Shaolin Meditation vs Zen
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shaolin Meditation
Discover traditional Buddhist and Taoist meditation techniques and Qi Gong exercises from Shaolin monks. This app offers a detailed guide, natural soundscapes, and progress tracking to enhance mindfulness, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being.
- Traditional Buddhist and Taoist meditation techniques
- Gentle moving Qi Gong exercises
- Detailed 40-page instructional guide
- Natural sound effects and ambient sounds
- Progress tracking for silent meditation
- Integration with Apple Health (Mindful Minutes)
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Written and developed by a practitioner of internal arts, this application introduces highly effective traditional Buddhist and Taoist meditation techniques which are practiced by Shaolin monks in China, along with gentle moving Qi Gong exercises, in order to achieve peacefulness of mind, improve health and the quality of life, reduce stress, heal chronic sicknesses including tumors and cancers, learn to better understand yourself and people around, improve focus and concentration, expand awareness and sensitivity far beyond the common human range, learn to refine and purify internal energy (Qi), learn to understand deeper aspects of the mind, follow the intuition and inner knowledge, get in touch with the higher-self, the Tao and the secrets of the Universe. Most of these techniques have their roots in Taoist alchemical meditation and Qi Gong and have been practiced by Taoist and Buddhist masters for centuries. Whether you are a beginner interested in starting meditation and inner cultivation practices, or an advanced practitioner seeking to increase the depth of your knowledge and make your practices more consistent and regular, we've created a very detailed 40-page long meditation guide consisting of very condensed, highly valuable, refined by thousands of years of practice, information, accompanied by illustrations and energy flow charts. The details shared in some parts of this guide, can be very difficult to come by, even after studying numerous classic and modern books on the subject. Some of the techniques described in the app contain ancient secrets that haven't been revealed to public until the last 2-3 decades, many of which are still not openly shared even now. This app features a simple and intuitive interface with beautiful natural sound effects of recorded traditional Chinese instruments used by Buddhist monks during meditation, rhythmic sound of a Buddhist wooden block and a Taoist shamanic drum, bells and chimes, sea waves, water stream, a Tibetan singing bowl, as well as, a unique meditation method with a live burning candle. The configurability of the app makes it easy to be used for a variety of meditation methods, and our detailed in-depth instructions will allow you to bypass guided meditation altogether and save you much time that you would spend on researching genuine, reliable meditation techniques. An important and unique feature of this app is the ability to track your progress of silent meditation over the years of practice and inspire your continuous personal growth. As an optional feature, the app is integrated with Apple Health (HealthKit) and records your meditation statistics as Mindful Minutes. Instructional guide covers the following aspects in great detail: - posture - breathing - achieving inner silence - sitting and standing meditation techniques, from a beginning to a very advanced levels - Qi energy circulation and cultivation accompanied by energy flow charts - lifestyle and health advice and answers to many questions that may arise during your practices These techniques, when practiced regularly, will increase your overall energy level, improve your mood, mental and physical health, slow down your aging, improve your performance in sports and martial arts, reduce or eliminate your stress. improve your sense of intuition and will reconnect you with the nature, help you discover and come in touch with your deeper, mysterious self and align your being with the forces of the Universe and the Tao. If you want to start meditating and you have already heard of its benefits but don't know the proper techniques, or you've already tried different meditation methods, but feel that there is more to meditation than simply relaxing or listening to a soothing music or voice, or maybe you are already experienced in meditation and want to learn traditional Buddhist and advanced techniques and have a handy meditation timer which track your progress, this app is designed for people like you.
Zen
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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
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Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Zen at Free against Shaolin Meditation's $6.99. Zen also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 months) and device support (6 vs 3). Shaolin Meditation's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On 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
Zen is free to download; Shaolin Meditation costs $6.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Shaolin Meditation ships an update every 4 months, Zen every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shaolin Meditation | Zen |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (28 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 28 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alex Maxim | Francis Dierick |
In-app purchases
Shaolin Meditation
No in-app purchases
Zen
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Shaolin Meditation free?
Is Zen free?
Do Shaolin Meditation or Zen have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shaolin Meditation or Zen?
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