Best breathing apps without a subscription (2026)
Seven breathing apps you can own outright, free or a single one-time purchase, forever. No monthly fees, no "free trial" that quietly renews. Prices below were checked on the US App Store in July 2026, and yes: our own app is in the table, limits included.
How we picked these breathing apps
One rule: no subscription required for the core breathing experience. Apps that are excellent but subscription-based, Breathwrk, The Breathing App, sit in a separate note at the end, because pretending they don't exist wouldn't be honest. A disclosure: we make Reground, one of the apps below. Judge for yourself.
Breathing apps compared: price, rating, strengths
| App | Price (US) | Rating | Genuinely best at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free & pay-once, you own it | |||
| Reground | $5.99 once · free tier with 6 techniques | new 2026 | The only one where breathing is part of 22 techniques, with a haptic pacer and a "Data Not Collected" privacy label |
| iBreathe | $2.99–3.99 unlock · free with ads | 4.9★ 18K | Custom patterns on every Apple device |
| Awesome Breathing | $0 donations optional | 4.9★ 1.3K | Genuinely free pacer with custom programs |
| BreathSesh | $7.99 once · free tier | , too new | Box & 4-7-8 fully offline, iCloud sync |
| Undulate | $3.99 once · free tier | , too new | Haptic wave visual for box & 4-7-8 |
| Breathe+ | $3.99–69.99 per module / unlock all | 4.7★ 3.4K | Full-screen visualization, 1–32s intervals |
| Oxygen Advantage | $0 | 4.3★ 108 | Buteyko method programs |
| Apple Mindfulness | $0 built-in | , system | Haptic breathing already on your Watch |
| Subscription, good apps, different model | |||
| Breathwrk | $69.99/yr free tier · free for Peloton members | 4.8★ 18K | 100+ exercises for sleep, focus, energy |
| The Breathing App | $44.99/yr or $4.99/mo · 7-day trial | 4.8★ 1.3K | Minimalist design, music by Moby |
Prices and ratings checked on the US App Store, July 2026. Regional prices vary.
Which breathing app should you get?
If breathing is one tool in a bigger anxiety kit: Reground (ours)
$5.99 once for 22 techniques, breathing patterns plus grounding, writing tools, and body practices, organized by how you feel right now.
The pacer orb swells and settles with gentle haptics, the phone breathes with you. Nothing you do in it leaves your phone: no account, no analytics, and the App Store privacy label reads "Data Not Collected." Honest limits: it's new (launched 2026), iPhone-only for now, and there's no audio-meditation library, it's a toolkit, not a content service. Box breathing and five other techniques are free forever.
If you want a dedicated breathing app with a track record: iBreathe
4.9★ across 18,000 ratings, works on every Apple device you own.
The customization is the draw, any inhale/hold/exhale pattern you can dream up, on iPhone, iPad, Watch, Mac, even Apple TV. A few dollars to remove ads and you own it. If breathing exercises are the whole job, this is the safe pick.
If you want to pay nothing at all: Awesome Breathing + Apple's built-in
Both genuinely free, one by choice, one already in your pocket.
Awesome Breathing runs on donations and doesn't nag. And if you own an Apple Watch, the built-in Mindfulness app already does haptic-paced breathing, no download, no signup. Try free first; pay only if you want more.
What about Breathwrk and The Breathing App?
Both are good products with real followings, Breathwrk has 100+ exercises and a 4.8★ rating from 18,000 reviews; The Breathing App pairs a minimalist design with music by Moby. Both run on subscriptions ($69.99/yr and $44.99/yr respectively at July 2026 US prices), which puts them outside this list's one rule. If a subscription doesn't bother you, they're worth a look.
What you're actually paying a breathing app for
Breathing techniques themselves are free, they're in our guides, in the NHS website, everywhere. What you're paying any app for is pacing, reminders, and how it feels in the hand. A one-time price means the app earns that money once, honestly, instead of betting you'll forget to cancel.
Common questions
Is there a breathing app you pay for once instead of a subscription?
Several. Reground is $5.99 once for 22 techniques including breathing, iBreathe unlocks for $2.99 to $3.99, Undulate is $3.99 once, and BreathSesh is $7.99 once. Awesome Breathing and Oxygen Advantage are free outright. US App Store prices, July 2026.
What is the best free breathing app for iPhone?
Awesome Breathing is a genuinely free pacer with custom programs and runs on optional donations. If you own an Apple Watch, the built-in Mindfulness app already does haptic-paced breathing with no download and no signup. Reground's box breathing is free too.
Which breathing app works offline?
Reground runs entirely on the device, with no account and no analytics, so every technique works in airplane mode. BreathSesh states that its box and 4-7-8 exercises work fully offline. Breathing exercises need no connection by nature; some apps just require an account anyway.
Do I need an app for box breathing at all?
No. Box breathing is four equal counts in, hold, out, hold, and it's free to learn anywhere, including our own free guide. What an app sells you is pacing, a visual to follow, and how it feels in the hand mid-panic, not the technique itself.
Why we built Reground
We got tired of a simple pattern: the moment your chest tightens is exactly the moment an app asks you to start a free trial. Panic tools in this category average $60–70 a year, collect accounts and analytics, and bet on you forgetting to cancel.
Reground is our answer: 22 techniques therapists actually teach, a phone that physically breathes with you, honest research labels on every technique, and a price you pay once, like buying a good book. No account, no sign-in, no tracking, and it works offline, even in airplane mode. The App Store privacy label says "Data Not Collected" because there is nothing to collect it with.
Six techniques are free forever, including box breathing. If it helps, $5.99 unlocks the rest, once.
22 techniques, honest evidence labels, nothing leaves your phone.
Six techniques are free forever, try Reground tonight and see if it earns the one payment.
$5.99 once unlocks everything. No subscription. Ever.
Download on theApp StorePrices & facts checked · July 2026