The best Stoptober app is the one you will actually open on day 3, when withdrawal is usually at its worst, and again on day 21, when you feel fine and your guard drops. For most people in England that means running the free NHS Quit Smoking app, which is built around the 28-day challenge. Many add a second app that logs cravings and learns their risky hours. This guide shows what each one does, how to set them up before 1 October, and how to use them week by week so day 29 is not the day the streak ends.
What to Look for in a Stoptober App
Stoptober asks you to stop smoking for 28 days, not forever, and that framing is deliberate. When the campaign launched in 2012, the government pointed to research showing that people who stop for 28 days are 5 times more likely to stay smokefree. So a Stoptober app has one job: to get you to day 28 without a lapse turning into a relapse.
The campaign itself has a track record. An evaluation of the first Stoptober found about 50% more quit attempts in October 2012 than in other months that year, 9.6% versus 6.6%. The authors estimated about 350,000 extra quit attempts (Brown et al., Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2014). Quitting alongside thousands of others is part of why October works as a quit month. An app is how you keep that shared momentum going when you are alone at 10pm with a craving.
Judge any app against the moments that actually end Stoptober attempts:
- A visible count from day 1 to day 28. The goal is a number, so you should be able to see it.
- Something to do in the next five minutes. A craving needs a breathing exercise, a distraction or a timer. An article to read later does not help.
- A plan for a slip. One cigarette on day 9 should not wipe the screen back to zero and tell you that you failed.
- A record of your triggers. Knowing your cravings cluster after lunch or on Friday nights lets you plan week 2 better than week 1.
- A route to real help. The best apps point you to stop smoking services, medicines and helplines instead of trying to replace them.
The Official NHS Quit Smoking App: What It Does
The NHS Quit Smoking app is published by the Department of Health and Social Care and is free on Android and iPhone. Its Google Play listing describes it as “a 28 day programme” with practical support, encouragement and tailored clinical advice. It gives you a guide each week, “broken down into manageable chunks”, with missions to complete. The listing is tagged Smokefree and Stoptober and was last updated in September 2026.
The NHS Better Health site sums up what it does in three points: track your progress, see how much you are saving, and get daily support. That makes it a natural first install. It follows the same 28 days and sits inside a wider NHS offer that includes the Personal Quit Plan and local Stop Smoking Services.
Its store summary does not describe a craving diary that learns from your own patterns. If you want to see why you nearly smoked on Tuesday and when you are likely to be tested next, look for an app that logs each craving with its trigger. We compare the two apps feature by feature in iQuit vs the NHS app in detail. The short version for October is below.
NHS Better Health made this short Stoptober film about what motivates people to take part.
iQuit: What It Adds for the 28 Days
iQuit: Stop Smoking & Quit is free to download on Google Play and the App Store. It is built for the moment-to-moment part of quitting. For a Stoptober month, the features that matter most are these:
- Real-time dashboard. Days smoke-free, cigarettes avoided, money saved and life regained, updating as you go. Your Stoptober day count is always one tap away.
- Craving logging with triggers and intensity. Each craving takes seconds to record. By the end of week 1 you have a map of your risky situations instead of a vague memory of a bad few days.
- SOS craving support. Breathing exercises, grounding, distraction tips, craving timers, a virtual cigarette and craving surfing. You can reach them quickly when a craving spikes. Our guide to the SOS button shows how it works.
- Predictive craving forecasts. The app learns the hours you tend to struggle and nudges you before them, not after.
- Streak shields and slip recovery. A lapse is logged and learned from rather than erasing your month. Read more about how streak shields protect a slip.
- Daily missions, milestones and a health-recovery timeline, plus an AI coach with free daily messages and a moderated community.
