Affirmation Apps · Review
I Am Review
The widget-first affirmations app that made positive self-talk a glanceable daily habit.
Our rating
4.4 / 5
Starting price
Free trial, then ~$19.99/yr
Free tier
Yes
Platforms
iOS · Android
Developer
Monkey Taps
Launched
2019
Our verdict
I Am is the slickest "affirmations on your home screen" app, and its widgets and notifications make positive self-talk effortless to encounter all day. It is great for passive reading. What it does not do is let you hear affirmations in your own voice — the technique with the strongest research behind it.
This review is editorial and unsponsored — no affiliate payments influence our ratings. Selfpause makes a wellness app of its own, so where a product competes with us, we say so plainly and let you judge.
I Am, by Monkey Taps, popularized a simple idea executed beautifully: put short affirmations on your phone’s home and lock screen, and push them as notifications, so positivity finds you without effort.
It is one of the most downloaded affirmation apps in the world, and the appeal is obvious — clean typography, categories for everything from confidence to anxiety, and widgets that turn idle phone-checking into a small mental reset.
The model is passive by design: you read affirmations written for you. That is its strength for habit-building and its ceiling for impact, because the most effective affirmation practice is active and personal — which is exactly the gap voice-recording apps aim to fill.
Pros & cons
What we like
- Excellent home- and lock-screen widgets that surface affirmations all day.
- Smart notifications that deliver positive self-talk on a schedule.
- Large categorized library covering confidence, anxiety, love, money, and more.
- Beautiful, minimal design that is pleasant to look at.
- Inexpensive compared with meditation apps.
What we don’t
- Passive only — you read pre-written lines; you cannot record affirmations in your own voice.
- Limited personalization beyond choosing categories and writing your own text.
- No audio practice or layered sessions — it is text-first.
- Free tier is limited and nudges you toward subscribing quickly.
Best for / avoid if
Best for
- →People who want positivity to appear passively throughout the day
- →Anyone who loves home- and lock-screen widgets
- →Beginners testing whether affirmations resonate with them
- →Those who want a cheap, low-effort starting point
Avoid if
- →You want to hear affirmations in your own voice
- →You want guided audio sessions or to layer affirmations with music
- →You want deep personalization of a spoken practice
Pricing
Free
$0
A limited selection of affirmations and basic widgets.
Premium
~$19.99/yr
Full library, all widgets, and custom affirmations.
What I Am is
I Am is a daily-affirmations app built around widgets and notifications. You pick the themes you care about and the app surfaces short positive statements on your home screen, lock screen, and as reminders.
It is text-first and passive: the value is in encountering affirmations frequently and effortlessly, not in any spoken or guided practice.
Why I Am became so popular
I Am nailed distribution. By making affirmations a home-screen widget and a steady drip of notifications, it removed the need to remember to open an app at all — the positivity comes to you.
That frictionlessness is why it spread. The flip side is that reading someone else’s words is the lightest version of the practice; it builds exposure, not ownership.
Home- and lock-screen widgets
Configurable widgets that display a rotating affirmation everywhere you already look.
This is the headline feature and the best-executed version of it in the category. It quietly turns dead phone time into tiny mental resets.
Scheduled notifications
Push notifications deliver affirmations at the frequency and times you choose.
It keeps the habit alive without any effort from you — though, like all notifications, the effect can fade as you start to tune them out.
Where I Am falls behind
Your own voice. Research suggests affirmations land hardest when you hear them in your own voice — something text-and-widget apps cannot offer.
Audio practice. There are no guided spoken sessions or the ability to layer affirmations over music.
Depth of personalization. Beyond categories and custom text, the practice stays shallow.
I Am vs. ThinkUp vs. Selfpause
These three represent the spectrum of the category. I Am is passive and widget-first. ThinkUp lets you record affirmations in your own voice and play them over background music. Selfpause builds the whole experience around recording personalized affirmations in your voice and layering them into mixes.
If you only want positivity to appear on your screen, I Am is excellent. If you believe — as the research suggests — that hearing your own voice is what makes affirmations stick, a recording-first app like Selfpause or ThinkUp is the more powerful tool.
Many people start with a widget app like I Am to test the waters, then move to a voice-based practice once they want affirmations to do more than decorate their lock screen.
Bottom line
I Am is the best passive, widget-based affirmations app and a fine, cheap place to start. If you want affirmations to genuinely reshape your self-talk, a voice-recording app gives you a more active, personal, and research-aligned practice.
Want a daily positivity practice in your own voice? Selfpause lets you record personalized affirmations, layer them with calming music, and keep them on your lock screen.
Try Selfpause FreeAlternatives to I Am
ThinkUp
4.3Record affirmations in your own voice over music.
Read our review →
Calm
4.5If you want guided meditation alongside positivity.
Read our review →
Finch
4.7A gentle, gamified self-care companion.
Read our review →
Frequently asked questions
Is the I Am app worth it?+
For passive, widget-based positivity it is excellent and inexpensive. If you want to record affirmations in your own voice or use guided audio, you will outgrow it.
Can I record my own affirmations in I Am?+
No — I Am is text-first. To hear affirmations in your own voice, you need a recording-based app such as Selfpause or ThinkUp.
I Am vs ThinkUp?+
I Am is better at passive widgets and notifications; ThinkUp is better if you want to record and listen to affirmations in your own voice.
Does I Am have a free version?+
Yes, but it is limited. The full library and all widgets require the inexpensive Premium subscription.
A note on mental health: apps and online services can support wellbeing, but they are not a substitute for professional care. If you are struggling, a licensed professional can help — and if you are in crisis, contact your local emergency number or, in the US, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).
More affirmation apps reviews
Selfpause
4.6Our own app, reviewed with full disclosure — affirmations recorded in your voice, layered with music, kept on your lock screen.
ThinkUp
4.3The affirmations app built on a powerful idea: record positive statements in your own voice and play them back.
Gratitude
4.3A warm three-in-one: gratitude journal, affirmation player, and vision board in a single daily ritual.