About AnxietyTools
AnxietyTools is a free set of anxiety self-help exercises built by one person who wanted something usable in the sixty seconds when you actually need it — no sign-up, no download, no wall.
Why this exists
AnxietyTools started from a simple frustration: most anxiety apps ask you to create an account, download something, or sit through onboarding before you get to the one breathing exercise or grounding technique you actually came for. In an anxious moment, that friction matters. This site was built to remove it — open a page, use the tool, close the tab. It is made and maintained by one person, not a company or a clinical team, working from published research rather than a marketing budget.
What the site actually is
AnxietyTools is a handful of free tools — breathing exercises, grounding techniques, a simple thought diary — that run directly in your browser. There is no account to create, nothing to install, and no app store. You can use it on a phone or a computer the same way, and there's nothing standing between you and the exercise.
How it makes money
The site runs on donations, nothing else. There are no ads, no selling of visitor data, and no upsell to a paid course or premium tier. If you find a tool useful, there is an option to support the site, but every exercise here is fully usable without paying anything.
Privacy: what happens to what you type
Some tools, like the thought diary, ask you to type something personal. The design intent for these tools is that your entries stay in your browser rather than being sent to and stored on a server. This site does not aim to build a profile of you or your anxiety patterns — the tools are meant to be useful in the moment, not to collect your data.
Why there's no medical byline
You won't find a 'medically reviewed by Dr. So-and-so' badge on this site, because that would not be honest. AnxietyTools is written by one person — a digital marketer, not a doctor, therapist, or psychologist — and there is no clinical team behind it. What that means for you: treat this as a starting point and a set of simple tools, not as professional guidance about your specific situation. For anything beyond everyday stress, a real conversation with a qualified professional is worth more than anything on this page.
How exercises are chosen
Rather than relying on personal authority the site doesn't have, exercises are selected because they connect to published research — reviews, trials, and established findings on stress and anxiety — and because they can realistically be done in a browser in a couple of minutes. The full reasoning, including the difference between evidence and mechanism, is laid out on the Evidence Standards page.
Languages available
AnxietyTools is available in English, Portuguese, Ukrainian, and Spanish, so that more people can use these tools in a language that feels natural to them.
A plain self-help disclaimer
AnxietyTools is a self-help resource, not therapy, not a diagnosis, and not an emergency service. It does not replace care from a qualified doctor or mental health professional. If you are in crisis or in immediate danger, please contact your local emergency services or a crisis line rather than relying on this site — see the Safety Guidelines page for more.
Common questions
Do I need to create an account to use AnxietyTools?
No. Every tool on the site works without a sign-up, a download, or any personal information. Open a page and use it.
Is AnxietyTools really free?
Yes. The site runs on optional donations, with no ads and nothing sold to advertisers. There is no paid tier that unlocks exercises the free version doesn't have.
Who is behind AnxietyTools?
It's built and maintained by one person, a digital marketer rather than a mental health professional. See the Evidence Standards page for how that shapes the way exercises are chosen and described.
What languages is the site available in?
English, Portuguese, Ukrainian, and Spanish.
Put this exercise on your site
A small, free breathing widget for your blog or page — it guides a slow calming exhale and links back here. Copy one line:
<iframe src="https://anxietytools.org/embed/en/" width="320" height="300" style="border:0;border-radius:16px" loading="lazy" title="AnxietyTools breathing widget"></iframe>
Where the methods come from
- Weil, A. — 4-7-8 (‘relaxing breath’) technique, based on pranayama breathing.
- Research on slow-paced breathing and heart-rate variability (vagal tone, parasympathetic activation).
- 5-4-3-2-1 sensory grounding — a standard distress-tolerance skill in dialectical-behaviour therapy (DBT).
- Box breathing — paced breathing widely used for acute stress regulation.