Last reviewed: March 2026 | Verdict: Strong relationship education, weak real-time conflict support
Quick Verdict
| Rating | 3.5 / 5 |
| Best for | Couples who want structured relationship education at their own pace |
| Skip if | You need help during actual conflicts or want real-time guidance |
| Price | $29.99/month, $59.99/3 months, $89.99/6 months |
| Free trial | 7 days |
| Platforms | iOS, Android |
| Both partners | Yes, one subscription |
For a dedicated cost breakdown, see our Lasting app pricing guide.
Lasting is a well-built self-guided counseling app with hundreds of structured sessions, live workshops, and a genuinely useful relationship assessment. It’s thorough, research-backed, and well-designed for couples who will commit to regular sessions together.
Where it falls short: when the actual fight happens. Lasting teaches you about conflict patterns during calm moments, but it has no mechanism to help you when those patterns are playing out in real time. For a product marketed as “marriage counseling,” that’s a significant gap.
What Is Lasting?
Lasting is a self-guided relationship education app, owned by Talkspace since 2020. Founded by Steve Dziedzic in 2017, it was selected as Apple’s “App of the Day” and has been downloaded over 3 million times. The app brands itself as the “#1 marriage counseling app,” though it contains no actual counseling: no therapist access, no messaging with professionals, and no clinical guidance.
What it does offer is a structured curriculum. After both partners complete a relationship assessment, the app generates a personalized learning path across topics like communication, conflict, emotional connection, sexual desire, trust, money, family culture, and appreciation.
The Experience
Onboarding and Assessment
The best part of Lasting is where it starts. Both partners download the app, link accounts via invite code, and independently complete an assessment covering multiple relationship dimensions. The results identify your growth areas and generate a personalized plan.
This assessment genuinely shapes your experience. Unlike apps that give everyone the same content, Lasting adapts based on where your relationship needs attention. If your scores reveal a disconnect in how you handle conflict but strong alignment on finances, your recommended path reflects that.
Sessions
Lasting calls its content “Series,” and there are hundreds of them organized by topic. Each series contains multiple sessions that blend psychoeducation (explaining concepts and research), reflection questions, and exercises designed for you and your partner to complete together.
Sessions are mostly text-based with occasional audio clips. They’re designed in short chunks (5-10 minutes) so you can fit them into a busy schedule. The content is well-written and grounded in relationship research, though it leans heavily on explaining concepts rather than providing interactive tools.
The structure follows a pattern: learn a concept, reflect on how it shows up in your relationship, share your answers with your partner, discuss. It works well for couples who are comfortable with structured conversations and willing to set aside regular time together.
Workshops
One of Lasting’s stronger features. Therapist-led workshops are available live via Zoom or as on-demand recordings. Topics range from “Addressing Feelings of Guilt” to “Practicing Direct & Kind Communication.”
In live sessions, participants aren’t on camera but can see the therapist and their presentation. A chat box allows real-time interaction, and a Q&A section lets you submit questions. Activities are woven throughout and take about two minutes each.
The workshops add a human element that the self-guided sessions lack. They’re the closest thing to actual therapy in the app, though they’re group sessions, not personalized to your specific situation.
Daily Conversation Starters
A lighter feature that gives you a daily topic to discuss with your partner. In theory, it keeps the app relevant between formal sessions. In practice, several reviewers report persistent bugs: messages from partners not appearing, topics failing to load, and alerts that lead to blank screens.
What Lasting Does Well
Assessment-based personalization. The intake quiz meaningfully shapes your experience. This isn’t a gimmick. Your recommended path, session order, and focus areas all reflect your actual relationship dynamics.
Content depth. Hundreds of sessions across a wide range of topics means there’s always more to explore. Couples who stick with the app for months will find material that stays relevant as their relationship evolves.
Workshop access. Live therapist-led workshops with anonymous Q&A add genuine value, especially for couples who want professional input without committing to (or paying for) full therapy.
Both partners included. One subscription covers both, with features designed for comparing answers and sparking conversation. The “overlap” view that shows where your responses diverge is particularly useful.
Research foundation. Lasting’s content draws from established relationship science. The 94% statistic they cite (couples reporting new relationship strengths) comes from their own user data, but the underlying frameworks are well-established.
Where Lasting Falls Short
No help during actual conflicts. This is the fundamental gap. Lasting teaches you about conflict patterns, soft startups, repair attempts, and emotional regulation. But when you’re mid-argument at 11pm and everything you learned has evaporated, the app has nothing to offer. As one App Store reviewer put it: “We felt that we were left on our own for those questions where we did not agree. You are just left hanging without much guidance as to how to get through the conflict.”
