Couples Apps · Review
Lasting Review
Couples counseling’s curriculum, app-sized — research-based sessions for communication, conflict, and intimacy.
Our rating
4.2 / 5
Starting price
Free intro, then ~$29.99/mo
Free tier
Yes
Platforms
iOS · Android
Developer
Lasting (Talkspace)
Launched
2017
Our verdict
Lasting adapts the research canon of couples therapy — heavily Gottman-flavored — into guided programs: assess your relationship across dimensions, then work sessions on communication, conflict cycles, intimacy, and repair, ideally with both partners comparing answers. It is the most substantive self-guided couples program; it is still not therapy, and it knows where its ceiling is.
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.
Where Paired sparks conversation, Lasting teaches frameworks. An intake assessment maps your relationship across research-backed dimensions; programs then deliver session-style lessons — emotional calls and responses, conflict de-escalation, repair attempts, intimacy rebuilding — with exercises both partners complete and compare.
The content honors its sources: Gottman-style concepts (bids, flooding, the four horsemen) translated into plain interactive sessions. Owned by Talkspace, it sits one referral away from human counseling when the app reaches its limits.
Solo use is possible and half-useful; the design assumes two. For motivated couples with real but workable issues, it is the strongest program in app form — and honest enough to point heavier cases toward therapy.
Pros & cons
What we like
- Research-grounded curriculum — recognizably Gottman-informed.
- Assessment maps strengths and gaps before prescribing.
- Both-partner exercises with answer comparison.
- Covers the real terrain: conflict, intimacy, money, repair.
- Clear about when therapy should take over.
What we don’t
- Monthly price accumulates past many books and courses.
- Needs both partners’ genuine engagement.
- Session format can feel homework-like.
- Not a substitute for therapy in serious distress.
Best for / avoid if
Best for
- →Couples with recurring friction ready to work on patterns
- →Partners who want structure beyond conversation prompts
- →Therapy-curious couples testing the waters
- →Maintenance after counseling ends
Avoid if
- →You want light daily connection — Paired
- →Contempt, betrayal, or crisis is present — human therapy
- →One partner is fully checked out
Pricing
Intro
Free
Assessment and starter content.
Premium
~$29.99/mo (covers both)
All programs and sessions; discounts on longer terms.
What Lasting is
Lasting is a self-guided couples program adapting research-based (notably Gottman) methods into app sessions: assessment, lessons, and paired exercises across the core relationship skills.
It is the curriculum layer between conversation apps and couples therapy.
Why frameworks beat prompts for stuck patterns
Drifting couples need conversation; cycling couples need to see the cycle. Lasting teaches the diagnostic vocabulary — bids missed, flooding, harsh startups — that lets partners catch the pattern mid-spin.
Naming the four horsemen at your own kitchen table is the app’s real product; the sessions exist to make that moment happen.
Relationship assessment
A research-based intake maps your relationship across communication, conflict, intimacy, and more.
Prescription beats browsing — the map decides where work starts.
Paired program sessions
Interactive lessons with exercises both partners answer and compare.
The comparison is where insight lands — two honest answers to the same question teach more than any lecture.
Where Lasting falls behind
Depth ceiling. Serious distress needs a human in the room.
Engagement asymmetry. Half-hearted partners stall the format.
Cost over time. A year of Lasting approaches real counseling co-pays.
Lasting vs. Paired vs. couples therapy
The escalation ladder: Paired maintains, Lasting trains, therapy treats.
Choose Lasting when patterns repeat but goodwill survives — the zone where structured self-help genuinely moves couples.
Past that zone, its own assessment will likely tell you: get a counselor. Listen to it.
Bottom line
Lasting is the most substantive couples program an app can deliver — real frameworks, both partners working. Use it in the repairable middle; honor its ceiling when things are heavier.
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 Lasting
Paired
4.3The light daily-question ritual.
Read our review →
Talkspace
4.2Human couples therapy, online.
Read our review →
Stoic
4.2Individual reflection feeding the partnership.
Read our review →
Frequently asked questions
Is Lasting based on the Gottman Method?+
Its curriculum is clearly informed by Gottman research — bids, flooding, the four horsemen — translated into self-guided sessions, alongside broader couples-science sources.
Can we use it instead of marriage counseling?+
For recurring-but-workable friction, it may be enough. For betrayal, contempt, or crisis, no — and the app itself will point you to human help.
Does it work if only I use it?+
Partially — you can learn the frameworks solo. The comparison exercises, where the real insight lives, need both of you.
Lasting or Paired?+
Lasting to change patterns; Paired to stay connected. Many couples use Paired daily and Lasting when something needs work.
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).