Comparison

Plum Village vs Healthy Minds Program by Humin

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

Head to head
About

Plum Village

This app offers guided mindfulness meditations and talks from a renowned Zen Buddhist Master to help reduce stress, anxiety, and cultivate inner peace. Explore a variety of practices for daily life, including meditations for children and offline listening options.

Highlights
  • 100+ guided meditations
  • Customizable meditation timer
  • Mindfulness Bell
  • 300+ video sessions/Q&As
  • Guided meditations for children
  • Offline practice downloads
  • Mindful Minutes tracking
Features
Read full description

Looking to touch peace, calm and ease in today’s frantic and often stressful world? The Plum Village practices are an invaluable support. Use mindfulness meditation techniques taught by a renowned Zen Buddhist Master to connect deeply with the present moment, soothe anxiety, experience more joy and happiness, and taste enlightenment. Explore a wealth of easy-to-use guided meditations, relaxations, and talks. The Plum Village app enables us to bring mindfulness into our life, so we can live each moment more deeply and create a happier future. As Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh said, mindfulness allows us to be truly alive. ========================================== Plum Village: Zen Guided Meditation App – Main Features ========================================== • Free forever with no ads or in-app purchases • 100+ guided meditations • A customizable meditation timer • A “Mindfulness Bell” to incorporate into your daily routine • 300+ video sessions/Q&As with Thich Nhat Hanh and Plum Village teachers • 15 guided meditations for children • “Favourite” your most loved meditations to find them easily • Download talks and meditations to the app for easy offline practice • Track time spent listening to meditations as “Mindful Minutes” in the Apple Health app (if enabled) The Plum Village app is regularly being updated with new guided meditations and talks. It is completely free to download and all of the content is available for free. =========================================== Plum Village: Zen Guided Meditation App – Main Categories =========================================== The Plum Village app is split into four easy-to-use categories – meditations, talks, resources, and bells of mindfulness: MEDITATIONS Meditation is a deep practice that helps us generate peace and calm, master our mind, develop a healthy headspace, and get deep insights into ourselves and the world around us. Meditations include deep relaxations, guided contemplations, silent meditations, and eating meditations. Whether you have a little time or a lot, and whether you want to be on your cushion or applying mindfulness in your daily life, there are meditations to nourish, inspire, and incorporate into your daily routine. TALKS Listen and learn from the wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh and other Plum Village meditation teachers Ask Thay includes hundreds of real-life questions asked to the Zen Master, like “How can we let go of anger? and “How can I stop worrying?” His answers are compassionate and infused with insight. Dharma Talks are teachings given by Thich Nhat Hanh and others on how to bring Buddhist wisdom and mindfulness into our life. Rather than discussing theoretical concepts, they focus on direct and clear teachings to relieve suffering and create happiness in our day to day lives. RESOURCES In Resources you can find a library of daily practices, chants, poems, and songs. These bring to life the practices taught in Plum Village monasteries around the world and offer ways to bring mindfulness into our world, wherever we are. BELL OF MINDFULNESS In Plum Village monasteries bells of mindfulness chime at regular intervals. Everybody stops and takes three mindful breaths to pause from their thinking or talking, breathe, and return to their bodies. The Bell of Mindfulness allows us to have the same reminder on our phone. We can customize the bell to chime at different time periods. Settings include: • Start time / End time • Chime intervals • Bell volume • Daily repeating schedule Regular use of the Bell of Mindfulness will cultivate more calm and relaxation in your life. ------------------------------------ Why not give the Plum Village app a try and see how you can benefit from it? The app is a digital companion on your mindfulness journey. Created as a gift to the world, this free app contains invaluable resources to guide you towards inner peace and freedom. Download today for free!

About

Healthy Minds Program by Humin

This app offers science-backed meditation and mindfulness practices to improve focus, reduce stress, and enhance social connections. It features guided lessons and assessments based on neuroscientific research, designed to fit into busy lifestyles.

Highlights
  • Science-backed meditation practices
  • Guided lessons on focus and stress reduction
  • Neuroscientific well-being framework
  • Active meditation for busy lives
  • Mobile mental and emotional well-being assessments
  • Integration with Apple Health
Features
Read full description

