Insight Timer vs Core Meditation
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Insight Timer
This app offers a vast library of guided meditations, breathwork exercises, sleep stories, and movement practices from leading wellness experts. It helps users reduce stress, improve sleep, and build healthier routines with daily new content and community features.
- Thousands of guided meditations
- Breathwork and breathing exercises
- Sleep meditations and sounds
- Yoga, Pilates, and movement practices
- Customizable meditation timer
- Community groups and features
- Progress tracking and stats
Read full descriptionHide full description
The world’s most popular wellness app. * Apps of the Year Winner - TIME magazine and Women's Health * * More time is spent on Insight Timer than on all other wellbeing apps combined * * Happiest App in the World - Tristan Harris * Explore meditation, breathwork, sleep, yoga, Pilates, mindfulness, music, and more, with guidance from the world’s leading wellness teachers, meditation experts, neuroscientists, psychologists, and instructors. Join millions using Insight Timer to sleep better, reduce stress and anxiety, find focus, build healthy routines, move, stretch, and make more time for everyday wellbeing. With 100+ new free guided practices added daily, Insight Timer offers something for every part of your wellness journey. Whether you’re new to meditation or building a broader self-care routine, discover practices for mind and body that fit your day. FREE FEATURES: Thousands of guided meditations and mindfulness practices Breathwork and breathing exercises for relaxation, focus, and stress relief Yoga, Pilates, stretching, and movement practices Sleep meditations, sleep music, white noise, and ambient sounds Short meditation practices for mornings, evenings, and moments throughout your day The world’s most popular meditation Timer Follow your favorite teachers Community groups and features Stats and milestones for tracking your progress Integration with Apple Health Mindful Minutes Browse popular wellness topics, including: Sleep and deep rest Insomnia and better sleep Anxiety and stress relief Recovery & Addiction Support Trauma support ADHD and focus Mornings and daily routines Self-care and relaxation Mindfulness and meditation Breathwork Yoga Pilates Movement and stretching Manifesting and personal growth Self-love and compassion And much more. Explore content for every part of your day and life, including dedicated experiences for women and parents, as well as challenges and courses to support your routine. Learn from leading teachers, experts, and musicians, including: Tara Brach, Ph.D, founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington Mark Williams, Emeritus Professor at Oxford University Jack Kornfield, co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein Gil Fronsdal, Ph.D., at Stanford University Sadhguru Mooji Moby Sarah Blondin, Mary Maddux, Ajahn Achalo, Melissa Ambrosini, Bodhipaksa, Jonathan Lehmann, Jennifer Piercy, Bethany Auriel-Hagan, Kate James and many more. Explore practices and techniques, including: Secular Mindfulness Buddhist Mindfulness Zen Insight Meditation Vipassana MBSR Walking Meditation Breathing Meditation Kundalini Yoga Breathwork and breathing exercises Pilates Movement and exercise And many more. Join community groups for: Beginners Poetry Atheism Christianity Hinduism Transcendental Meditation And many more. PAID FEATURE - INSIGHT PREMIUM MEDITATION We have one optional in-app subscription. * Insight Courses * Listen offline (download guided meditations to your device) * Advanced Player (Repeat mode, Fast forward and Rewind, Pick-up where you left off) * High-Quality audio The subscription is available annually for US$59.99/year, or monthly for US$9.99/month. Payment will be charged to your iTunes account upon purchase confirmation and will automatically renew at the end of each term unless auto-renewal is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can turn off auto-renew at any time from your iTunes account settings, but refunds will not be provided for unused portions of the term. Prices and currency will vary by location. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription, where applicable. The subscription will renew at the same cost. If you have questions, visit: https://help.insighttimer.com Privacy Policy - https://insighttimer.com/legal/privacy-policy Terms and Conditions - https://insighttimer.com/legal/terms-of-service
Core Meditation
Experience immersive meditation with guided vibrations, audio, and lighting. Track your progress with stress-level measurements and biometric data. Access a library of classes and personalized feedback to build inner strength.
