Comparison

HeartMath vs Instead

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

Head to head
About

HeartMath

This app helps you manage stress, improve focus, and achieve optimal performance by aligning your heart, mind, and emotions. It offers guided sessions, immersive journeys, and coherence practices based on over 30 years of research.

Highlights
  • Real-time HRV Coherence Measurement
  • Coherence Training
  • Scientifically Validated Techniques
  • Guided Learning Sessions
  • Progress Tracking
  • Heart-Brain Coherence Benefits
Features
Read full description

Align your heart, mind, and emotions to help you manage stress, improve focus, and perform at your best. Enjoy HeartMath’s free intro experience to access your heart’s natural intelligence and see your heart-brain coherence as real-time feedback. Then start your 7-day free trial to explore a comprehensive collection of guided sessions, immersive journeys, and coherence practices designed to help you experience greater calm, focus, clearer thinking, and a more balanced you. **Inner Balance Coherence Plus sensor owners: Use your sensor to unlock a lifetime subscription.** Built on 30+ years of research on the heart-brain connection and supported by over 500 research studies, HeartMath is used in wellness and resilience programs at organizations including Stanford Healthcare and Kaiser Permanente, as well as in professional sports, the military, law enforcement, leading universities, non-profit organizations, and major corporations. It is used by coaches, trainers, and health professionals for stress education and resilience training. The HeartMath system is more than stress management: it’s a journey to more heart-centered living. This app puts HeartMath’s practical, research-supported tools right at your fingertips. Make mental and emotional well-being an achievable part of your daily life. The HeartMath technology is for stress education and resilience training. It is not a medical device. We encourage you to consult a health professional before making any medical decisions. KEY FEATURES • Real-time HRV coherence feedback: Use your phone’s camera or upgrade to the Inner Balance Coherence Plus sensor for a more precise signal and a free app subscription. • Coherence training: Whether you choose the game or the guided mode, watch your heart-rhythm pattern and coherence change in real time. • Research-Supported: Techniques developed from 30+ years of scientific research to help boost focus, positive feelings, and your ability to manage stress. • Guided learning: Explore guided meditations, courses, and videos led by HeartMath trainers. • Progress tracking: View your progress over time with a variety of chart options. WHAT REGULAR COHERENCE PRACTICE CAN SUPPORT Heart-brain coherence is a balanced, focused state you create yourself through calm breathing and positive focus. Coherence supports the body’s natural ability to shift from tension to calm, helping you manage everyday stress and build inner balance. • SUPPORTS STRESS MANAGEMENT & EMOTIONAL BALANCE • SUPPORTS FOCUS AND MENTAL CLARITY — coherent states are associated with more focus, clarity, and creativity. • SUPPORTS RESILIENCE — regular practice can help you adapt to and recover from challenging situations more quickly. • ENHANCES EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING AND SELF-AWARENESS — practice can support a greater sense of inner calm and a more mindful relationship with your emotions. Subscription terms: • Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each year. • You can cancel your subscription at any time in your account settings. • You will not be refunded for any unused portion of a subscription. • Price is subject to change. • Subscriptions are not available in all countries. • Full subscription terms: https://my.heartmath.com/terms If you’d like to purchase an Inner Balance Coherence Plus sensor to unlock complimentary lifetime access to the HeartMath app, please visit the HeartMath website.

About

Instead

This app offers quick, ninety-second activities to help you manage cravings and difficult emotions. Choose from guided breathing exercises or physical challenges to ride out intense feelings. It also provides emergency contact options and tracks your progress without requiring an account.

Highlights
  • 90-second activities
  • Guided breathing exercises
  • Physical challenges
  • Emergency contact shortcuts
  • Streak tracking
  • Journaling
  • Data privacy
Features
Read full description

A craving is loud, and it feels like it will last forever. It won't. Most peak and pass in about ninety seconds. Instead gives you something to do with those ninety seconds. Open it when the craving hits. Pick how you feel, stressed or restless, and it hands you one thing to do until the wave passes RIDE THE WAVE A breathing circle to match: four seconds in, hold, five out. Calm music if you want it, silence in one tap if you don't. WORK IT OFF When sitting still is the problem. Fast taps, a climbing combo, a score to beat. Ninety seconds of somewhere else to put it. WHAT YOU KEEP Your streak, counted in days. The money you DIDN'T spend, Milestones at 24 hours, 72 hours, a week, a month, ninety days, six months, a year. Every craving you have beaten. A journal, if you want one: a blank page, capture you thoughts in the moment. IF YOU SLIP Your clean days move to a lifetime total instead of vanishing. The counter restarts. The total does not. You keep what you earned. WHEN IT IS MORE THAN A CRAVING One tap to call or text someone you chose in advance, and one tap to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Set your person up now, while things are calm, so the decision is already made when they are not. YOUR DATA IS YOURS No account. No sign-in. Your journal and your streak never reach us — they live on your phone, and in your own private iCloud or Google backup if you use one, so they come back on a new phone. Export a separate copy whenever you like. Instead is not therapy, medical care, or a crisis service, and it does not replace them. It is a way to get through the next ninety seconds.

Screenshots

HeartMath4 screens
Instead4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Instead at none against HeartMath's 5. Instead also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 74%) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). HeartMath's advantage is ratings volume (4.6K vs 1). On price, rating, ads and device support 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. HeartMath sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $39.00 per year. Instead asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for HeartMath against 5.0 for Instead. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HeartMath has 4.6K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 74% of HeartMath's written reviews are positive against 100% of Instead's.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
HeartMath versus Instead: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHeartMathInstead
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (4.6K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.6K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size185 MB28 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperHeartMath Inc.MadApps Studios, LLC

Customer experience

HeartMath

All ratings4,564 ratings
Positive96.9%
Neutral1.8%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews172 reviews
Positive73.8%
Neutral5.2%
Negative20.9%

Instead

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

HeartMath

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Sensor connection issues on newer devices
  • App crashes and freezes on iPhone 16 Pro
  • Inaccurate heart rate and coherence readings
  • Screen sleep behavior disrupting sessions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add dark mode option
  • Allow playing music/sounds during sessions
  • Provide audio feedback on coherence levels
  • Add session history customization and details
  • Improve sensor compatibility with older devices

Instead

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

HeartMath

Subscriptions4
  • HeartMath Premium7 Days trial$39.001 Year
  • HeartMath Premium7 Days trial$59.001 Year
  • HeartMath Premium7 Days trial2 variants$79.001 Year
Show 1 more
  • HeartMath Premium7 Days trial$99.991 Year
None

Instead

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HeartMath free?
HeartMath is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Instead free?
Instead is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HeartMath or Instead?
Instead is rated higher. HeartMath averages 4.9 out of 5 from 4.6K ratings, while Instead averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do HeartMath or Instead have ads?
Neither HeartMath nor Instead shows ads.

Other comparisons