Try Dry vs Sobermark: challenge app or everyday counter?

Try Dry is the official app of Alcohol Change UK, the charity behind Dry January. It is free, it is well made, and it exists to help people take on a drinking challenge, track their drinks and units, and feel the benefits of a break. Sobermark is a small independent app for something adjacent but different: ongoing sobriety, counted one day at a time, for alcohol or any other habit you are quitting.

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.

We will be upfront about our respect here. Try Dry is a charity app doing genuinely good work, and if you are doing Dry January or a similar challenge, it is probably the app you should use. The comparison below is really about what happens before, during and after a challenge, and which tool fits each stage.

What Try Dry does well

Try Dry is built around challenges, most famously Dry January, but it works for dry spells at any time of year. You can track dry days, log drinks when you do drink, watch your units and spending, and earn badges as a challenge progresses. Because it comes from Alcohol Change UK, the tone is evidence-informed and encouraging, and the app is free, with the charity's wider resources behind it.

That challenge framing is powerful. A month with a name, a start line and a finish line gets people to try something they would never commit to indefinitely. Plenty of people discover through Dry January that they feel better without alcohol, and some carry on. Try Dry supports both drinking less and taking time off, which makes it a gentle, low-pressure front door.

Where Sobermark differs

Sobermark is not a challenge app. There is no month to complete, just a quit date and the days stacking up after it. It is built for the person who has decided to stop, whether that decision came out of a Dry January or a harder road, and who wants steady, ongoing support: milestones and badges, money saved, time reclaimed and units avoided calculated from your own numbers, a mood journal, and shareable progress cards.

Two things set it apart in daily use. First, the craving SOS tools, a hold-on breathing exercise and a ride-it-out timer, made for the minutes when the urge peaks. Second, the scope: Sobermark tracks any habit you are quitting, so the same calm counter works for smoking, vaping, weed, gambling or something custom, not just alcohol. Bern, our blue bear mascot, keeps the tone judgment free; a slip resets the counter but never earns a telling-off.

Privacy, platforms and price

Sobermark has no account and no sign up; your entries stay on your phone, and there are no feeds or forums by design. Try Dry, as a charity-run app, has its own approach; read its privacy policy for the details rather than taking our word on it.

Try Dry is free and available on iOS and Android, which is exactly what you would hope from a charity tool. Sobermark is on both too. It runs on a free trial into a paid plan: Pro is £17.99 a year with a 3 day free trial, or you can pay weekly, and Google Play also has a one-off lifetime option.

	Try Dry	Sobermark
Made by	Alcohol Change UK, a charity	One independent UK developer
Built for	Dry January and drinking challenges	Ongoing sobriety, day by day
Scope	Alcohol	Alcohol, smoking, vaping, weed, gambling, custom
Craving tools	Tips and challenge support	Breathing SOS and ride-it-out timer
Platforms	iOS and Android	Android and iOS
Price	Free	Free core, optional Pro £17.99 a year

What the evidence says

• University of Sussex research on Dry January 2019 found that people who used the Try Dry app, the website or the support emails were twice as likely to finish the month without drinking, and participants were still drinking less months later.
• The NHS says 14 units a week is about 6 pints of average-strength beer or 10 small glasses of lower-strength wine, and advises spreading it over 3 or more days if you regularly drink that much.
• The US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says “urges to drink are short-lived, predictable, and controllable”, and advises riding one out because “it will soon crest like an ocean wave and pass” (Rethinking Drinking).

Who should pick what

Pick Try Dry if you are doing Dry January, Sober October or any fixed dry challenge, if you want to track drinks and units rather than count days from zero. It is free, it is from a charity whose whole purpose is helping people with alcohol, and supporting it costs you nothing. For a first experiment with time off drinking, it is the better starting point than Sobermark.

Pick Sobermark if the challenge is over and the decision is made, and what you need now is a counter that runs for months and years rather than a month with a finish line. It is also the pick if your habit is not alcohol, or if you want craving tools on hand and a strictly no-account, on-your-phone setup.

The two are not enemies. A very natural path is Try Dry for January, then Sobermark from February onwards if you decide the break should become permanent.

Common questions

Is Try Dry really free?

Yes, Try Dry is the free official app of Alcohol Change UK. Check its store listing for anything current, but free access is central to what it is.

Can I use Sobermark for Dry January?

You can, since a day counter works for any dry spell, but Try Dry is purpose-built for the challenge, with the charity's resources behind it. We would honestly point January newcomers there first.

Does Sobermark track drinks and units like Try Dry?

Not in the logging sense. Sobermark assumes you have stopped and shows units avoided, money saved and time reclaimed based on your old habits. If you want to log drinks you are still having, Try Dry fits better.

Is Sobermark available on iPhone?

Yes. Sobermark is on both Google Play and the App Store. Try Dry covers both too.