Lotus Bud Meditation Timer vs Meditation Timer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lotus Bud Meditation Timer
This app helps you establish a regular meditation practice with a beautiful, intuitive interface. It offers customizable timers, gentle sound cues, and interactive reminders to support your well-being. Enhance your experience with optional features for tracking history and setting intentions.
- Customizable meditation duration
- Gentle singing bowl sound alerts
- Interactive reminders
- Today widget for quick access
- Apple Watch integration
- Meditation history and notes (in-app purchase)
- Intention setting for gradual duration increase (in-app purchase)
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Built to support your practice Lotus Bud is a meditation timer built for practitioners who want a focused tool that respects the work they do. No content library, social network, music player or other distractions standing between you and the cushion. Just you and the cushion. FREE FEATURES • Simple timed or untimed meditation • Widgets and Live Activities: Start a session directly from your Home Screen or Lock Screen. Track elapsed time throughout your sit with Live Activities on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. °Siri Shortcuts: Start, pause, or end sessions with your voice. Create automations using your meditation data to make regular practice easier to maintain. • Apple Watch app • Assistive Access: For those using Assistive Access Lotus Bud offers a dramatically simplified user experience. PAID FEATURES (one time purchase) • Custom Meditation Plans: Create structured sessions with multiple steps, custom durations, and lead-in countdowns. Build a sequence that matches your practice, whether you need a simple timer or a detailed progression. On devices that support Apple Intelligence, you can just describe the plan you want to create a new one. • Insights: Understand how your practice develops over time with streaks, rolling averages, tag breakdowns, and calendar heat maps. Review your consistency and identify patterns in your sessions. • Intentions: Set daily, weekly, or monthly goals for meditation time or session frequency. Progress updates help you stay connected to the intentions you set. • Private logs: Write private notes about your sits, observations, and experiences. Keep your reflections alongside your practice without sharing them publicly. With Apple Intelligence you get tag suggestions that help you categorize your notes. ----- I started building Lotus Bud more than fifteen years ago to support my own daily practice. My hope was to create a tool that could support others as they develop a deeper meditation practice. Meditation has profoundly changed my life for the better, but that change required ongoing effort and focus. I had to do the work myself, and Lotus Bud has helped me stay on track. Many meditation apps focus on relaxation and stress reduction. Meditation can certainly support both, but it can also become a deeper, long-term practice that fundamentally changes how you relate to the world, your loved ones and yourself. Lotus Bud is designed for people who want to build and understand that practice without unnecessary distractions or dependence on extra content. I am the sole designer and developer of Lotus Bud. I built it, along with the related Lotus Bud Mindfulness Bell app, because I use these tools in my own practice and hope they can benefit others. I aim to make Lotus Bud useful, simple, accessible and beautiful while giving you the space to practice on your own terms. ----- Try Lotus Bud Mindfulness Bell to support mindfulness throughout the day. It plays randomized bells that invite you to pause and return your attention to the present moment.
Meditation Timer
This minimalist app provides a focused, distraction-free timer for unguided meditation, relaxation, and sleep. It offers customizable reminders, progress tracking, and social features to help users build consistent mindfulness habits.
- Customizable session timer
- Daily meditation reminders
- Ambient meditation sounds
- Progress tracking dashboard
- Add friends and track progress
- Manual session logging
- Dark mode support
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A minimalist timer app for unguided meditation, calm sleep, and daily reminders. Even better - it's free. Looking for a focused meditation timer with daily reminders to help you stay consistent? Meditation Timer: Calm Sleep is a clean, no-distraction app for unguided meditation, relaxation, and mindfulness. Now with customisable daily reminder notifications, it's easier than ever to build your habit. Why Use Meditation Timer: Calm Sleep? Unguided meditation support – Perfect for those who prefer meditating without a voice guide Simple, customizable meditation timer – Set your duration, choose your sound, and go Sleep aid & relaxation timer – Use calming sounds to unwind before bed Track progress & build habits – See streaks, session history, and average duration Build your community – Add friends and stay motivated by tracking their progress too Manual session logging – Log offline or other meditative practices Designed for focus – Clean, minimal UI free from clutter or ads Built for Beginners & Experts Whether you're just starting your meditation journey or you’ve been practicing for years, this timer is made for you. Perfect for: * Daily mindfulness practice * Stress and anxiety management * Sleep improvement and relaxation * Focus sessions and Pomodoro-style breaks * Gratitude journaling or breathwork timing Features at a Glance: * Customisable session timer with prep time * Daily meditation reminders for personalised reminder alerts * Wide selection of ambient meditation sounds * Option to meditate in silence * Progress tracking dashboard: current streak, max streak, total sessions, average duration * Add friends and view their progress * Edit or manually log past sessions * Dark mode support for evening meditation Our Mission We created Meditation Timer: Calm Sleep as a minimalist app to help users build a consistent meditation practice — without noise, clutter, or pressure. In just a few minutes a day, you can improve your mental well-being, reduce stress, and find more clarity, balance, and positivity in your life. Start your journey today No sign-up required. No ads. Just a simple, focused experience to support your meditation, mindfulness, and sleep goals. Download now and begin your daily calm.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Meditation Timer at 100% against Lotus Bud Meditation Timer's 41%. Meditation Timer also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 27.0). Lotus Bud Meditation Timer's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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. Lotus Bud Meditation Timer sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Meditation Timer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Meditation Timer holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 41% of Lotus Bud Meditation Timer's written reviews are positive against 100% of Meditation Timer's.
Lotus Bud Meditation Timer ships an update monthly, Meditation Timer every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lotus Bud Meditation Timer | Meditation Timer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 41.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 27.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 77 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chad Sager | Digital Snacks |
Customer experience
Lotus Bud Meditation Timer
Meditation Timer
In-app purchases
Lotus Bud Meditation Timer
- Tip$0.99
- Kind Tip$1.99
- Generous Tip$4.99
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- Intention and Reflection (Goals and Journaling)$6.99
- Very Generous Tip$9.99
- Extraordinary Tip$14.99
Meditation Timer
- ez Meditation Premium$1.99
Questions
Is Lotus Bud Meditation Timer free?
Is Meditation Timer free?
Which has better reviews, Lotus Bud Meditation Timer or Meditation Timer?
Do Lotus Bud Meditation Timer or Meditation Timer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Lotus Bud Meditation Timer or Meditation Timer?
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