Quick answer: Yes, free CBT-I exists. In the U.S., the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) runs a free online course and two free apps that anyone can use, and Rest's self-guided program is free on iPhone with no subscription and no expiry, available in most countries in both English and Spanish. Australia, New Zealand, and the NHS in the UK fund their own. Every free U.S. option is self-guided with automated feedback; none of them puts a person or a coach in conversation with you. Of the free routes, Rest's is the most complete package. We build Rest, so weigh that as you read.
You have probably already heard that CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) is what actually works for insomnia, and that it is what sleep doctors recommend before any pill [1]. Then you looked into getting it. A course with a specialist is six to eight sessions, the specialists are rare, and the ones that exist are rarely free. A 2016 count found only 752 behavioral sleep medicine providers worldwide, and 105 of the 167 largest U.S. cities had none at all [2]. So the honest question isn't "does CBT-I work?", it's "can I get it without paying?"
You can. This page covers the free routes in the U.S., what each includes, and what kind of support comes with it, plus a short section on free programs in other countries. Full disclosure: we build Rest, which has a free tier that appears below, so read the Rest section knowing that.
What Does Free CBT-I Actually Include?
CBT-I is a structured program that changes the habits and thoughts keeping insomnia going. It rests on five components: sleep restriction (a sleep window matched to how much you actually sleep), stimulus control (bed is for sleep only), cognitive work on the thoughts that keep you wired, relaxation, and sleep education. Most people work through it over six to eight weeks.
Not every free option is a full program. The VA's online course, its Insomnia Coach app, and Rest's free tier each walk you through the whole curriculum on their own. CBT-i Coach is a companion for people already in therapy, and a self-help book covers the method on paper. Three of them turn your sleep diary into a personalized bedtime: the VA course, Insomnia Coach, and Rest.
What varies most is support, and there are three kinds. Automated feedback, where the program reads your diary and adjusts the schedule by rule; every free U.S. option that personalizes works this way. Conversational coaching, where you talk through the week with someone, or something, that knows your data; in the U.S. that is paid, whether the coach is a therapist, a human coach, or Rest's AI coach. And human clinical support funded by a health system, which exists in the UK through the NHS and has no free U.S. equivalent.
Which CBT-I Mobile Apps Are Free?
Three in the U.S., and they are not interchangeable. Under each one we summarize what recent App Store reviewers like and complain about in the free part of each app [3].
Insomnia Coach (VA, iOS and Android) is the self-guided one. The VA states it "was created for everyone, including Veterans and Service members." You follow a five-week Training Plan: log your sleep each morning, read the automated Sleep Coach feedback, and after the first week the app sets a time-in-bed recommendation from your diary. It ships with 17 tools for winding down, quieting your mind, and getting back to sleep [4]. In a pilot randomized trial with 50 Veterans, three quarters kept using the app through six weeks, and 28% reached a clinically meaningful improvement versus 4% on a waitlist [5].
Pros
The structure works for people who finish it: reviewers describe consolidating fragmented sleep into one block and then growing it.
The app is free with no account and no ads.
Cons
The diary rejects irregular schedules: shift workers and people who fall asleep after midnight report error messages.
The bedtime gets pushed later than they wanted, and the prompt to update the schedule every week or two will not be dismissed.
The program simply ends at week five.
As of September 2026: The app was last updated in June 2025 and has under 100 ratings in the App Store, averaging 3.7 stars.
CBT-i Coach (VA, iOS and Android) is a companion, not a program. It launched in 2013, built with Stanford and the Department of Defense. The VA describes it as designed for people "engaged in CBT-I with a mental health care provider" and says it "is not meant to be used for self-care." It gives you the diary, reminders, relaxation tools, and automated feedback between sessions with your therapist [6]. If you are doing it alone, the VA points you to Insomnia Coach instead. You can read more in our full article: Rest vs CBT-i Coach.
Pros
The diary and its export are meant to be shared with a clinician, it generates a spreadsheet you hand your doctor. Clinicians write in to say they use it in practice.
The relaxation audio and accurate education, with no login, no ads, and no paywall.
Cons
The May 2026 (version 3.2) update drew a run of reports of diary entries rewritten or duplicated, Apple Health data overwritten, and the export button spinning without sending.
