Comparison

Pop Up Zendo vs Center Meditation Timer

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

Head to head
About

Pop Up Zendo

A minimalist meditation timer designed by a zen priest. It offers a simple, graceful interface to create meditative space with gentle bell sounds or silence. Build mindfulness into your daily routine with this straightforward tool.

Highlights
  • Minimalist meditation timer
  • Gentle zendo bells
  • Silent meditation option
  • Simple, graceful interface
  • Builds mindfulness
  • Creates meditative space
Features
Read full description

Pop Up Zendo is a meditation timer with nothing extra, just the basic tools you need to turn a moment into meditative space wherever you are. Designed and coded by a zen priest, a simple and graceful circle responds to a single tap by releasing itself breath by breath into an ‘empty’ screen - what zen people like to call ‘boundless’. Three zendo bells ring to begin your period of meditation and one will end it, or you can simply press mute and sit in silence until the screen is empty. Just set the time, tap the screen, and enter the zendo. There are no in-app purchases or anything in the way of institutional theory included, just your steps along an ancient path, and a new way to build mindfulness into your daily life. Pop Up Zendo is a simple tool to build a time for meditation or perhaps periods of intentional mindful activity and to bring a sense of calm and expansiveness into your life wherever you live and work. Perhaps an app that disappears from the screen may be just what your device is missing. Even in a technological ecosystem, there is space for a zendo.

About

Center Meditation Timer

A silent meditation timer designed for serious practitioners. It offers a minimalist interface with customizable session lengths, intervals, and sounds. Track your progress without pressure or gamification.

Highlights
  • Silent timer with optional bells
  • Customizable session lengths and intervals
  • Minimalist interface with themes
  • Daily reminders and widgets
  • Apple Watch support
  • iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

Center is a silent meditation timer for serious practice. No guides, no voices, no lessons, and no music. Center exists for people who already know why they meditate and want a calm, precise tool to support long-term practice. Start a session in one tap. Practice in silence or with simple bells. Customize session lengths, intervals, sounds, and themes to match your ritual. Center works across all Apple platforms and stays out of your way. # Designed for real practice • Silent timer with optional bells and intervals • Fully customizable session lengths • Minimal interface with multiple themes • Widgets and daily reminders • Apple Watch support • Syncs seamlessly with iCloud # Optional tracking, never pressure • View trends and streaks if you want them • Manually log sessions when needed • No rankings, no goals, no gamification # Built to last • No subscriptions • No ads • No data harvesting • Supported by optional donations Center is not a course, a coach, or a content platform. It is a quiet instrument for mindfulness, offered with restraint and intention. If Center supports your practice, you may choose to support its continued development.

Screenshots

Pop Up Zendo4 screens
Center Meditation Timer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pop Up Zendo at none against Center Meditation Timer's 6. Pop Up Zendo also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 71%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Center Meditation Timer's advantage is ratings volume (783 vs 27) and device support (6 vs 3). On price and ads 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

Both are free to download. Center Meditation Timer sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Pop Up Zendo asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pop Up Zendo holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Center Meditation Timer has 783 ratings behind it against 27, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Pop Up Zendo's written reviews are positive against 71% of Center Meditation Timer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pop Up Zendo ships an update weekly, Center Meditation Timer every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Pop Up Zendo versus Center Meditation Timer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPop Up ZendoCenter Meditation Timer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (27 ratings) — better4.7 (783 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better70.7% of reviews
Number of ratings27783 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS12.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPop Up ZendoTanner Christensen

Customer experience

Pop Up Zendo

All ratings26 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Center Meditation Timer

All ratings781 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral3.8%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews188 reviews
Positive70.7%
Neutral10.6%
Negative18.6%

Bugs and requests

Pop Up Zendo

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Center Meditation Timer

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Interval sounds not playing consistently
  • Timer stopping when screen locks or goes to sleep
  • Sync issues between iPhone and Apple Watch app
  • Inability to change screen sleep settings

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add Apple Watch complications and background tracking
  • Allow manual entry of meditation sessions
  • Extend bell/chime duration for better resonance
  • Add option to play background nature sounds

In-app purchases

None

Pop Up Zendo

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Center Meditation Timer

One-time6
  • Donate $1$0.99
  • Donate $2$1.99
  • Donate $3$2.99
Show 3 more
  • Donate $4$3.99
  • Donate $5$4.99
  • Donate $18$17.99

Questions

Is Pop Up Zendo free?
Pop Up Zendo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Center Meditation Timer free?
Center Meditation Timer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pop Up Zendo or Center Meditation Timer?
Pop Up Zendo is rated higher. Pop Up Zendo averages 5.0 out of 5 from 27 ratings, while Center Meditation Timer averages 4.7 from 783 ratings.
Do Pop Up Zendo or Center Meditation Timer have ads?
Neither Pop Up Zendo nor Center Meditation Timer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pop Up Zendo or Center Meditation Timer?
Pop Up Zendo ships an update weekly, and Center Meditation Timer every 4 weeks. Most recently, Pop Up Zendo was updated on November 2, 2026 and Center Meditation Timer on November 8, 2026.

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