Cold plunge sessions. Fiber gummies. Meditation. GLP-1s. Weighted vests. Sound baths. So much of what consumers today are doing in their daily lives is about adding to their wellness practices, rather than eliminating.
But what if one of the most overlooked parts of wellness is elimination? What if quitting a bad habit was the most effective wellness move of all?
Enter Quitly, a digital telehealth platform focused on addiction recovery that has surpassed three million downloads on the iOS App Store. The company operates three apps: Quit Vaping, Quit Drinking and Pouchless, the last aimed at the booming nicotine pouch category. Each uses cognitive behavioral therapy, habit tracking and personalized quit plans to guide users through behavioral change.
Though the app doesn’t collect demographic information such as age or sex to prioritize user privacy, Quitly co-founder and CTO Jonathan Kopp tells Athletech News that community engagement suggests a strong presence of young adults, primarily in the 18 to 30 age range.
Users committing to quitting drinking span a broader age distribution, Kopp says, likely because of alcohol’s longer history and wider prevalence compared to vaping.
The younger demographic, however, tracks with the growing trend of “health-maxxing,” Kopp points out — a social media-fueled movement where young adults optimize their physical and mental well-being in pursuit of peak performance.
To that end, Quitly offers a gamified experience. Users earn achievements and badges for staying substance-free, making friends within the app and engaging with the community.
The consumer traction is now the foundation for Quitly’s next act as it pushes into the corporate wellness space, where employers can add the app to their benefits offerings. Employees would get access to cognitive behavioral therapy, goal-setting tools and personalized quit plans, along with peer communities and guided coaching.
The employer push is just the start. Quitly also has its eye on health insurance incentive programs, public health initiatives, school districts and private-label and clinical healthcare partnerships.
“We built Quitly to make recovery tools accessible to anyone, anywhere,” Kopp says. “Surpassing three million downloads shows that people are actively seeking modern, digital solutions to overcome addiction and we’re committed to continuing to innovate to meet that need.”
