Comparison

MindShift CBT 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

MindShift CBT

This app offers free, science-backed tools based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help users manage anxiety, stress, and panic. It provides techniques to reframe thoughts, relax the mind, and face fears.

Highlights
  • Thought journal
  • Fear ladder
  • Guided meditations
  • Community forum
  • Progress tracking
  • Science-backed CBT strategies
Features
Read full description

Take control of anxiety, stress, and panic with MindShift CBT. Get free, science-backed tools based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help you reframe your thoughts, relax your mind, and face your fears. Struggling with anxiety? You're not alone. MindShift CBT is a free mental health app developed by experts to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief. Using the evidence-based strategies of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), MindShift CBT helps you learn to relax and be mindful, develop more effective ways of thinking, and take active steps to face your anxiety. WHAT YOU GET: • A Powerful Toolkit: From a thought journal and fear ladder to guided meditations and a supportive community forum. • Science-Backed Strategies: All tools are based on proven Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) methods. • Progress Tracking: Visualize your mental health journey with daily check-ins and insights. • Always Free: No subscriptions, no hidden costs. Just effective, accessible support. Whether you're dealing with general worry, social anxiety, panic attacks, or phobias, MindShift CBT is your personal guide to better mental health. Download today and start your journey to a calmer mind.

About

Box Breathing

Enhance your well-being with guided breathwork exercises. This app offers personalized sessions based on a breathing test, with categories for calm, sleep, focus, and energy. Experience immersive audio, haptic feedback, and sound cues for stress reduction and improved performance.

Highlights
  • Personalized breathing test
  • Exercise categories (Calm, Sleep, Focus, Energize)
  • Audio guide and sound cues
  • Haptic feedback
  • CO2 tolerance test
  • Stress and anxiety relief
Features
Read full description

Unlock the power of breathwork and improve your physical and mental well-being with Float - the ultimate breathing app that makes it easy to breathe. Customize your experience with a breathing test and choose from exercise categories for calm, sleep, focus, quick relief, and energize. Used by top coaches and athletes, Float combines an audio guide, haptic feedback, and sound cues for a truly immersive breathing experience. Breathing is an essential practice for both your physical and mental well-being and Float is the ultimate breathing app that guides you through personalized breathing exercises to help you increase your performance throughout the day and reduce stress & anxiety. With Float, you can take a CO2 tolerance test, which gives us a reliable idea about your breathing in the last weeks and months. This test allows us to customize the breathwork to your very individual demands, ensuring you get the most out of each session. Whether you're an athlete or an office worker, practicing breathwork can be a powerful way to boost your health, and performance, control your nervous system and manage anxiety. Practicing breathwork is scientifically proven to increase your physical and mental performance. The benefits of learning to breathe with Float are endless, including relief from stress and anxiety, emotional healing, increased CO2 tolerance, improved immunity, and easier sleep. You'll also develop or increase self-awareness, enrich your creativity, improve focus and clarity, and boost your confidence and self-esteem. Breathwork with Float can also help you process emotions, heal emotional pain and trauma, and increase your CO2 tolerance. Additionally, it can help boost your immunity, fall asleep easily, enrich creativity, and improve focus, gain clarity and reduce brain fog. Float's breathwork exercises are curated by some of the top breathing coaches and are used by psychologists, physiotherapists, Olympic athletes, Navy SEALs, freedivers, yogis, and neuroscientists. We continue to work on expanding the breathwork exercises library to cover the most frequent stressful events occurring during the day. Breathing exercises are categorized into CALM, SLEEP, FOCUS, QUICK RELIEF, and ENERGIZE. The list of breathing exercises available in Float includes: – 4-7-8: Drift into sleep – Acumen: Get clarity, get focused – Alert: Get ready for action – Balance: Reconcile left & right brain – Box Breathing: Be right here, right now – Coherent: Stabilize your mood – Doping: Pre-workout routine – Ninja: Get calm like a ninja – Recovery: Cool down after a workout – Resonance: Sharpen your mind – Slumber: Sleep soundly – Sunrise: Rise & shine – Sunset: End the day in serenity – Unblock: Set your nose free – Wind Down: Take a moment to deeply relax – NSDR: Non-Sleep Deep Rest Please be aware that sessions can cause and are not limited to: – Tingling – Dizziness – Trembling, shaking, or other physical sensations – Emotional experiences – Experience energy moving through your body Got a question? Send us an email at team@keepfloating.com DISCLAIMER: This content in the Float app is not medical advice or a treatment plan and is intended for general education and demonstration purposes only. The content should not be used to self-diagnose or self-treat any health, medical, or physical condition. Don’t use this content to avoid going to your own healthcare professional or to replace the advice they give you. Consult with your healthcare professional before doing anything contained in this content. Links: Privacy Policy - https://www.keepfloating.com/privacy-policy Terms of Use - https://keepfloating.com/terms Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/float.breath TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@float.breath The Float app saves your meditation and sleep sessions to your Apple Health app.

Screenshots

MindShift CBT4 screens
Box Breathing4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MindShift CBT at none against Box Breathing's 5. Box Breathing's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume 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 5 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. MindShift CBT asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Box Breathing holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 552 and 320 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of MindShift CBT's written reviews are positive against 79% of Box Breathing's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MindShift CBT ships an update every 4 months, Box Breathing every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
MindShift CBT versus Box Breathing: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMindShift CBTBox Breathing
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (552 ratings)4.8 (320 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.1% of reviews78.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings552 — better320
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, Vision Pro
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB96 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer247 Labs IncSTRV s.r.o.

Customer experience

MindShift CBT

All ratings516 ratings
Positive83.9%
Neutral6.0%
Negative10.1%
Written reviews339 reviews
Positive71.1%
Neutral10.3%
Negative18.6%

Box Breathing

All ratings318 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral1.9%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews42 reviews
Positive78.6%
Neutral2.4%
Negative19.0%

Bugs and requests

MindShift CBT

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Login/account creation issues
  • Saving/submitting entries not working
  • Crashing/freezing
  • Incompatibility with newer OS versions
  • Sharing/exporting data not functioning

Requested features

10 requests
  • Longer journal entries
  • More customization options
  • Ability to see full history
  • Improved accessibility features
  • Community access for under 18s
Show 5 more
  • Dark mode option
  • More interactive breathing exercises
  • Ability to add own anxiety symptoms
  • Reminders to use the app
  • Sync data across devices

Box Breathing

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

MindShift CBT

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Box Breathing

Subscriptions4
  • Float PRO - Monthly Membership$9.991 Month
  • Float PRO Breathing Exercises$39.991 Year
  • Float PRO Breathing Exercises$49.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Float PRO Breathing Exercises7 Days trial$69.991 Year
One-time1
  • Float PRO Breathing Exercises$199.99

Questions

Is MindShift CBT free?
MindShift CBT 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, MindShift CBT or Box Breathing?
Box Breathing is rated higher. MindShift CBT averages 4.3 out of 5 from 552 ratings, while Box Breathing averages 4.8 from 320 ratings.
Do MindShift CBT or Box Breathing have ads?
Neither MindShift CBT nor Box Breathing shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MindShift CBT or Box Breathing?
MindShift CBT ships an update every 4 months, and Box Breathing every 3 weeks. Most recently, MindShift CBT was updated on October 24, 2026 and Box Breathing on October 23, 2026.

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