Find your philosophy, and live by it.
Eight schools of thought, from the Stoics to the Existentialists. Find the one you lean towards, then test it on a real dilemma every day.
Free to start. No ads. What’s inside ↓
A friend asks if their new haircut looks good. It doesn't.
Know what you believe. Test it. Live by it.
A few minutes a day, with the great thinkers and a real source behind every idea.
Find where you stand
- Find Your School. Fifteen honest questions place you among eight schools, with a line from their founders and a book to start with.
- Your values chart. Every answer you give moves it, and you can watch it change over weeks.
Test your views
- Today’s Dilemma. A new moral dilemma each day. Choose, then read how the schools would argue it.
- The Trolley. 180 cards, each bending the famous problem a little further.
- Thought Experiments. 25 classics, from Plato’s cave to the experience machine.
- Socratic Dialogue.Pro Take Socrates’ part and question a character’s belief until it bends or holds.
Live by it
- The Examen. A six-step reflection to close the day.
- Daily Maxim. One line each morning, from a library of 365.
- Who Said It? 100 sourced quotes. Guess who said each one.
- The Library. Keep the lines that matter to you, and add your own.
- The Last Day.Pro Five branching lives, about 30 minutes each. Your choices show what you actually value.
What would you tell her?
A whistleblower can expose corruption that will save thousands of lives, but doing so will destroy her family’s livelihood and her daughter’s future.
She is the only one who knows.
In the app you choose first. Then you see how other people chose and how each school would argue it.
A duty to truth is not contingent on what it costs. To weigh outcomes is to admit that lying is sometimes permissible, and once that door opens, the moral law is reduced to a calculation.
Thousands of lives is not a slogan; it is thousands of lives. A single family’s future, however dear, does not balance against that ledger. The hard part is admitting what the ledger says.
Character is built in the small places first. A woman who cannot care for her own daughter has not yet earned the moral standing to redeem the world. The right act is not always the largest one.
These are our summaries of how each tradition would argue, written for the app. They are not quotations.
Eight answers to one question: how should I live?
Every school gets a fair, strong case, including the ones that disagree with you.
The Stoics
Some things are up to you, and most are not. Put your effort where it counts.
The Epicureans
A good life is a pleasant one, and the pleasures that last are simple.
The Cynics
Live by nature and say what is true, whatever custom says.
The Aristotelians
Character is built by practice, and virtue usually sits between two extremes.
The Kantians
Act only on rules you could want everyone to follow, and never treat a person merely as a tool.
The Utilitarians
The right act is the one that does the most good for everyone it affects.
The Existentialists
There is no fixed human nature. You make yourself by what you choose, and you answer for it.
The Absurdists
Life has no meaning given in advance. Face that honestly, and live fully anyway.
Every quote comes with its source.
The internet is full of philosophers saying things they never said. In Pocket Stoa, each quote names the work and the passage, and paraphrases are labelled.
Before you download
Is Pocket Stoa only about Stoicism?
No. The name comes from the Stoa, the painted porch in Athens where the Stoics taught, but the app covers eight schools: Stoic, Epicurean, Cynic, Aristotelian, Kantian, Utilitarian, Existentialist and Absurdist. The quiz tells you which one you lean towards, and every school gets a fair hearing. Read about the eight schools.
What is free, and what does Pro cost?
The core is free: the quiz, the daily dilemma, the thought experiments, Who Said It?, the Examen, the Daily Maxim and the Library. There are no ads.
Pro unlocks Socratic Dialogue, The Last Day, the full 180-card Trolley deck and the other Pro tools. In the US it costs $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year. Prices in other countries are set by the App Store and Google Play. You can cancel any time in your store account.
Where does the app use AI?
Only in a few clearly labelled places, starting with Socratic Dialogue, where an AI plays a fictional character who defends a belief and you question it. The quiz, the dilemmas, the thought experiments and the quotes are written in advance and checked by a person. The app never pretends you are talking to a real philosopher. Where AI is used, in full.
Are the quotes real?
Yes. Every quote carries its source: the work and the passage. When a line is a popular rewording, it is labelled as a paraphrase. Some famous lines turn out to belong to someone else, and we say so. See the quotes we have checked.
Is this therapy?
No. Pocket Stoa is a place to think. Many people find they feel steadier once they know where they stand, but the app is not a substitute for professional help. If you are struggling, please talk to a doctor or a counsellor.
What happens to my answers?
They stay yours. We don’t sell data, run ads or track you across apps. You can export everything or delete your account in one tap from Settings. Read the privacy policy.
Find your philosophy.
Free on iPhone and Android. Pro is optional, and there are no ads.
