Meditation apps
without a subscription
Most meditation apps are subscriptions, and the big ones list at $60 to $150 a year. A few are free. A few let you pay once. This page is the list prices from each app's App Store page, whether the free version includes a plain timer you can sit with, and what quiettime charges. No ranking. Prices only.
What they cost: a price comparison
List prices from the In-App Purchases section of each app's US App Store page, on the date shown. Introductory offers, regional prices and promotions are left out on purpose; they change weekly. A plain timer means a countdown with a bell you can use for an unguided sit, without paying and without a trial.
| App | Model | List price | Free plain timer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calm | Free app, subscription | In-App Purchases list Calm Premium at $69.99 and $79.99, and smaller items at $14.99 and $16.99. The period is not stated on the listing. | Not stated |
| Headspace | Free app, subscription | $12.99 a month or $69.99 a year, as the listing states. | Not stated |
| Insight Timer | Free app, optional subscription | $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year, as the listing states. | Yes. The timer is listed under free features. |
| Waking Up | Free app, subscription | In-App Purchases list yearly subscriptions at $149.99 and $199.99, a monthly at $19.99 and a family yearly at $229.99. The listing says the first five sessions are free, and free for anyone who cannot afford it. | A meditation timer is listed as a feature. Whether it is free is not stated. |
| Balance | Free app, subscription, lifetime | $11.99 a month or $69.99 a year, or a one-off lifetime payment of $399.99, as the listing states. | Not stated |
| Happier | Free app, subscription | Annual Membership $99.99 in In-App Purchases, with other subscription items at $59.99 and $79.99 whose period is not stated. | Not stated |
| The Mindfulness App | Free app, subscription | $79.99 a year, as the listing states. In-App Purchases also list items at $59.99. | Not stated |
| buddhify | Paid app, optional membership | $4.99 to buy. Buddhify Membership $29.99, described as annual. | A solo timer is included with the purchase. The app is not free. |
| Medito | Free, non-profit | No In-App Purchases. The listing says 100% free and non-profit. | Breathing timers are mentioned. A plain sit timer is not stated. |
| Oak | Free | The only In-App Purchase is a course listed at $0.00. | Yes. A meditation timer is listed. |
| Plum Village | Free | No In-App Purchases. The listing says free forever with no ads. | Yes. A customizable meditation timer is listed. |
| quiettime | Free timer, one purchase | The timer is free. Pro is $9.99 once, no subscription. | Yes. No account, no trial. |
Checked 2026-11-02. If a price here is wrong today, tell us and it gets fixed.
The one that is also free
Insight Timer's timer is free, and its listing says so. If all you want is a bell at the end of a sit, it has one, and so does quiettime. The difference is what each app sells. Insight Timer sells its library and courses by the year. quiettime sells one thing, once: the camera that reads your breath while you sit. If you never want that, you never pay either of us.
What quiettime charges
The timer is free. So are the guided sits, the seven bowls and their mixer, the streak, the calendar, trends, every sit you have logged, and mindful minutes to Apple Health. No account, no ads, no trial that ends.
Pro is $9.99 once. It is the senses: the front camera reads your breathing while you sit, with nothing worn and nothing recorded, and the pulse from AirPods or Apple Watch. The camera gives you three sits before it asks. There is no subscription and nothing to cancel. How the breath read works.
Why not a subscription
A timer is an instrument. You buy an instrument once. A subscription makes sense when something new arrives every month, and a bell at the end of ten minutes does not. The one-time price is also what keeps the app free of ads and accounts: the people who want the breath read pay for everyone's timer.
Is there a meditation app with no subscription?
Yes. Plum Village, Medito and Oak are free with no subscription, as their listings say. buddhify is a $4.99 purchase with an optional membership. quiettime's timer is free and its one paid feature is a single $9.99 purchase.
Is there a free meditation timer with no account?
quiettime has no account at all. Plum Village, Oak and Insight Timer list a free timer; whether any of them needs an account is not stated on their listings, so try before you count on it.
Is there a completely free meditation app?
Yes. Plum Village and Medito list no In-App Purchases at all, and Oak's only purchase is a course listed at $0.00. All three list a meditation timer. quiettime's timer is free too; its one purchase is optional.
Is Insight Timer completely free?
Its listing puts the timer and a large library under free features, with one optional subscription at $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year. So the timer is free; the subscription is for the extra content.
Do I have to pay for quiettime?
No. The timer, the guided sits, the bowls, the calendar and Health are free, with no account. Pro is a single $9.99 purchase for the camera breath read and the pulse.
What do the big meditation apps cost per year?
As stated on their App Store listings on the date above: Insight Timer $59.99, Headspace $69.99, Balance $69.99, The Mindfulness App $79.99, Happier $99.99 for its Annual Membership. Waking Up lists yearly items at $149.99 and $199.99. Calm lists Premium items at $69.99 and $79.99 without stating the period.
Why are the prices on this page different from what I see?
Apps show introductory offers, regional prices and promotions that change often. This page lists the standard US price from each app's App Store page on the date at the top, and nothing else.
Does five minutes really work? →
Sources
- Calm, US App Store listing, read 2026-11-02: apps.apple.com/us/app/calm/id571800810
- Headspace, US App Store listing, read 2026-11-02: apps.apple.com/us/app/headspace-sleep-meditation/id493145008
- Insight Timer, US App Store listing, read 2026-11-02: apps.apple.com/us/app/insight-timer-meditate-sleep/id337472899
- Waking Up, US App Store listing, read 2026-11-02: apps.apple.com/us/app/waking-up-meditation-wisdom/id1307736395
- Balance, US App Store listing, read 2026-11-02: apps.apple.com/us/app/balance-meditation-sleep/id1361356590
- Happier, US App Store listing, read 2026-11-02: apps.apple.com/us/app/happier-meditation/id992210239
- The Mindfulness App, US App Store listing, read 2026-11-02: apps.apple.com/us/app/the-mindfulness-app/id417071430
- buddhify, US App Store listing, read 2026-11-02: apps.apple.com/us/app/buddhify-guided-meditation/id687421118
- Medito, US App Store listing, read 2026-11-02: apps.apple.com/us/app/medito-mindfulness-meditation/id1500780518
- Oak, US App Store listing, read 2026-11-02: apps.apple.com/us/app/oak-meditation-breathing/id1210209691
- Plum Village, US App Store listing, read 2026-11-02: apps.apple.com/us/app/plum-village-mindfulness/id1273719339