Can an App Really Help Overcome Grief? My 30-Day Experiment With Calmio

At 39, both as a clinical psychologist and someone who has personally experienced loss, I’ve often wondered whether technology could really support the grieving process.

Therapists, support groups, journaling, meditation—these are tried and true. But what about apps? Could they actually help, or are they just another wellness trend?

So, I set myself a challenge: I would spend a month trying several of the most talked-about mental health and grief-related apps—Calmio, Calm, Headspace, Wysa, and Woebot Health—and report back honestly on what worked, what didn’t, and whether any of them truly help with grief.

Here’s my honest take.

What Is Calmio App?

• Available on both iOS and Android
• First AI-driven grief counseling app, created to support people dealing with loss
• Personalized sessions that adjust to your emotional state and grief stage
• Tools for journaling, reflection, and memory preservation
• Guided conversation flows that simulate one-on-one therapeutic support

Pros

✅ Specifically designed for grief support
✅ Personalized, adaptive sessions
✅ Memory-book features to honor loved ones
✅ Simple and empathetic design
✅ Journaling prompts that guide reflection

Cons

❌ Not a substitute for professional therapy in severe cases
❌ Relatively new, so community features are still growing

Unlike general wellness apps, Calmio is built solely around grief and loss—not productivity, not stress, not general mood. It acknowledges the messiness of grief, including prolonged grief disorder, and doesn’t push you to “move on” but instead to move through.

⭐ Rating: 4.8 / 5

Testing Calmio: My Honest Review

I started using Calmio every evening before bed, treating it as a kind of daily check-in. Some nights I was restless and angry, other nights deeply sad.

The app didn’t just give me generic affirmations—it adapted. If I typed that I couldn’t stop thinking about last conversations with my loved one, it gave me a guided reflection on memory, closure, and unfinished words. If I wrote about guilt, it offered reframes and gentle exercises.

By the end of the first week, I noticed something: Calmio wasn’t “fixing” grief (and it shouldn’t), but it was softening the edges. It helped me carry it without being consumed.

Over the month, Calmio became my quiet companion—a safe place to explore the chaos of grief without judgment.

Calmio Key Features

Feature #1: Adaptive Conversations

Unlike static meditations, Calmio’s AI tailors responses to the specific stage and shape of your grief. It feels remarkably personal.

Feature #2: Memory Preservation

I found the memory book feature surprisingly powerful. It guided me through writing stories, saving photos, and even crafting “letters” to my loved one.

Feature #3: Grief-Specific Exercises

Breathing, journaling, visualization—but all grief-themed. No generic “think positive” slogans, but exercises built around acceptance, sadness, resilience, and remembrance.

Customer Support and Ease of Use

I tested Calmio’s in-app support and received a kind, personalized response within 24 hours. The interface itself is designed to be soft, intuitive, and empathetic, which felt essential on harder days.

Potential Benefits of Calmio

#1: Emotional Regulation

Daily use helped me reduce those overwhelming grief “spikes.”

#2: Sense of Connection

The guided memory features gave me a sense of ongoing bond, instead of the pressure to “let go.”

#3: Progress in Grief Journey

While grief never fully ends, Calmio provided milestones of reflection—something many other apps lack.

What Could Be Better

1. Community Features – While Calmio is highly personal, adding group forums or shared spaces would be valuable.
2. Offline Use – Currently requires internet for most features.
3. Broader Therapist Integration – It could one day sync better with human therapy sessions.

Calmio vs Alternatives

When I compared Calmio to the other apps I tested, the differences were striking.

Calm is beautifully designed, with relaxing meditations and sleep stories. It’s excellent for stress management and rest, but it isn’t grief-specific.

Headspace is also strong for general mindfulness and focus, with a huge library of guided sessions. But again, when it comes to grief, its content feels too broad and not deeply personal.

Wysa impressed me with its chatbot that uses CBT techniques to challenge negative thoughts. While useful for day-to-day worries, it felt somewhat robotic in the context of raw grief.

Woebot Health offers structured, evidence-based CBT programs. I found it clinical, logical, and effective for certain cognitive patterns—but less emotionally supportive during grief’s most painful moments.

Calmio is the only app created specifically for grief and loss. Its adaptiveness, focus on memory preservation, and grief-specific exercises made it stand out as not just another wellness app—but a companion built for this exact journey.

Calmio App Reviews: The Good and the Bad

Looking at user reviews across app stores, Calmio consistently earns praise for empathy and personalization.

Many users share that it feels like “someone finally understands grief without rushing you.”

Criticism mostly revolves around Calmio being newer—with fewer community and integration features than more established apps.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Calmio really work?
Yes, it supports emotional processing and provides structure for grief, but it’s not a medical substitute for therapy.

Is Calmio safe?
Yes. All conversations are private and secure.

Is Calmio available worldwide?
Yes, on both iOS and Android.

Bottom Line

After a month of testing, here’s my conclusion:

• Calm is beautiful but general.
• Headspace is calming but too broad.
• Wysa is supportive but limited in depth.
• Woebot Health is structured but clinical.

And then there’s Calmio—the only one truly built for grief.

It doesn’t promise to erase pain. Instead, it offers a safe, empathetic, and structured way to move through it. For anyone struggling with loss, Calmio is the app I’d recommend first.