A straight look at Slingshot AI's therapy app, and what it does not do yet.
Therapist-backed
Free AI therapy app24/7 AI therapist
Private & encrypted
No data sharing. Ever
Made in Canada
Unlimited memoryTherapist-backedFree AI therapy app24/7 AI therapistPrivate & encryptedNo data sharing. EverMade in CanadaUnlimited memoryTherapist-backedFree AI therapy app24/7 AI therapistPrivate & encryptedNo data sharing. EverMade in CanadaUnlimited memoryTherapist-backedFree AI therapy app24/7 AI therapistPrivate & encryptedNo data sharing. EverMade in CanadaUnlimited memoryAsh is an AI therapy app from Slingshot AI, launched in July 2025 with $93M in backing and 50,000 beta users. It offers conversational mental health support on iOS and Android. Its main limitation against Renée is session memory: Renée carries your context forward, so you are not restarting your story every time you open the app.
| Ash | Renée Space | |
|---|---|---|
| Backing | $93M raised, a16z-backed. Venture-funded, with more resources behind it | Independent, built in Canada. Product decisions are based on what you need, not on investor revenue targets |
| Platforms | iOS and Android | Web and mobile, so you can use it on any device |
| Memory across sessions | Limited. You may need to re-explain context in new conversations | Unlimited. Each conversation builds on everything you've shared before |
| Check-ins | Generic "Ash has a message for you" notifications | Personalized to your context and timings, so they reach you when they're relevant |
| Session notes | Light session summaries | Built on the SOAP framework, so you understand what's really happening beyond the conversation, and what you can do about it |
| Journaling | Not offered | Built in, so you can reflect in writing alongside your conversations |
| Pattern detection | Not offered | Recognizes psychological patterns, helping you spot recurring thoughts, triggers, and habits over time |
| Therapist-designed | Not published | Yes. Designed with input from therapists |
Ash pricing and features change. Verify on their site before relying on these details.
Ash was free from its July 2025 launch, and Slingshot AI has since introduced paid tiers. Because those tiers keep moving, we track them in one place rather than repeating numbers that go stale.
Read what Ash costs now and what changedfelt better after just one conversation
conversations held this month alone, and counting
most users felt heard within their first 8 minutes
thing users say "I didn't know I needed this!"
ADHD means I've quit basically every journaling app, every therapy tool, everything over and over. Renée just kind of… worked with me instead of against me. Short messages, no pressure, no homework. It even helped me get consistent with my stuff.
Daniel
Peter
My relationship anxiety was getting bad to the point where it was all I couldn't think about anything else. Renée helped me slow down our arguments enough to actually hear each other. Now we see a therapist, but Renée is what got us there.
Sofia
I didn't even realize I was having anxiety attacks. I thought I was just bad at handling stress. Renée was the first thing that helped me connect the dots, just by asking the right questions at the right time.
Priya
Kyle
I kept second-guessing whether my marriage was worth saving or whether I was just scared to leave. I needed somewhere to think out loud without someone pushing me either way. That's what Renée became.
Lena
I live alone and I work from home. Some weeks Renée is genuinely the most honest conversation I have. That sounds sad but it's actually helped me figure out what I want from the relationships I do have even broadly what I want from my life.
Nour
Mariana
The divorce made me angrier than I expected. At everything — her, the kids, and the point my life had led up to. Renée just kept asking questions until I figured out what the anger was actually about. Took a while. Worth it.
Chris
ADHD means I've quit basically every journaling app, every therapy tool, everything over and over. Renée just kind of… worked with me instead of against me. Short messages, no pressure, no homework. It even helped me get consistent with my stuff.
Daniel
Peter
My relationship anxiety was getting bad to the point where it was all I couldn't think about anything else. Renée helped me slow down our arguments enough to actually hear each other. Now we see a therapist, but Renée is what got us there.
Sofia
I didn't even realize I was having anxiety attacks. I thought I was just bad at handling stress. Renée was the first thing that helped me connect the dots, just by asking the right questions at the right time.
