Comparison

Koan Meditation Timer vs Zen

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

Head to head
About

Koan Meditation Timer

This app offers a distraction-free meditation experience with customizable bell sounds and flexible session scheduling. It allows users to create simple or complex meditation routines without requiring an account or saving data.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free meditation
  • Customizable bell and bowl sounds
  • Flexible session scheduler
  • Simple and complex session creation
  • No account required
  • No data saving
  • No push notifications
Features
Read full description

The Koan Simple Meditation Timer is built so you can sit down and meditate without distraction. It features three real sounds of bells and bowls and a flexible scheduler. You can create a simple session with a bell to start and a bell to finish after 10 minutes. You can just as easily make a complicated bell setup like 30 minutes of sitting meditation followed by 10 minutes of walking mediation. The simplicity is purposeful here. There is no account to create, no data saved, no push notifications of premium subscriptions to shill. We both know you don't need that. Just meditate more and the world will be a better place for it.

About

Zen

Features
Read full description

Just Sit. Your Way. Nothing Else. A silent meditation timer with traditional bells. The sit is free. Optional short guided sits when just sitting is hard. Then silence. No ads, no streaks, no account. JUST SIT Sit on a cushion or chair. Eyes barely open, soft gaze. Feel your body, breath, and posture. No mantra, no goal. When thoughts come and go, just return to sitting. The benefits are real — a calm mind, more focus, more clarity, better sleep, less stress, more presence. They show up when you stop chasing them. YOUR WAY Just sit. Easier said than done. Just sitting can be brutal. Most people need a little guidance, and that detour is fine. Optional short guided sits — the Just Sit course, one idea at a time — then sit in silence. Or leave every optional feature off. Not a library of courses. Discover your way to just sit. NOTHING ELSE Everything you need to just sit is included, and stays free. A timer, bells, Watch, widgets. No ads, no streaks, no account to sit. The sit stays free. Always. Native on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Focus on what matters: just sit. HOW IT WORKS Open the app · pick a duration · sit. Beautiful bells, soundscapes, intervals, warmup and cooldown. If you want to look around: Welcome on first launch, then short guided sits for ordinary life. Nothing required. Explore at your own pace. WHY THIS EXISTS Hi, I'm Francis, a longtime Apple developer. I discovered regular meditation about 15 years ago. I suffer from PTSD, and meditation has helped me survive — more than once — when things fall apart. Meditation only clicked for me with a Zen just-sit practice. To get there I had to put in the time: other practices, sampling, trial and error, year after year of showing up to sit. I needed those 10,000 minutes on apps before I could stop searching and, in the end, just sit. Zen : Your Way is my way of giving back. A quiet timer. Optional guidance to nudge you toward just sitting. Nothing in the way of the sit itself. ON IPHONE AND IPAD • Apple Watch companion — start sits and complications on your wrist • Home Screen widgets and Live Activities

Screenshots

Koan Meditation Timer2 screens
Zen4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Zen at 6 against Koan Meditation Timer's 2. Koan Meditation Timer's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Koan Meditation Timer ships an update every 3 days, Zen every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Koan Meditation Timer versus Zen: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKoan Meditation TimerZen
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLucas MooreFrancis Dierick

In-app purchases

None

Koan Meditation Timer

No in-app purchases

None

Zen

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Koan Meditation Timer free?
Koan Meditation Timer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Zen free?
Zen is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Koan Meditation Timer or Zen have ads?
Neither Koan Meditation Timer nor Zen shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Koan Meditation Timer or Zen?
Koan Meditation Timer ships an update every 3 days, and Zen every 2 days. Most recently, Koan Meditation Timer was updated on October 31, 2026 and Zen on October 14, 2026.

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