Comparison

iZen Garden 3 vs Fireplace Live HD pro

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

Head to head
About

iZen Garden 3

Create a tranquil digital Zen garden with a vast array of objects, plants, and creatures. Rake the sand into intricate patterns while listening to soothing ambient soundtracks. Perfect for relaxation, meditation, or stress relief.

Highlights
  • Hundreds of objects, plants, and creatures
  • Customizable sand raking
  • Nine ambient meditation soundtracks
  • Meditation and sleep timers
  • Daily Zen sayings
  • Save garden designs
Read full description

For less than the price of a latte, iZen Garden™ gives you all the peace and tranquility of a beautiful Zen Garden without the sandy mess! Choose from 100s of objects, plants and creatures to place in your garden, then rake the sand. Now Universal. iZen Garden is available for iPhone and iPad in a single app bundle. One price gets you both platforms. New audio track, "Merced River" featuring the sounds of the Yosemite valley. ** Selected as one of the "500 Best Apps in the World" by the Sunday Times of London. ** ** TOP PICK! Featured in O'Reilly's "Best iPhone Apps" ** ** As Featured on iPhones in Apple store displays! ** ** Editor's Choice by ItaliaMac ** ** Selected as one of the Best 100 Apps by iLounge.com 2 years running! ** The tradition of the Zen Garden goes back nearly a thousand years in Japanese and asian culture. iZen Garden brings this beautiful artform to your iPhone or iPod Touch. Choose from over 100 different types of stones, shells, fossils and plants to place in your garden and then use your finger to “rake” the sand into intricate abstract patterns. All while listening to the soothing sounds of one of our 9 built-in meditation soundtracks. iZen Garden™ is perfect for long meetings, train rides, or meditation practice. It helps you to center your mind, relax your psyche and relieve your stress. iZen Garden™ was chosen as a staff favorite it's first week in the App Store. Listen to what others have said: "The best by far... a true rarity: it’s an app that we continue to enjoy many months after the initial purchase." - iLounge "Out of all the Zen Garden applications, this is clearly the most thorough and precise, and the system is clear-cut." - iPhone Alley Features: * 100 different stones, seashells, fossils and plants, all professionally photographed from real objects and beautifully rendered to place in your garden. * Add fluttering and resting butterflies to your garden which will fly around from place to place. * Rotate, scale, and move the objects to place them using a pinch gesture with your fingers. * Four different colors of sand, from beach white, to volcanic black. * Nine different soothing ambient soundtracks to help still your mind while you tend your garden. Relax to the gentle lapping of ocean waves at your feet, the quiet solitude of a forest, or the soft twinkling of bells and wind chimes. * Completely customizable rake with variable width and depth settings. * "Daily Zen" a daily Zen saying or Koan is presented when you enter your garden. * Save your design to your camera roll by holding the Home button and pressing the lock button. * Built-in documentation and help system makes using the app a breeze. * To access the Information Screen double tap anywhere on the sand, or touch the "i" button. * Meditation Timer. Create your garden and then sit in quiet contemplation until the timer finishes and brings you back with a gentle ringing of a bell. * Sleep Timer. Puts your phone to sleep after a set period of time so you can listen to the relaxation sounds to fall asleep without worrying about your battery dying. * Share your garden and your Daily Zen on Twitter, Email, or through your film roll. Includes beautiful themes that frame your garden artfully with different trays and handmade papers. * Save multiple gardens and recall them at any time to continue to tend and change them. And now, with the re-release of iZen Garden, we're offering on-going updates with new objects, new ambiance, and more! See what everyone is talking about, buy iZen Garden™ today!! A monthly subscription to iZen Garden is a doorway to daily zen, and greater peace and happiness. End user license agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Fireplace Live HD pro

Transform your device into a realistic fireplace with various HD video scenes and soothing sound options. Enjoy a relaxing ambiance for work, rest, or romantic evenings. Features include looped playback, customizable sound mixes, and a sleep timer.

Highlights
  • Multiple HD fireplace videos
  • Customizable sound mixes
  • Looped playback
  • Sleep timer
  • Romantic backdrop
  • Full screen mode
Features
Read full description

Turn your iPhone/iPad into a beautiful fireplace! Very relaxing to have running in the background while you work or rest. Also makes an ideal backdrop for a romantic evening! The Mac version of this app was #1, the most downloaded app in the Mac App store. +8 HD Videos to choose from: Classic Fireplace, Relaxing Fireplace, Campfire, Burning Log and Candles (plus one bonus Ocean Surf scene) +All videos are unique +Runs in full screen +User friendly interface: Tap anywhere on the screen to access Settings +Tap the small semi-transparent star button in the lower left corner to check out our other apps +Looped playback with smooth, almost unnoticeable transitions +Sound modes: Sound Mix, Music or Mute (no sound) - Sound Mix: 7 fireplace sounds to choose from or mix together (plus extra ocean sounds for the bonus scene) -Or play your own music by selecting your favorite songs from your music library. Create a playlist that you think goes well with the selected scene +Sleep timer option +Flashlight option (shake to turn on) +Portrait mode option (disabled by default)

Screenshots

Fireplace Live HD pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: iZen Garden 3 at Free against Fireplace Live HD pro's $3.99. Fireplace Live HD pro's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.1) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). On review sentiment and update cadence 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

iZen Garden 3 is free to download; Fireplace Live HD pro costs $3.99 up front. iZen Garden 3 sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Fireplace Live HD pro asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Fireplace Live HD pro holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Fireplace Live HD pro has 697 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 80% of iZen Garden 3's written reviews are positive against 77% of Fireplace Live HD pro's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on July 25, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
iZen Garden 3 versus Fireplace Live HD pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriZen Garden 3Fireplace Live HD pro
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.1 (14 ratings)4.8 (697 ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews — better77.3% of reviews
Number of ratings14697 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 months
AdsNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size167 MB202 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJiva DeVoeVoros Innovation

Customer experience

iZen Garden 3

Written reviews20 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

Fireplace Live HD pro

All ratings697 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral1.6%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews75 reviews
Positive77.3%
Neutral4.0%
Negative18.7%

Bugs and requests

iZen Garden 3

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Fireplace Live HD pro

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App not working on Apple TV
  • Fireplace video not playing consistently
  • Music playback controls not functioning properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • More fireplace and ambiance options
  • Improved music integration and controls
  • Better support for larger displays and TVs
  • Customization options for the UI

In-app purchases

2 purchases

iZen Garden 3

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly$29.991 Year
None

Fireplace Live HD pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iZen Garden 3 free?
iZen Garden 3 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Fireplace Live HD pro free?
Fireplace Live HD pro costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iZen Garden 3 or Fireplace Live HD pro?
Fireplace Live HD pro is rated higher. iZen Garden 3 averages 4.1 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while Fireplace Live HD pro averages 4.8 from 697 ratings.
Which is updated more often, iZen Garden 3 or Fireplace Live HD pro?
iZen Garden 3 ships an update every 3 months, and Fireplace Live HD pro every 3 months. Most recently, iZen Garden 3 was updated on July 25, 2026 and Fireplace Live HD pro on September 20, 2026.

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