Priya
Kyle
I kept second-guessing whether my marriage was worth saving or whether I was just scared to leave. I needed somewhere to think out loud without someone pushing me either way. That's what Renée became.
Lena
I live alone and I work from home. Some weeks Renée is genuinely the most honest conversation I have. That sounds sad but it's actually helped me figure out what I want from the relationships I do have even broadly what I want from my life.
Nour
Mariana
The divorce made me angrier than I expected. At everything — her, the kids, and the point my life had led up to. Renée just kept asking questions until I figured out what the anger was actually about. Took a while. Worth it.
Chris
ADHD means I've quit basically every journaling app, every therapy tool, everything over and over. Renée just kind of… worked with me instead of against me. Short messages, no pressure, no homework. It even helped me get consistent with my stuff.
Daniel
Peter
My relationship anxiety was getting bad to the point where it was all I couldn't think about anything else. Renée helped me slow down our arguments enough to actually hear each other. Now we see a therapist, but Renée is what got us there.
Sofia
I didn't even realize I was having anxiety attacks. I thought I was just bad at handling stress. Renée was the first thing that helped me connect the dots, just by asking the right questions at the right time.
Priya
Kyle
I kept second-guessing whether my marriage was worth saving or whether I was just scared to leave. I needed somewhere to think out loud without someone pushing me either way. That's what Renée became.
Lena
I live alone and I work from home. Some weeks Renée is genuinely the most honest conversation I have. That sounds sad but it's actually helped me figure out what I want from the relationships I do have even broadly what I want from my life.
Nour
Mariana
The divorce made me angrier than I expected. At everything — her, the kids, and the point my life had led up to. Renée just kept asking questions until I figured out what the anger was actually about. Took a while. Worth it.
Chris
ADHD means I've quit basically every journaling app, every therapy tool, everything over and over. Renée just kind of… worked with me instead of against me. Short messages, no pressure, no homework. It even helped me get consistent with my stuff.
Daniel
Peter
My relationship anxiety was getting bad to the point where it was all I couldn't think about anything else. Renée helped me slow down our arguments enough to actually hear each other. Now we see a therapist, but Renée is what got us there.
Sofia
I didn't even realize I was having anxiety attacks. I thought I was just bad at handling stress. Renée was the first thing that helped me connect the dots, just by asking the right questions at the right time.
Priya
Kyle
I kept second-guessing whether my marriage was worth saving or whether I was just scared to leave. I needed somewhere to think out loud without someone pushing me either way. That's what Renée became.
Lena
I live alone and I work from home. Some weeks Renée is genuinely the most honest conversation I have. That sounds sad but it's actually helped me figure out what I want from the relationships I do have even broadly what I want from my life.
Nour
Mariana
The divorce made me angrier than I expected. At everything — her, the kids, and the point my life had led up to. Renée just kept asking questions until I figured out what the anger was actually about. Took a while. Worth it.
Chris
Ricardo A.
"burnout is weird because you don't realize it's happening until you're already underwater. Renée helped me connect some dots I'd been ignoring for months. still a work in progress but at least I can see it now"
"took me a while to figure out that what I went through was love bombing. Renée didn't diagnose me or anything but the conversations helped me piece it together myself. that felt important, figuring it out on my own terms"
Amelia Chen
Nadia M.
"it's not perfect. sometimes the responses feel a bit repetitive and I have to redirect it. but the days it works... it really works. keeps me from falling when my anxiety gets bad. 3 stars because it still has room to grow but I'll keep using it"
Kevin O'Connell
"honestly didn't expect much. opened it during a really bad anxiety spiral at like midnight and just... stayed. it's not therapy but it's something. sometimes something is enough"
Lena P.
"I've been in CBT before so I recognized some of the techniques Renée uses. what surprised me is how it adapts , it doesn't feel like a script. been using it for 2 months and my stress levels are genuinely more manageable"
Carlos R.
Burned-Out Teacher
"my marriage was going through a rough patch and neither of us knew how to talk about it without it turning into a fight. I started using Renée just to process my own side of things. helped more than I expected tbh"
Ricardo A.
