Take back control of nicotine.
Cigarettes, refillable vapes, disposables or pouches: the product changes, the mechanism does not. This site gives you enough to start today — work out what it costs, locate your starting point, set a date, and get through the first week.
Four free tools, a seven-day challenge, no account to create.
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Why quitting is hard — and what knowing that changes
Three mechanisms stack on top of each other. Confusing them means answering the wrong one.
Physical withdrawal
It is real, it is short, and it follows a known curve. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms usually peak in the first few days, then ease over two to four weeks. Knowing the peak is ahead of you and brief changes how you get through it.
The learned gesture
Coffee, the break, the car, the end of a meal, the first drink. These associations outlive the physical withdrawal and are the most common cause of late relapses. They come undone one at a time, once spotted.
The job it does for you
Managing stress, marking a pause, having something to hold in company. If that job is not reassigned, the gap makes itself known after a few weeks. It is the least spectacular part of the work and the most decisive.
What changes, and when
Milestones published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for stopping smoked tobacco. They are informational: population averages, not a prediction about you.
Sources : Benefits of Quitting Smoking, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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20 minutes
Heart rate begins to drop back down.
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12 hours
Carbon monoxide in the blood returns to a normal level.
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2 days
Withdrawal usually peaks. It is the hardest moment, and after that it is behind you.
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2 weeks to 3 months
Circulation and lung function improve.
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1 to 9 months
Coughing and shortness of breath decrease.
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1 year
Excess risk of coronary heart disease is about half that of continuing to smoke.
Your starting point is not your neighbour’s
Two people smoking the same number of cigarettes do not share the same triggers, the same risky hours, or the same history of attempts. The readiness quiz locates those four parameters in ten questions and ends in a plan, not a label.
- What you use and for how long
- The moments when cravings come back most often
- The situations that ended previous attempts
- What you want to do with the money you stop spending
The quiz makes no diagnosis and measures no dependence in the medical sense. It organises what you already know.
Quiz: how ready are you to quit nicotine?
Ten questions to locate your starting point: motivation, triggers, high-risk situations, past attempts. Not a diagnosis — a plan.
Take the quizGetting through a craving
A nicotine craving rises, peaks and falls. The UK’s NHS puts most cravings at around five to ten minutes. The point is therefore not to "resist for a long time" but to fill a short gap.
4-4-7 breathing
Breathe in for four seconds, hold for four, out for seven. Three minutes is enough to bring the tension down. This is the app’s SOS button, and it stays free forever.
Urge surfing
Watch the craving like a wave: where it sits in the body, when it peaks, when it fades. Without fighting it, without giving in.
The HALT check
Am I hungry, angry, lonely or tired? Four states that trigger cravings which have nothing to do with nicotine, and which are handled differently.
Move for five minutes
Step outside, climb a flight of stairs, walk around the block. Changing context breaks the association.
5-4-3-2-1 grounding
Name five things you see, four you hear, three you touch, two you smell, one you taste. Useful when the craving loops in your head.
TakeBack Quit
In the app these techniques are timed and scored: after a handful of attempts, it tells you which one works for you. That is the one thing a book cannot do.
Sources : NHS (United Kingdom)
Tracking, without kidding yourself
The numbers that matter are the ones you did not estimate yourself.
Time
Days, hours and minutes since your last use. After a relapse, the best streak is kept: it existed, and it is not erased.
Money
Based on what you say you spend, not a national average. And it goes towards something concrete — headphones, a ticket, a trip.
Units avoided
Cigarettes or puffs, depending on your profile. "1,201 puffs avoided" is easier to picture than "well done, keep going".
Logged cravings
Time, intensity, trigger, outcome. After around thirty entries the patterns surface: your hardest hour, your main trigger, your risky days.
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Read next
How to quit nicotine: the five-step method
The five steps that separate an attempt from a quit that holds: measure, spot, set a date, prepare for cravings, track. Sources cited.
Read the guideNicotine cravings: how long they last and what to do
A craving usually lasts five to ten minutes. What sets it off, why it falls on its own, and five short techniques to decide on in advance.
Read the guideHow to quit vaping: the method adapted to vapes
Vaping has no unit to count: people rarely know how much they draw or what it costs. Restore that number, then cut moments before strength.
Read the guideFAQ
Quit outright or cut down gradually?
Both exist and neither is superior in the abstract. Quitting outright needs a date and preparation; cutting down needs dated steps and a frame, otherwise it stretches on forever. If you have already failed at quitting outright several times, a reduction plan with written steps is often more sustainable. Speak to a healthcare professional if you are unsure.
Do nicotine replacements fit this method?
Yes. Patches, gum and lozenges are a matter for pharmaceutical or medical advice, which we do not give. The tracking offered here — triggers, cravings, progress — works exactly the same whether or not you use them.
I relapsed yesterday. Am I back to zero?
No. The counter restarts, but your best streak is kept and what you learned about your triggers still holds. A relapse is information about a situation you had not prepared for, not a reset of your work.
How long do withdrawal symptoms last?
The peak is usually within the first few days, and most symptoms ease over two to four weeks according to public health services. Occasional cravings can reappear much later, set off by a situation — which is normal, and which can be prepared for.
Is the app free?
The streak counter, money saved, health milestones, craving journal, savings goals and SOS breathing are free and will stay free. A Premium subscription is planned for trend analysis and the gradual reduction plan; it cannot be bought yet.
7-day nicotine-free challenge: the free programme
A free seven-day programme to quit nicotine: understand your triggers, prepare your environment, handle cravings, get through the first week.