Comparison

iChill vs UCLA Mindful

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

Head to head
About

iChill

This app teaches six wellness skills based on the Trauma Resiliency Model to help manage stress and trauma. It guides users to understand and regulate their nervous system, promoting a balanced state for better well-being. Regular practice can reduce anxiety and depression symptoms.

Highlights
  • Teaches six wellness skills
  • Based on Trauma Resiliency Model
  • Helps regulate nervous system
  • Promotes balanced 'Okay Zone'
  • Reduces anxiety and depression symptoms
  • Suitable for all ages
Features
Read full description

Are you feeling stressed, not quite yourself, or worried about a loved one? iChill is here to help. iChill teaches six wellness skills from the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM)® and Community Resiliency Model (CRM)® to help you manage sensations associated with trauma and stress, enhancing your well-being. Based on the biology of the human nervous system, iChill helps us understand and regulate our body's natural rhythms. When in harmony, our nervous system aids in navigating life's challenges, helping us make sound decisions for ourselves and our community. This balanced state is called the Resilient Zone or "Okay Zone." Stressful events can bump us into the High Zone (anxious, uptight) or Low Zone (numb, disconnected). iChill helps us return to our Okay Zone, restoring balance. Regular practice of these skills can reduce anxiety and depression symptoms, improving overall well-being. iChill benefits children, teens, and adults of all ages. It helps us answer the question, “What else is true?” leaning into our strengths to help manage distress in the present moment. iChill is not meant as a substitute for counseling with a licensed mental health professional. Learn more about iChill's developer, the Trauma Resource Institute, at traumaresourceinstitute.com.

About

UCLA Mindful

Practice mindfulness meditation with guided sessions and educational content from UCLA Health. Learn to manage stress, reduce anxiety, and cultivate positive emotions through regular practice. Explore various meditation types, informative videos, and weekly recordings to enhance your well-being.

Highlights
  • Guided basic meditations
  • Wellness meditations for health conditions
  • Informative videos on mindfulness
  • Weekly live/virtual meditation recordings
  • Talks on mindfulness topics
  • Customizable meditation timer
Features
Read full description

With this easy-to-use app, you can practice mindfulness meditation anywhere, anytime with the guidance of UCLA Mindful, the mindfulness education center of UCLA Health. Scientific research shows mindfulness can help manage stress-related physical conditions, reduce anxiety and depression, and cultivate positive emotions. Mindfulness is paying attention to our present moment experiences with openness and curiosity and a willingness to be with our experience. Through regular practice, taught through this app, you can develop a meditation practice and learn to bring more mindfulness into your daily life. This app offers: • Basic Meditations for getting started in multiple languages. Languages include Arabic, Armenian, Cantonese, Farsi, Filipino, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Mixteco, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, American Sign Language • Wellness Meditations for people suffering from challenging health conditions • Informative videos exploring how to get started, supportive meditation postures, and the science of mindfulness • Weekly recordings from our live and virtual drop-in meditations -- a 30-minute meditation on different themes you can search for and bookmark • Talks on mindfulness-related topics • A timer to meditate on your own • A list of our current events and classes that you can add to your calendar UCLA Mindful, the mindfulness education center of UCLA Health, is dedicated to advancing mindfulness education to promote individual and cultural well-being and resilience world-wide. Our mission is to provide innovative, evidence-based mindfulness programs that empower individuals and institutions to manage stress, enhance health, and cultivate inner and outer peace. Through educational programs, we strive to inspire transformative growth and contribute to a culture of compassion and wellness for all. Due to UCLA Mindful’s mission of radical accessibility, this app is entirely free to use. Disclaimer: These meditations are for educational purposes and are not clinical treatments.

Screenshots

iChill4 screens
UCLA Mindful4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: UCLA Mindful at 4.5 against iChill's 4.2. UCLA Mindful also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 68%) and ratings volume (172 vs 35). iChill's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

UCLA Mindful holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 35 and 172 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of iChill's written reviews are positive against 78% of UCLA Mindful's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iChill ships an update every 5 months, UCLA Mindful every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 4, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
iChill versus UCLA Mindful: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriChillUCLA Mindful
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (35 ratings)4.5 (172 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.4% of reviews78.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings35172 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size144 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTrauma Resource Institute, Inc.UCLA Health

Customer experience

iChill

All ratings35 ratings
Positive77.1%
Neutral5.7%
Negative17.1%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive68.4%
Neutral10.5%
Negative21.1%

UCLA Mindful

All ratings172 ratings
Positive90.1%
Neutral0.6%
Negative9.3%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive78.0%
Neutral5.1%
Negative16.9%

Bugs and requests

iChill

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

UCLA Mindful

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • 🐛 Loop repeat did not replay when screen is locked
  • 🐛 Audio stops when iPhone screen locks/turns off
  • 🐛 Back button disappears on search podcast tab
  • 🐛 Search in previous podcast is slow to respond
  • 🐛 Custom timer doesn't work as intended
Show 1 more
  • 🐛 Meditations won't load (show 0 time)

Requested features

6 requests
  • Offline access/downloadable sessions
  • More voice diversity (ethnicity and gender)
  • Add to Apple Health for tracking mindful minutes
  • Improve pausing points for Vietnamese meditations
  • Remove the ding at the end of tracks
Show 1 more
  • Wider selection of UCLA courses/Diana Winston meditations

In-app purchases

None

iChill

No in-app purchases

None

UCLA Mindful

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iChill free?
iChill is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is UCLA Mindful free?
UCLA Mindful is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iChill or UCLA Mindful?
UCLA Mindful is rated higher. iChill averages 4.2 out of 5 from 35 ratings, while UCLA Mindful averages 4.5 from 172 ratings.
Do iChill or UCLA Mindful have ads?
Neither iChill nor UCLA Mindful shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iChill or UCLA Mindful?
iChill ships an update every 5 months, and UCLA Mindful every 3 months. Most recently, iChill was updated on September 4, 2026 and UCLA Mindful on September 19, 2026.

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