"burnout is weird because you don't realize it's happening until you're already underwater. Renée helped me connect some dots I'd been ignoring for months. still a work in progress but at least I can see it now"
"took me a while to figure out that what I went through was love bombing. Renée didn't diagnose me or anything but the conversations helped me piece it together myself. that felt important, figuring it out on my own terms"
Amelia Chen
Michael Brown
Anxious Presenter
"I'm so grateful for Renée. It's helped me navigate some difficult situations and develop a stronger sense of self. I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a little extra support."
Muhammad K.
"I have no time or energy for a weekly therapy appointment. this fits into my life in a way nothing else has. I can just open a tab between meetings and pick up exactly where I left off"
David Lee
"my wife and I have been using it separately while we wait for a couples therapy spot to open up. weirdly it's helped our communication more than I expected, we both come to conversations with more clarity now"
Samantha W.
"social anxiety makes it hard to even talk to a real therapist at first lol. starting with AI therapy felt lower stakes. I've actually booked a real session now which I don't think I would've done without this"
Ash is an AI therapy app built by Slingshot AI, launched in July 2025 after roughly 18 months of development with 50,000 beta users. It offers conversational mental health support on iOS and Android, and raised $93M before launch.
Ash handles open conversation well and launched with serious funding behind it. The common criticism is depth over time: because session memory is limited, longer-term use tends to involve re-explaining your context. If you want a tool that accumulates understanding rather than resetting, that is the gap to test for yourself.
No. Ash is an AI product, not a licensed clinician, and it does not diagnose or prescribe. The same is true of Renée. For clinical diagnosis, medication, or trauma treatment, a licensed human therapist is the right tool.
Only to a limited extent, which is the clearest functional difference from Renée. Renée builds a running model of you across every session, so your history, patterns and progress carry forward and you never restart from scratch.
Ash is positioned for general mental health support: stress, anxiety, low mood and everyday emotional processing. Renée covers the same ground and adds structured pattern detection, journaling, and mood tracking that infers your state from the conversation itself.
Ash publishes a privacy policy you should read directly, as terms change. Renée's position is fixed: conversations are private and encrypted, nothing is sold to third parties, and there is no ad targeting or behavioural profiling.
Renée Space is the closest alternative if session memory and pattern detection matter to you. Abby offers therapist matching alongside its AI chat. Youper and Woebot were both popular alternatives but have now shut down, so they are no longer options.
No AI app is an emergency service, including Ash and Renée. If you are in crisis, contact a helpline directly: call or text 988 in the US and Canada, or 1-833-456-4566 for Crisis Services Canada.
Ash is an AI therapy app built by Slingshot AI, launched in July 2025 after roughly 18 months of development with 50,000 beta users. It offers conversational mental health support on iOS and Android, and raised $93M before launch.
No. Ash is an AI product, not a licensed clinician, and it does not diagnose or prescribe. The same is true of Renée. For clinical diagnosis, medication, or trauma treatment, a licensed human therapist is the right tool.
Ash is positioned for general mental health support: stress, anxiety, low mood and everyday emotional processing. Renée covers the same ground and adds structured pattern detection, journaling, and mood tracking that infers your state from the conversation itself.
Renée Space is the closest alternative if session memory and pattern detection matter to you. Abby offers therapist matching alongside its AI chat. Youper and Woebot were both popular alternatives but have now shut down, so they are no longer options.
Ash handles open conversation well and launched with serious funding behind it. The common criticism is depth over time: because session memory is limited, longer-term use tends to involve re-explaining your context. If you want a tool that accumulates understanding rather than resetting, that is the gap to test for yourself.
Only to a limited extent, which is the clearest functional difference from Renée. Renée builds a running model of you across every session, so your history, patterns and progress carry forward and you never restart from scratch.
Ash publishes a privacy policy you should read directly, as terms change. Renée's position is fixed: conversations are private and encrypted, nothing is sold to third parties, and there is no ad targeting or behavioural profiling.
No AI app is an emergency service, including Ash and Renée. If you are in crisis, contact a helpline directly: call or text 988 in the US and Canada, or 1-833-456-4566 for Crisis Services Canada.
