Comparison

HRV Trace vs CapnoTrainer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

HRV Trace

This app visualizes your heart rate variability to help you understand and manage your body's stress response. Learn to recover, adapt, and reduce strain for improved performance and well-being.

Highlights
  • Visualize heartbeat patterns (HRV Trace)
  • Instantaneous stress response feedback
  • Learn stress regulation skills (Recover, Ready, Reset, Recondition)
  • Track progress in stress management
  • Integrates with chaos theory for analysis
  • Augments mindfulness and resiliency training
Features
Read full description

HRV Trace - Training For Resilience Under Stress NOTE: HRV Trace has been tested with the following heart rate monitors: Zephyr HxM Smart, Polar H7, FirstBeat. Other monitors may not function with the app. You will need to purchase a heart rate monitor separately. HRV Trace opens a window into your stress-response system by showing you the shape of your heartbeat pattern, your HRV Trace. As your heart traces a path, beat-by-beat, across the screen, you receive instantaneous information that enables you to respond more effectively to stress. Stress comes from our environment. To respond to stress we must activate our sympathetic nervous system. This causes strain on our body. Stress --> Sympathetic Activation --> Strain We cannot escape from stress because it is a part of life. We can learn to regulate our level of sympathetic activation so that we respond instead of react. And we can reduce the strain that comes dealing with stress. By managing our stress we can improve our health, our performance at work, sports, and school, and our relationships. HRV Trace will help you learn the following skills: Recover - how to shift quickly to a state in which you recover from strain and recharge Ready - maintain a level of activation that adapts to a dynamic situation Reset - reduce excessive activation in seconds Recondition - reduce excessive reactions that have been conditioned to stressful situations Together these skills increase your effectiveness under pressure and enable you to sustain a high level of intensity. Each of the skills creates a certain type of pattern in the heart trace. These patterns vary from individual to individual. The process for using HRV Trace is: 1) Use HRV Trace to identify your heart trace signature for each of the skills: Recovery, Ready, Reset and Recondition. 2) Apply these skills as instructed to increase your recovery rate from stress, and increase your ability to handle stress with less strain. 3) Use HRV Trace to check your progress. HRV Trace applies techniques from chaos theory used to analyze complex systems. That makes it a powerful tool for augmenting stress-reduction, mindfulness, and resiliency training programs. It is meant to be used with the guidance of a professional who is familiar with stress and heart-rate changes under stress, preferably one trained in the use of the app by Ibernetics, LLC. HRV Trace has been integrated into the training program for law enforcement officers offered by the International Performance Resilience and Efficiency Program, www.proresilience.org. Some people may already be familiar with stress-reduction concepts and so may be able to benefit without professional guidance. If you wish to use HRV Trace on your own then please see our terms of use. HRV Trace developed by Ibernetics, LLC iOS programming by Owen L Brown at www.back-40.com

About

CapnoTrainer

Features
Read full description

CapnoTrainer iOS app is a great substitution for CapnoTrainer desktop app in case you would like to record session remotely. The app connects to your instrument's Bluetooth and allows you to record session and provide multiple different graphical analysis.

Screenshots

HRV Trace4 screens
CapnoTrainer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: CapnoTrainer at Free against HRV Trace's $19.99. CapnoTrainer also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 11 months). HRV Trace's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

CapnoTrainer is free to download; HRV Trace costs $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HRV Trace ships an update every 11 months, CapnoTrainer every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
HRV Trace versus CapnoTrainer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHRV TraceCapnoTrainer
Price$19.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS11.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperIbernetics, LLCMuhammad Arshad Khan

In-app purchases

None

HRV Trace

No in-app purchases

None

CapnoTrainer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HRV Trace free?
HRV Trace costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is CapnoTrainer free?
CapnoTrainer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do HRV Trace or CapnoTrainer have ads?
Neither HRV Trace nor CapnoTrainer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HRV Trace or CapnoTrainer?
HRV Trace ships an update every 11 months, and CapnoTrainer every 3 weeks. Most recently, HRV Trace was updated on October 12, 2026 and CapnoTrainer on September 29, 2026.

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