Comparison

Box Breathing vs SleepHack

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

Head to head
About

Box Breathing

This app guides you through the Box Breathing technique to calm anxiety, reduce stress, and improve sleep. It offers customizable sessions, progress tracking, and integrates with Apple Health. Build a consistent mindfulness habit with smart reminders and optional Game Center features.

Highlights
  • Guided Box Breathing Trainer
  • Customizable Sessions
  • Stats, Streaks & Tracker
  • Breathwork Journal
  • Live Widgets
  • Apple Health Integration
Read full description

Calm anxiety, reduce stress and sleep fast with Box Breathing Exercise Trainer, Timer & Tracker. Master the widely studied Box Breathing technique, also known as Square Breathing, Tactical Breathing, or Sama Vritti Pranayama or 4x4 method. Practiced by elite athletes and high-performance professionals, this structured 4-4-4-4 method is a simple yet powerful way to promote calm, support stress management, and enhance focus. Whether you’re looking to relax before bed for deeper sleep, navigate moments of anxiety or anger, or find grounding during stressful situations, Breathe Even guides each breathing session with relaxing, meditative background music for an immersive and focused experience. Why Practice Box Breathing? Box Breathing is a paced breathing technique built around equal breath intervals. Slow, rhythmic breathing patterns are often explored in relation to: • Stress management and relaxation • Everyday anxiety and emotional overwhelm • Grounding during moments of panic or heightened stress • Focus routines for attention challenges • Mental clarity before deep work • Wind-down rituals before bed and sleep preparation Structured breathing is commonly discussed in connection with vagus nerve awareness, nervous system regulation, HRV balance, and diaphragmatic breathing practice. Breathe Even functions as both a focused breathing trainer and a simple practice tracker, helping you build consistency without distractions. Features • Guided Box Breathing Trainer Clear visual and subtle haptic cues guide your inhale, hold, exhale, and pause cycle. Ideal for beginners and experienced practitioners alike. • Customizable Sessions Adjust breath counts, pacing, and duration. Use the classic 4-4-4-4 method or personalize your breathing exercise timing. • Stats, Streaks & Tracker Track sessions, build daily streaks, and monitor your breathing progress over time with an integrated practice tracker. • Breathwork Journal Log reflections and mindfulness notes to observe patterns in stress, focus, and emotional regulation. • Live Widgets Stay consistent with home screen widgets that display daily progress and provide quick access to your breathing sessions. • Game Center Integration Optional Apple Game Center features including leaderboards, achievements, badges, and special events designed to encourage consistency and mindful habit building. • Apple Health Integration Sync mindfulness and meditation minutes directly to Apple Health. • Goals & Smart Reminders Set time-based or location-based reminders to maintain your breathing routine and build a healthy habit. Designed For • Adults building a daily mindfulness or meditation habit • Beginners learning structured breathing techniques • Athletes practicing tactical breathing • Students improving focus before exams • Individuals exploring breathing for stress and anxiety • Evening relaxation before sleep Privacy First • No account required • Works fully offline • One-time purchase — no subscription • No personal usage data collected • Data stays on your device with optional secure iCloud sync Important • Breathe Even app is for general wellness and educational purposes only. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. • Consult your healthcare provider before starting breathing exercises if you are pregnant, under 18, or have a respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, seizure-related, or other medical condition. • Breath holds and retention-based techniques should be practiced seated or upright, within your comfort level, and never forced. • Never practice breathing exercises while driving, operating machinery, swimming, bathing, or in any situation where dizziness, reduced alertness, or loss of concentration could pose a risk. • Stop immediately if you experience dizziness, discomfort, chest pain, faintness, or shortness of breath.

About

SleepHack

This app uses adaptive binaural frequencies and an intelligent sleep engine to optimize your sleep cycles for deeper rest and improved performance. It offers performance-first sleep tracking and a smart alarm to wake you at the optimal moment.

Highlights
  • Adaptive binaural frequencies
  • Intelligent sleep engine
  • Performance-first sleep tracking
  • Smart alarm
  • Deep sleep enhancement modes
Features
Read full description

ADAPTIVE WHITE NOISE ENGINEERED FOR DEEPER SLEEP Sleep isn’t relaxation. Sleep is performance. SleepHack is built for people who want deeper sleep, sharper focus, and higher output — not just background noise. This isn’t another white noise app. This is adaptive sleep optimization. WHY SLEEPHACK? • Adaptive binaural frequencies that shift with your sleep • Engineered sound designed to push deeper rest • Performance-first sleep tracking • Built for high achievers, founders, athletes, and optimizers If you treat your body like hardware, your sleep needs better software. HOW IT WORKS • Intelligent Sleep Engine responds to your movement patterns • Adaptive audio evolves through the night • Designed to support Deep, Core, and REM cycles • Smart alarm that wakes you at the right moment You don’t just play sound. You run a sleep protocol. WHO IT’S FOR • People who wake up tired even after 8 hours • High performers who want a competitive edge • Anyone serious about recovery and mental clarity • Those who want more than “rain sounds” If you care about output, you should care about sleep architecture. FEATURES • Adaptive Binaural Audio • Deep Sleep Enhancement Modes • Smart Alarm • Minimal, performance-driven interface • Ongoing upgrades and sleep protocol refinements STOP GUESSING. START OPTIMIZING. Your sleep is either helping you win or holding you back. Hack it. If you choose to connect your sleep data from HealthKit, SleepHack can use that additional data to improve prediction accuracy as it learns your patterns. Your data is only used with explicit in-app consent, and you remain in control of what is shared. Terms of Service: https://sleephack.app/terms

Screenshots

Box Breathing4 screens
SleepHack4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Box Breathing at none against SleepHack's shown. Box Breathing also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (24 vs 1). SleepHack's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 75%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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 1 one-off in-app purchase and SleepHack sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SleepHack holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Box Breathing has 24 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Box Breathing's written reviews are positive against 100% of SleepHack's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Box Breathing ships an update every 4 days, SleepHack every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and August 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Box Breathing versus SleepHack: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBox BreathingSleepHack
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (24 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings24 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 6 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size148 MB112 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperBreathwork Studios LLCSMB Studio LLC

Customer experience

Box Breathing

All ratings24 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

SleepHack

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

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Box Breathing

One-time1
  • Breathe Even Pro$4.99
8 purchases

SleepHack

Subscriptions7
  • Pro Weekly$4.997 Days
  • Pro Weekly$6.997 Days
  • Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Pro Annual$19.991 Year
  • Pro Annual3 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Pro Annual3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Pro Annual$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime AccessFree

Questions

Is Box Breathing free?
Box Breathing is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SleepHack free?
SleepHack is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Box Breathing or SleepHack?
SleepHack is rated higher. Box Breathing averages 4.7 out of 5 from 24 ratings, while SleepHack averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Box Breathing or SleepHack have ads?
SleepHack shows ads; Box Breathing does not.
Which is updated more often, Box Breathing or SleepHack?
Box Breathing ships an update every 4 days, and SleepHack every 6 days. Most recently, Box Breathing was updated on September 10, 2026 and SleepHack on August 13, 2026.

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