In this Relish app review, we share our thoughts on whether or not their subscription is worth your time and money. 

Honestly, the Relish app is our direct competitor. As couple’s health coaches with our own program, Just Duo It, we had high expectations.

So, here is our honest review of this relationship therapy app. 

relish app review

Relationship building is something that Ryan and I research and experiment with as our careers. So when we started compiling the best apps for married couples, one really stuck out: Relish.

For two years, we ranked Relish #1 for the best marriage therapy app. We wrote this Relish app review after using it for several months, but since then the company has changed and we have continued testing new apps.

While Relish is still a great app, unfortunately the company is stagnant and no longer investing in development and growth of the service. While the content is still helpful, we’ve now ranked Hey Ritual as our #1.

The service is far superior, and our Ritual relationship therapist helped us solve the our 12-year recurring argument. The couple’s therapy via Ritual was groundbreaking!

Hold up… couple’s therapy? For most, these might seem like the worst two words in the world. How unhappy does a couple have to be to go to marriage therapy?

Not unhappy. Not unhappy at all.

Truth be told, therapists recommend starting therapy when things are good, not bad.

Instead of therapy, we like to think of it as coaching or training.

Relationship Coaching Not Therapy

Just as we’re health and fitness coaches who help couples work out and get healthy together, therapists are coaches for your relationship.

Like with any activity, opting for a coach means you want to improve. And who doesn’t want the most fantastic relationship possible? I know we do!

Relationship coaching isn’t intimidating, daunting, or embarrassing. Instead, think of it as a fun, personal development that you can do together, or even alone.

But if you truly need the guidance and support, you have to get help, whether through an app like Relish or in person.

According to relationship and marriage expert Dr. John Gottman, the average couple puts up with six years of a less-than-perfect marriage before getting help. We think the optimal time is zero years.

Before we get into our Relish app review, we want to share that this isn’t a sponsored post.

We downloaded and paid for the Relish app and think it’s excellent. If you choose to download the app, we’d appreciate it if you head to the app store through our links in this article, as we will get a small commission (at no cost to you). Thanks!

What is the relish app?

To us, it feels like a game, with fun graphics, interactive quizzes, and interesting lessons. Like your daily dose of a 3-minute TedTalk.

What’s unique about Relish — and what makes it stand out from other apps we’ve used — is that you have the option to be linked with a real-life, accredited relationship coach. That’s what we did.

Assigned Relationship Coach

Ryan and I signed up for Relish’s monthly premium subscription to have access to our own personal coach.

Before being assigned a relationship coach, both Ryan and I took a relationship health quiz. After individually taking this 10-minute assessment, the Relish app shared our “Relationship Health Score.”

Fortunately, both Ryan and I were in the “Green Zone,” and we were assigned coaches accordingly. 

The Green Zone – “Although your relationship isn’t perfect, there are many things about it that work.

But all too often, when things are going okay, we let them run on auto-pilot.

The key is to focus on growing more mindful and present, gaining new insight into each other, and deepening your connection and prioritizing fun.”

My coach, JoAnn, is a life coach with a doctorate in counseling psychology. Ryan’s coach — yup, we have different ones! — is Munni who is another accredited life coach.

The other coaches on the Relish roster include both men and women, specializing in mental health, family studies, trauma, and marital dysfunction.

Individual Coaching and Lessons

Ryan and I each happen to have a different coach, but depending on your goals, often you and your partner will have the same coach. Either way, we each have different, customized lessons from our coaches.

Plus, our conversations with our coaches are still confidential, freeing us to open up and ask personal questions.

So while we have our apps linked, we’re on individual, personalized tracks. As the app learns more about us as individuals, it’s constantly presenting new opportunities to strengthen our bond and spice up our marriage. 

Ryan and I are both labradors. How cute are we?

Relish is for everyone in a committed relationship. The lessons are embedded in health, science, and psychology, not religion.

And, based on the results of 2,942 other Relishers (at the time of writing this Relish app review), 5 minutes a day can drastically increase your relationship health in 12 weeks. 

How much does the relish app cost?

To put that in perspective, Thumbtack.com estimates that 10-sessions with an in-person therapist would run you $350-$1950 in the US.

There’s a free 7-day trial, and then Relish is only $99 for two people for six months for a basic membership. Yes, when you subscribe to Relish, a free account for your partner is included.

For unlimited access to your personal coach, you can sign up monthly for a premium membership of $156 per couple in addition to the $99 basic 6-month membership cost.

Again, with an awesome app that plays like a personal development game and unlimited access to your relationship therapist, this was a no-brainer for us.

That means, if you use Relish 300-times in the next six months (which is how many lessons there currently are), you’re only paying $0.33 per session, per couple! Throw in a personal therapist which you and your partner interact with weekly, and the price is only $39 a session!

Ryan and I don’t really have “problems” but we still have reoccurring arguments and want to get closer and improve. For us, it’s been worth every penny.

What better thing is there to invest in than your relationship and family?

The Relish — Relationship Coach app is the same price of $99 for 6 months whether or not you do it alone or with your partner.

