Comparison

Paced Breathing vs Kindling

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

Head to head
About

Paced Breathing

This app guides users through breathing exercises using visual, audio, and haptic cues. It helps with stress relief, meditation, lung strengthening, and falling asleep. Join thousands of users who find daily calm and improved well-being.

Highlights
  • Adjustable inhale, hold, exhale timing
  • Visual, audio, and haptic cues
  • Heart monitoring (heart rate, HRV, coherence)
  • Ramp mode for gradual timing changes
  • Session tracking and streaks
  • Background playback
Features
Read full description

Featured in James Nestor’s best-selling book, Breath, Paced Breathing uses visual, audio and haptic cues to guide you through your practice. Whether meditating, strengthening your lungs or simply relaxing - join the thousands who love using Paced Breathing everyday! USES * Relieve Stress * Meditate — (especially good for Kundalini, Hatha, Pranayama) * Strengthen Lungs — (improve lung capacity & aid recovery) * Falling Asleep FEATURES * Adjustable timing for inhale, hold, exhale, & hold * Heart monitoring: heart rate, HRV, & coherence (PB+) * Ramp mode: gradually change breath times * Visual, audio, & vibrate cues * Reminders / notifications (PB+) * Background playback * Playlists for multiple breath presets * Streaks, goals, & session tracking (PB+) HEALTH BENEFITS Regular breathing practices have been shown to help improve your: * Cardiovascular health [1][2][3] * Relaxation [2] * Stress responses [1][4][5] * Mood [1] * Attention [4] * Alzheimer's risk [6] FROM THE DEVELOPER I’m Mihai, an engineer born in Romania & raised in Michigan. My ideal day is working on apps to help others, like Paced Breathing. Someday I hope I can work on apps like these full time! Hearing from users makes my day, so shoot me an email with requests, bugs, things you like, or just your story: mihai@pacedbreathing.com! USER FEEDBACK * "The best breathing app out there (I've tried 12 apps, this is the only one that works for me). I have recommended it to over 100 people over the 7 years I've been using it. I use it at least 5 x a week. Gives me instant calm" — R. Hall * "LOVE this app. Very simple and easy to use. You can set time for inhale, exhale, and pause after each if you wish. You can watch it or listen…Thank you! Ads Not intrusive. Ads turn off when the app is active” — Denise * "This is a wonderfully simple app. The default sound tone is just right for me and I like that I get to set the volume and it stays there whether or not the volume of the phone ring or other apps are different" — Eleanor * "I've never written something like this in a review but... I love whoever wrote this app :-) Gets to the point in 0.2 s. No long annoying splash screens. No attempts to extort money... Super reliable, simple and 100% effective. I was looking for something that would let me take some breaks during normal meditation to do some controlled breathing, for example our most natural pattern - continuous 5.5 s inhale, 5.5 exhale. works perfect! BRAVO. A lesson to all developers how to make useful apps!" — Adam CITATIONS * [1] Study published in Front Public Health (2017) shows slow rhythmic breathing decreased blood pressure response to stress & improved mood: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5575449 * [2] Study in PLOS ONE (2019) shows slow paced breathing can improve relaxation & cardiovascular function: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0218550 * [3] Study in American Journal of Cardiology (2002) shows slow, paced breathing can significantly reduce blood pressure in hypertensive patients: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16129818/ * [4] Study in Frontiers in Psychology (2017) shows diaphragmatic breathing improves attention, reduces negative affect, & lowers stress in healthy adults: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874/full * [5] Study in Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (2005) shows benefits of Sudarshan Kriya, a specific yogic breathing practice, in treating stress, anxiety, & depression: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/acm.2005.11.189 * [6] Study in Nature Scientific Reports (2023) shows slow paced breathing counters pathways that lead to Alzheimer’s disease: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-30167-0 DISCLAIMER App not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent medical conditions. Consult a healthcare professional before starting a breathing practice, especially if you have pre-existing health conditions.

About

Kindling

Features
Read full description

Your mood doesn't change randomly. It follows patterns — patterns shaped by the people around you, the connections you make, and the ones you miss. Kindling is a mood tracker that goes deeper. Track your mood and social energy every day, see how your connections shape how you feel, and get a gentle nudge when you start to drift from the people who matter. WHY YOUR MOOD CHANGES Most mood trackers show you WHAT — "you felt sad on Tuesday." Kindling shows you WHY. By tracking your mood alongside your social connections, Kindling reveals patterns like: "Your mood averages 1.5 higher on days you connect with someone." "After 3 quiet days, your mood drops an average of 0.9 points." "You feel best on weeks where you follow through on your social plans." These aren't guesses. They're your own data, showing you the link between connection and how you feel. THE WEEKLY PLAN Every week, spend 5 minutes setting simple social intentions — "call Mum", "coffee with James", "go to the Saturday market." They appear on your home screen all week as gentle, visible accountability. Not a to-do list. A compass. THE DAILY CHECK-IN Each day, a quick check-in captures your mood, your social energy, and what actually happened. Meaningful conversations? Time spent with someone? A quiet day? It takes about 90 seconds. Over time, these tiny entries build a picture you can't see any other way. SOCIAL ENERGY — A DIMENSION NOBODY ELSE TRACKS Not all social contact is equal. You can be around people all day and still feel empty. Or one good phone call can fill your cup. Kindling tracks your social energy — how nourished you actually feel — separately from your mood. When those two lines diverge on your chart, that's where the insight lives. GENTLE NUDGES, NOT GUILT TRIPS If you've gone quiet for a few days, Kindling notices. It might say: "It's been a couple of weeks since you caught up with Sarah. Worth a message?" Never pushy, never guilt-based. Just a warm nudge when you might be starting to drift. DESIGNED FOR YOUR PRIVACY All your data stays on your device. No accounts required. No third-party tracking. No data selling. Your moods, your connections, your people — they're yours alone. FEATURES • Daily mood and social energy tracking • Visual tracker grid — your week and month in colour • Mood and social energy trend charts with correlation insights • Weekly social planner with personal intentions • Named nudges when you start to drift from someone • Connection type breakdown — meaningful conversations, time spent, reaching out • Monthly personal snapshot and progress tracking • Pattern-based insights that get smarter over time • Home screen widgets • Weekly reflection prompts • Streak tracking • iCloud sync across devices • Data export (CSV) • No ads. Ever. Start your free 7-day trial. $4.99/month or $39.99/year. Discover what drives how you feel.

Screenshots

Paced Breathing4 screens
Kindling4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Kindling at none against Paced Breathing's shown. Kindling also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks). Paced Breathing's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price 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. Paced Breathing sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Kindling sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Paced Breathing ships an update every 2 weeks, Kindling every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Paced Breathing versus Kindling: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaced BreathingKindling
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (237 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews84.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings237 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size82 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPaced Breathing LLCWes Thomson

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Paced Breathing

Subscriptions4
  • PacedBreathing+ (1 month)$1.991 Month
  • PacedBreathing+ (1 month)$3.991 Month
  • PacedBreathing+ (1 year)7 Days trial$9.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • PacedBreathing+ (1 year)7 Days trial$19.991 Year
2 purchases

Kindling

Subscriptions2
  • Kindling Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Kindling Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Paced Breathing free?
Paced Breathing is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Kindling free?
Kindling is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Paced Breathing or Kindling have ads?
Paced Breathing shows ads; Kindling does not.
Which is updated more often, Paced Breathing or Kindling?
Paced Breathing ships an update every 2 weeks, and Kindling every 2 days. Most recently, Paced Breathing was updated on October 30, 2026 and Kindling on October 8, 2026.

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