Comparison

Pause Breathwork Exercises vs Courage First

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

Head to head
About

Pause Breathwork Exercises

This app offers guided breathwork sessions to reduce stress, anxiety, and emotional blockages. It provides various exercises for different needs, from quick relaxation to deeper healing, helping users find inner peace and improve sleep.

Highlights
  • Guided breathwork sessions
  • Stress and anxiety reduction
  • Emotional healing
  • Improved sleep quality
  • Beginner to advanced levels
  • Short and long sessions
Features
Read full description

Clear stress, release anxiety, & heal from stuck emotions that cause overwhelm in the body. Using nothing but your breath. Pause Breathwork is the #1 breathwork app for sleep, clearing stress and anxiety, and feeling energized. We’ve developed the perfect breathwork app for beginners, intermediate, and advanced users with hundreds of breathwork sessions and breathing exercises to choose from. We believe that constant stress and anxiety should not be considered “part of the norm”. That’s why we developed the Pause Breathwork app. To give you access to the transformational effects of breathwork in your pocket, and everywhere you go. Breathwork has a wide range of scientifically proven cognitive, emotional, and physical benefits. Clear your mind and release any doubt, judgment, or limiting beliefs that are holding you back. Embody self-love and tap further into your intuition. Find inner peace, reconnect with your center, ground yourself, and open your heart to infinite possibilities. Release yourself from physical pain, emotional barriers, and energetic blocks. Stimulate your nervous system to increase your energy levels naturally. Put your mind and body into an ideal state for optimal sleep and restoration. And so much more… After just 90 seconds of Breathwork you will experience improved mental clarity, increased performance, reduced stress, and increased levels of energy, vitality, bliss, peace, and happiness. There are a lot of breathing exercises being taught out there with the main goal or outcome being “relaxation”, but with Pause, relaxation and connection are an after effect of the practice. The main goal and outcome with Pause is to unearth the stuck energy that prevents us from living in our highest alignment and operating in elevated frequencies. Pause: Breathwork uses intentional stimulation (breath, music, and movement) to regulate the nervous system and bring your body back into balance. Our breathwork tracks range from 5 minutes to 40 minutes, so you can select the type of session that fits best with your schedule. You can choose our 5 minute “Take a breather” audios for a quick hit, or dive into a 20-40 minute “Go on a journey” full body experience. No matter the time of the day, we have audios to help you optimize your emotional state, energize your body upon waking up, or to calm your mind down so you can sleep restfully. Choose the type of breathwork exercise that fits your daily needs best: Breathers: short breathing exercises that are 3, 5, or 10 minutes in length. Designed to give you ultimate relaxation, healing, and energy in a short amount of time. Breathwork Journeys: longer breathing exercises that are 25 or 45 minutes in length. Designed to be practiced while you’re laying down to deliver deeper healing. These exercises are intended to clear stuck heaviness, emotions, and mental blocks. LIVE Breathwork: available in our online community, ask questions, and go deeper in your healing transformation. You are only one breath away from feeling clear, powerful, and at ease in your body. Try the Pause Breathwork app FREE for your first two weeks. Then choose the subscription option that suits your individual needs best: Annual subscription (60% savings) for $68.99/year or $5.83/month Monthly subscription for $14.99/month Bring your body back into balance, and clear the stress, with Pause Breathwork. For more information about breathwork and the mobile app, visit the Pause Breathwork website: https://www.pausebreathwork.com/app?AppStore For Terms and Conditions, see: https://www.pausebreathwork.com/terms/#terms

About

Courage First

Features
Read full description

Courage First helps you build everyday bravery, one small step at a time. Each day you get a single courage challenge tailored to the areas you want to grow in and the difficulty you choose. Do the brave thing, then log how it went: did it, partial, or avoided. Capture a quick reflection by video, audio, or text to remember what you learned and how it felt. Over time, your check-ins turn into streaks, a courage score, and a clear picture of your progress. Small, consistent action is how confidence is built, and Courage First is designed to make that action feel doable every single day. WHAT YOU CAN DO - Get one focused daily challenge, matched to your goals and comfort level - Log your outcome and keep going, even on the hard days - Record a private reflection by video, audio, or text - Keep reflections to yourself, or share them to an encouraging community feed - Build streaks and grow your courage score - Track your progress and see how far you've come A SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY The Courage First feed is clean, positive, and G-rated. Cheer others on, leave encouragement, and share your own wins when you want to. Reporting and moderation keep the space safe and kind. YOUR DATA, YOUR CONTROL Reflections are private by default. You decide what, if anything, to share. You can permanently delete your account and all of your data at any time from the Profile tab. Courage is not the absence of fear, but action in spite of it. Take your first brave step today. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://courage-first.replit.app/api/legal/privacy

Screenshots

Pause Breathwork Exercises4 screens
Courage First4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Courage First at none against Pause Breathwork Exercises's 2. Courage First also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 5 weeks). Pause Breathwork Exercises's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price 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

Both are free to download. Pause Breathwork Exercises sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Courage First asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pause Breathwork Exercises ships an update every 5 weeks, Courage First every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Pause Breathwork Exercises versus Courage First: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPause Breathwork ExercisesCourage First
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (325 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews96.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings325 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 8 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size125 MB52 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperPause BreathworkAJIT DAMODARAN

Bugs and requests

Pause Breathwork Exercises

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Reported issues with losing access to paid content
  • Complaints about inconsistent information from sales team

Requested features

3 requests
  • More variety in background music options
  • Ability to filter sessions by breath technique
  • Improved user experience when navigating back to session list

Courage First

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Pause Breathwork Exercises

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Annual14 Days trial$68.991 Year
None

Courage First

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pause Breathwork Exercises free?
Pause Breathwork Exercises is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Courage First free?
Courage First is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Pause Breathwork Exercises or Courage First have ads?
Pause Breathwork Exercises shows ads; Courage First does not.
Which is updated more often, Pause Breathwork Exercises or Courage First?
Pause Breathwork Exercises ships an update every 5 weeks, and Courage First every 8 days. Most recently, Pause Breathwork Exercises was updated on October 11, 2026 and Courage First on October 3, 2026.

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