# Thrive at UT vs Equa

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Thrive at UT at none against Equa's 12. Thrive at UT also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 68%) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.1). Equa's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months) and rating (4.9 vs 4.5). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Equa sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Thrive at UT asks for nothing beyond the download.

Equa holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Equa has 240 ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of Thrive at UT's written reviews are positive against 68% of Equa's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Thrive at UT ships an update every 6 months, Equa fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on August 19, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Thrive at UT | Equa |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.5 (12 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thrive-at-ut/id1071922263/reviews) | **[4.9 (240 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/equa/id1541398915/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 12 | **240** |
| Positive reviews | **100.0% of reviews** | 67.9% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Subscription |
| Size | 17 MB | 94 MB |
| Requires iOS | **11.0** | 15.1 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN](https://appshunter.io/developer/347883011) | [Equa Health, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1541398917) |

## What reviewers say

### Thrive at UT

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thrive-at-ut/id1071922263)

This app supports University of Texas students in navigating campus life. It offers guidance on friendships, mindfulness, and challenges through videos and interactive activities. The goal is to help students make positive changes for a better daily experience.

**Highlights:** Campus life navigation, Friendship building guidance, Mindfulness techniques, Challenge management, Student video stories, Interactive learning activities

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Equa

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/equa/id1541398915)

This app offers a personalized mindfulness training experience with interactive feedback to build attentional control, mental resilience, and overall well-being. It addresses common challenges faced by new meditators by providing guidance and support throughout the practice.

**Highlights:** Attentional control training, Mental resilience building, Personalized mindfulness coaching, Interactive feedback system, Well-being improvement, Guided meditation practice

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (12)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Subscription | $0.99 | per month |
| Monthly Subscriptoin | $2.99 | per month |
| Monthly Subscription | $4.99 | per month |
| Monthly Subscriptoin | $7.99 | per month |
| Monthly Subscription | $11.99 | per month |
| Monthly Subscription | $12.99 | per month |
| Monthly Subscription | $14.99 | per month |
| Monthly Subscription | $17.99 | per month |
| Resilience Starter Kit | $29.99 | per 6 months |
| Yearly Subscription | $39.99 | per year |
| Annual Membership | $64.99 | per year |
| Yearly Equanaut | $149.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 💡 Innovative real-time breath feedback
- 👍 Great for carving out mindful time
- 👍 Helps improve state of mind
- 👍 Great structure for mindfulness
- 👍 Developers listen to feedback

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Tapping feedback inaccurate
- 🐛 Login doesn't work
- 🐛 Lack of instructions/guidance
- 🐛 No dashboard guidance
- 🐛 Inconsistent session logging

**Reported bugs**

- Login page not working
- Tapping feedback not detecting double taps
- Accomplishments not logging accurately
- Cannot proceed past lesson 13 as a premium subscriber
- App redirects to subscribe screen for premium content

**Requested features**

- Add more content/lessons
- Sync with Apple Health
- Improve tapping detection accuracy
- Provide more guidance on dashboard usage
- Offer more than one reminder for micro-exercises


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Thrive at UT free?

Thrive at UT is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Equa free?

Equa is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Thrive at UT or Equa?

Equa is rated higher. Thrive at UT averages 4.5 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while Equa averages 4.9 from 240 ratings.

### Do Thrive at UT or Equa have ads?

Neither Thrive at UT nor Equa shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Thrive at UT or Equa?

Thrive at UT ships an update every 6 months, and Equa fortnightly. Most recently, Thrive at UT was updated on August 19, 2026 and Equa on September 21, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*