UCLA Mindful vs Coping Coach by VA
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Guided basic meditations
- Wellness meditations for health conditions
- Informative videos on mindfulness
- Weekly live/virtual meditation recordings
- Talks on mindfulness topics
- Customizable meditation timer
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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.
Coping Coach by VA
This app offers tools and resources to help users build resilience, manage stress, and improve well-being during challenging times. It provides customized support for coping, staying healthy, and navigating life changes like parenting or working from home. Users can track their mood and access additional help.
- Build resilience
- Manage stress
- Increase well-being
- Coping resources
- Mood tracking
- Progress visualization
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Life can be overwhelming, and we all face moments of stress, uncertainty, and change. Coping Coach is designed to help you build resilience, manage stress, and increase your well-being whenever you need it most. The app is free, secure, and connects you to important resources for coping and adapting through life's challenges. Customized tools are available to help you cope with stress, stay well, and stay connected whether you're navigating daily pressures, caregiving responsibilities, or major life transitions. You can track your mood, visualize your progress, and find resources to seek additional help and support. No account or password is required and user data is not collected. Coping Coach was made by the mobile mental health team of the National Center for PTSD, Dissemination & Training Division.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Coping Coach by VA at 4.8 against UCLA Mindful's 4.5. Coping Coach by VA also leads on ratings volume (1.5K vs 172) and review sentiment (88% vs 78%). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Coping Coach by VA holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Coping Coach by VA has 1.5K ratings behind it against 172, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of UCLA Mindful's written reviews are positive against 88% of Coping Coach by VA's.
UCLA Mindful ships an update every 3 months, Coping Coach by VA every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | UCLA Mindful | Coping Coach by VA |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (172 ratings) | 4.8 (1.5K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.0% of reviews | 87.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 172 | 1.5K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 197 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | UCLA Health | US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) |
Customer experience
UCLA Mindful
Coping Coach by VA
User reviews
UCLA Mindful
From 172 App Store ratingsWhat 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
Coping Coach by VA
From 1.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🛟 Helpful for mental health
- 💯 Effective coping strategies
- 🆓 Free and ad-free
- 🎯 Tracks progress well
Room to improve
- 🤖 Not compatible with iPhone
- 🌐 Limited offline functionality
Bugs and requests
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
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- 🐛 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
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- Wider selection of UCLA courses/Diana Winston meditations
Coping Coach by VA
Reported bugs
1 issue- Login issues on some devices
Requested features
2 requests- COVID-19 screening feature
- More customization options
In-app purchases
UCLA Mindful
No in-app purchases
Coping Coach by VA
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is UCLA Mindful free?
Is Coping Coach by VA free?
Which has better reviews, UCLA Mindful or Coping Coach by VA?
Do UCLA Mindful or Coping Coach by VA have ads?
Which is updated more often, UCLA Mindful or Coping Coach by VA?
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