Coach
- Anchor
- AI voice (4 personas)
- Shimmer
- Human, 1:1
Comparison
Both help adults with ADHD get started. One sends a human coach for $140 to $345 a month. The other calls you in the morning for $24. Here's an honest comparison so you can pick the one that fits.
Anchor isn't therapy and isn't a substitute for human coaching when that's what you need. If you can afford a real coach and you want one, Shimmer is great. This page is for the people deciding between “no support” and “the most affordable support that actually works.”
| Dimension | Anchor | Shimmer |
|---|---|---|
| Coach | AI voice (4 personas) | Human, 1:1 |
| Format | Phone or in-app call | Video session (scheduled) |
| Cadence | 3 short calls a day | 1 session a week |
| Pricing | $24/mo · $199/yr | $140/mo (15min) to $345/mo (45min) |
| Memory | Persistent across all calls | Coach notes + AI session summary |
| On-demand support | Tap any time, coach picks up | Async chat between sessions |
| Body doubling | Yes, stay on the line while you work | Indirect (weekly check-in) |
| Wait for first call | Tomorrow morning | Coach matching takes about a week |
| Available | Web + phone (iOS in development) | iOS, Android, web |
Coach
Format
Cadence
Pricing
Memory
On-demand support
Body doubling
Wait for first call
Available
When Anchor is the right pick
When Shimmer is the right pick
We mean this. If the answers below describe you, go check out Shimmer. They built a real product for a real audience.
You can find them at shimmer.care.
What we're not better at
The point of this page is to help you pick, not to sell you something. Here's where Shimmer wins.
Depth of coaching.
A human coach is going to see patterns and ask follow-up questions an AI won't. If you want depth, pay for it.
Emotional processing.
Anchor's coaches are warm, but the conversation arc is shorter and tactical. Shimmer's coaches will sit with you for 45 minutes.
HSA/FSA reimbursement.
Shimmer accepts HSA/FSA. Anchor does not, yet.
Where Anchor wins
Calls you on the schedule you set, every day.
No booking, no missed slot, no "can we reschedule?".
Three touchpoints a day vs. one session a week.
Morning, stuck, evening. The cadence is the product.
Stay on the line, body doubling on demand.
Your coach co-works with you for 25 minutes while you do the hard task.
$24 a month, no card to start.
Shimmer is $140 to $345 a month. That's a 6-14× difference and it makes a real one in real life.
Frequently asked
Different product. Shimmer pays human coaches — that cost dominates their pricing. Anchor's coach is AI, the same voice and language-model architecture you've heard from OpenAI and ElevenLabs, with a custom persona system and a memory layer. Real coaches cost real money. AI scales differently.
For some people, yes. For others, especially people who couldn't access human coaching at all because of cost, Anchor is a step up from nothing. The right answer depends on what you actually need. If you can afford a real coach and want one, get one.
Yes. They solve different problems. Shimmer for the weekly depth, with a human who knows your history. Anchor for the daily ritual, the morning kick-off and stuck check-in and evening close. A lot of pilot users keep both.
Yes. We've worked with ADHD coaches in our pilot phase to shape the persona system and the call structure. We're not pretending the AI is a coach. We're being honest that it's a voice that gets you started, which is what most ADHD adults actually need first.
Either direction is fine. Cancel Anchor in two taps from your account page. Shimmer has its own cancellation flow. Neither service tries to make leaving hard.
Pick a voice, set your call time, take the call tomorrow morning. If it's not for you, walk away. Nothing to cancel, nothing to remember.
Or check out Shimmer. The right answer depends on you.