Lasting alternative: a weekly check-in, not a programme.
Guided programmes with a counselling frame, or one weekly conversation that ends in commitments. A direct comparison, for couples deciding between them.
Lasting, listed on the App Store as Lasting: Marriage & Couples, is built around guided programmes rather than a question feed: you choose a topic and work through modules in sequence, a few minutes at a time, at your own pace. It describes itself as a marriage counselling app, it's owned by Talkspace, the online therapy company, and its US App Store rating sits at 4.7 from over 24,000 ratings.
This comparison comes from Kindred, so read it with that in mind. It focuses on the genuine differences rather than pretending to be neutral.
Kindred: Couples Check-In is a weekly alternative to Lasting. Instead of working through counselling-style programmes at your own pace, both partners sit down once a week for a 15–20 minute check-in: same questions, answered independently, revealed together, ending in commitments you agree between you. One subscription covers both partners.
Why people look for a Lasting alternative
Lasting's programme structure is its strength. If the two of you know what you're working on, a sequential programme gives that work shape, and Lasting is the most substantial self-serve option in the category.
The couples who go looking for something else tend to describe one of three moments. The day the modules start feeling like coursework: study about the relationship rather than time inside it. The day the counselling frame starts to feel heavy, because nothing is particularly wrong and you didn't want a programme, you wanted a practice. Or the day you notice the work has become one person's: Lasting is built for individual pace, one partner can use it alone, and so the reading, the reflecting, and the bringing-it-up can all quietly land on whoever downloaded it.
A programme you complete, or a practice you keep
Lasting is paced by its content. You pick a topic, the modules run in sequence, and progress means moving through them. That suits a named problem: something the two of you can point at and want teaching on.
Kindred has no curriculum to get through. Every check-in covers the same four chapters: wellness, connection, reflection, and what's ahead, and the depth comes from revisiting them week after week and seeing what's changed, not from new material. There's nothing to fall behind on. The check-in simply comes round again.
Who has to take part
Lasting works with one motivated partner. That lowers the barrier, and for one person who wants to understand their relationship better it's a real option. The other side of that shape: an app one of you can use alone is an app one of you can end up using alone.
Kindred needs both of you, at the same time, and there's no solo mode. That asks more up front, and it's deliberate. The pattern where one partner remembers, raises, and carries everything is exactly what a check-in built for two refuses to reproduce. If your partner won't sit down for twenty minutes a week, Kindred can't make them, and it doesn't pretend otherwise.
What happens after a session
Lasting teaches. A module ends with understanding, and what you do with it is up to you: the app doesn't turn what you've learned into something the two of you have agreed, and there's nothing that brings an agreement back a week later.
In Kindred, the check-in ends with a commitments step: together you agree tasks to do and habits to keep up, and those commitments come back at the next check-in, where you review them, mark each one done, keep it going, or let it go, before agreeing new ones.
The two apps also take opposite stances on advice. Lasting's counselling frame is advisory by design: it explains, recommends, and guides, and that's what its subscribers are paying for. Kindred deliberately doesn't advise. It structures the conversation and stays out of it: no scores, no advice, no AI, and answers that can't be edited after the reveal. What each of you wrote is what the other sees.
Pricing
Lasting's US App Store listing was checked on 5 August 2026. Like many couples apps it shows several concurrent prices for the same subscription period, so its figures below are ranges.
Lasting is free to download; the listing shows two purchase families, Lasting Premium from $11.99 to $79.99 and Lasting Plus from $19.99 to $89.99.
Kindred is $19.99 a year or $2.99 a month. One subscription covers both partners, and the partner who joins with an invite code is never asked to pay. There's no free tier: an accountless demo shows a shortened check-in before you buy, but the full app is paid from the start.
- Lasting is guided, sequential, and self-paced.
- Kindred is weekly, shared, and built around commitments.
Which is right for you
Stay with Lasting if: the two of you are working through something specific and want structured teaching on it, or only one of you is ready to use an app at all. A programme is the right shape for a named problem, and Lasting is the most substantial one short of seeing someone.
Choose Kindred if: nothing is particularly wrong and you want a standing weekly structure that keeps paying attention anyway, with both partners in it at the same time and a conversation that ends in agreed actions. If you're looking for a Lasting alternative that trades modules for a weekly conversation with follow-through, that's the slot Kindred is built for.
Trying it asks little: the demo needs no account and shows a shortened check-in before you pay. After that, one of you subscribes, invites the other with a code, and the invited partner never sees a paywall. Kindred is on the App Store for iPhone.
Common questions
Is Kindred a good alternative to Lasting?
Kindred suits couples who want a recurring weekly structure rather than a programme to complete: one 15–20 minute check-in for both partners at the same time, ending in commitments that come back the following week. Couples working through a specific named issue may get more from Lasting's structured programmes.
What is the difference between Lasting and Kindred?
Lasting is a self-paced marriage counselling app built around guided programmes, and one partner can use it alone. Kindred is a weekly check-in for couples on iPhone: both partners answer the same questions independently, reveal them together, and agree commitments that return at the next check-in. One subscription covers both partners.
Can one partner use Kindred alone?
No. Kindred needs both partners at the same time: there is no solo mode and no answering asynchronously. If only one of you wants an app, Lasting fits that shape better. Kindred is built for the check-in the two of you do together.
Is there a free alternative to Lasting?
Gottman Card Decks is free, with more than a thousand research-backed conversation prompts and no pairing or schedule. Kindred is paid: $19.99 a year or $2.99 a month covers both partners, and an accountless demo shows a shortened check-in before you buy.
For the wider field, see the comparison of the 8 best couples apps in 2026. And if it's the daily-question format you're weighing rather than a programme, read the Agapé alternative comparison.