Self-guided means self-motivated. Multiple reviewers note the accountability problem. Without appointment times or check-ins from a professional, it’s easy to let sessions slide. One reviewer described the core tension well: “You’re getting a less expensive, more convenient form of counseling, but with that comes less urgency to actually participate.”
Mostly text-based. For an app in 2026, the heavy reliance on text with occasional audio feels dated. The content is good, but the delivery could be more engaging.
Bug reports. The daily conversation feature has documented issues: partner messages not appearing, topics failing to load, workshops not linking to relevant sessions. These are quality-of-life problems that haven’t been fully resolved.
No real-time interaction. Even the workshops are passive from the participant’s side: you can submit questions via chat, but there’s no back-and-forth dialogue about your specific situation.
Talkspace ownership context. Lasting is owned by Talkspace, and when issues exceed the app’s scope, Talkspace Couples Therapy is part of the same broader company ecosystem. That is not automatically bad, but it does mean buyers should keep the product boundary clear: Lasting is self-guided education, not a therapy plan.
Who Should Use Lasting?
It’s a good fit if:
- You want structured relationship education, not crisis intervention
- Both partners are motivated to do regular sessions together
- Your relationship challenges are about growth and prevention, not active crisis
- You value learning the “why” behind relationship dynamics
- You want access to therapist-led workshops at a fraction of therapy pricing
- You’re comfortable with text-heavy, self-paced learning
It’s not a good fit if:
- Your main issue is how you fight and recover during conflicts
- You need help in the moment, not as a lesson you do later
- One partner is significantly less engaged (the app requires active participation from both)
- You need personalized clinical guidance, not general education
- You’re looking for real-time support at 11pm on a Sunday
How Lasting Compares
| Feature | Lasting | LoveFix | Regain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Self-guided education | AI-guided conflict repair | Licensed therapist |
| Cost | $15-30/month | $9.99/month | $260-400/month |
| Therapist access | Group workshops only | AI guide (Sage) | 1-on-1 licensed therapist |
| Real-time help | No | Yes, 24/7 | By appointment |
| Best for | Structured learning | Conflict repair | Clinical issues |
| Both partners | Shared sessions | Separate private spaces | Joint sessions |
| Assessment | Yes (personalized path) | Yes (personalized guidance) | Therapist-led intake |
| Actively maintained | Yes | Yes | Yes |
A Different Approach: LoveFix
Lasting is strong at what it does: teaching couples about their relationship through structured, research-backed education. If your challenge is “we don’t understand our patterns,” Lasting addresses that well.
But most couples searching for relationship help aren’t looking for a curriculum. They’re looking for help because last night’s fight went off the rails and they don’t know how to come back from it.
LoveFix was built for that moment. Gottman-based AI guidance during and after conflicts. Both partners get private space to process before receiving shared insights. Available when the conflict is happening, not as a lesson you revisit next week.
At $9.99/month, it costs a third of Lasting’s monthly rate and focuses on the skill most couples need most: knowing what to do when things go wrong.
FAQ: Lasting App Review
Is Lasting actually couples counseling?
No. Lasting is self-guided relationship education. There’s no individual or couples counseling, no therapist messaging, and no personalized clinical guidance. The workshops are group sessions, not therapy. Lasting uses the word “counseling” in its marketing, but the experience is closer to an interactive online course.
Does Lasting work for serious relationship problems?
Lasting can help with communication gaps, emotional disconnection, and general relationship growth. For serious issues like infidelity, abuse, addiction, or mental health crises, the app itself recommends seeking professional therapy. If your relationship is in crisis, a licensed therapist is the right starting point.
Can I use Lasting without my partner?
You can complete sessions independently, but Lasting is designed for both partners. The comparison features, shared answers, and discussion prompts lose most of their value if only one person participates.
How long does it take to see results?
Lasting’s own data claims 94% of couples report new relationship strengths. Most reviews suggest meaningful changes within 2-4 weeks of consistent use, though the accountability challenge means many couples don’t maintain that consistency.
Is the 7-day free trial worth it?
Yes. The assessment alone is worth the time, as it gives you genuine insight into where your relationship stands. You can evaluate the session quality and workshop format without paying.
The Bottom Line
Lasting is a solid 3.5/5. The content is well-researched, the assessment-based personalization is genuinely useful, and the workshop access adds real value. It earns its position as one of the better relationship education apps on the market.
The honest limitation is in what it doesn’t do. Teaching couples about conflict and helping them through conflict are two different things, and Lasting only does the first. If your relationship needs education, Lasting delivers. If your relationship needs intervention, you need something that works in the moment.