Try Dry alternatives: what to use after Dry January

Try Dry deserves credit before anything else. It is the official Alcohol Change UK app, it is free, and for a month-long challenge like Dry January or Sober October it does the job with no fuss: drink tracking, dry days, units and money. If you are only here because you assume there must be something better, there is no scandal to report. It is a good app run by a charity.

Full disclosure: Sobermark is our app, so we are not neutral. We have tried to keep everything below fair, and we tell you when a rival is the better fit.

The reason people look elsewhere is usually that the challenge ended and something shifted. A month off turned out to feel good, and now the question is not "can I do January?" but "what if I just kept going?" A challenge app is built for a month with an end date. Keeping going, whether that means staying dry or drinking less for good, is a different job, and these five apps approach it from different angles.

1. Sobermark

Sobermark, our app, is built for exactly this moment: you have decided the dry part should continue. It is a day counter for Android with no account and no sign up. You enter your own numbers once and it shows days done, money saved, time reclaimed and units avoided, which after a dry month tend to be pleasantly startling figures. Milestones and badges mark the distance, a journal with moods catches the wobbles, and craving SOS tools (a hold-on breathing exercise and a ride-it-out timer) cover the moments the counter alone cannot.

The tone matters too. Bern, a friendly sun bear, encourages without preaching, and a slip resets the counter without any scolding. Core tracking is free; Sobermark Pro is £14.99 a year with a 7 day free trial, £2.99 a week, or £24.99 lifetime. It is Android only for now, which we will keep saying because it decides the choice for a lot of readers.

2. I Am Sober

I Am Sober is the most popular long-haul sobriety counter, on iOS and Android. Its daily pledge, committing each morning and reviewing each evening, replaces the structure that the January challenge used to provide, and its large community means you can see people at day 40, day 400 and day 4,000 talking about what it is like. That visibility of the long road is something no month-long challenge app can offer.

It is the strongest pick if company kept you going in January, and the default for iPhone users. Some features sit behind a subscription; check the store listing.

3. Nomo

Nomo is a free app built around sobriety clocks, made by someone in recovery. You can run several clocks at once, and its accountability partner feature lets you share your progress with specific people rather than a public feed, which suits those who want one trusted friend watching rather than a crowd. After a charity challenge app, its homespun, person-made character can feel like a natural fit.

Choose it if you want free, simple clocks with a light accountability layer and you do not need polish.

4. Drink Less

Drink Less, from UCL researchers, is the choice if your post-January conclusion was "less, not none". It is free and evidence based, with feedback and exercises drawn from behaviour change research, so it continues Try Dry's credible, non-commercial spirit but for cutting down all year round. At the time of writing it is iOS only.

For an Android drinker with the same goal, keeping Try Dry itself running outside January is honestly a reasonable answer.

5. Reframe

Reframe is the heavyweight option: a neuroscience-based programme with daily course content, on iOS and Android, aimed at changing your drinking rather than just recording it. If January taught you that willpower alone gets you through a month but not through a year, a structured programme may be the missing piece. It is subscription based, so this is the one path here that involves meaningful ongoing cost; check their listing for current pricing.

Pick it if you want teaching, not tracking, and you are happy to pay for it.

Who should pick what

If you are doing another fixed challenge, or your goal is moderate drinking with UK-sensible unit tracking, just keep Try Dry. It is free, official and fit for that purpose, and switching for its own sake gains you nothing.

If you are going on past the challenge: I Am Sober for community and for anyone on iPhone, Nomo for free clocks with a trusted accountability partner, Drink Less for evidence-based cutting down on iOS, and Reframe if you want a paid, structured programme. Sobermark fits the person who wants to keep the quiet, private feel of a simple tracker, wants craving tools for the hard evenings, and is on Android.

Common questions

Can I keep using Try Dry after January?

Yes, it works all year and includes other challenges such as Sober October. The reason to switch is not that it stops working in February; it is that open-ended sobriety may want different tools, like long-run milestones and craving support.

Will my dry days carry over to a new app?

Yes. Counters such as Sobermark, I Am Sober and Nomo let you set your start date in the past, so the dry month you have already done counts from day one.

I did Dry January but do not think I have a drinking problem. Are these apps still for me?

Plenty of people use them simply because they feel better without alcohol and like seeing the money and time add up. You do not need a diagnosis to keep a counter.

Which options are completely free?

Try Dry, Nomo and Drink Less are known as free apps, and Sobermark's core tracking is free. As always, store listings change, so check before assuming.