While this is more affordable than our new favorite relationship coaching app, Hey Ritual, it’s far less helpful since you don’t have video call access to a professional relationship therapist.

Relish App Review: What if you don’t need “therapy”?

Since you are reading this Relish app review, you’re probably already over this hurdle. However, your partner may need some convincing.

We view our Relish subscription as coaching, not therapy. Same as your fitness coach, Relish helps you work the muscles of your relationship.

If you’re weirded out by working with a counselor, don’t be. It’s casual, friendly, and super fascinating.

For both Ryan and I, this is the first time in our lives that we’ve interacted with a therapist. We send messages and questions about our lessons with our Relish coaches. I’ve also written longer emails with my coach, and she responds shortly after.

For me, it helped that this was done virtually through email and messages. It takes the pressure off, and you have time to compose your thoughts.

Plus, the anonymity is freeing. It’s not like you’ll run into your relationship therapist at the grocery store! So, Ryan and I have both found it easy to talk openly and ask questions about our relationship, independently.

The responses back from my relationship coach are personal and to me. Typically, she’ll ask more questions, offer some advice and strategies, and send me specific lessons to try.

What is it like to use the Relish app?

When I say “lessons,” don’t think of it as homework. There’s no deadline and the lessons are quick. They’re more like awesome TedTalks, easy to implement strategies, or thoughtful questions to ask your spouse.

For example, here’s what is in my queue today:

• ~ You’ve Got Mail from Ryan ~
• Lesson: The Tiny Trick That Transforms Self-Worth
• Quiz: Do You Support Each Other’s Healthy Lifestyles?
• Lesson: Re-Wire Your Brain For Happiness
• Date Night: Put On Your Detective Cap

I need to complete these lessons before my next part of the plan is revealed by my coach.

While I have access to the full library of lessons, the ones on my home screen are the ones my coach has chosen for me, based on our messages and quizzes.

Mail From Your Partner

Let’s start with my mail from Ryan. After finishing a lesson, you have two options: send it on to your partner and/or answer a prompt that is shared with your partner.

You and your partner are not taking the same lessons. You’re both on a customized path created by your relationship coach. But, if a lesson resonates with you, you can send it over to your partner.

My piece of mail today from Ryan was answering a prompt about coming from different cultural backgrounds. In a few sentences, Ryan shared one thing he loves and celebrates about his culture.

Structured Lessons

Next, let’s move onto my lesson: Re-wire Your Brain For Happiness.

On average, I’d say each lesson takes me around 3-5 minutes to complete. Each lesson within the Relish app is set up like this:

1. Activity

An action item. Today’s was to write down 5 things I’m grateful for and to share with Ryan.

Other examples we loved was sharing the first three things you noticed about your partner when you met for the first time and thinking of a new bucket list ideas that you’ll check off together. 

2. Reading

This is the BEST part and what makes this app exceptional (besides having real-life access to relationship coaches!) As engineers, Ryan and I geek out about the science and research and Relish delivers.

Today, I learned from Relish that an Indiana University study asked a group of couples going through counseling to write a letter of gratitude.

That group later reported significantly better mental health and had greater brain activity in the area associated with learning and decision-making.

Sign. Me. Up! This content really impressed us. It’s why we review the Relish app so highly. 

3. Analysis

A deeper dive into the science and research, if you choose to read it. We always do and you should too. 

4. Try It

This is where and when you do your activity. For today, I was given a text box to write up what I’m grateful for. Afterward, it asked me if I’d like to share my list with Ryan or save it in my private journal.

5. Complete

Here you can rate the lesson, ask your Relish coach a question, and write notes for your journal.

Date Night

Finally, I clicked on “Date Night: Put On Your Detective Cap.” Along with a funny meme of Will Smith, the Relish app recommended that I make a reservation at an Escape Room.

Having done them before, I know how fun they are. Good recommendation!

Relish App Review: Is it worth it?

Yes, for the money, the Relish app is still awesome and innovative. We recommend it whether you’re on the brink of divorce or a couple still on their honeymoon.

Ryan and I, with our work at Ryan and Alex Duo Life, have done it all: we’ve read dozens of relationship books, taken all of the Love Language quizzes, and even a sex and communication MasterClass.

We’ve watched the movies recommended by relationship psychologists and talk about all things life, love, money, and happiness.

Before we got married, we underwent forty hours of marriage prep as required by our church (that’s what you get for living in Texas!)

Relish is all of these things and much more since you have a real-life relationship coach.

Even after reading all of this relationship stuff, we learn from the app and love that every lesson is grounded in research.

For the price, Relish is a good value. However, for results, we personally subscribe to Hey Ritual instead. Our Ritual therapist solved our 12-year recurring argument (Relish did not).

For our full experience and story using the Hey Ritual app, check out our review.

I have questions. What do I do?

Ask away in the comments section and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible and address your question in this article accordingly.

For more great marriage and relationship tools, such as the best books for couples to read together or the best online couples massage class, please visit our Healthy Couples page.