Andrew Johnson is a Scottish hypnosis and meditation teacher — not the 17th US president of the same name — who built one of the earliest meditation-app catalogs around a single calm voice. If you arrived here from a store search for "Relax with AJ" or "Deep Sleep with AJ," this review tells you exactly what you would get: a large library of pre-recorded guided relaxation recordings in his famously soothing Scottish accent, sold across dozens of small single-topic apps and a newer consolidated subscription app called Relax Change Create.
His apps are for people who want a familiar, trustworthy voice to wind down with at night and do not need anything written for their specific situation. The honest question this review answers is whether that fixed, one-voice library fits you — or whether a session written around your own words serves you better.
Who Andrew Johnson Is — And Which App Is Which
One name confusion is worth clearing up before anything else. Andrew Johnson, the person behind these apps, is not the American president of the same name. A quick web search for "andrewjohnson.com" lands on a US-presidential-history site — which is not him. The app maker's official site is andrewjohnson.co.uk, and his current platform brand is Relax Change Create, at relaxchangecreate.app.
The Scottish hypnosis and meditation teacher behind the voice
Andrew Johnson is a Scottish meditation and hypnosis teacher who spent roughly seventeen years working one-to-one with people before moving into recorded guided relaxation audio. His materials describe more than twenty-six years of experience. The calm, unhurried Scottish accent in his recordings is the product — people describe his delivery with genuine affection, and the voice is the single consistent thread across his whole catalog.
The older "$2.99 with AJ" apps vs the newer "Relax Change Create" app
His catalog exists in two generations side by side. The older line is a family of small, single-topic apps — Relax with AJ, Deep Sleep with AJ, Build Confidence with AJ, Stress Free with AJ, Public Speaking with AJ, and more — each a $2.99 one-time purchase, with free "Lite" variants alongside. These are published by Universal Relaxation Ltd, based in Edinburgh. The newer generation is one consolidated subscription app, Relax Change Create Meditation, which bundles a much larger library across sleep, relaxation, confidence, focus, and habit goals. Whether the older apps are being phased out is unclear — the two generations simply coexist as his catalog stands today.
A soothing, familiar voice across dozens of single-topic recordings
The core offering is simple and consistent: one narrator, a fixed recording per topic, and a clean one-time price on the single-topic apps. On the US App Store, Relax with AJ holds about a 4.9-star average from roughly 31 ratings, and Deep Sleep with AJ about 4.2 stars from roughly 147 — small counts across a large family, but the pattern is clear: people who like the voice rate the apps warmly.
A subscription library of 400+ pre-recorded sessions
The Relax Change Create app is a different shape. It bundles a 400-plus-session library — sleep sessions, sleep stories, short two-minute relief recordings, daily boosts, courses, audiobooks, live sessions, a journal, and vision boards — behind a subscription with a free trial and a few free taster recordings. The exact price varies by region and plan, so the store listing is the place to confirm it. Across both generations the structural fact is the same: every recording is pre-recorded in his own voice and plays the same way for every listener.
What Andrew Johnson's Apps Do Genuinely Well
Credit where it is due: this is not a thin app family. The voice is the point, and it is a real strength.
A consistent voice you can trust at bedtime
A fixed narrator is genuinely good at being a familiar wind-down you replay every night. There is real comfort in knowing exactly what the track will sound like before you press play — the same voice, the same pacing, the same room. For someone who just wants a reliable "help me settle down" recording for a common goal like sleep or relaxation, that consistency is a feature, not a flaw.
Simple one-time pricing on the single-topic apps
The older "$2.99 with AJ" apps also get something right that much of the category has left behind: a one-time purchase. In a market that has largely moved to subscriptions, paying a couple of dollars once to own a relaxation or sleep recording is straightforward, and users praise the value. If you only want one topic and you already know you like the voice, it is a reasonable purchase.
The Ceiling of a Fixed Narrator Recording
The recording plays the same for everyone
The honest limit is fit, not quality. A pre-recorded recording has to speak to everyone at once, so it stays broad. It cannot hear that your goal is "feel steady before Thursday's conversation" or "quiet the specific thought that shows up at 2 a.m." It addresses "you" in the most general sense, and it plays identically whether it is your first night or your fortieth. That is the same ceiling covered in AI hypnosis vs generic recordings, and it applies to every fixed library, however beloved the narrator.
When the update changed the track that worked
The user reviews also surface a more practical wrinkle: some listeners report that updates shortened meditation lengths, added more music-only sections, or introduced a wake-up phase that can rouse someone who was falling asleep. A few also mention a bright, white interface with no dark mode — a real friction point for a sleep app — and some describe the older free "Lite" apps as dated-looking or occasionally laggy. None of this erases the voice's appeal — but with a fixed library, one update that changes the track you rely on changes your whole experience.
What Hypnothera Does Differently
Hypnothera comes at the same goal from the opposite direction. Instead of choosing a track from a narrator's library, you describe your goal in your own words and the app writes a session around it.
A script written around your goal, not a track you select
On /create, you type your goal in your own words — something like "I keep replaying a hard conversation and want to feel settled before bed." You choose a session type and length, pick an induction or let the AI choose one, and the AI writes a full script around that input, with your name and your specific situation in the text. Then it narrates the script into audio. It is the same guided-relaxation practice, but built from your words rather than selected from a shelf.
