English, Spanish
• Recommended for: Anyone who enjoys watching motivational videos.

Cost: In-app purchases from €2.99

Mantra – Daily Affirmation

With the motivational and affirmation app Mantra you get 10.000 affirmations from 10 different categories, such as fitness, spirituality, personal development or health. Every time you open the app, a new mantra awaits you. If one affirmation a day isn’t enough for you, you can simply open the app again to increase your self-confidence and boost your motivation.

• Android, rating: ø 4.3 with 1.814 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.9 with 9100 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile + Desktop
• Special features: iPad, iPod Touch, Smart Reminder, wallpapers and noise, custom colors and fonts
• Language options: English, Turkish
• Recommended for: Anyone who enjoys using mantras and affirmations.

Cost: In-app purchases from €17.99

Daily Quote (Android)

Daily Quote is very similar to the Mantra app. It is a free daily motivation app that lets you choose from 11.500 inspirational quotes in over 300 categories. When you activate the notification feature, you’ll receive your very own daily quote to share with friends and family.

• Android, rating: ø 4.6 with 1.414 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile
• Special features: Share quotes with friends, more than 10,000 quotes
• Language options: English
• Recommended for: Anyone who likes to read and share quotes.

Cost: In-app purchases from €1.99

Fit Quote

Fit Quote is a fitness motivation app that helps you stay on track to reach your fitness goals. Every day there is a new quote on a customizable background. The app comes without any frills and is completely focused on motivating you with inspirational quotes.

• Android, rating: ø 4.8 with 189 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.7 with 2.500 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile + Desktop
• Special functions: iPad, iPod Touch
• Language options: English
• Recommended for: Anyone in need of fitness inspiration.

Cost: In-app purchases from €0.99

Courageous self-love – KYO

The Courageous self-love motivation app sends you three personalized messages each day to remind you of what is really important and how valuable you are. Here you find the courage and motivation to work on your self-love. You can mark your favorite messages, collect them and read them again and again. You can also surprise friends with personalized messages.

• Android, rating: ø 4.0 with 1.265 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 3.3 with 8 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile + Desktop
• Special functions: iPod Touch
• Language options: English, French, German
• Recommended for: Anyone who wants to motivate themselves to love themselves more.

Cost: In-app purchases from €2.99

2. Habit Tracker & (digital) Coaches

Fabulous

Fabulous is a motivational app that helps you break bad habits, establish healthy habits, and structure your day. After downloading, the colorful and attractively designed app asks you a few questions about your goals and desires before it starts with the first small challenge. Of course, you can also set your own goals. 

The app’s philosophy is to achieve your new life in small steps and to focus on a sense of achievement. If you are exhausted, you can take a meditation break.

• Android, rating: ø 4.5 with 400.889 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.6 with 47.100 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile
• Special features: Apple Watch
• Language options: English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Simplified Chinese
• Recommended for: Anyone who needs motivation and structure for their self-care routine.

Cost: In-app purchases starting at €7.99

Mindshine

Mindshine is your personal happiness coach and combines different tools of neuroscience, psychology and mindfulness in one place to support you to grow beyond yourself. With just a few small steps each day, you’ll create a new routine for yourself in no time. Mindfulness meditation, performance coaching, and anti-stress/anxiety exercises help you stay motivated.

• Android, rating: ø 4.8 with 831 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.7 with 872 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile + Desktop
• Special features: iPad, iPod Touch, meditations, journal, affirmations, visualization
• Language options: English
• Recommended for: Anyone who needs a happiness coach.

Cost: In-app purchases from €12.99

Flow Lab

Flow Lab is designed to help you increase your focus, confidence, and motivation with guided meditations and coaching sessions. The motivational app uses tools from Positive Psychology to strengthen your mental skills and mindset, so you get into a flow state more often. The app also measures your fitness level and creates a weekly workout plan based on your needs.

• Android, rating: ø 4.6 with 40 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.9 with 138 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile + Desktop
• Special features: iPad, iPod Touch, hypnosis, body scan, relaxation, breathing, quotes, visualization
• Language options: English, German
• Recommended for: Anyone who wants to improve their performance.

Cost: In-app purchases from €9.99

Lifesum

If you want to motivate yourself to lose weight, eat healthier, or exercise more, Lifesum is the fitness motivation app for you. The app gives you workout tips, personalized diet plans, and allows you to track food, workouts, and calories. If you need inspiration for your diet, you can also find free recipes on Lifesum. The app connects to both Google Fit and S Health, so you can import valuable data.

• Android, rating: ø 4.5 with 278.508 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.6 with 108.000 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile
• Special features: Apple Watch, iPad, iMessage
• Language options: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
• Recommended for: Anyone who wants to increase their fitness motivation.

