Comparison

Ember Fasting vs Meridian

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

Head to head
About

Ember Fasting

This app provides a simple and beautiful intermittent fasting timer with a widget-first design. It offers precise tracking of fasting progress, various popular protocols, and metabolic insights for Pro users. The app focuses on a clean user experience without ads or dark patterns.

Highlights
  • Widget-first design for home and lock screens
  • Fast launch time and smooth animations
  • Live metabolic process tracking (Pro)
  • Support for 5 popular fasting protocols
  • Streak tracking and milestone celebrations
  • Smart notifications for fast completion
Features
Read full description

The fasting timer that respects your time and your wallet. Ember is a beautifully crafted intermittent fasting timer that just works. No account required. No ads. No dark patterns. Just a precise, reliable timer with stunning widgets and honest pricing. WIDGET-FIRST DESIGN Check your fasting progress without opening the app. Ember offers 7 widget styles: small interactive, medium, large, Lock Screen, and StandBy. Your progress is always a glance away. Start and stop fasts right from your home screen. BEAUTIFUL & FAST Launches in under a second. Your body runs multiple metabolic processes during a fast: fat burning, ketosis, autophagy. They overlap and build on each other gradually. Ember tracks your progress with smooth animations and warm, purposeful design. Choose from 10 curated color themes or set your own custom accent color. Pick from 8 app icon styles to match your aesthetic. METABOLIC INSIGHT (PRO) Fasting isn't a series of stages you enter and leave, it's overlapping biological processes that build on each other. Pro unlocks live metabolic process tracking: see fat burning, ketosis, and autophagy ramping simultaneously with intensity indicators. Tap the info icon during any fast to see exactly what's happening in your body. EVERYTHING YOU NEED, NOTHING YOU DON'T - All 5 popular protocols: 16:8, 18:6, 20:4, OMAD, or create your own - Streak tracking with milestone celebrations - History with weekly calendar view - Basic stats to track your progress - Smart notifications for fast completion, zone transitions, and daily reminders HONEST PRICING The full fasting timer is free. No trial traps. No surprise charges. Pro unlocks metabolic insight, extra widget styles, themes, icons, and advanced notifications for $1.99/month, $14.99/year, or $29.99 lifetime. That's it. PRIVACY BY DESIGN Your data never leaves your device. No account. No analytics. No tracking. Our App Store privacy label is "Data Not Collected"...and we mean it. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Meridian

This app offers a straightforward approach to intermittent fasting, focusing on a clean interface and scientific insights into metabolic phases. It allows users to start and stop fasting with ease, track custom schedules, and understand their body's processes without intrusive features or upselling.

Highlights
  • One-tap start/stop timer
  • Metabolic phase insights
  • Built-in and custom schedules
  • Data stays on device
  • Optional Apple Health integration
  • Clean, intentional design
Features
Read full description

Meridian is the fasting app for people who are tired of fasting apps. No 15-screen onboarding quiz. No AI coach upselling you a meal plan. No gamification badges. No paywall on the timer. Just a clean, powerful tool that respects your intelligence and your time. START IN SECONDS One tap to start. One tap to stop. Meridian tracks your fasting window, shows what's happening in your body at each metabolic phase, and stays out of your way. Every schedule built in — 14:10, 16:8, 18:6, 20:4, OMAD, or set your own custom window. REAL SCIENCE, NOT SLOGANS Each body phase is grounded in peer-reviewed metabolic research. Know when glycogen depletes. Know when ketosis begins. Know when autophagy ramps up. Meridian tells you what's actually happening — with citations, not marketing copy. YOUR DATA STAYS ON YOUR DEVICE No account required. No cloud sync you didn't ask for. No analytics tracking your behavior. All data lives on your iPhone and stays there. Optional Apple Health integration reads and writes only with your explicit permission. DESIGNED WITH INTENTION Every screen earns its place. Meridian follows a less-but-better philosophy — no feature creep, no settings bloat, no dark patterns. Dark mode and light mode. Clean typography. A timer that's beautiful enough to leave on your nightstand. BUILT-IN SCHEDULES • 14:10 — Gentle start for beginners • 16:8 — The most popular protocol • 18:6 — Deeper metabolic benefits • 20:4 — The Warrior approach • OMAD — One Meal A Day • Custom — Set any window you want MERIDIAN PREMIUM Unlock deeper insights and advanced features for less than a coffee: • Detailed fasting history and trends • Body phase insights with metabolic data • Advanced streak tracking • Custom schedule presets • Full data export $1.99/month · $14.99/year (save 37%) · $39.99 lifetime No free trial. No tricks. At this price, you'll know within a day if Meridian is for you. Privacy policy: https://trymeridian.today/privacy-policy Terms Of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Support: https://trymeridian.today/support

Screenshots

Ember Fasting4 screens
Meridian4 screens

Verdict

The call

Ember Fasting and Meridian are too close to call on the numbers: across 8 compared parameters — price, rating, ratings volume and ads among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Ember Fasting sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Meridian sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Ember Fasting against 5.0 for Meridian. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Ember Fasting versus Meridian: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEmber FastingMeridian
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB3 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperChris SchradeZACHARY MARK MULLIGAN

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Ember Fasting

Subscriptions2
  • Ember Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Ember Pro Annual$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • FastApp Pro Lifetime$29.99
3 purchases

Meridian

Subscriptions2
  • Meridian Premium$1.991 Month
  • Meridian Premium$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Meridian Premium (Lifetime)$39.99

Questions

Is Ember Fasting free?
Ember Fasting is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Meridian free?
Meridian is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ember Fasting or Meridian?
Ember Fasting and Meridian are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Ember Fasting or Meridian have ads?
Neither Ember Fasting nor Meridian shows ads.

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