The best Dry January apps for 2027, and who each one suits

What a Dry January app actually needs to do

A month without alcohol is mostly a habit problem, not an information problem. The apps that help are the ones that make three things easy:

• Logging in seconds. If writing down a day takes effort, you stop by the second week.
• Seeing the month at a glance. A calendar of dry days is more motivating than a single number, and it shows where the hard days cluster (Fridays, work events, Sunday evenings).
• Surviving a slip. Many people drink once during Dry January. An app that makes that day feel like “back to zero” is the one people delete. Researchers call the “I’ve blown it, so why stop now” spiral the abstinence violation effect.

Beyond that, it comes down to taste: do you want a community, a structured course, a coach, or just a quiet place to keep an honest record?

Five Dry January apps side by side

Prices for Try Dry, DryPage and I Am Sober are from their US App Store listings in October 2026. Reframe and Sunnyside prices vary by plan and offer, so treat those as ballpark figures.

Who each app suits

Try Dry — the official Dry January app

Try Dry is made and paid for by Alcohol Change UK, the charity that runs Dry January. It is free with no ads and has a lot in it: a units calendar, current and best dry streaks, money and calories saved, badges, mood, sleep and craving trackers, and a free coaching email programme. You need to create an account to use it.

It is built around UK units and UK drinking guidelines. That’s ideal in the UK; in the US it means converting from the standard drinks you know (one US drink is about 1.75 UK units). There’s more on that in Try Dry for US users.

DryPage — a tear-off calendar that keeps the whole month

DryPage is the one I make. Each day is a page: you log how many drinks you had (zero is a page too), tear it off and it joins your month, colored by how much you drank. You see dry days, your dry-day percentage, monthly and yearly views and money saved, and you can add or remove a drink from a home screen widget.

The design choice that matters for January: a drinking day never wipes the month. Your streak of consecutive dry days does restart, but the calendar, the dry-day count and the percentage stay, so 29 dry days out of 31 still looks like what it is. No account, no ads, works offline; your log and notes stay on your phone. Logging is free; Premium adds extras such as file backups and a “Sober since” counter. iPhone only for now (iOS 17.2+, also Apple silicon Macs).

I Am Sober — the big community app for quitting

I Am Sober is one of the most popular sobriety apps on iPhone, with a 4.9 rating from about 189,000 ratings. Its core is a sober-day counter, a daily pledge with an evening review, milestones and a large community of people quitting the same thing. It also works on Apple Watch. It is built for abstinence and for counting days since a sober date, so it fits best if Dry January is the start of quitting rather than a one-month reset. See I Am Sober alternatives if you want to cut back instead.

Reframe — a guided program

Reframe is a paid program with daily lessons, exercises and community, aimed at changing your relationship with alcohol whether you want to cut back or quit. If you like structure and would rather follow a course than design your own month, it’s the most complete option here. It is also the most expensive.

Sunnyside — moderation with check-ins

Sunnyside is aimed at drinking less rather than not at all: you plan your week and check in on how it went. It suits people who want to use January to reset their weekly baseline rather than go fully dry.

How to choose in one minute

• You’re in the UK and want the official challenge → Try Dry.
• You want something simple and private, and you don’t want one drink to “ruin” the month → DryPage.
• You’re quitting for good and want people around you → I Am Sober.
• You want a course and don’t mind paying for it → Reframe.
• Your real goal is drinking less, not zero → Sunnyside, or DryPage with a weekly limit in mind.

Or skip apps entirely: a paper calendar on the fridge works too. We made a free printable Dry January 2027 calendar for exactly that.

Set it up before January 1

1. Install it in December and log a normal week first. That baseline makes February’s comparison honest.
2. Pick one counting rule: a can, a small glass of wine or a shot is one drink; a pint or a large glass is two. Our standard drink calculator helps with the odd ones.
3. Set one daily reminder for the time you usually have your first drink, not first thing in the morning.
4. Decide now what you’ll do after a slip: log it, write one line about what led to it, carry on the next day. Our Dry January guide walks through the whole month.

If you drink heavily every day, talk to a doctor before stopping suddenly — alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous. See our help page for support services.

Frequently asked questions

What is the official Dry January app?

Try Dry, made by Alcohol Change UK, the charity that runs Dry January. It is free, has no ads and requires an account.

Is there a free Dry January app?

Yes. Try Dry is completely free. DryPage and I Am Sober are free to download and use, with optional paid extras.

Which Dry January app doesn’t reset if I drink?

DryPage keeps every day in a calendar, so a drinking day doesn’t erase the month — your dry-day count and percentage stay. Its streak of consecutive dry days does restart. Try Dry also shows a calendar and your best streak alongside the current one.

Do I need an app for Dry January?

No. A paper calendar works. An app mainly helps by making daily logging quick and showing your month at a glance.