Liven vs. Fabulous: Which Tool Helps You Build a More Mindful Routine

Each of us has once promised ourselves to start on Monday, on the first day of the month, or next month. We promise to move more, reduce stress to a minimum, and start the day mindfully with a cup of coffee and breathing practices. But in reality, we often postpone the beginning of our plans again. However, this process can be made easier and simpler, finally stopping the procrastination.

We'll compare Liven and Fabulous, two popular apps that help build healthy habits, deal with anxiety, establish a daily routine, and improve well-being. We’ve explored their features, scientific background, and user feedback to understand how each supports mindful growth and everyday balance.

Key Learnings

• Naming emotions helps form healthy habits and reduce stress. Apps like Liven encourage working with your emotional state, not just your to-do list.
• Tools such as Fabulous help users build structure through daily actions and visual progress tracking. Even a few minutes of mindful movement can support focus and motivation.
• The most sustainable results come from combining emotional reflection with practical organization using mindfulness for clarity and structure for follow-through.

Quick Comparison: Liven and Fabulous

Before exploring the details, let’s take a quick look at the features, tools, and subscription options each app provides. This overview will help you understand how both platforms support emotional well-being, what their plans include, and which approach might best align with your personal goals.

What Makes Fabulous Effective

Fabulous is one of the most structured and visual apps for health and wellbeing. The onboarding process is like a game where you pick a goal, like getting more sleep, being less stressed, or following daily rituals. The interface features numerous colors, sounds, and notifications that make it feel like progress is being made.

Scientific basis: Fabulous utilises the principle of dopamine reward loops. Every time you finish a step, your brain releases a small amount of dopamine, which makes it associate finishing a task with pleasure. Studies show that visual trackers and small rewards boost motivation.

What works:

• Structured approach and visual streaks
• Guided meditations and breathing exercises
• Daily reminders and daily affirmations
• Built-in sleep stories and relaxation exercises
• System of daily coaching and mini-challenges

Cost and access:

• Seven days free trial for the premium version
• After the trial period paid subscription (around $39.99/year)
• Available in App Store and Google Play

Many users note that Fabulous helps them get back on track with their morning routines and feel more in control of their day. Some, however, mention that the interface can feel a bit complex and the reminders somewhat frequent.

What Makes Liven Effective

Liven is designed to foster emotional clarity and sustainable growth. Instead of focusing on traditional breathing practices, it offers short, evidence-based “bite-size insights”, accessible lessons that help you understand how emotions work and develop reflective habits that stick. These micro-learnings make self-improvement feel approachable rather than overwhelming.

More than a habit tracker, Liven acts as a supportive companion that helps you understand your inner world and gently turn awareness into action. Its AI assistant, Livie, encourages reflection, tracks mood patterns, and helps identify triggers guiding users toward healthier habits at their own pace.

User experience:

• The emotion journal and mood tracker help you understand what exactly causes stress.
• Soundscapes help manage stress in the moment.
• Routine builder creates a gentle structure without pressure.
• Bite-sized insight blocks provide scientifically grounded knowledge about the psyche and habits.

Scientific basis: Liven utilizes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), research on emotion regulation, and attachment theory. Research shows that journaling increases stress resilience and reduces anxiety levels.

What works:

• Minimalist interface and calm aesthetics
• Ability to set reminders for a certain time of day
• Built-in mood tracking and progress tracking
• Guided sessions and reflective exercises on various topics: anxiety, overthinking, procrastination
• Integration of journaling + self-care + focus tools

Many users say that the app helps them understand their feelings better and create a mindful daily routine. People who used to have trouble with self-reflection now use Liven as a safe place to look at themselves and build habits that will last.

Costs and access:

• Seven-day free trial available for the Premium version.
• Offers both annual and monthly subscription plans.
  Annual plan: from $39.99/year
  Monthly plan: from $7.99/month

Who Each App Is Best For

Liven and Fabulous solve similar tasks, but help cope with procrastination, anxiety, and burnout in different ways. We've gathered short character descriptions based on which you can understand how to extract maximum benefit from each app and make your final choice.

