sokoon vs Ash: The Two Apps Betting That Talking Helps
Full disclosure: sokoon wrote this, and Ash is the competitor we respect most. Of everything in this category, Ash is closest to sokoon in spirit. Both bet that open conversation beats exercise menus. Both remember you. Both do voice and text. Which means the differences that remain are the real decision points: money, positioning, and what each company promises to do with your words.
The short version
Ash is the better choice if free decides it. It costs nothing as of mid 2026, and it is genuinely good at open conversation. sokoon is the better choice if you want the same conversational depth with a transparent business model, a specific privacy promise, structure around the conversations, and honesty about what this category is and is not allowed to claim.
| sokoon | Ash | |
|---|---|---|
| How it talks | Open conversation with a character matched to you | Open conversation, reflective questions |
| Frameworks | CBT, DBT, Compassionate Support, Action Oriented; 3,000+ clinician reviewed dialogues | Large behavioral health dataset: CBT, DBT, ACT, motivational interviewing |
| Price | Free daily session; $6.99 unlimited text; $14.99 adds voice | Free for now; subscription announced as coming |
| Voice and text | Both | Both |
| Memory | Across sessions, plus Mind Map and Mood Radar | Remembers previous conversations |
| Positioning | Support, explicitly not therapy | Markets itself as AI built for therapy |
| Privacy promise | Encrypted, never sold, never trains models | Read the policy; business model still unsettled |
The case for Ash, made honestly
Ash comes from Slingshot AI, which raised $93 million from investors including a16z and launched publicly in July 2025. The funding shows. The conversations are fluid, the reflective questions land more often than not, and it picks up threads from previous talks. If the cost of entry is what has kept you from trying any of this, Ash removes it entirely, and starting somewhere free beats not starting.
One recurring complaint in Ash reviews is worth knowing before you settle in: users report it often repeats their own words back to them, and rehashes the painful thing rather than giving them anywhere to go with it. Whether that bothers you depends on what you came for. Being heard is sometimes the entire job. But if you keep leaving conversations feeling like nothing moved, that is the reason.
The two questions we would ask before settling in
First, the label. Ash markets itself as an AI built for therapy. We think that is the one claim nobody in this category should make, partly because states like Illinois now prohibit offering therapy through AI, and partly because the claim predicts behavior. An app that stretches its title tends to stretch elsewhere. The moment that matters most in any of these apps is the moment someone is not okay, and that moment rewards the app that spent its honesty budget early. Why sokoon refuses the therapist label is written here.
Second, the money. Free plus $93 million is not a business model, it is a deferred one. Slingshot has said a subscription is coming. Until the model is public, the most sensitive data you produce, your unguarded words about your own mind, sits inside a company that has not yet said how it gets paid. Maybe the answer will be a clean subscription like ours. We hope so. But hope is not a privacy policy, and you deserve the promise in writing before you hand over the archive.
sokoon's model fits in one sentence: the free plan is one full session a day, unlimited text is $6.99, voice is $14.99, and your conversations are encrypted, never sold, and never used to train anyone's model. Boring is a feature in this category.
What surrounds the conversation
Both apps talk well. The difference is what happens after. sokoon turns each session into exercises based on what you actually said, tracks your state on the Mood Radar, and builds a Mind Map of the patterns you keep circling, so progress is something you can see instead of vaguely sense. Ash today is mostly the conversation itself. A very good conversation, but when Tuesday's session connects to Thursday's exercise connects to a pattern you finally spot in week three, the compound effect is the point.
The honest bottom line
Try Ash. It costs nothing and it might fit you. We mean that. Then try sokoon's free session with the same problem and compare how each one holds the thread, what each one asks of you, and which one you trust with the archive of your own head. One conversation each will tell you more than this page can. The wider field is ranked in our list of AI therapy apps.
Two free conversations. One real comparison.
sokoon's free plan is a full session every day, no card. Bring the same thing to both apps and keep whichever one actually helped.