Premium adds structured challenges, including the 7-Day Shield and 21-Day Habit Breaker, as well as unlimited AI coaching, advanced craving analytics and smart craving-prevention alerts. Premium starts with a 7-day free trial ($6.99/month, $39.99/year or $79.99 lifetime). Everything you need to track the 28 days, log cravings and use SOS tools is in the free version.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Neither app is a medicine or a stop smoking adviser, and both are free to start. The real difference is structure versus personal data. The NHS app gives you a program to follow, and iQuit gives you a record of your own cravings to learn from.
| What you need in October | NHS Quit Smoking | iQuit |
|---|---|---|
| Built around the 28-day goal | Yes, a 28-day program with weekly guides | Day counter and milestones; the 21-Day Habit Breaker is Premium |
| Progress and money saved | Yes | Yes, with multi-currency savings goals |
| Daily tasks | Weekly missions and daily support | Morning, afternoon and evening missions |
| Craving log with trigger and intensity | Not described in the store summary | Yes, plus a mood journal |
| In-the-moment craving tools | Practical support and advice | SOS: breathing, grounding, timers, virtual cigarette |
| What happens after a slip | Promises to pick you up if you stumble | Streak shields and slip recovery |
| Forecasts of risky hours | Not described in the store summary | Yes, learned from your logs |
| Links to NHS services | Part of the NHS Better Health offer | Quitline access; use NHS services alongside it |
| Cost and platforms | Free, Android and iPhone | Free core, optional Premium; Google Play and App Store |
If you are choosing among other Android apps too, our round-up of the best Android quit apps covers the wider field.
Setting up this week? Install iQuit before 1 October, enter your quit date and what you smoke, and log your cravings for the last few days of September. By day 1 the app already knows your first risky hours. Free on Google Play and the App Store.
Setting Up Before 1 October
The last week of September is the best time to install apps, because you can set them up without the pressure of withdrawal. Work through this list over two or three evenings, alongside the quit-day checklist for the final 24 hours.
- Pick your support first, then your apps. NHS Better Health says expert help makes you 3 times more likely to quit for good. Book your local Stop Smoking Service or talk to a pharmacist about NRT, a vape or a nicotine-free medicine now. Services often start support a few weeks before the quit date.
- Install the NHS Quit Smoking app and set 1 October as your start date so its weekly guides line up with the campaign.
- Install iQuit and enter the same date, your usual daily amount and what a pack costs you, so the money-saved figure is your own.
- Log a few days of smoking before you stop. Note each cigarette’s time and trigger. Five days of real data will make your first forecasts and your week 1 plan far more accurate.
- Try the SOS tools while calm. Run one breathing exercise and one craving timer now so they feel familiar on day 3.
For the day-by-day plan itself, follow the 28-day Stoptober plan. This article sticks to the tools.
Using the App Through Day 3, the First Weekend and Day 21
The NHS says withdrawal symptoms are usually strongest in the first week, especially the first 3 days, and last 3 to 4 weeks on average. Common symptoms include cravings, restlessness, poor sleep, irritability and low mood. That tells you when to lean on your apps hardest.
| Stage | What usually happens | What to do in the apps |
|---|---|---|
| Days 1–3 | Withdrawal builds; strongest early on (NHS) | Log every craving, even ones you beat. Use an SOS breathing exercise or a craving timer instead of waiting it out. |
| Days 4–7 | Cravings are still frequent but you have beaten some | Complete the NHS week 1 guide. Check which triggers repeat in your iQuit log. |
| First weekend | Routines change: pubs, visits, lie-ins | Plan each high-risk event from your trigger list. Check your forecast for the evening. |
| Days 8–20 | Fewer cravings, some sharp ones, poorer sleep for some | Keep logging and do the daily missions. Watch the money-saved figure grow. |
| Day 21 | Feeling fine; the “just one” thought appears | Re-read your week 1 log to remember how hard it was. Premium users can finish the 21-Day Habit Breaker. |
| Days 22–28 | The 28-day goal is in sight | Plan day 29 now. Keep the SOS tools on your home screen. |
Day 3
Day 3 falls inside the window the NHS describes as the hardest, so keep the app on your home screen. When a craving starts, open an SOS exercise and run a craving timer before deciding anything. If withdrawal feels unmanageable, that is a signal to add NRT or speak to your Stop Smoking Service, not a sign that you cannot quit. England’s National Smokefree Helpline is on 0300 123 1044.