Nights that end after midnight, or very short nights, get logged wrong.
The sleep plan stays locked when sleep efficiency is low, with a prompt to see a doctor instead.
As of September 2026: The app was last updated in June 2026 and has about 12,000 ratings in the App Store, averaging 4.6 stars.
Rest (iOS, in most countries, English and Spanish) is the most complete free package on this list. The self-guided program is free: no subscription, no trial, and it does not expire. It includes the nightly sleep log, the full education library, the relaxation audio, a sleep window recalculated from your own log as the weeks go on rather than a plan fixed at the start, and the option to share your sleep data with your clinician. Insomnia Coach's Training Plan runs five weeks; Rest's free program has no end date.
Pros
The contact is daily and on their phone, which several say is what kept users on the program.
Reviewers who had paid for therapist-led CBT-I say it follows the same protocol.
It is flexible with irregular schedules and health issues, with no judgment when a night goes wrong.
Several users describe sleeping through the night for the first time in years.
Cons
The wake time is hard to change once set, so start the program during your most usual routine.
Currently only available for iOS (September 2026).
As of September 2026: The app was last updated in September 2026 and has about 2,600 ratings, with more than 2,000 being 5-stars.
The paid subscription to Rest adds Rest's AI coach: daily check-ins in text or voice, available at any hour, that read your log, talk through what happened, and adjust the plan with you. Rest is built on the behavioral principles of CBT-I, plus circadian biology and neuroscience, together with sleep experts from institutions like UCSF and Stanford. Rest has also published its outcomes: in Rest's 2026 outcomes study, 318 users who completed eight weeks of the program went from 75% to 88% sleep efficiency, with time to fall asleep down 52% and time awake at night down 49%, a before-and-after analysis of people who finished. It is a program, not a treatment, and it is not a substitute for medical care.
For a ranked comparison of every CBT-I app, including the prescription ones, see the best CBT-I apps.
Other Ways to Get CBT-I Without Paying
The apps are not the only free door.
Through an employer or health plan. Sleepio is offered as a benefit by many U.S. employers and health plans. Where yours does, you verify eligibility on Big Health's site and use it at no cost, with no prescription involved. SleepioRx is a different product: the FDA-cleared prescription version, ordered by a licensed provider, with cost-sharing that depends on your plan [7]. We cover both in Rest vs Sleepio.
Group CBT-I inside a health system. The VA and some health networks run group CBT-I, and for members it is often covered. Ask your primary care provider whether a behavioral sleep program exists in your network before you assume it doesn't.
A CBT-I self-help book from the library. This is the oldest free route. In a randomized trial of 155 people, a CBT-I self-help book improved sleep more than standard sleep hygiene advice over three months, and the book group used less sleep medication while the sleep hygiene group used more [8].
A research study. University sleep labs recruit adults with insomnia for trials of digital CBT-I, and participants use the program at no cost. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for "insomnia" with "digital" or "app" and your state.
Which apps need a prescription, and where insurance comes in, is covered in Do CBT-I Apps Require Insurance?
Is There Free CBT-I Outside the U.S.?
Yes. If you are not in the U.S., check your own health system first. Three national programs we can verify, plus Rest:
THIS WAY UP Insomnia (Australia). Run by St Vincent's Hospital Sydney and free as a gift of the Curran Foundation. Four online modules, self-paced over about 90 days. If you enroll yourself the program is fully automated; if a clinician prescribes it, they can follow your scores [9].
Just a Thought, Managing Insomnia (New Zealand). A free four-part CBT-I course; a week per lesson is the pace they suggest [10].
Sleepstation (UK). A CBT-I program with support from trained sleep coaches. In many areas it is NHS-commissioned and free to the patient; the CBT-I program itself is available only in the UK [11]. This is the only free solution covered in this article that includes human support.
Rest (most countries). Rest's free program is on the App Store in most countries, in English and Spanish, with the same free tier as in the U.S.: the sleep log, the education library, relaxation audio, a personalized sleep window, and clinician data sharing.
Eligibility rules live on each program's own page and change. Check there before you count on it.
What Does Free CBT-I Not Give You?
