Sorta Zen vs Binaural Wave Labs
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sorta Zen
This app provides a minimalist meditation timer with optional background sounds and interval bells. It focuses on a simple, distraction-free experience without gamification or tracking features. Designed for quiet contemplation, it offers a straightforward way to practice mindfulness.
- Meditation timer
- Background sounds
- Interval bells
- Ad-free experience
- No user accounts
- Distraction-free interface
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It’s a meditation app. Eventually, you meditate. If you need a little help getting there, you can start with Touchscreen Meditation or a short daily talk. Then the app shuts up. The timer, Touchscreen Meditation, background sounds, and interval bells are free. The first 10 daily talks are free too. After that, the talks are an optional $20/year subscription that renews until canceled. There are no courses to complete. No libraries to browse. No streaks, badges, leaderboards, notifications, user accounts, mood tracking, sleep stories, ads, or little graphs implying you’re becoming a better person. Just a simple place to sit quietly for a while. Enlightenment not guaranteed. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.sortazen.com/privacy
Binaural Wave Labs
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Put your headphones on, then go do what you were going to do anyway — scroll videos, listen to music, read an e-book, write code. It sits underneath. It never takes over your sound, and nothing else cancels it. Can't focus? Can't sleep? Binaural Labs pairs binaural beats with immersive ambience to help you settle in faster — no ads, no sign-up, no data collection. 【BUILT FOR YOUR BRAIN】 Each preset maps to a brainwave band: · Delta (0.5–4 Hz) — deep sleep, physical recovery · Theta (4–8 Hz) — meditation, creative flow · Alpha (8–14 Hz) — calm focus, easy learning · Beta (14–30 Hz) — active thinking, problem solving · Gamma (30–60 Hz) — high cognition, information processing 【WHAT YOU WON'T FIND ELSEWHERE】 · Plays alongside any app — underneath your videos, music, or reading, without stealing the audio · Import your own audio and video — MP3, FLAC, WAV, M4A, AAC, plus MP4 and MOV · Independent left/right tuning — set a different frequency for each ear; that's the core of binaural beats · Global voice PK — shout, sing, hold a tone, climb the leaderboard · Frequency coach — real-time pitch analysis and FFT spectrum · Custom presets — mix frequencies, waveforms, and ambience your own way 【EVERYTHING YOU NEED】 · 15 presets: deep sleep, sleep onset, power nap, meditation, breathwork, ocean meditation, focus study, deep reading, exam sprint, morning wake, active mind, workout focus, high cognition, creative spark, energy cycle · 9 ambient sounds: white, pink and brown noise, rain, stream, ocean, wind, insects, campfire · 5 waveforms: sine, triangle, sawtooth, square — plus a rich mode with overtones · Separate volume for beats, ambience, and music · Dark interface designed for night use · Home screen widget for one-tap presets · Background playback with lock screen controls; keeps playing when you switch apps 【START FREE, UNLOCK EVERYTHING WITH PRO】 · 3-day full trial — try everything, pay nothing if it's not for you · Free tier: 3 core presets (deep sleep, focus study, morning wake) + white noise · Pro unlocks: all 15 presets, all ambience, all waveforms, the music library, local import, rich mode, sub-bass, breathing guide See the in-app purchase page for pricing. Monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual plans available. 【PRIVACY FIRST】 No sign-up, no tracking, no data collection. Your listening stays on your device. 【NOTE】 This app is for relaxation, focus, and sleep ambience. It is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition. If you have a sleep disorder or health concern, please consult a professional. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://binaural.5dbds.com/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Binaural Wave Labs at 15.0 against Sorta Zen's 18.0. 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
Both are free to download. Sorta Zen sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $20.00 per year and Binaural Wave Labs sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Sorta Zen ships an update weekly, Binaural Wave Labs every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sorta Zen | Binaural Wave Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Patrick Griffith | 显金 王 |
In-app purchases
Sorta Zen
- Food For Non-Thought1 Month trial$20.001 Year
Binaural Wave Labs
- Binaural: Focus & Sleep$2.991 Month
- Binaural: Focus & Sleep$7.993 Months
- Binaural: Focus & Sleep$14.996 Months
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- Binaural: Focus & Sleep$29.991 Year
Questions
Is Sorta Zen free?
Is Binaural Wave Labs free?
Do Sorta Zen or Binaural Wave Labs have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sorta Zen or Binaural Wave Labs?
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