• 2024 Pick: Best Meditation App by Healthline, The New York Times Wirecutter, Vogue, and Sports Illustrated Well-being is a skill that can be learned. We’re here to guide you along the way. Backed by four decades of research from world-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Richard Davidson and the team at Humin (formerly Healthy Minds Innovations) & the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, the Healthy Minds Program trains your mind through meditation and podcast-style lessons to develop skills for gaining focus, reducing stress, and maintaining positive social connections. Research with the Healthy Minds App showed that just 5 minutes a day of practice leads to a 28% reduction in stress, an 18% reduction in anxiety, a 24% reduction in depression, and a 13% increase in social connection. Featuring our scientific Awareness, Connection, Insight, and Purpose, Well-being Framework, the Healthy Minds Program is a holistic, all-encompassing meditation app that offers the best of both guided meditations and opportunities to learn. You’ll learn simple skills to enhance personal well-being, build healthy relationships, and improve communication, performance, and creativity. –––––––––––––––––––––––––– What makes us unique? Developed from Science: While many meditation apps can claim the scientific benefits of meditation, our practices are developed directly from neuroscientific research. You’ll also hear from the world’s foremost neuroscientists about neuroplasticity and how to train your mind. Made for Busy Lives: Our app features active meditation practices that fit into your busy lifestyle. Don’t have time to sit for 20 minutes? Put on an active practice and train your mind while you fold the laundry. Guided by Measurement: Thanks to our pioneering scientific research, the Healthy Minds Program offers the first mobile mental and emotional well-being assessments. Learn about your current level of well-being and contribute to cutting-edge research on the science of well-being. Our app also integrates with Apple Health to track your mindful minutes. Goes Beyond Mindfulness: Our guided path offers step-by-step instructions for becoming more present in the moment and developing a sense of purpose, meaning, and connection in life. Driven by Mission and Supported by Donation: The Healthy Minds Program is made possible by our donors, who support our vision of a kinder, wiser, more compassionate world. Unlike other apps that require a subscription, the Healthy Minds Program is available by donation, driven by a mission to translate science into tools to cultivate and measure well-being. –––––––––––––––––––––––––– Read the End User License Agreement and Terms of Use here: https://hminnovations.org/terms-of-use Read our Privacy Policy here: https://hminnovations.org/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Plum Village4 screens
Healthy Minds Program by Humin4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Plum Village at none against Healthy Minds Program by Humin's shown. Plum Village also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Healthy Minds Program by Humin's advantage is iOS requirement (13.4 vs 15.1). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Plum Village against 4.9 for Healthy Minds Program by Humin. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.8K and 8.5K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 98% of Plum Village's written reviews are positive against 96% of Healthy Minds Program by Humin's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Plum Village ships an update monthly, Healthy Minds Program by Humin every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Plum Village versus Healthy Minds Program by Humin: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlum VillageHealthy Minds Program by Humin
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3.8K ratings) — better4.9 (8.5K ratings)
Positive reviews98.1% of reviews — better96.0% of reviews
Number of ratings3.8K8.5K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.113.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB65 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCentre for Applied Ethics LtdHealthy Minds Innovations, Inc.

Customer experience

Plum Village

All ratings3,587 ratings
Positive99.2%
Neutral0.3%
Negative0.5%
Written reviews528 reviews
Positive98.1%
Neutral0.4%
Negative1.5%

Healthy Minds Program by Humin

All ratings8,102 ratings
Positive98.1%
Neutral0.9%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews607 reviews
Positive96.0%
Neutral1.5%
Negative2.5%

User reviews

Plum Village

From 3.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🙏 Excellent app
  • 🌺 Wonderful
  • 🌈 Amazing meditation app
  • 🏠 A home for my spiritual practice
  • 📚 Fantastic content

Room to improve

  • ⏱️ Missing an open-ended timer

Healthy Minds Program by Humin

From 8.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Best meditation app
  • 🚀 Flexible and customizable
  • 💡 Science-based approach
  • 🙌 Excellent for beginners
  • 🧠 Improves focus and awareness

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional technical issues
  • 🕰️ Meditations could use more silence
  • 🤖 Narrator can speak too fast at times

Bugs and requests

Plum Village

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • iOS 15 broke the mindfulness bell feature

Requested features

2 requests
  • Add a setting to customize the number of mindfulness bells
  • Incorporate more guided meditations led by female monastics

Healthy Minds Program by Humin

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Progress not always saved correctly
  • Connectivity issues causing data loss

Requested features

3 requests
  • Offline mode for meditations
  • Ability to bookmark favorite sessions
  • More personalization options

In-app purchases

None

Plum Village

No in-app purchases

None

Healthy Minds Program by Humin

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Plum Village free?
Plum Village is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Healthy Minds Program by Humin free?
Healthy Minds Program by Humin is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Plum Village or Healthy Minds Program by Humin?
Plum Village is rated higher. Plum Village averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3.8K ratings, while Healthy Minds Program by Humin averages 4.9 from 8.5K ratings.
Do Plum Village or Healthy Minds Program by Humin have ads?
Healthy Minds Program by Humin shows ads; Plum Village does not.
Which is updated more often, Plum Village or Healthy Minds Program by Humin?
Plum Village ships an update monthly, and Healthy Minds Program by Humin every 3 weeks. Most recently, Plum Village was updated on September 22, 2026 and Healthy Minds Program by Humin on September 24, 2026.

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