The first weekend
Weekends remove the structure that got you through the working week. Look at your trigger log on Friday afternoon and write one if-then plan for each risky event. For example: “If I am offered a cigarette in the beer garden, I will go inside and open the app.” The craving forecast then warns you when your usual weekend hours arrive.
Day 21
Three weeks in, the danger shifts from withdrawal to overconfidence. Scroll back to the intensity scores you logged on day 2 and remember why you do not want to start again.
Day 29: Keeping the Streak After Stoptober
The 28-day goal is a finish line for the campaign, not for your addiction. The NHS notes that some people feel withdrawal for a few months. Campaign-built tools also naturally become less central once October ends. A plan for day 29 matters for that reason.
- Keep your counter running. Do not reset or delete anything on 29 October. Seeing day 30, day 60 and day 100 is its own motivation, and the health-recovery timeline keeps adding milestones for years.
- Switch from daily logging to logging only cravings. It takes less time and still catches new triggers, such as the first cold evening or the office party season.
- Set your next goal. A savings goal for what the money is going toward works well in November.
- Decide in advance what a slip means. If it happens, log it, note the trigger and carry on. Streak shields exist so one cigarette does not undo four weeks.
- Keep your medicines on course. If you started NRT or a prescription in October, finish the full course your pharmacist or GP advised, even though Stoptober has ended.
If you feel steady by November, you are joining a large group of people who have stopped. Our UK smoking statistics page shows how many adults have already quit.
Stoptober App FAQ
What is the official Stoptober app?
The NHS Quit Smoking app, published by the Department of Health and Social Care, is the government app linked to the campaign. Its Google Play listing describes a free 28-day program with weekly guides, missions and tailored advice, tagged Smokefree and Stoptober. It is available on Android and iPhone (Google Play listing, checked September 2026).
Can I use two quit smoking apps at the same time?
Yes. Many people follow the NHS app’s 28-day program and use a second app such as iQuit for detailed craving logs, SOS tools and slip recovery. Give each a clear job so you are not entering the same thing twice, and set the same quit date in both.
Why does Stoptober last 28 days?
The government has said since the first campaign in 2012 that people who stop for 28 days are 5 times more likely to stay smokefree. A month is also short enough to feel achievable, which builds the confidence that keeps people quit afterwards (GOV.UK, 2012 and 2022).
Which day of Stoptober is the hardest?
For most people the first three days are hardest, because the NHS says withdrawal symptoms are usually strongest in the first week, especially days 1 to 3. Symptoms typically ease over 3 to 4 weeks, although some people notice them for a few months (NHS Better Health).
Is iQuit free for Stoptober?
Yes, iQuit is free to download and its free version covers the day counter, money saved, craving logs, SOS tools and daily missions. Premium is optional and adds challenges such as the 21-Day Habit Breaker, unlimited AI coaching and advanced analytics, with a 7-day free trial.
Do I need an app to take part in Stoptober?
No. An app is one support option. NHS Better Health also offers a free Personal Quit Plan, local Stop Smoking Services and the National Smokefree Helpline, and says expert support makes you 3 times more likely to quit for good. Apps work best alongside those services (NHS Better Health).
What should I do if I smoke during Stoptober?
Do not restart from zero or give up for the month. Log the slip and what triggered it, then carry on with your quit date unchanged. NHS Better Health says relapse happens to lots of people and the important thing is to try again. Speak to your Stop Smoking Service if slips repeat.
Track Every Day of Stoptober With iQuit
Count your smoke-free days, log each craving with its trigger, and reach SOS tools on day 3. Keep your progress through a slip, and carry the streak past day 28. Free on Google Play and the App Store.
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