988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Best for: Anyone in immediate distress or worried about someone else, who needs a real person right now rather than a self-help tool.
What is 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline?
This is the US national crisis line: dial, text, or web-chat 988 and a trained counselor picks up, day or night. It exists for the moment things stop being manageable — a bad night, a friend who scares you, a relapse you can feel coming. The site itself is just an information page explaining who answers and what happens on the call — not a therapy app or program you sign up for. Nothing here replaces an ongoing relationship with a therapist or doctor — a hotline call is a bridge, not a treatment plan. If you avoid talking to strangers about this stuff, that instinct is what 988 is built to work around for one difficult hour.
Platforms and pricing
- Platforms
- Not an app — phone line, service, or in-person organization
- Pricing
- Free. Call, text, or chat 988 for a live counselor, no cost and no account needed.
- Category
- Crisis support
Facts checked against the official site (988lifeline.org homepage) on 2026-07-03. Pricing and features change; if something above is out of date, tell us.