Cost: In-app purchases starting at €8.99

Make Me Better (Android)

The Make Me Better app provides you with daily personal development articles, inspirational life stories, self-help tips, productivity and financial management ideas, motivational quotes, and more. The app is practically a magazine that inspires and motivates you to be better while quenching your thirst for knowledge.

• Android, ratings: ø 4.7 with 22.834 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile + Desktop
• Special features: Lifehacks, topics on different areas of life
• Language options: English
• Recommended for: Anyone who wants to develop personally.

Cost: In-app purchases from €2.99

Coach.me

No matter what goal you want to motivate yourself for, Coach.me supports you. In addition to a habit tracker function, you get feedback from the community in the “Community Coaching” level and can take a daily motivation test to stay motivated. If you use the app in the “Private Coaching” level, you can work with a trained coach via iMessage or phone.

• Android, rating: ø 3.5 with 4.757 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.3 with 244 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile + Desktop
• Special features: Apple Watch, iMessage, Community Coaching, Private Coaching
• Language options: English
• Recommended for: Anyone who wants community or coach support to stay motivated.

Cost: In-app purchases from €1.99; private coach from €25.00/week.

Because Habit Trackers are such a great tool to boost your productivity and motivation, I’ve written you a separate article on this, introducing you to over 35 Habit Tracker apps.

3. Other Apps

Forest

Forest is a motivational app only at second glance, because it playfully motivates you to leave your smartphone behind and instead focus on important tasks and projects, for example. As soon as the app is activated, you plant a seed that slowly grows into a tree as long as you don’t use your phone within a set period of time. 

If you still reach for your smartphone, the tree will die. If you persevere, you’ll be rewarded with coins and can even have a real tree planted with 2500 coins from the “Trees for the Future” organization.

• Android, rating: ø 4.7 with 340.339 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.8 with 28.800 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes (Android)
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile
• Special features: iPad, iPod Touch, different types of trees, rewards, plant real trees
• Language options: Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Tradit. Chinese, Turkish, Simplified Chinese
• Recommended for: Anyone who wants to work with motivation and concentration without distractions.

Cost: €2.29 on iOS; in-app purchases from €1.09

Mind Mapping – MindMeister

The first step to motivating yourself to achieve new goals is to organize your thoughts and to-dos. MindMeister is not a classic motivation app, but an app that allows you to create different mind maps to make visual connections between thoughts, goals and tasks. You can create different folders for your different areas of life, assign categories or even colors.

• Android, rating: ø 4.0 with 15.275 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Android downloads:
• iOS, rating: ø 4.5 with 626 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile
• Special functions: iPad, iPod Touch
• Language options: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese
• Recommended for: Anyone who wants to sort their thoughts, goals and tasks.

Cost: In-app purchases starting at €5.99

Pep Talk (iOS)

The motivational app Pep Talk will boost your motivation with a collection of curated audios that you can listen to during your morning routine, while working out or on your way to work. The goal is to motivate and inspire you to achieve your goals, no matter how small or big they are. Set yourself a reminder to listen to your favorite speeches every day to find the motivation you need.

• iOS, rating: ø 4.8 with 6.200 ratings (14.06.2021)
• Free version: Yes
• Usability on multiple devices: Yes
• Mobile/ desktop version: Mobile + Desktop
• Special functions: iPad, iPhone Touch
• Language options: English
• Recommended for: Anyone who needs a good pep talk.

Cost: In-app purchases from €14.49

4. What makes a great Motivation App?

As you can see, there are many motivation apps. Many of the apps differ in both focus and approach. Most use positive affirmations and quotes to increase your motivation, while others rely on approaches from positive psychology or use habit tracking as a method. When deciding on the right motivation app, you should listen to your gut feeling and consider the following features:

• Reminders: In order to stay motivated, it is important that you regularly get new impulses and are reminded to keep at it. That’s why you should make sure that the app you choose has a reminder feature.
• Customization options: The more you enjoy interacting with the app, the more likely you are to use it. Therefore, when making your choice, pay attention to how flexible you can make the app and how well it is designed.
• Community Support: You don’t always want to tell friends and family about your personal goals, so in those cases you’ll benefit from apps that have a built-in community where you can ask for advice and make new friends.

5. Conclusion

Whether you’re a fan of quotes or have a specific goal, there’s a suitable motivation app for everything. Which one you choose depends on your individual needs. My personal favorites include the Fabulous app for Android users, ThinkUp, Pep Talk for iOS users, and Forest. Fabulous is lovingly designed and guides you in small steps to a healthy happier self.

ThinkUp is ideal for increasing positive thinking and your intrinsic motivation. I specifically like the option to record affirmations in your own voice. With Pep Talk you always have good encouragement at hand whenever you need it. Forest isn’t a classic motivational app, but it’s a great tool for increasing productivity and concentration whilst doing something good for the planet.

Of course, this is just my opinion and all other presented motivation apps and affirmation apps have their merits as well. Since the download is free in the vast majority of cases, you can just try a few and find out what works for you and suits your individual needs.