Comparison

PlainZen vs The Bedtime Express

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

Head to head
About

PlainZen

This tutorial explains Zen in simple terms, focusing on its practical application in daily life. It demystifies Zen by avoiding jargon and historical details, emphasizing how it works and improves well-being for anyone, regardless of background. The app includes features to bookmark your progress and navigate through various topics.

Highlights
  • Plain language Zen explanation
  • Focus on practical application
  • Avoids jargon and rituals
  • Bookmark functionality
  • Table of contents navigation
  • Covers core Zen concepts
Features
Read full description

A simple, easy to understand, tutorial of Zen and how to use it in your life. Written in plain language, this hopefully dispels the reputation of Zen as being 'mysterious', 'mystical', 'deep', 'hard to get' because of the difficulty in explaining its practice. Zen is actually very practical and simple if what is explained is what it's for and how to practice it. Other teaching books tend to get bogged down in Zen history, Zen terms and rituals. This tutorial tries to put those things aside first and concentrate on the essence of Zen: how it works, why it works, and how it makes our life better. Not a religion nor a cult nor a philosophy, Zen is a healthy mental attitude that can help anyone of any religious background or philosophy. Remembers your place in the book. Tap on 'Bookmarks' icon to jump to your personal bookmarks. Tap on 'Contents' icon to jump to the different topics: CONTENTS Learning Zen is no big deal How our mind works Realization#1: Thoughts and the thinker are no big deal Meditation/Practice#1:Do an activity... Realization#2: You and perfection The Self Reality: only one self The outside world: The world is out there Reality: no separation Freedom from fear: Two kinds: regular and premium Source of fear What's there to lose? Meaning: Life is a river Outside looking in Getting back in the flow Zen practice: Meditation: calm you down Koans: shake you up Enlightenment vs guilt: aha! Conclusion: Zen is yoga for the mind Meditation/Practice #2: Severing duality Meditation/Practice#3: When waking or before sleeping Q&A Is thinking or thought bad? So how is Zen different from thinking? How do I get that 'insight' or 'enlightenment' and how do I retain it? How are people related, connected? Is it okay to follow a person, a movement, a philosophy, a religion without doubt, without question? How does Zen view money, jobs, unemployment, wars, sex, hate, love?

About

The Bedtime Express

Embark on a nightly adventure with animated bedtime stories featuring unique characters and interactive elements. Help passengers on their journey home and tuck them into bed with calming activities. Discover new stories and locations each night for a relaxing end to the day.

Highlights
  • Animated bedtime stories
  • Interactive passenger journeys
  • Calming narration and illustrations
  • Nightly changing stories
  • Variety of characters and locations
  • Interactive bedtime routines
Features
Read full description

"The Bedtime Express by Unit11 is a stunning and delightful app for your kids at bedtime! The perfect app to create a relaxing time and help your kids to go to bed!" 5/5 funeducationalapps.com "This app has delightful illustrations, animation and calming narration. Beautifully done!" 5/5 Reading Buddies Board the "Bedtime Express" for the perfect animated bedtime story. Meet the unusual passengers on their way home at the end of the day and visit them in their homes to say goodnight. Each night, the train stops at different locations and picks up different passengers. One night you could be making Badger a hot chocolate and playing "I-Spy" with the fox family. The next night, you could be helping the Mouse family find their lost tickets and waking a sleeping Polar Bear! Once you have stamped all the passengers' tickets, the train pulls into the last station and you are taken to each of the passengers' homes to put them to bed. To send them off to sleep, you'll need to do things like switching off lights, closing curtains or lighting a log fire. Children will love meeting the adorable characters and helping them on their journey. There are 6 different groups of passengers, from meerkats to polar bears, and 5 different locations to visit, from the city to the arctic. The story is packed with highly detailed illustration and animation and the gentle pace of the story provides a calm atmosphere at bedtime. Climb aboard the Bedtime Express and discover who has boarded the train tonight! www.unit11apps.com | facebook.com/unit11apps

Screenshots

PlainZen4 screens
The Bedtime Express4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: The Bedtime Express at 87% against PlainZen's 0%. The Bedtime Express also leads on ratings volume (24 vs 2) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). PlainZen's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

PlainZen costs $1.99 and The Bedtime Express $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PlainZen holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Bedtime Express has 24 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 0% of PlainZen's written reviews are positive against 87% of The Bedtime Express's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PlainZen ships an update every 13 months, The Bedtime Express every 11 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
PlainZen versus The Bedtime Express: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlainZenThe Bedtime Express
Price$1.99$1.99
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.8 (24 ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews86.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings224 — better
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 11 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB125 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVicente MalixiUnit11

Customer experience

PlainZen

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

The Bedtime Express

All ratings24 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive86.7%
Neutral3.3%
Negative10.0%

In-app purchases

None

PlainZen

No in-app purchases

None

The Bedtime Express

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PlainZen free?
PlainZen costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Bedtime Express free?
The Bedtime Express costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PlainZen or The Bedtime Express?
PlainZen is rated higher. PlainZen averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while The Bedtime Express averages 4.8 from 24 ratings.
Do PlainZen or The Bedtime Express have ads?
Neither PlainZen nor The Bedtime Express shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PlainZen or The Bedtime Express?
PlainZen ships an update every 13 months, and The Bedtime Express every 11 months. Most recently, PlainZen was updated on November 1, 2026 and The Bedtime Express on November 1, 2026.

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