Klar vs Grounded: Which Cannabis Recovery App Is Better?

Grounded and Klar are the two most cannabis-focused recovery apps available. Both are well-designed, both take cannabis recovery seriously, and both are genuine tools (not generic sobriety counters with a weed skin). But they take fundamentally different approaches.

Different Approaches to Recovery

Grounded takes a community-first approach. It centers on social accountability, peer support, and milestone celebrations. The core experience is tracking your streak and connecting with others who are on the same journey.

Klar takes a neuroscience-first approach. It centers on understanding what is happening in your brain during recovery. The core experience is seeing your CB1 receptors and dopamine system heal day by day, tracking your specific symptoms, and using evidence-based tools like craving surfing to manage urges.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Symptom Tracking

Grounded: Basic mood and craving tracking. No individual symptom breakdown.
Klar: 47 individual symptoms tracked with expected timelines, peak days, and resolution estimates for each. You know exactly when insomnia should peak and when brain fog should lift.

Brain Recovery

Grounded: No brain recovery visualization.
Klar: Day-by-day CB1 receptor and dopamine system recovery percentages based on published neuroimaging research. This is unique to Klar and is the feature users cite most for motivation during the Valley of Disappointment.

Community

Grounded: In-app community with social features. This is Grounded's strongest differentiator.
Klar: No in-app community (yet). Klar recommends external communities like r/leaves for peer support.

Craving Management

Grounded: Craving logging.
Klar: Interactive craving surfing tool based on Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention research, with timed guidance through the 20-minute craving wave.

Who Should Use Which?

Choose Grounded if: Community support is your primary motivator, you want Android access, or you prefer a simpler tracker without deep neuroscience data.

Choose Klar if: You want to understand exactly what is happening in your brain, need detailed symptom tracking with timelines, or find science-based visualization more motivating than social features.

Both apps are legitimate tools. The best one is the one that keeps you engaged through the hardest days. Consider trying both during their free tiers to see which approach resonates with you.