Low Back Pain CoachCurable vs Low Back Pain Coach
I built Low Back Pain Coach and make money when people buy it. Curable is made by Curable Inc. Both apps are for persistent pain, and they work on it from opposite ends. Curable works on the psychology of pain, and mine works on the strength of your back. For Curable I used only what its website and App Store listing said on September 25, 2026. Both are linked under Sources.
What Curable does
Curable's program targets the brain's role in pain and is built on the biopsychosocial model. Its App Store listing describes more than 100 exercises (CBT, meditation, expressive writing, somatic tracking), audio lessons on pain science, custom plans based on your symptoms, a virtual guide called Clara, and live Q&As and group workshops with mind-body experts. The listing describes no exercise program for the back.
It runs on iPhone, Android, and the web, and some resources are free. The website lists an annual plan at $15.99 a month billed annually, with 50% off the first year for first-time subscribers and a 14-day free trial. Website and Google Play purchases carry a 30-day money-back guarantee, and iOS refunds go through Apple. The App Store lists its own in-app prices, including $11.99 a month.
What Low Back Pain Coach does
It runs one training program, a four-stage back-extension progression on a 45-degree bench. You start with holds at the top (3 holds of 15 seconds), then move to partial reps, full bodyweight reps, and finally a plate held at the chest. You set a baseline, your usual pain on an ordinary day, and log pain the morning after training. Above baseline, the next session is eased. At baseline, it repeats, unless the previous training day's next-morning check-in was also at or below baseline, and neither was higher than the pain you logged before that session. Then it steps up. Below baseline, it steps up a little. Pain logged in the legs stops the extension work.
A spoken voice counts holds, reps, and rest. There is a flare-up mode that pauses bench work, 10 short lessons on how persistent pain works (fear-avoidance, sleep, stress, and scans among them), and a PDF report for a clinician. The program needs the bench. Floor work only covers the time until you have one, and the program is not written for a vertical 90-degree Roman chair.
It is a free download with one free guided first session. After that it costs $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year, renewing until you cancel, each with a 7-day free trial for eligible new subscribers. It runs on iPhone and Android.
Side by side
| Curable | Low Back Pain Coach | |
|---|---|---|
| The work | Pain education and psychological practices | A back-extension session, 2 or 3 times a week, plus pain logs |
| Equipment | Phone or web browser | A 45-degree back-extension bench |
| Strength training | None described in the listing | The whole program |
| Education | Audio lessons, live Q&As, workshops | 10 short lessons |
| Platforms | iPhone, Android, web | iPhone, Android |
| Free to try | Free resources, 14-day trial on the annual plan | One guided session, 7-day trial on subscriptions for eligible new subscribers |
| US price, September 2026 | Annual plan listed at $15.99 a month billed annually, 50% off the first year for first-time subscribers | $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year |
Who each might suit
Curable might suit you when fear, stress, or mood seem to drive your pain more than activity does, or when graded exercise done properly for months has not moved it. Low Back Pain Coach might suit you when you have been cleared to exercise, the pain is the long-running kind in your lower back, you have or can get a 45-degree bench, and nobody has ever raised the load on your back in small, measured steps.
Neither app examines you. New, severe, or changing symptoms need a clinician. The red flags page lists the signs that mean emergency care now and the ones that mean a clinician today.
Using both
They overlap little, so using both makes sense, with Curable for the psychology and a bench progression for strength. My 10 lessons cover some of the same ground as Curable's education in far less depth. If you try both, do a few sessions of each during the trials and notice which one you open without a reminder. The app cost guide covers running the program from a notebook instead.
Sources
The app
I built Low Back Pain Coach to run this program: it reads your pain logs, writes the next session, and a voice counts the holds, reps and rest. A notebook can run the same rules if you would rather keep the decisions on paper.
The program on one page
The printable program card has the four stages, the next-morning rule, and the stop signs on one sheet.
If you want an email when the program or the app changes, leave your address. A few emails a year at most, and a reply to any of them takes you off the list.