Comparison

Breathing Zone vs Box breathing

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

Head to head
About

Breathing Zone

Reduce stress, improve mood, and feel more relaxed and energized with guided breathing exercises. This app uses scientifically based therapeutic techniques to help lower heart rate and potentially blood pressure. Discover mindfulness one breath at a time.

Highlights
  • Guided breathing exercises
  • Stress reduction
  • Mood improvement
  • Relaxation and energy boost
  • Therapeutic breathing techniques
  • Breathing analyzer
Features
Read full description

Slow down, reset, and breathe with purpose. Breathing Zone offers simple guided breathing exercises for calm, focus, relaxation, and sleep. Choose a breathing pattern, then follow clear visual, voice, sound, or Apple Watch haptic guidance. Adjust the pace and session duration for anything from a quick reset to a longer breathing practice. FEATURES ● Coherent Breathing, Box Breathing, 4-7-8, Extended Exhale, and more ● Custom breathing rates and session durations ● Beautiful visual breathing guides ● Voice prompts, ambient sounds, and haptic guidance ● Daily goals, reminders, activity tracking, and streaks ● A dedicated Apple Watch experience ● Apple Health integration for recording completed sessions as Mindful Minutes FEATURED AND RECOMMENDED ● TIME: "Calm yourself with Breathing Zone." ● Harvard Health: "When you find yourself under stress, Breathing Zone can help." ● Bloomberg: "The breathing trick that can make you more productive." ● New York Magazine: "I like Breathing Zone for its simplicity." ● HuffPost: "An effective guide to mindful breathing." ● University of Sydney: "Breathing Zone provides guidance on slow breathing."

About

Box breathing

This app guides you through structured breathing exercises to promote relaxation and reduce stress. It utilizes the box breathing technique with timed phases and haptic feedback to help you achieve a calmer state in minutes. Ideal for unwinding, resetting, or improving sleep.

Highlights
  • Box breathing technique
  • Guided breathing exercises
  • 3 distinct modes (Calm, Balance, Sleep)
  • Haptic feedback
  • Built-in metronome
  • Apple Health integration
Features
Read full description

Need to calm down fast? breathcode is a simple and powerful app that guides you through deep breathing exercises and breathwork using box breathing (also known as square breathing) - a structured technique designed to help you slow your breathing and feel calmer in about 5 minutes. Breathing and the body work as one system. When you intentionally change your breathing rhythm, your body responds. With breathcode, you enter a steady tempo first, then gradually slow the pace - and as intensity drops, it becomes easier to relax. ** How box breathing works: Each cycle has 4 phases: 1. Inhale 2. Hold 3. Exhale 4. Hold You repeat the cycle for a short session and follow a smooth rhythm that feels grounded and controlled. ** Features: * 3 guided modes: * Calm Down - for moments of overwhelm * Find Balance - to reset and center * Go Deep (Sleep) - for winding down before bed * Guided exercises with haptics * A built-in metronome keeps every phase precise, so you can stop counting and simply follow the beat * Apple Health integration to support your routine and log sessions ** Use breathcode when you want to: * Reduce stress and mental overload * Unwind before sleep or after a long day * Reset between meetings, study blocks, or difficult conversations * Build a consistent daily calming habit in minutes * Reset after workouts and return to a steady rhythm ** Designed for daily practice: No complicated settings. No distractions. Just a clean, focused breathing guide you can rely on anytime. Important: breathcode is a wellness app and is not a medical device. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XRYtPR8NOlMMSDEs9AVCNEg6M7LbydRMk_0whPMEVg4/

Screenshots

Breathing Zone4 screens
Box breathing4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Breathing Zone at none against Box breathing's 2. Breathing Zone also leads on ratings volume (3.7K vs 3) and device support (5 vs 2). Box breathing's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 81%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, update cadence and ads 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. Box breathing sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Breathing Zone asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Box breathing holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Breathing Zone has 3.7K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of Breathing Zone's written reviews are positive against 100% of Box breathing's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Breathing Zone ships an update every 2 weeks, Box breathing every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Breathing Zone versus Box breathing: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBreathing ZoneBox breathing
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (3.7K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.7K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB94 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTane LangtonAleh Kasaryn

Customer experience

Breathing Zone

All ratings3,652 ratings
Positive95.7%
Neutral2.4%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews445 reviews
Positive81.1%
Neutral6.3%
Negative12.6%

Box breathing

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Breathing Zone

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Breathing rate not matching set value
  • Visual elements not centered on older devices
  • Sudden audio cutoff at end of session
  • Syncing issues between mobile and Apple Watch

Requested features

6 requests
  • Longer session duration options
  • More breathing pattern variations
  • Ability to adjust inhale/exhale ratio
  • Breath hold functionality
  • Integration with health/fitness apps
Show 1 more
  • Customizable reminders or notifications

Box breathing

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Breathing Zone

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Box breathing

Subscriptions2
  • Premium weekly$1.997 Days
  • Premium monthly with trial3 Days trial$4.991 Month

Questions

Is Breathing Zone free?
Breathing Zone is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Box breathing free?
Box breathing is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Breathing Zone or Box breathing?
Box breathing is rated higher. Breathing Zone averages 4.8 out of 5 from 3.7K ratings, while Box breathing averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Breathing Zone or Box breathing have ads?
Neither Breathing Zone nor Box breathing shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Breathing Zone or Box breathing?
Breathing Zone ships an update every 2 weeks, and Box breathing every 8 days. Most recently, Breathing Zone was updated on October 20, 2026 and Box breathing on October 7, 2026.

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