Comparison

Insomnia Coach vs UCLA Mindful

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

Head to head
About

Insomnia Coach

This app offers a guided training plan and interactive tools based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i). It provides personalized feedback and tips to help users track and improve their sleep patterns. Designed for daily use over five weeks, it aims to help users regain healthy sleep habits.

Highlights
  • Guided weekly training plan
  • Personalized sleep coach feedback
  • Interactive sleep diary
  • 17 sleep improvement tools
  • Scientifically-based approach
Features
Read full description

Insomnia Coach is designed for Veterans, military Servicemembers, and others who are suffering from insomnia. The app is based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i) and provides: * a guided, weekly training plan to help you track and improve your sleep * a sleep coach with personal feedback about your sleep and fun sleep tips * an interactive sleep diary to help you keep track of daily changes in your sleep * 17 tools to help you get your sleep back on track This app is based on scientific research about how people can change their behaviors and thoughts to improve their sleep. This app does NOT replace professional care. Insomnia Coach is designed to be used daily for 5 weeks by following the Training Plan. After that, you can continue using the app to track your sleep and maintain good sleep habits. Insomnia Coach was created by VA’s National Center for PTSD.

About

UCLA Mindful

Practice mindfulness meditation with guided sessions and educational content from UCLA Health. Learn to manage stress, reduce anxiety, and cultivate positive emotions through regular practice. Explore various meditation types, informative videos, and weekly recordings to enhance your well-being.

Highlights
  • Guided basic meditations
  • Wellness meditations for health conditions
  • Informative videos on mindfulness
  • Weekly live/virtual meditation recordings
  • Talks on mindfulness topics
  • Customizable meditation timer
Features
Read full description

With this easy-to-use app, you can practice mindfulness meditation anywhere, anytime with the guidance of UCLA Mindful, the mindfulness education center of UCLA Health. Scientific research shows mindfulness can help manage stress-related physical conditions, reduce anxiety and depression, and cultivate positive emotions. Mindfulness is paying attention to our present moment experiences with openness and curiosity and a willingness to be with our experience. Through regular practice, taught through this app, you can develop a meditation practice and learn to bring more mindfulness into your daily life. This app offers: • Basic Meditations for getting started in multiple languages. Languages include Arabic, Armenian, Cantonese, Farsi, Filipino, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Mixteco, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, American Sign Language • Wellness Meditations for people suffering from challenging health conditions • Informative videos exploring how to get started, supportive meditation postures, and the science of mindfulness • Weekly recordings from our live and virtual drop-in meditations -- a 30-minute meditation on different themes you can search for and bookmark • Talks on mindfulness-related topics • A timer to meditate on your own • A list of our current events and classes that you can add to your calendar UCLA Mindful, the mindfulness education center of UCLA Health, is dedicated to advancing mindfulness education to promote individual and cultural well-being and resilience world-wide. Our mission is to provide innovative, evidence-based mindfulness programs that empower individuals and institutions to manage stress, enhance health, and cultivate inner and outer peace. Through educational programs, we strive to inspire transformative growth and contribute to a culture of compassion and wellness for all. Due to UCLA Mindful’s mission of radical accessibility, this app is entirely free to use. Disclaimer: These meditations are for educational purposes and are not clinical treatments.

Screenshots

Insomnia Coach4 screens
UCLA Mindful4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: UCLA Mindful at 4.5 against Insomnia Coach's 3.7. UCLA Mindful also leads on review sentiment (77% vs 50%) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 9 months). Insomnia Coach's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

UCLA Mindful holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 89 and 176 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Insomnia Coach's written reviews are positive against 77% of UCLA Mindful's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Insomnia Coach ships an update every 9 months, UCLA Mindful every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Insomnia Coach versus UCLA Mindful: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInsomnia CoachUCLA Mindful
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (89 ratings)4.5 (176 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews76.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings89176 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB23 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperUS Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)UCLA Health

Customer experience

Insomnia Coach

All ratings89 ratings
Positive64.0%
Neutral11.2%
Negative24.7%
Written reviews54 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral14.8%
Negative35.2%

UCLA Mindful

All ratings176 ratings
Positive90.3%
Neutral0.6%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews60 reviews
Positive76.7%
Neutral5.0%
Negative18.3%

User reviews

Insomnia Coach

From 89 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✅ Effective CBT-i program
  • 💰 Free to use
  • 💡 Helpful explanations
  • 📈 Tracks sleep patterns
  • 🧘 Guided relaxation

Room to improve

  • ⚠️ Struggles with irregular sleep
  • 😵 Makes insomnia worse
  • 📱 Bright white background
  • 🎧 No wireless headphone support
  • 🔄 Inability to edit entries

UCLA Mindful

From 176 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🙏 Free and accessible resource
  • 🧘‍♀️ High-quality guided meditations
  • 🗣️ Calming and comforting narrator voices (Diana Winston)
  • 👍 Simple, easy to use, and navigate
  • 🌍 Multiple languages offered

Room to improve

  • 🗣️ Presenter talks too much during meditations
  • 🔌 Requires a good internet connection (streaming)
  • 🔄 No offline access
  • 📱 App doesn't rotate on iPad in landscape mode
  • 🔊 Loud ding at the end of some tracks

Bugs and requests

Insomnia Coach

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Sleep diary errors (negative hours)
  • Progress tab not reflecting data
  • App won't download
  • Audio not playing through headphones
  • Sleep diary calculation errors
Show 3 more
  • Error when entering shift work hours
  • App doesn't account for sex in diary
  • Diary locks entries after prescription update

Requested features

9 requests
  • Dark mode feature
  • Wireless headphone compatibility
  • Ability to edit past diary entries
  • Sync between devices
  • More sleep stories and anxiety resources
Show 4 more
  • Option to indicate getting out of bed in the middle of the night
  • Better handling of irregular sleep hours
  • Clearer overview of weekly exercises
  • Support for Bluetooth earbuds

UCLA Mindful

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • 🐛 Loop repeat did not replay when screen is locked
  • 🐛 Audio stops when iPhone screen locks/turns off
  • 🐛 Back button disappears on search podcast tab
  • 🐛 Search in previous podcast is slow to respond
  • 🐛 Custom timer doesn't work as intended
Show 1 more
  • 🐛 Meditations won't load (show 0 time)

Requested features

6 requests
  • Offline access/downloadable sessions
  • More voice diversity (ethnicity and gender)
  • Add to Apple Health for tracking mindful minutes
  • Improve pausing points for Vietnamese meditations
  • Remove the ding at the end of tracks
Show 1 more
  • Wider selection of UCLA courses/Diana Winston meditations

In-app purchases

None

Insomnia Coach

No in-app purchases

None

UCLA Mindful

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Insomnia Coach free?
Insomnia Coach is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is UCLA Mindful free?
UCLA Mindful is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Insomnia Coach or UCLA Mindful?
UCLA Mindful is rated higher. Insomnia Coach averages 3.7 out of 5 from 89 ratings, while UCLA Mindful averages 4.5 from 176 ratings.
Do Insomnia Coach or UCLA Mindful have ads?
Neither Insomnia Coach nor UCLA Mindful shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Insomnia Coach or UCLA Mindful?
Insomnia Coach ships an update every 9 months, and UCLA Mindful every 3 months. Most recently, Insomnia Coach was updated on October 25, 2026 and UCLA Mindful on October 25, 2026.

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