Manai vs Nerva: a gut-directed hypnotherapy program or a practice in your own words

Start with the job, not the word hypnotherapy

Nerva describes itself as a structured six-week gut-directed hypnotherapy program for IBS and other disorders of gut-brain interaction, developed with Dr. Simone Peters at Monash University. Its program page describes daily sessions of around fifteen minutes, CBT-informed education, symptom tracking, and continued maintenance access after the core program.

Manai is not a program for a condition. It is a creation tool: you describe a moment and the response you want to practice, review a script, choose a narrator, and keep the recording. The two products overlap only in using relaxation and suggestion. Our category guide explains that difference in more depth.

Side by side

Swipe or scroll the table to see every column.

Decision	Manai	Nerva
Built for	Everyday states: before a call, a draft, bedtime, a hard conversation	IBS and related gut-brain conditions
Who designed the sessions	You, through a conversation, with a script you review	A clinician-designed protocol
Shape	A recording of the length you ask for, saved for replay	Six weeks of about fifteen minutes a day, then maintenance
Your own wording	Yes, request revisions and produce updated audio	Not documented
Price displayed October 11, 2026	Free plan; Plus US$12.99 monthly or US$79.99 yearly; Pro US$19.99 monthly or US$139.99 yearly	US$199 yearly after a seven-day trial; US$149.25 with a practitioner referral; App Store tiers differ
Evidence the company cites	None claimed for outcomes; a wellness creation tool	Seventeen published studies including a randomized controlled trial, per its research page
What it says it is not	Diagnosis, treatment, or a clinical program	Not evaluated by the FDA, TGA, or MHRA, per its research page

Scope: Manai’s consumer iOS workflow and Nerva’s public documentation. “Not documented” means the pages we read did not establish the feature. Nerva also lists a money-back guarantee, a patient assistance program, and no-cost access for some US patients aged 65 and over on its site; check the current terms.

When Nerva is the relevant choice

If you have IBS or a related diagnosis and a clinician has suggested gut-directed hypnotherapy, Nerva is built for exactly that, and its research page describes a randomized controlled trial of the program. Discuss it with the clinician who knows your situation. Manai cannot stand in for a condition-specific protocol, and we do not recommend trying to recreate one from a prompt.

Follow a prescribed program as prescribed. Adding or substituting your own recordings is a question for your clinician, not for us.

Where Manai fits around a condition

A condition is surrounded by ordinary moments that no protocol was written for: the ten minutes before a restaurant dinner with friends, the drive-free wait before an appointment, the evening after a hard day. Manai lets you write a short practice for that specific moment in your own words.

Original illustrative request:

Create a six-minute relaxation practice for the ten minutes before dinner with friends at a restaurant. Slow breathing without holds. Use suggestions about ordering what I want and enjoying the company. Do not mention symptoms or make promises about my body. Leave a pause after each suggestion so I can repeat it, and finish alert and ready to walk in.

The personal ingredient is the dinner, not the diagnosis. Read the script for assumptions you did not ask for, then save a version you can replay before the next invitation. Our self-hypnosis guide covers reviewing suggestions, and the evening relaxation example shows a bedtime version.

Cost and commitment

Nerva’s homepage describes an annual subscription of US$199 after a seven-day free trial, reduced to US$149.25 with a referral from a doctor or other healthcare practitioner, and notes that app stores may show other product names or offers. Its US App Store listing showed three-month, monthly, and full-access tiers at different prices on the day we checked.

Manai has a Free plan with limited creation, and Plus and Pro plans with monthly creation allowances and unlimited listening. Replaying a saved recording does not use creation minutes. See current plans and our cost comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Can Manai replace Nerva for IBS?

No. Nerva is a clinician-designed gut-directed hypnotherapy program with research the company cites. Manai creates original wellness recordings around your own words and is not a treatment for any condition.

Does Nerva let me change the wording of its sessions?

The pages we read do not document script editing. The sessions follow the program’s protocol. If editable wording matters to you, confirm it with Nerva directly before subscribing.

Can I use Manai while doing the Nerva program?

Keep the program as prescribed and ask your clinician about adding anything. People sometimes use a short self-made recording for an unrelated everyday moment while following a clinical program for a condition. Keep the two clearly separate.

What does Nerva cost?

On October 11, 2026, Nerva’s site described US$199 for twelve months after a seven-day trial, or US$149.25 with a practitioner referral, plus a money-back guarantee and a patient assistance program. App store prices and tiers differ. Confirm the current offer at checkout.

Is Nerva a medical device?

Nerva’s research page states that the program has not been evaluated by the FDA, TGA, or MHRA, alongside the studies it cites. Questions about whether it suits your condition belong with your clinician.

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