The Achiever 

Loves clarity, goals, and a clear plan. Such users will find the Fabulous app more suitable, as it allows them to structure their day. The app will help create a morning routine, incorporate small physical exercises, and track progress.

💡Tip: Start with short 5-minute goals and mark each completed one; visual streaks will help maintain motivation.

The Reflector 

Seeks inner balance and wants to understand themselves more deeply. Liven handles this well. The app will also help you learn to notice your emotions and track their dynamics.

💡Tip: Use the mood tracker every evening and add short notes about which events provoked which emotions. After a week, you'll be able to notice patterns and start changing these patterns.

The Overthinker 

Prone to anxiety and analysis. If you often feel overwhelmed by thoughts and emotions, consider Liven and its AI companion Livie, which offers gentle support and reflection tools to help you navigate challenging moments.

💡Tip: Try guided meditations or breathing exercises to reduce stress levels in the moment and return focus to the body.

The Routine Beginner 

A visual type who needs external structure support. In this case, it's worth paying attention to Fabulous, which helps create a stable system of reminders and habits.

💡Tip: To start, choose one action (for example, morning stretching or a breathing practice) and add a notification. Stable repetition for two weeks will help develop a habit.

Get your personalized plan for a calmer mind! Take a quick quiz

Why Self-Awareness Outlasts Streaks

"Mindfulness helps not simply to explore emotions, but to build resilience to stress and maintain motivation even in the absence of external stimuli," note the authors of a study on self-leadership and mindfulness training. The research shows that the development of emotional self-regulation is associated with more sustainable adherence to new habits and goals.

When a user tracks their state through mood tracking or journaling, they develop a connection between action and internal state. This is the key principle on which any mental health app is built. Their principle is not simply to develop a habit of completing tasks, but to understand why and for what purpose these actions are important.

Unlike unconsciously collecting streaks, mindfulness forms intrinsic motivation. Users who keep an emotion journal and analyze their mood at least a few times a week maintain healthy habits longer and give up less often under high levels of stress.

Both approaches, the structured Fabulous app and the gentle format of Liven, will work better if approached mindfully. Fabulous helps build an external system of reminders, guided meditations, and sleep content, while Liven teaches you to notice emotional signals and gently return to self-care. Together, they create a balance between control and flexibility, helping users maintain well-being without pressure.

Your Next Step Toward Mindful Growth

Both Liven and Fabulous can support your self-care journey, just in different ways. If you’re looking for structure, motivation, and visual progress, Fabulous helps you build daily routines, manage stress, and stay consistent with guided meditations and practical exercises.

If you’re drawn to calm reflection and emotional awareness, Liven offers a more introspective path. Through journaling, mood tracking, and personalized guidance from its AI companion Livie, it helps you understand your emotions and turn mindfulness into daily practice.

Whichever approach feels right, start small. A few mindful minutes or one simple routine can shift how you feel and help you grow more resilient over time. What matters most is the gentle consistency with which you return to yourself.

References

1. MacIsaac, A., Mushquash, A. R., & Wekerle, C. (2023). Writing yourself well: Dispositional self-reflection moderates the effect of a smartphone app-based journaling intervention on psychological wellbeing across time. Behaviour Change, 40(4), 297–313. https://doi.org/10.1017/bec.2022.24
2. Ma, H., & colleagues. (2023). Effects of habit formation interventions on physical activity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, (Article). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-023-01493-3
3. Fairbank, R. (2024, April). Healing the pain of estrangement. Monitor on Psychology, 55(3), 64–71. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2024/04/healing-pain-estrangement
4. Smyth, J. M., Johnson, J. A., Auer, B. J., Lehman, E., Talamo, G., & Sciamanna, C. N. (2018). Online positive affect journaling in the improvement of mental distress and well-being in general medical patients with elevated anxiety symptoms: A preliminary randomized controlled trial. JMIR Mental Health, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.2196/11290

FAQ