Wysa

Is Wysa safe?

For everyday stress, low mood or sleep problems, Wysa is one of the safer AI chatbots to talk to. It does not ask for an email address or real name, Apple's privacy label shows no tracking at all, and a single setting wipes your history. The trade-off is that your messages, with names and other identifiers stripped out, are sent to outside large language models from OpenAI, Anthropic or Google to write the replies. Wysa also says plainly that it is not for crises or for people with severe and enduring mental illness.

We score Wysa 72/100, ahead of Headspace at 69 and far ahead of companion bots such as Replika at 43, which keep intimate chats tied to an account and track users for ads.

What happens to what you tell Wysa

Wysa was built so you can stay anonymous. You choose a nickname, and the app stores data against masked identifiers. Apple's label lists only identifiers, usage data and diagnostics, and none of it as linked to you. Google Play is a little broader: it lists in-app messages and optional health information as collected, and app interactions and device IDs as shared with analytics providers.

Since Wysa added generative AI, the conversation space runs on its own models plus third-party ones by default. The service provider list, updated in August 2026, names OpenAI, Anthropic and Google Gemini. Before a message goes out, a tool from a company called Private AI checks for personal details you may have typed by mistake, and the app asks you to change the message. Wysa says the AI providers keep no conversation data, process it in their European regions and do not train their own models on it. Wysa itself may use anonymous chats to improve its AI.

On advertising, the policy says Wysa does not sell or share your information, messages or app use with advertisers or data brokers. It does use Meta Ads Manager to run ads for the service and Google Analytics with pseudonymous event data.

The weak spot is retention. Unless a contract sets a shorter period, Wysa keeps conversation data, with identifiers removed, for up to 10 years from your last update. If you stop using it, reset your data first.

Is Wysa safe for a mental health crisis?

No, and Wysa does not claim it is. Its terms, revised in June 2026, say the app is for emotional wellbeing support, does not diagnose or give medical advice, is not recommended in crisis situations and is not suitable for people with severe and enduring mental health problems. The privacy policy adds that AI is a developing technology and "you may sometimes get incorrect responses".

Wysa says every message to and from the language model passes through safety filters, and messages that fail them never reach the model. In employer, school or health-service versions, an SOS, self-harm or abuse alert can trigger an email to the organisation with your name and the message.

The age rules do not line up. The terms set a minimum age of 13, or 11 through a school or health service, and say teenagers get a restricted experience. The App Store rates the app 9+, which is lower than the terms allow.

What the FDA designation means

In May 2022 Wysa announced that the US Food and Drug Administration had granted it a Breakthrough Device Designation for a conversational CBT tool for adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain and depression and anxiety. The designation gives a company faster access to FDA staff while it develops a product. It is not a clearance or approval. Wysa's own note on the announcement says it does not cover all Wysa products, and we found no 510(k) clearance or device registration for Wysa or its maker in the FDA's openFDA data. The consumer app is a wellbeing tool, not a regulated treatment.

How to use Wysa more safely

1. Keep the nickname vague and leave out names, places and other people's details, even though Wysa tries to strip them.
2. Use "Reset my data" in settings when you stop, or your data may be kept for years.
3. Save your local crisis number in your phone. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK, call 111 or Samaritans on 116 123.
4. Check what a work, school or NHS version shares with the organisation before you use it, because alerts there include your name.
5. Cancel Premium through the App Store or Google Play: Wysa gives no refunds for unused time.
6. If what you discuss is getting heavier, talk to your doctor about care from a licensed professional, such as Talkspace or a local service.

How we scored it

Regulatory record (87) is Wysa's strongest factor, because no regulator has fined or ordered it. Transparency and control (76) and privacy (72) come next: no account, no tracking on Apple's label and a one-tap reset, held back by outside AI models and up to 10 years of retention. Scams and harmful content (64) is the weakest, because an AI is giving mental health support to people who may be vulnerable, and Wysa itself says it is not for crises. Security (68) rests on Wysa's ISO certifications and a clean breach record, without a bug bounty.