Comparison

Vela HRV vs Stress

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

Head to head
About

Vela HRV

This app analyzes your heart rate variability (HRV) from your Apple Watch to provide a personalized stress score. It establishes your unique baseline and uses it for ongoing stress assessment, offering daily, weekly, and monthly historical data. All processing occurs on your device for enhanced privacy.

Highlights
  • Personalized 0-100 stress score
  • Passive background HRV measurement
  • Daily, weekly, and monthly history
  • On-device processing
  • iCloud data sync
  • No mandatory subscription
Features
Read full description

Stress is invisible. But it can be measured. Vela analyzes your heart rate variability (HRV) from your Apple Watch and turns it into a number that makes sense for you — not for a statistical average. Everyone's HRV is different. That's why Vela builds your personal baseline during the first few days and uses it as a permanent reference. Your stress score is yours, calculated against your own history. The essentials, without the noise - Personalized 0–100 stress score - Passive background measurement - Daily, weekly and monthly history - On-device processing — no external servers Your data, yours alone. Sync happens through your own iCloud. Vela has no servers. No mandatory subscription. Requires Apple Watch with watchOS 26 or later.

About

Stress

Understand your body's stress levels by tracking HRV, RHR, sleep, and activity against your personal baseline. Receive daily guidance on whether to push harder or rest, with integrated breathing exercises and mood logging.

Highlights
  • Personalized HRV and RHR baseline
  • Daily stress level assessment
  • Guided breathing exercises
  • Sleep and activity tracking
  • Mood and water logging
  • Watch complications and widgets
  • Data privacy and on-device processing
Features
Read full description

Understand your body's stress — instead of waiting until it gives out. Stress is a stress monitor for Apple Watch and iPhone. It reads your HRV (heart rate variability), RHR (resting heart rate), sleep and activity, compares them with your own baseline and answers one question daily: keep pushing, or ease off? ◎ Stress read against your own baseline - Four plain levels: Fully Charged · Doing Fine · A Bit Tired · Feeling Rough - No generic "normal range": the app learns your own HRV and resting heart rate, day and night apart - Under 7 days it says the baseline is only indicative; from 28 days it's stable - Every number comes with a one-line takeaway ◎ Stress rising? Ease it on the spot - Relaxing 4-4, Deep 4-7-8, Box 4-4-4-4, Snore Relief 5-6 — 1, 3 or 5 minutes, matched to your stress right now - Note your mood after; the time counts as Mindful Minutes in the Health app ◎ Your night on one page - Sleep score, stage timeline, naps counted separately - Overnight HRV, resting heart rate and wrist temperature - Compared with your usual bedtime, so you spot when the routine slipped ◎ Mood, water and daylight — no extra apps - Mood check-ins built on State of Mind in the Health app, plus your mood pattern on higher-stress days - One-tap water logging into the Health app, with daily goal and weekly trend - Steps, active energy, workout routes with heart rate zones, time in daylight ◎ Trends that read like a weekly report - Week, month and year: your stress patterns in plain words, your best days, and when stress quietly climbs - HRV, resting heart rate, sleep, activity, water, daylight and breathing side by side ◎ Works on its own on Apple Watch - Complications: stress, HRV, heart rate, steps, water, active energy - Browse stress and trends on your wrist, and log water there - If a fresh HRV reading points to higher stress, your watch tells you ◎ Useful without opening the app - Siri and Shortcuts: check stress, log water, start breathing, log mood - Control Center: start breathing or log water in one tap - Widgets on Home and Lock Screen: stress, HRV, heart rate, steps, water, energy, breathing - Split view on iPad; 11 interface languages ◎ What we believe Life is full of numbers already; one more opaque stress number doesn't make anyone feel lighter. So every metric comes with a takeaway: read "A Bit Tired" and you know what's next — an hour more sleep, three deep breaths before the meeting, a walk instead of the hard weekend session. No alarms, no lectures. ◎ Your data is yours - Health data is read and processed on your device only, never uploaded, no account needed - We read only the data types you allow; theme, language and goals sync via your own iCloud ◎ Free and Pro - Free: stress status, current-period trends, sleep analysis, mood, water, widgets and complications, relaxing breathing - Pro: live stress monitoring, month/year and past-period trends, all breathing rhythms, full workout records - New installs get 24 hours fully unlocked, no payment first ◎ Health disclaimer Stress gives no medical advice or diagnosis and is no substitute for professional care. If stress stays hard to manage, or a medical decision is involved, please see a doctor. ◎ Subscription Stress is free to download; Pro unlocks all paid features as a weekly or yearly auto-renewing subscription. Your Apple Account is charged within 24 hours before the period ends and renews for one more period. To cancel, turn off auto-renewal in Apple Account settings at least 24 hours before the period ends. Privacy Policy: https://www.luckydance.top/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.luckydance.top/terms

Screenshots

Stress4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Vela HRV at none against Stress's 2. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Stress sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Vela HRV asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Vela HRV against 5.0 for Stress. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Vela HRV ships an update every 3 weeks, Stress fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Vela HRV versus Stress: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVela HRVStress
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings12 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB58 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperXavier Camps NoviSleep Pilot Technology Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

Vela HRV

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Stress

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Vela HRV

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Stress

Subscriptions2
  • Stress App Weekly Premium$1.997 Days
  • Stress App Annual Premium$7.991 Year

Questions

Is Vela HRV free?
Vela HRV is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Stress free?
Stress is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Vela HRV or Stress?
Vela HRV and Stress are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Vela HRV or Stress have ads?
Neither Vela HRV nor Stress shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Vela HRV or Stress?
Vela HRV ships an update every 3 weeks, and Stress fortnightly. Most recently, Vela HRV was updated on October 7, 2026 and Stress on October 12, 2026.

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