The evidence shows that support during CBT-I is not a small thing.
In a Swedish trial, 133 adults with insomnia were randomized to three groups: 45 got a CBT-I self-help book for six weeks, 44 got the same book plus a 15-minute phone call from a therapist each week, and 44 waited. The book alone worked: people fell asleep about 21 minutes faster. With the weekly call it was 35 minutes faster, and the share who reached remission went from 24% to 61% [12]. The study tested one book with and without therapist calls. It says nothing about apps or AI coaches. What it shows is that the same material with someone checking in produced a better result.
That is the fair way to read the free options. They are real CBT-I, and internet-delivered CBT-I as a category has been shown across randomized trials to shorten time to fall asleep, cut time awake at night, and lower insomnia severity [13]. The VA course, Insomnia Coach, and Rest's free tier all personalize the schedule by rule from your diary. What none of the U.S. options includes is someone in the conversation when week two of the sleep window feels worse before it feels better. That is what a therapist, Sleep Reset's human coach, or Rest's AI coach add, and all three are paid.
FAQ
Is CBT-I free?
The method is free to learn, and in the U.S. the VA offers it free in three forms: the Path to Better Sleep online course, the Insomnia Coach app, and the CBT-i Coach app. Rest's self-guided program is also free. Free programs exist in Australia, New Zealand, and through the NHS in the UK. What costs money in the U.S. is a person or a coach in conversation with you.
Is there a free online CBT-I program?
Yes, and most people searching for free CBT-I have never heard of it. The VA's Path to Better Sleep is a self-guided online CBT-I course: free, it runs in a browser on a phone or a laptop, and it asks for no registration or login, so your progress stays on your own device. After five days of diary entries it calculates your sleep prescription and adjusts it at weekly check-ins. It was built for Veterans, anyone can use it, and the VA says it is not a replacement for treatment by a professional [14].
Is CBT-i Coach only for veterans?
No. CBT-i Coach and Insomnia Coach are free and publicly available to anyone on iOS and Android. Path to Better Sleep was built for Veterans but requires no login, so anyone can use it.
Does free online CBT-I work?
Yes. Internet-delivered CBT-I as a category improves time to fall asleep, time awake at night, and insomnia severity across randomized trials [13]. In one trial, adding a weekly therapist call to a self-help book more than doubled remission compared with the book alone, so self-guided works, and support on top of it worked better in that study [12].
Is Sleepio free?
Through a participating employer or health plan, yes: eligible members get Sleepio at no cost and no prescription is involved. SleepioRx, the prescription version, is ordered by a provider and what you pay depends on your plan [7]. Details in our Rest vs Sleepio comparison.
Is the Rest app free?
The self-guided program is free, with no subscription, no trial, and no expiry: sleep log, education, relaxation audio, a personalized sleep window that keeps adjusting, and clinician data sharing. The AI coach and daily check-ins are the paid subscription. Rest is available on iOS.
If you want to start with CBT-I today, get Rest's free program on the App Store »
Disclaimer. This article is published for general information only. It is not medical advice or a diagnosis, and nothing here is a recommendation to take, avoid, or change any supplement or medication. Rest publishes this page and builds one of the options described; inclusion of any program is not an endorsement. Do not start, stop, or adjust a treatment, including a prescribed sleep medication, without talking to your clinician.
Citations
Edinger, J. D., Arnedt, J. T., Bertisch, S. M., et al. (2021). Behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 17(2), 255–262. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.8986 (Strong recommendation for multicomponent CBT-I as first-line treatment.)
Thomas, A., Grandner, M. A., Nowakowski, S., Nesom, G., Corbitt, C., & Perlis, M. L. (2016). Where are the behavioral sleep medicine providers and where are they needed? A geographic assessment. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 14(6), 687–698. https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2016.1173551 (752 providers identified worldwide, 659 in the U.S.; 105 of 167 U.S. cities over 150,000 people had none.)
