Founded by brothers Christopher and Nicho Plowman, Insight Timer is known as the #1 free meditation app globally. It has received acclaim as an “App of the Year” from TIME and Women’s Health, and dubbed the “Happiest App in the World” by technologist Tristan Harris

The app supports meditation, sleep, anxiety relief, mindfulness, yoga, breathwork, and more.

I have only ever had the free version of this app and frankly haven’t needed to pay for the subscription, so I can’t comment on the courses it offers. The reason I’ve never needed the subscription is that the free content is so vast and has covered all my needs.

This app was my first real effort at meditation, and it suits me perfectly. I am at heart an introvert, and if there is a resource that allows me to learn away from a group without sharing, then I will use it! However, if community is more your thing, the app also caters for those who want interaction and group meditation.

Massive Free Library

• Access to 240,000+ guided meditations from ~17,000 teachers, with 80–100+ new additions daily
• Includes talks, music, sleep stories, and nature soundtracks

Customisable Timer

• Offers a traditional meditation timer with interval bells, ambient loops, and presets, great for unguided sessions

Community & Live Events

• Join groups, discussion boards, live yoga, workshops, and global meditation events
• Users report community support and local connections

Additional Tools

• Built-in mood tracker, journaling, and intention-setting features.
• Options for private mentoring and multi-session courses (some premium-only)

Pricing

• Free tier includes most content, ad-free.
• Member Plus (premium) costs ~$9.99/month or $59.99/year, unlocking premium courses, offline listening, and advanced features; free 7-day trial

Pros

• Extensive free content—more varied than many competitors.
• Ad-free experience, even in the free version, with subscription prompts only.
• Robust community features, which many find empowering and healing.
• Teacher revenue share, I like that 50% of subscription income goes to the teachers

Cons

• Overwhelming content: There is a lot of stuff on this app, which can make it a little difficult to navigate the vast library
• Premium features gated: No access to courses or offline mode, unless you pay for a subscription.
• Occasional pop-up prompts for the paid tier, but no ads, which is great.