Best Budget: Insight Timer
insight timer
Main Specifications
- Fee: Free; Premium subscription is $59.99 per year
- platform: iOS, Android
- Features: 150,000+ free meditations
Reason for choosing
Insight Timer has a huge library of free meditations, so if you’re on a budget, this is the perfect meditation app for you.
Advantages and disadvantages
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150,000+ free meditations
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Easy to search and filter content
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7-day free introductory course
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Free community of meditators
our experience
Insight Timer offers over 150,000 free meditations. This is a big deal because one of the biggest complaints about other meditation apps is the lack of free content. When I tried Insight Timer, I was surprised by the number of free options. The library allowed me to filter by my needs (stress, sleep, self-esteem, etc.). Duration ranges from 5 minutes to 30 minutes or more. There are also tangible benefits, such as pain relief, relationship problems, and teaching children to meditate. Additionally, you’ll also get a mood tracker, with a smiley face to show you how you’re feeling that day, and daily (for a month) check-ins to see your progress directly on the app. Everything is free.
The Explore section of the app is very useful and helps you find meditation exercises in eight categories: Beginners, Meditation, Breathing Techniques, Sleep, Music, Yoga, Live Events, and Courses. You can also choose to focus on the topics you find most often when looking for meditation practices, such as stress and anxiety. Insight Timer offered everything from guided meditations to yoga classes, soothing music, and workouts that lasted from a few minutes to over an hour, but we found the short meditations, which typically last 15 minutes or less, the most I used it to the fullest.
Another great feature is the community of mindful people you can interact with on the app. Connect in group chat rooms like “Be Here Now” and “Loving Kindness and Compassion,” or choose groups by topic like LGBTQIA+, relationships, nutrition and health, weight loss, and more. The sheer size of Insight Timer’s resources already sets it apart from other apps. The fact that most of them are free is a huge advantage.
Plans and prices
Insight Timer is free to use and has over 150,000 free meditations and exercises. If you want access to all of Insight Timer’s resources, a premium subscription costs $59.99 per year.