Apple App Store, U.S. and other English-language storefronts. Written reviews for Insomnia Coach (id 1341944736), CBT-i Coach (id 655918660), and Rest (id 1609977097), September 2025 to September 2026, read in full; rating counts and averages from the U.S. storefront, accessed 11 Sep 2026. Written reviews are a small, self-selected fraction of ratings and skew to the extremes; the themes summarized are what recurs, not how common each is.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for PTSD. Insomnia Coach (app page and flyer). https://www.ptsd.va.gov/appvid/mobile/insomnia_coach.asp (Created for everyone; five-week Training Plan; time-in-bed recommendation after week one; 17 tools; does not replace professional care.)
Kuhn, E., Miller, K. E., Puran, D., et al. (2022). A pilot randomized controlled trial of the Insomnia Coach mobile app to assess its feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy. Behavior Therapy, 53(3), 440–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2021.11.003 (50 U.S. Veterans, six weeks; 28% vs 4% clinically significant improvement; three quarters used the app through six weeks.)
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for PTSD. CBT-i Coach. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/appvid/mobile/cbticoach_app_public.asp (Designed for use with a provider during CBT-I; not meant for self-care; built with Stanford University Medical Center and the Department of Defense.) See also Kuhn, E., Weiss, B. J., Taylor, K. L., et al. (2016). CBT-I Coach: A description and clinician perceptions of a mobile app for cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 12(4), 597–606. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.5700 (Released for iOS in May 2013 and Android in September 2013; free to the general public.)
Big Health. Sleepio: Your no-cost benefit for better sleep and SleepioRx. https://sleepio.bighealth.com/; https://www.bighealth.com/sleepio-rx (accessed Sep 2026). (Sleepio is offered at no cost to eligible members through participating employers and health plans, with eligibility verified by employer name, email, date of birth, and ZIP code. SleepioRx is a prescription digital therapeutic for chronic insomnia made available on the order of a licensed healthcare provider; patient cost-share depends on plan policies.)
Bjorvatn, B., Fiske, E., & Pallesen, S. (2011). A self-help book is better than sleep hygiene advice for insomnia: A randomized controlled comparative study. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 52(6), 580–585. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2011.00902.x (155 adults; three-month follow-up; sleep effect sizes 0.61–0.62 for the book; medication use fell in the book group and rose in the sleep hygiene group.)
THIS WAY UP, St Vincent's Hospital Sydney. Insomnia Program. https://thiswayup.org.au/programs/insomnia-program/ (accessed Sep 2026). (Free of charge as a gift from the Curran Foundation; four online modules, self-paced over 90 days; fully automated when self-enrolled, clinician-monitored when prescribed.)
Just a Thought. Managing Insomnia. https://www.justathought.co.nz/insomnia (accessed Sep 2026). (Free four-part CBT-I course; one lesson per week recommended.)
Sleepstation. Sleepstation: sleep improvement and insomnia course. https://www.sleepstation.org.uk/ (accessed Sep 2026). (CBT-I programme with support from trained sleep coaches; NHS-commissioned and free to the patient in many UK areas; the CBT-I programme is available only in the UK, where it is a Class I UKCA-marked medical device.)
Jernelöv, S., Lekander, M., Blom, K., et al. (2012). Efficacy of a behavioral self-help treatment with or without therapist guidance for co-morbid and primary insomnia: A randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry, 12, 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-12-5 (133 adults randomized to six weeks of CBT-I bibliotherapy with weekly 15-minute therapist calls, n = 44; bibliotherapy alone, n = 45; or waiting list, n = 44. Sleep onset latency improved 35.4 minutes with support vs 20.6 minutes without; remission 61.4% vs 24.4%.)
Zachariae, R., Lyby, M. S., Ritterband, L. M., & O'Toole, M. S. (2016). Efficacy of internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 30, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2015.10.004 (Category-level evidence for internet-delivered CBT-I across randomized trials; not a test of any specific program on this page.)
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Path to Better Sleep (My HealtheVet overview) and Path to Better Sleep Web Course Guidebook (Dec 2021). https://www.myhealth.va.gov/ss20190321-path-to-better-sleep; https://www.veterantraining.va.gov/insomnia/ (Free, anonymous, mobile-friendly, no registration; six-week CBT-I course built for Veterans; the sleep prescription is calculated after five days of diary entries and adjusted at four weekly Sleep Check-ins; not a replacement for professional treatment.)