About MeQuit
MeQuit is a team of quit support specialists, writers and app builders who work alongside psychologists experienced in addiction and behavior change. We focus on the habits that are hardest to break: smoking, vaping, nicotine pouches and drinking.
We write for adults who want a straight answer at the moment it matters: the third day without cigarettes, the first Friday without a drink, the drive where the vape used to come out. Everything we publish and build starts from the same idea. Addiction is a learned pattern held in place by cues, rewards and stress, and patterns can be retrained.
How we work with psychologists
Our psychologists help shape the methods behind our guides and apps: how a quit plan is structured, how cravings are handled in the moment, how a slip is treated, and which warning signs mean someone needs medical or mental health care rather than a self-help tool. Writers then check every guide against public health and clinical sources such as the CDC, NIH, NIAAA, NIDA, NHS, WHO, FDA, SAMHSA and Cochrane reviews.
We are not a clinic and we do not diagnose or treat anyone. Our role is to give you clear, practical methods you can use between appointments, or on your own when you are ready to start, and to point you to professional help when the situation calls for it.
The techniques we use
No single method works for everyone, so we combine several well-known approaches and are honest about how strong the evidence is for each one.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
CBT looks at the thoughts that come right before a cigarette or a drink, such as "one won't hurt" or "I can't relax without it", and trains you to question them and choose another response. Our guides turn this into simple exercises: writing down the trigger, the thought and what you did instead, then planning a better response for next time.
Mindfulness and meditation
Short meditation practices help you notice a craving as a body sensation that rises, peaks and fades, instead of an order you must obey. Urge surfing, breath counting and body scans are the core exercises. Many people find a craving loses power once they can watch it for a few minutes without acting.
Hypnosis and guided relaxation
We use hypnosis-style sessions and guided relaxation to lower stress, rehearse difficult moments in advance (the coffee break, the bar, the drive home) and strengthen your reasons for quitting. Research on hypnosis for quitting is still limited, so we treat it as a supporting tool that pairs well with a plan, not as a cure on its own.
Cue exposure and reconditioning
Cravings are often triggered by places, times and routines rather than by the substance itself. Cue exposure means facing those triggers deliberately and safely, without using, so the brain slowly stops expecting the old reward. We pair this with replacement routines so the trigger leads somewhere new.
Motivation and values work
Drawing on motivational interviewing, we help you put your own reasons into words: health, money, family, sleep, self-respect. Reasons you name yourself hold up better under pressure than rules someone else gives you.
Breathing and stress tools
Slow breathing, such as a longer exhale than inhale, calms the stress response that often drives the urge to smoke, vape or drink. These take about a minute and work almost anywhere.
Habit tracking and if-then plans
Logging cravings, triggers and wins turns a vague struggle into a pattern you can see. "If-then" plans ("if I get the 5 pm urge, then I go for a walk and text a friend") decide your response before the craving arrives.
Relapse prevention without shame
A slip is information, not failure. We teach a simple reset: what happened, what you felt, what you will change, and getting back to the plan the same day.
These techniques work best alongside proven medical options. Nicotine replacement and prescription quit medication can double your chances of quitting smoking, and a doctor can advise on medication for alcohol. Heavy daily drinkers should not stop suddenly without medical advice, because alcohol withdrawal can cause seizures.
Our apps
- NicLess (iPhone): a tracker for quitting or cutting down cigarettes, vapes and nicotine pouches, with a craving button, breathing support, trigger notes, money saved and a recovery timeline. Data stays on the phone. App Store listing.
- MeQuit Quit Smoking program (iPhone): a lesson-based course built on CBT, cue exposure, conditioning and hypnosis-style exercises that prepares you to quit before you set the date. App Store listing.
- MeQuit Drink Lens & Quit Alcohol: an alcohol app that is in app store review and not released yet.
On nicotine app rankings we place our own apps first and say so on the page. Every other app is described from its App Store listing and independent research, including its strengths. We do not accept payment from other app makers for placement.
Who writes the guides
Every page carries the name of the section team responsible for it:
- MeQuit Smoking and Vaping Team: cigarettes, vapes, nicotine pouches, nicotine replacement, quit medication and nicotine cravings.
- MeQuit Alcohol and Health Team: cutting back, quitting drinking, withdrawal safety, alcohol's effects on the body, sober challenges and sobriety.
- MeQuit App Review Team: quit smoking and sobriety app reviews, rankings and comparisons.
Our process is described in the editorial policy.
What we will not do
- Invent reviews, testimonials or patient stories.
- Claim we personally tested an app when we read its listing and the research.
- Tell heavy daily drinkers to stop suddenly without medical advice.
- Promise that any app, book or method guarantees quitting.
Corrections and contact
If a page is wrong or out of date, use the support link in any of our App Store listings and name the page. We fix errors and update the date on the page when the content changes. For urgent help, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW for smoking, the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for alcohol, or your local emergency number.