Treatments and supplements · Digital and app-based CBT-I programs

Do sleep apps that use CBT really help with insomnia?

What we can tell you today: how thoroughly this has been studied.

Well studied

9 studies, including one that brings together the results of several trials in people.

5 Repeated evidence 1 study

4 Large controlled trial 6 studies

3 Small study in people 2 studies

This says how thoroughly something has been studied — not whether it works for you. What each study actually found is in the study itself, and in the plain-language write-ups we are adding.

Appears under: Sleep, energy and the brain

The studies

4 Large controlled trial Assessment of an App-Based Sleep Program to Improve Sleep Outcomes in a Clinical Insomnia Population: Randomized Controlled Trial.
2025 · JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 132 participants
4 Large controlled trial Depression prevention via digital cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia: a randomized controlled trial.
2020 · Sleep · 358 participants
4 Large controlled trial The effects of a sleep-focused smartphone application on insomnia and depressive symptoms: a randomised controlled trial and mediation analysis.
2023 · Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied · 264 participants
5 Repeated evidence The effect of internet-based acceptance and commitment therapy on sleep quality and insomnia in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
2026 · Scientific reports
4 Large controlled trial Effectiveness of one-week internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia to prevent progression from acute to chronic insomnia: A two-arm, multi-center, randomized controlled trial.
2023 · Psychiatry research · 192 participants
4 Large controlled trial Intraindividual variability in sleep schedule: effects of an internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia program and its relation with symptom remission.
2021 · Sleep · 303 participants
4 Large controlled trial Digital cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (dCBT-I): Chronotype moderation on intervention outcomes.
2022 · Journal of sleep research · 1,721 participants
3 Small study in people Investigating the efficacy of digital cognitive behavioural therapy in comparison to a sleep-monitoring application via integrated diary and actigraphy: A randomised-controlled trial.
2025 · Journal of sleep research · 29 participants · manufacturer helped fund this
3 Small study in people Effects of digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia on insomnia severity: a large-scale randomised controlled trial.
2021 · The Lancet. Digital health