We make one of the two apps in this comparison, which makes this an awkward article to write honestly. So the conclusion goes first: if you are only going to install one thing and you want the safest choice, install the NHS app and book into a stop smoking service. That is the option with public health infrastructure behind it.
What follows is where we think ours adds something on top, and where it does not.
What each one is actually for
NHS Quit Smoking
A free, publicly funded app designed as an entry point into NHS stop smoking support. It tracks days smoke-free, money saved and health improvements, and it routes you toward local services and appropriate nicotine replacement. No ads, no subscription, no upsell of any kind.
Its design goal is not to be the most feature-rich quit app. It is to get people into the support pathway that actually has the strongest evidence behind it, and to be trustworthy while doing so. On that brief it does well.
Flair Quit Tracker
A free iPhone app built around the behavioural half of quitting rather than the clinical half. It assumes you have handled the nicotine — or are handling it elsewhere — and concentrates on habit, memory and the moment a craving arrives.
The daily check-in takes two seconds. Around that sit a streak with slip passes, a body recovery timeline, a craving pattern view that works out which hours and days you are actually at risk, a weekly leaderboard against people who quit the same week, and Craving SOS, a guided breathing tool paced to the roughly three minutes a craving takes to pass. There is an optional Flair Plus upgrade; the core is free. Details here.
The differences that matter
Slip handling
The one we would point at first. Apps that reset a counter to zero after one cigarette hand you a very natural moment to abandon the whole attempt — the sunk cost is gone, so why not have another. We use slip passes, so a slip costs you something without erasing your record.
Craving patterns
Day counts are a straight line and stop telling you anything new. Pattern data develops — you can watch your risky windows narrow and your intensity fall, which gives the app a reason to exist in month two, when motivation is genuinely at its lowest.
In-the-moment tools
Craving SOS is designed for the three-minute window rather than as a general wellbeing feature. That specificity is the point.
Clinical routing
This is squarely the NHS app's advantage and we are not going to pretend otherwise. It connects you to free local services and appropriate NRT. We do not, and cannot.
Where the NHS app is simply the better choice
- You are on Android. Ours is iPhone-only at the time of writing. This is not a close call.
- You are heavily dependent and have not sought support. Getting you into a service matters far more than any tracking feature, and the NHS app is built to do exactly that.
- You want no commercial interest anywhere near your quit. Entirely reasonable. We sell nicotine-free inhalers; the NHS sells nothing.
- You want the simplest possible thing. Fewer features is a feature for some people.
Where ours might suit you better
- You have slipped before and watching a counter reset was what ended the last attempt.
- Your struggle is situational rather than chemical, and knowing your high-risk windows would change what you do.
- You want something in your hand during a craving rather than information about cravings.
- Competitive accountability motivates you — the weekly leaderboard works well for some people and not at all for others.
The obvious answer
Use both. They are both free, they overlap less than you would expect, and they are solving adjacent problems: the NHS app connects you to treatment, ours handles the day-to-day behavioural layer.
What we would genuinely discourage is using either one instead of a stop smoking service. Free NHS behavioural support combined with the right nicotine replacement roughly triples your chances compared with going it alone. No app in this category — ours included — comes close to that effect size. An app is the layer on top.
Related: the wider UK quit app comparison, what the evidence says about quit apps, and how Swap to Stop works. Ours is on the App Store if you want it.
Frequently asked questions
Is the NHS Quit Smoking app free?
Yes, entirely — no ads, no subscription and no upsell. It is publicly funded.
Which is better, the NHS app or a commercial quit app?
The NHS app is the safer default and the better route into free clinical support. Commercial apps typically go deeper on tracking and in-the-moment tools. Using both is a reasonable approach.
Can I use two quit smoking apps at once?
Yes. They do not conflict, and the main cost is the few seconds a day of checking into both.
Is the Flair Quit Tracker on Android?
Not at the time of writing — it is iPhone-only. Android users should use the NHS Quit Smoking app.
Do I still need a stop smoking service if I use an app?
If you are physically dependent on nicotine, yes. Free NHS support with the right nicotine replacement has a far larger effect than any app, and the two work well together.
App features described here were accurate at the time of writing and may change. Flair is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NHS. The Flair Quit Tracker is a habit-tracking app, not a medical device, medicine or smoking cessation treatment. Flair products contain no nicotine and are not suitable for under-18s.