- Guided meditation with dynamic vibrations
- Breath training techniques
- Stress-level and biometric tracking
- Progress measurement (Calm, Focus, Training)
- Meditation library with expert instructors
- Ambient and musical soundscapes
- Integration with Apple HealthKit
Read full descriptionHide full description
Core helps you build your inner strength with the most immersive meditation experience out there. This is meditation you can feel, guided by dynamic vibrations, audio and lighting. Connect your Core Meditation Trainer with the app, drop in, and go. Together with the Trainer, the Core app will track your personal progress using stress-level measurements and other biometric data insights. DIVE INTO OUR MEDITATION LIBRARY - Learn new Breath Training techniques, then practice them on your own with Core's guiding vibrations. - Unwind with longer guided classes, or jump into a short 3-minute session — whatever fits your schedule. - Meditations guided by our expert instructors cover a variety of topics, geared towards all experience levels. - Pick a vibration pattern, choose a duration, and drop into one of Core's original ambient and musical soundscapes. Your Core Meditation Trainer pulses alongside your sessions. Depending on the type of meditation, the vibrations will guide you in learning Breath Training techniques, or serve as a gentle reminder to help focus your attention and anchor you in the present. MEASURE YOUR PROGRESS No more wondering whether meditation is actually working for you or not. With the Core Meditation Trainer connected to your app, you can see how meditation is directly affecting your body through several different metrics: - Training - Track your consistency over time. Making meditation a part of your regular routine helps train your brain to respond to it, and unlocks numerous health benefits. - Calm - Calm is represented by the dominance of your parasympathetic nervous system. We measure this based on your heart rate and its variability over time (HRV). With practice, you can train yourself to reach a Calm state more quickly. - Focus - Some techniques get you energized, priming your mind and activating your senses into a highly responsive state. Core measures how much time you spend in a Focused state by the pattern of your heart rhythm. After each meditation, Core will show you how Calm and Focused you were. Long-term historical graphs lets you see how your resilience to stress is changing over time, and track your progress with daily streaks. Core will also integrate with Apple HealthKit to share Mindful Minutes and read data to improve the accuracy of your biometric insights. DEEPEN YOUR PRACTICE WITH CORE PREMIUM Go Premium to access our always-growing library of on-demand meditation classes. New sessions are added daily by our team of expert instructors, so you never get bored. Follow along with your favorite instructors to stay inspired and centered. All new users automatically receive a free 2-week trial of our premium content. After that, Core offers two auto-renewing subscription plans: $9.99 per month $69.99 for one year (that's less than $6 a month) The subscription will automatically renew unless turned off in your iTunes Account Settings at least 24 hours before the current period ends. You can go to your iTunes Account settings to manage your subscription and turn off auto-renew. Your iTunes Account will be charged when the purchase is confirmed. If you subscribe before your free trial ends, the rest of your free trial period will be forfeited as soon as your purchase is confirmed. Read our privacy policy here: [https://www.hellocore.com/privacy](https://www.hellocore.com/privacy) Read our terms and conditions here: [https://www.hellocore.com/terms](https://www.hellocore.com/terms)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Insight Timer at 449K against Core Meditation's 1.9K. Insight Timer also leads on update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and chart position (#15 vs unranked). On price, rating, 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. Insight Timer sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Core Meditation sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Insight Timer against 4.8 for Core Meditation. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Insight Timer has 449K ratings behind it against 1.9K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 70% of Insight Timer's written reviews are positive against 61% of Core Meditation's.
Insight Timer ships an update weekly, Core Meditation monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Insight Timer | Core Meditation |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (449K ratings) — better | 4.8 (1.9K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 70.0% of reviews — better | 61.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 449K — better | 1.9K |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #15 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 231 MB | 59 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Insight Network Inc | Hyper Ice, Inc |
Customer experience
Insight Timer
Core Meditation
User reviews
Insight Timer
From 449K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💤 Great for sleep and relaxation
- 🌍 Diverse range of teachers and content
- 🕰️ Customizable timer with bells/chimes
- 🆓 Generous free content
- 🧠 Helps with anxiety, stress, and mental health
Room to improve
- 🤖 Overly commercialized with constant upselling
- 🔒 Privacy concerns with mandatory account creation
- 🔀 Confusing and cluttered user interface
- 🐛 Bugs, crashes, and technical issues
- 🔒 Paywall blocking access to core features
Core Meditation
From 1.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🧘♀️ Helps with meditation and focus
- 📊 Provides useful biofeedback and data
- 🎯 Effective for beginners and experienced users
- 🤖 High-quality guided meditations
- 🔋 Consistent and reliable performance
Room to improve
- 🔌 Connectivity and network issues
- 💰 Expensive device and subscription
- 🤖 Inconsistent or limited app functionality
- 🔍 Lack of search and customization options
- 🕰️ Occasional performance problems or freezes
Bugs and requests
Insight Timer
Reported bugs
4 issues- Timer frequently pausing or shutting down during use
- Inconsistent tracking of meditation streaks and progress
- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- Inability to leave reviews for meditations
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to sort/filter bookmarked meditations
- Option to disable opening quotes and mood check-ins
- Improved offline functionality and caching
- More customization options for the timer
- Better community features and social integration
Core Meditation
Reported bugs
3 issues- Inability to cancel subscription
- Trouble with device pairing and connectivity
- Inaccurate or unreliable biometric tracking
Requested features
5 requests- Offline meditation content availability
- Apple Watch app integration
- Expanded search and filtering options
- Longer meditation session durations
- More personalization and customization
In-app purchases
Insight Timer
- Insight Premium Meditation$9.991 Month
- Insight Premium Meditation7 Days trial2 variants$59.991 Year
- Insight Premium Meditation1 Month trial$59.991 Year
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- MemberPlus Family7 Days trial$89.991 Year
- Teacher Donation (XS)$1.99
- Meditation Course: Single Use$4.99
- Teacher Donation (S)$4.99
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Live Event Ticket$13.99
- Meditation Course: Multi Use$19.99
- Truth Anxiety course – Own$19.99
- Teacher Donation (M)$19.99
- Teacher Donation (L)$49.99
- Teacher Donation (XL)$99.99
Core Meditation
- Monthly Core Subscription$9.991 Month
- Annual Core Subscription$69.991 Year
Questions
Is Insight Timer free?
Is Core Meditation free?
Which has better reviews, Insight Timer or Core Meditation?
Do Insight Timer or Core Meditation have ads?
Which is updated more often, Insight Timer or Core Meditation?
Other comparisons















