Looking for a Shimmer alternative that doesn't cost per session?

Shimmer pairs you with a real, 1:1 human ADHD coach on a weekly schedule, and for people who want and can afford that, it's a genuinely different kind of support than any app, because it comes with an actual relationship and a person checking in on you. It is also priced like coaching labor, not software, which puts it out of reach for a lot of people, and it isn't built for the specific moment something hits hard at a time your coach isn't available. Those are the two honest reasons someone looks for an alternative: price, and availability in the moment.

What Shimmer actually offers

Shimmer's core product is weekly 1:1 video coaching with a human ADHD coach, not a clinician, a distinct and separately recognized kind of support from clinical care^[3], plus smart tools and templates layered on top. Coaches can summarize key insights across sessions if you opt in, which is a real, named form of memory most apps don't offer^[1]. Shimmer also runs a separate free app called Indy, an AI planner built from real coaching session transcripts that does daily check-ins and weekly planning with no paywall, which is worth knowing about on its own if you want something free from the same company.

What it costs, as of October 2026

Shimmer's standard coaching plan, weekly 30-minute 1:1 sessions, is listed at $60 per week billed every 4 weeks, with a promotional rate of $45 per week for a first-month discount, and a 30-day refund window^[1]. That works out to roughly $180 to $240 a month for one human coach. For comparison, Inflow, a software-only ADHD app covered in this site's other comparison, lists an annual plan around $95.99^[2], a different order of cost entirely because it's software, not a person's time.

Is a human coach actually better?

For a lot of people, yes, in the sense that a real relationship with a person who remembers you and checks in creates a kind of accountability software genuinely can't replicate on its own. That's worth paying for if it's within reach and you'll use it consistently. It's also a reasonable, common situation to want that kind of support and not be able to justify $200 a month for it, or to need something at 2am that a scheduled weekly session was never going to cover anyway. Neither situation is a lesser version of ADHD support, they're different tools for different moments and different budgets.