SobrMate vs Sober Time: Free Apps Compared

If you searched for a free sobriety counter, you’ve probably seen both SobrMate and Sober Time. They sit in the same category and cover the same basics, so the differences aren’t obvious until you’ve used each one for a few days.

This comparison breaks down how the two apps handle counting, community, ads, and tracking more than one habit, so you can tell which one matches what you’re looking for.

SobrMate and Sober Time are both free sobriety trackers with counters, money saved, a journal, and a community. Both track more than one habit: Sober Time tracks unlimited addictions free, while SobrMate tracks two free and more with Premium. The real differences are ads and community structure. Sober Time’s free tier is ad-supported and its community is one large forum. SobrMate has no ads, and its communities are organized by addiction type with paced posting. Choose Sober Time for a big community and free unlimited counters, SobrMate for an ad-free app with a community built around the habit you’re quitting.

What Sober Time Does Well

Sober Time has been around a long time and built a large user base, with more than a million installs on Google Play and a 4.85 rating from about 42,300 reviews on iOS.

The core features:

• Counters for unlimited addictions, each with its own sober time
• Money saved on each counter
• A relapse log where you can add notes
• A journal for writing about your days
• A community forum where people post and encourage each other

The app is free, supported by ads. Premium costs $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year and removes them, and the home-screen widget has been part of the paid option.

Sober Time’s strength is reach and flexibility. The community is large, so when you post a hard day, people respond. And you can track as many habits as you want without paying anything.

The main trade-off is the ads in the free tier, which can land in moments when you’re already stressed. Removing them means a subscription.

What SobrMate Does Differently

SobrMate keeps the simple free counter that makes Sober Time approachable, drops the ads, and organizes its community differently.

The biggest structural difference is the community. Instead of one shared forum, SobrMate has 27 communities organized by addiction type: alcohol, smoking, vaping, cannabis, gambling, gaming, social media, sugar, and more. You post in the communities that match the habits you track, and posting is paced to about once a week per community, so the feed stays meaningful rather than noisy.

Other features include:

• Two free counters, each with a day count, milestones, and money and time saved
• A daily pledge and a journal where you can log your mood
• Relapse logging that restarts a counter without erasing your history
• No ads anywhere in the free version
• Optional Apple or Google sign-in that keeps your data across devices

Sober Plus, the optional premium tier, adds unlimited counters, private support groups, detailed stats, home-screen widgets, and color themes. It comes as a weekly or yearly subscription or as a one-time lifetime purchase.

SobrMate isn’t trying to be the biggest forum. It’s aimed at people who want an ad-free tracker and a community of people quitting the same thing. If you need to track three or more habits for free, Sober Time does that and SobrMate doesn’t.

SobrMate vs Sober Time: Side-by-Side

SobrMate and Sober Time both answer the same search: a free way to count sober days. Sober Time delivers that with unlimited counters, money saved, a relapse log with notes, a journal, and a large community forum, supported by ads in the free tier, with a $4.99/month or $29.99/year premium that removes them. SobrMate delivers two free counters with money and time saved, a daily pledge, a mood journal, and communities organized by addiction type with paced posting, all without ads; its optional Sober Plus tier adds unlimited counters, private groups, detailed stats, and widgets, and can be bought once instead of subscribed to. In a feature-for-feature comparison, Sober Time wins on community size and on free unlimited counters, while SobrMate wins on having no ads and on communities built around a specific habit. Both are genuinely free to use, so the decision usually comes down to whether ads and community structure matter more to you than the number of free counters.

Here’s the feature breakdown:

Feature	SobrMate	Sober Time
Sober counter	Yes	Yes
Multi-addiction tracking	2 counters free, unlimited with Premium	Unlimited, free
Ads	None	Ads in free tier (premium removes)
Journal	Yes, with optional mood	Yes
Money saved	Yes	Yes
Community	27 communities by addiction type	Large community forum
Home-screen widget	Premium (Sober Plus)	Paid option
Relapse handling	Restarts counter, keeps history	Logs relapses with notes
Premium pricing	Weekly, yearly, or one-time lifetime	$4.99/mo or $29.99/yr
Cost	Free, no ads	Free with ads

Both apps are free, so this isn’t a price decision. It’s about ads, community structure, and how many counters you need without paying.

Which One Fits Your Recovery?

The choice is simpler here than with paid apps, because cost isn’t the deciding factor.

Sober Time is the better fit if:

• You want to track three or more habits without paying
• A large, active community forum matters more than habit-specific communities
• You want a relapse log with notes for each slip
• Ads don’t bother you, or you’ll pay the subscription to remove them

SobrMate is the better fit if:

• You’d rather not see ads while you’re in recovery
• You want to talk with people quitting the same habit, not a general forum
• You want a daily pledge and a mood journal alongside your counters
• If you upgrade, you’d prefer a one-time purchase over a subscription

If a basic free counter is all you’re after, our guide to free sobriety counter apps covers what you get without paying, and our best sobriety apps of 2026 roundup compares the wider field.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sober Time free?

Yes. Sober Time is free and supported by ads. The free version includes unlimited counters, money saved, the relapse log, the journal, and the community forum. Premium costs $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year and removes the ads, and the home-screen widget has been part of that paid option.

Does SobrMate have ads?

No. SobrMate has no ads. The free version includes two counters, money and time saved, milestones, the daily pledge, the mood journal, and the addiction-type communities. Sober Plus, the optional premium tier, adds unlimited counters, private support groups, detailed stats, and widgets.

Can Sober Time track more than one addiction?

Yes. Sober Time tracks unlimited addictions for free, each with its own counter. SobrMate tracks two habits free, with unlimited counters on Sober Plus, so if you need three or more counters without paying, Sober Time has the edge.

Which app has a better community?

It depends on what you want. Sober Time has a large community forum with a lot of activity. SobrMate organizes its community by addiction type, with 27 communities, and paces posting to about once a week per community, so you’re talking with people quitting the same habit in a feed that stays focused. Our sober community app guide compares the options in more detail.

---

Both apps give you a free counter, which is the part that matters most early on. Sober Time gives you unlimited free counters and a big forum, with ads. SobrMate drops the ads and organizes its community around the specific habit you’re quitting.

If you want an ad-free tracker with a community built around your habit, download SobrMate and start your first counter today.