Comparison

Breathing Timer vs BreathLead

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

Head to head
About

Breathing Timer

Features
Read full description

Take a 2-minute reset. Your calm starts here. Breathing Timer helps you practice proven breathing exercises with smooth, animated visual guides and post-session mood tracking. FEATURES: • Expanding/contracting circle animation for each breath phase • Box Breathing (4-4-4-4) - used by Navy SEALs • 4-7-8 Relaxing - Dr. Andrew Weil's method • Calming and Energizing patterns • Post-session mood tracking (Calm / Neutral / Still Anxious) • Session history with duration, pattern, and mood log • Streak tracking for daily practice INSIGHTS & TRENDS: • 7-day bar chart showing daily breathing minutes • Mood breakdown across all sessions • Weekly and monthly practice patterns PRIVACY FIRST: All data is stored locally on your device. No accounts required. No cloud sync. No one sees your data but you. Breathing Timer is free and ad-supported. Download now and start practicing breathwork today.

About

BreathLead

This app guides you through various breathing techniques to help you calm down, focus, energize, or sleep. It offers visual, audio, and haptic feedback for a multisensory experience. All session data is stored locally, ensuring privacy.

Highlights
  • Guided breathing techniques
  • Visual animation cues
  • Tonal audio guidance
  • Haptic feedback
  • Offline functionality
  • Mood tracking
  • Multiple breathing methods
Features
Read full description

BreathLead is the breathing coach that meets you where you are. Tell it how you feel — anxious, scattered, wired, or exhausted — and it picks the right technique for this moment. Then guides you through it with a visual animation, tonal audio cues, and haptic feedback you can feel on your phone. No counting. No guessing. Just breathe. HOW IT WORKS Choose your goal — calm down, focus, energise, or sleep. BreathLead recommends the right breathing technique and guides you through it using three simultaneous channels: Visual bars — four animated bars rise on inhale, step across on hold, and fall on exhale. Read it at a glance without thinking. Breathing ring — a continuous arc grows and shrinks with your breath, with a glowing dot that travels the ring during holds. Meditative and effortless to follow. Tonal audio — ascending notes guide your inhale, a soft tick marks each hold beat, descending notes ease your exhale. Haptics — distinct vibration patterns for each phase. Use it in a meeting, in the dark, or with your eyes closed. Screen off. Fully silent. 8 BREATHING TECHNIQUES Box Breathing (4-4-4-4) — equal phases restore calm control. Used by Navy SEALs and surgeons before high-pressure situations. 4-7-8 Breathing — the long exhale activates the vagus nerve, dropping heart rate and cortisol within minutes. Physiological Sigh (5-2-7) — a double inhale followed by a long exhale. The fastest known way to reduce acute stress. From Stanford's Huberman Lab. Cyclic Sighing — a softer variation of the physiological sigh. Gentle, progressive relaxation well tolerated by beginners. Coherent 5-5 — six breaths per minute maximises heart rate variability. The foundation of biofeedback and meditation practice. A52 Method — five-second nasal cycles with a brief post-exhale hold. Built for sustained attention under pressure. Alternate Nostril — Nadi Shodhana pranayama. Balances the nervous system and produces calm, focused alertness. Energising 2-2-4 — short rapid cycles raise alertness within 60 seconds. The antidote to the mid-afternoon slump. DESIGNED FOR REAL LIFE Haptic-only silent mode — phone in your pocket, session running silently, breath guided entirely through touch. Works in meetings, commutes, anywhere. Before and after mood rating — see the evidence that it worked. Your mood delta, session history, and consistency over time in one clean view. 3-second countdown — settle in before every session begins. Choose your visual — signal bars for a digital, precise feel or the breathing ring for a meditative, continuous experience. Offline — works with no internet connection, forever. No account required — no login, no email, no data leaving your device. PRIVACY All session data is stored locally on your iPhone. No account. No health data transmitted. No ads. Ever. BREATHLEAD PREMIUM Free tier includes box breathing with unlimited sessions. BreathLead Premium unlocks all 8 techniques, both visual modes, all guide modes, and full session history. 7-day free trial. $4.99 per month. Cancel anytime in your Apple ID settings. Subscription automatically renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple ID account settings. Terms of Service: https://breathlead.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://breathlead.com/privacy

Screenshots

Breathing Timer4 screens
BreathLead4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Breathing Timer at none against BreathLead's 2. Breathing Timer also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). BreathLead's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence 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. BreathLead sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Breathing Timer asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Breathing Timer ships an update every 10 days, BreathLead fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Breathing Timer versus BreathLead: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBreathing TimerBreathLead
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterFortnightly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB89 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBlas PrietoArman Omidi Khalaki

In-app purchases

None

Breathing Timer

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

BreathLead

Subscriptions2
  • BreathLead Premium7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Premium — Annual7 Days trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Breathing Timer free?
Breathing Timer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BreathLead free?
BreathLead is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Breathing Timer or BreathLead have ads?
Breathing Timer shows ads; BreathLead does not.
Which is updated more often, Breathing Timer or BreathLead?
Breathing Timer ships an update every 10 days, and BreathLead fortnightly. Most recently, Breathing Timer was updated on October 8, 2026 and BreathLead on October 6, 2026.

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