Read and edit the script before the audio exists
The step that matters most is the one between writing and listening: you read the entire script and edit it before any audio is generated. If a line does not sit right, you change it. That is a direct answer to the fixed-library problem — you see exactly what the session is going to say before you spend a credit on it. For the mechanics of how the generator turns a goal into a script, how AI hypnosis works walks through it.
Choose the voice, length, and language, keep the session
You also control the delivery. Pick the narrator voice yourself, set the length, and choose the language — sessions run in 10+ languages, so you can be guided in the language your mind actually thinks in. New accounts start with 25 free credits — one credit equals one minute of audio — so you can write your first session and hear the difference without a card. The two samples in this article are real Hypnothera sessions; each addresses the listener by name and stays on one thread.
People describe the difference directly. One App Store reviewer, Johny M., wrote: "I've been waiting for an app like this for 2 years because I'd already learned all my meditation tracks by heart. Now I listen to new stuff EVERY TIME!" That is the whole contrast in a sentence — a fixed library eventually repeats, while a generated session can be new every time.
Who Should Stay With Andrew Johnson's Apps
Andrew Johnson's apps are the right answer for a specific person. If you want a familiar, fixed narrator to replay every night for a common goal — falling asleep, winding down, a little relaxation — and you do not need a script written around your exact situation, his apps are a legitimate choice, and the single-topic one-time price is genuinely refreshing. The voice really is that good, and consistency is a real reason to stay.
If you have tried a pre-recorded library and felt like it was not quite reaching you, more of the same will not change that. The issue is not the narrator or the production; it is that a fixed recording does not know who you are. That is the point where a written-for-you session earns its keep.
Andrew Johnson vs Hypnothera, Practically
The gap is not in production quality or topic coverage. It is in whether the session was made for you or recorded for everyone. Here is the side-by-side.
What both apps offer:
Guided hypnosis and relaxation audio across sleep, stress, confidence, focus, and habit goals
A soothing, professional narrator voice
Availability on iOS and Android
What only Hypnothera offers:
A complete script written around your exact goal, with your name and situation in the text
The ability to read and edit the script before audio is generated
Your choice of narrator voice, session length, and language on every session
A session that stays in your account and can be regenerated whenever your situation changes
25 free credits on signup — one credit equals one minute of audio, no card required
Hypnothera is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the people or organizations discussed on this page.
If you are comparing apps across the category, our guide to how AI hypnosis apps compare walks through the decision, and we have reviewed other pre-recorded libraries — Harmony Hypnosis, Oneleaf, and KURE — if you want more contrasts. If bedtime is specifically your goal, hypnosis before bed covers how pre-sleep listening works. The fastest test is to generate one session at /create and listen to the first two minutes — you will know quickly whether a session written for you lands differently than a recording made for everyone.
FAQ
Who is Andrew Johnson (the hypnosis app maker)?
Andrew Johnson is a Scottish meditation and hypnosis teacher — not the 17th US president of the same name. He is the voice and creator behind the "…with AJ" apps (like Relax with AJ and Deep Sleep with AJ) and the newer Relax Change Create app, known for a calm Scottish voice and a large library of pre-recorded guided relaxation recordings.
Is the "Relax with AJ" app free?
There is a free "Relax with AJ Lite" version, while the full Relax with AJ app is a $2.99 one-time purchase. The newer Relax Change Create app is a subscription with a free trial and a few free taster recordings, and its price varies by region and plan — check the store listing.
Does Andrew Johnson's app personalize the sessions?
No. His recordings are pre-recorded and play the same for everyone; the only choice is which track or course to select. A generated session is different: it is written around your words, so your name and your specific situation appear in the script itself.
Is Andrew Johnson's hypnosis app legit?
Yes — it is a real, long-running app catalog with live store listings and a large following. The honest caveat is not legitimacy but fit: it is a fixed library rather than a session written for you, so whether it works depends on how well a one-size recording matches your goal.
What is the "Relax Change Create" app?
Relax Change Create is Andrew Johnson's newer consolidated subscription app, with a 400-plus-session library of pre-recorded sessions, courses, sleep stories, and live sessions across sleep, relaxation, confidence, focus, and habit goals, available on iOS, Android, and the web.
What are the best alternatives to Andrew Johnson's apps?
It depends what you want. If you want a familiar fixed narrator for a common goal, his apps hold up on their own. If you want a session written around your exact situation — your name, your goal, your preferred voice and length — Hypnothera is the natural alternative. Our AI hypnosis app buying guide covers the category.
Andrew Johnson vs Hypnothera — which should I choose?
Choose Andrew Johnson's apps if you want a familiar, fixed narrator to replay for a common goal like sleep or relaxation, and you do not need a custom script. Choose Hypnothera if you want a session written around your specific goal, in a voice you pick, that you can read and edit before listening.
Can I get a hypnosis session written specifically for me?
Yes. Hypnothera writes a full session around your goal, name, and situation, and you can read and edit the script before the audio is generated. New accounts get 25 free credits — one credit equals one minute of audio, no card required — so you can write your first session and hear it yourself.
