Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell vs Mindful Timer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell
This app provides a minimalist and elegant timer for meditation and mindfulness sessions. It features customizable bells, interval reminders, and progress tracking to enhance your practice without distractions.
- Easy-to-use meditation timer
- High-quality bell sounds
- Preparation timer
- Interval timer and bell
- Progress indicators
- Progress reports and stats
- Background operation
- Distraction-free mode
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Ensō is a sleek, elegant meditation timer and bell, designed to get out of your way so you can focus on what matters most: your practice. No clutter. No noise. No pressure. The timer, your stats, and a gorgeous-sounding default bell cost nothing. They're free and ad-free, forever. Ensō never locks you into its own content. Already have a guided session you love? Play it. Prefer your own music, or pure silence? Ensō fits around your practice, not the other way around. What people say about Ensō: "Considering the quality and utility of this app, Ensō is a godsend for meditation lovers" — Lifehacker.ru "For a distraction free meditation experience that lets you customize intervals and timers, you want Ensō." — iMore.com "This is the best meditation app I've ever used by far. It has just enough features, but isn't cluttered. It makes me excited to meditate again!" "Elegant design, simple, and the many bell sounds are terrific. A great app that doesn't over complicate something that shouldn't be over complicated!" "I've been meditating regularly for over 25 years. I wish I'd had this app a long time ago! Thanks Enso!" Meditation is a wonderful way to ease stress, quiet anxiety, and find inner calm. Ensō gently guides each session and quietly tracks your progress, helping you make mindfulness part of your daily routine. Ensō offers, free: - An easy-to-use, beautifully simple meditation timer - High-quality, professionally recorded bells and bowls to start and end your session - A preparation timer to settle in before you begin - An interval timer and bell to keep you gently oriented in time - An at-a-glance progress indicator during your sit - Progress reports and streaks to keep you motivated - Screen-off support for walking meditation (use the side button) - Distraction-free chiming, even when your device is set to silent Ensō Plus Unlock everything Ensō has to offer. Plus is available as a yearly subscription or a one-time Lifetime purchase, whichever suits you. With Ensō Plus you get: - All 11 additional bells: ceremonial bells, singing bowls, gongs and more - Reminders to schedule your sessions, with 12 alert chimes crafted exclusively for Ensō - Presets: save your favorite setups and let Intelligent Presets activate them automatically - In-session audio: play your own music or a guided meditation while you sit - Apple Health Integration: log every session as mindful minutes Ensō comes with a free, gorgeous-sounding default bell; the additional bells and all Plus features are included with Ensō Plus. We never interrupt your session with a review request. If Ensō helps your practice, a review means the world to us. ... Ensō Plus subscription details: - Yearly subscription: $9.99/year (US price; may vary by region). A one-time Lifetime unlock is also available. - Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. - A subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. - Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. - Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ - Privacy Policy: https://ensomeditationtimer.app/privacy
Mindful Timer
This app provides a simple, unguided interval timer for self-guided meditation, breathwork, and yoga practices. It features customizable timers, gentle bells, and a distraction-free interface. Save your favorite routines and track your weekly sessions without any ads or subscriptions.
- Multiple automatic timers
- Customizable interval bells
- Save preset routines
- Weekly session tracking
- Gentle bell sounds
- Distraction-free design
- Offline functionality
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A simple meditation timer for unguided practice. No ads. No subscriptions. No distractions. Just gentle bells to keep time while you practice. Set your session, put your phone down, and let the bells guide you. Mindful Timer is built for people who just want the space to meditate—no courses, no sleep sounds, no content library. Just timers, soothing sounds, and you. Perfect for meditation, yin and restorative yoga, breathwork, zazen, or any self-guided practice. NEW + 20+ curated sounds: singing bowls, bells, and simple voice cues + Choose how many times the bells ring —once, twice, or three times + Practice insights and heat maps to help you build consistency + Sync sessions to Apple Health as Mindful Minutes CORE FEATURES + Sequential timers that flow automatically from one to the next, so you never check the clock + Interval bells at your chosen frequency (e.g. every 5 minutes) + Fully custom timer durations + Save your routines as presets and start them in one tap + Track streaks, weekly and monthly sessions, and lifetime minutes + Play your own music (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.) + Runs in the background and while your phone is locked + Large countdown display. DESIGNED FOR CALM FROM DAY ONE + No ads, ever + No subscriptions, ever — one simple purchase, yours forever + No guided meditations, courses, or content to wade through + No social feeds or comparison + Dark mode so it's easy on the eyes + Works fully offline + Gentle sounds to guide you through transitions (unlike most interval timers) PERFECT FOR + Any self-guided or silent meditation + Zen, zazen, vipassana, and insight meditation + Yin yoga and restorative yoga + Breathwork and pranayama + Practicing at home before a vipassana or meditation retreat + Building a daily unguided meditation or yoga habit + Yoga teachers keeping time during class + Interval walking, Japanese interval walking, and Pomodoro focus blocks WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT + Incredibly simple and intuitive design. + Keeps time in the background, so you never pick up your phone mid-practice. + Carefully curated, soothing sounds. No jarring alarms. + No clutter, no distractions, nothing you don't need.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Mindful Timer at 5.0 against Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell's 4.5. Mindful Timer also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell's advantage is ratings volume (216 vs 10). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year and Mindful Timer sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Mindful Timer holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell has 216 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell's written reviews are positive against 100% of Mindful Timer's.
Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell ships an update every 4 months, Mindful Timer weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell | Mindful Timer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (216 ratings) | 5.0 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 83.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 216 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fascinative Labs | Burnt Cinnamon Labs |
Customer experience
Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell
Mindful Timer
Bugs and requests
Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell
Reported bugs
3 issues- Timer stops when receiving notifications
- Presets not loading correctly into timer screen
- Meditation time not recorded if session ends early
Requested features
5 requests- Extend maximum meditation time beyond 1 hour
- Add option for multiple ending bells (e.g. triple bell)
- Implement Apple Watch app and haptic feedback
- Allow saving/loading of custom meditation presets
- Improve progress tracking and data visualization
Mindful Timer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell
- Ensō Plus$9.991 Year
- Nepalese Singing Bowl Low$0.99
- Meditation Gong$0.99
- Ceremonial Bell 1$0.99
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- Ceremonial Bell 2$0.99
- Japanese Temple Bell 1$0.99
- Short Meditation Bell$0.99
- Long Meditation Bell$0.99
- Nepalese Singing Bowl Medium$0.99
- Tibetan Singing Bowl Low$0.99
- Tibetan Singing Bowl Medium$0.99
- Value Pack (All Bells)$2.99
- Pro Upgrade$2.99
Mindful Timer
- Premium Sounds$1.99
- Mindful Timer Pro$2.99
Questions
Is Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell free?
Is Mindful Timer free?
Which has better reviews, Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell or Mindful Timer?
Do Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell or Mindful Timer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Ensō | Meditation Timer & Bell or Mindful Timer?
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