The comparison table
Six iPhone breathing apps that are free to download and usable without paying. “Ads” means the App Store age-rating details list “Advertising”. Privacy shows the headline of each app’s App Privacy label, which developers fill in themselves.
| App | What costs money | Ads | Privacy label | Apple Watch | Languages | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Mindfulness (Breathe) | Nothing; built in | No | Data Not Linked to You | Built in (watchOS 8+) | Ships with watchOS | Simple 1–5 min breathing, no setup |
| Breathing Zone | Nothing; no in-app purchases listed | Listed | Data Not Linked to You | Yes (watchOS 10+) | English | Adjustable pace, Apple TV too |
| Awesome Breathing | Optional “Support” tips from $0.99, one-off or monthly (ten listed, up to $14.99; re-checked 16 Oct 2026) | No | Data Not Collected | No Watch app listed | English | Custom patterns, vibration mode, Mac and Vision Pro |
| The Breathing App | Optional subscriptions $3.99–$4.99/mo or $39.99–$44.99/yr; “core features remain free forever” | No | Data Not Collected | No Watch app listed | English | Resonance breathing with sound |
| iBreathe | Remove Ads $2.99, Unlock Premium $3.99, tips $0.49–$9.99 | Listed | Data Used to Track You | Yes (watchOS 10+) | English | Widest device support (Mac, TV, Vision Pro, Watch) |
| ATHA (mine) | Nothing; no in-app purchases | No | Data Not Collected | Yes (watchOS 10.6+) | 7: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Turkish | One-tap calm, eyes-closed sessions, Watch haptics |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
What does “free” actually mean in breathing apps?
Five different things, and the App Store shows all of them as a friendly “Free” button:
- Built in. Apple’s Mindfulness app. No download, no catch, deliberately limited.
- Free with ads. You pay with attention (and often data); a one-off purchase removes the ads.
- Free with a tip jar. Everything works; you can pay what you like if you want to support it.
- Freemium. A free core, with extras behind a subscription.
- Free with nothing for sale. No purchases listed at all.
None of these is wrong. Ads and subscriptions are how many good apps stay alive. The point is to pick the trade-off you’re comfortable with, knowingly.
The six apps, one by one
Apple Mindfulness (Breathe)
Choose it if you have an Apple Watch and want something that’s already there: Breathe sessions from 1 to 5 minutes, a breath rate from 4 to 10 breaths a minute, haptics, State of Mind logging and Mindful Minutes in the Health app.
Skip it if you want hold phases (box breathing, 4-7-8), sessions longer than five minutes or anything sleep-specific. Its privacy label reads “Data Not Linked to You”.
Source: App Store: Mindfulness
Breathing Zone
Choose it if you want a focused breathing app with no purchases listed and a long track record: it has been on the App Store since 2010. It covers coherent, box, 4-7-8 and extended-exhale breathing, custom rates and durations, voice and haptic guidance, a dedicated Apple Watch app, Apple Health, and even Apple TV.
Skip it if ads bother you (the age-rating section lists “Advertising”) or you want the app to collect nothing: its label lists analytics, usage and crash data as “Data Not Linked to You”. English only.
Source: App Store: Breathing Zone
Awesome Breathing: Pacer Timer
Choose it if you like tinkering: fully custom inhale, exhale and hold timings, fifteen included programs, free-form or timed sessions, a vibration mode for eyes-closed practice, and Mindful Minutes in Apple Health. It also runs on Apple silicon Macs and Vision Pro, and its label says Data Not Collected. Support is optional tips.
Skip it if you want an Apple Watch app (none is listed) or an interface in a language other than English.
Source: App Store: Awesome Breathing
The Breathing App
Choose it if you want resonance breathing guided mainly by sound, with box, 4-7-8 and personal ratios that take decimals. The developer says core features remain free forever, and the label says Data Not Collected.
Skip it if you don’t want any subscription prompts (premium is $3.99–$4.99 a month or $39.99–$44.99 a year), you need an Apple Watch app (none listed) or the app is for a younger teen (it’s rated 13+).
Source: App Store: The Breathing App
iBreathe: Relax and Breathe
Choose it if you want one app on everything: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro and Apple Watch. It’s also the most-rated app in this list (nearly 18,000 US ratings), so plenty of people have tried it.
Skip it if privacy matters to you: its label reads “Data Used to Track You” (location, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics), and it shows ads unless you pay $2.99 to remove them.
Source: App Store: iBreathe
ATHA (the one I make)
Choose it if you want help in the moment without choosing anything: tap Breathe now or I need a moment, or pick a moment like Before a meeting, then close your eyes and follow haptic taps or spoken voice cues. Ten built-in patterns plus your own, ambient sounds, a fading Sleep session, guided programs, an SOS button, an Apple Watch app, widgets and a Live Activity (iOS 26.1 or later), Siri, write-only Apple Health and seven languages. Nothing is for sale, there’s no account, and the app makes no network requests (label: Data Not Collected).
Skip it if you need anything from the list below.
Source: App Store: ATHA · ATHA privacy policy
Where ATHA is weaker
In the interest of keeping myself honest:
- It’s new. The first version came out in September 2026 and it has no ratings on the US App Store yet (1 Nov 2026). The others have years of updates behind them.
- iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch only. No Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro or Android app (it’s not verified for Mac).
- Fewer built-in patterns than Awesome Breathing’s fifteen programs. Ten, plus unlimited custom ones.
- No heart-rate readout. ATHA writes to Apple Health but reads nothing from it, by design.
- Sessions top out at 60 minutes, and there’s no free-form, open-ended mode.
- Haptics need the app open. iOS runs no haptics in the background, so the taps stop if you lock your iPhone yourself (the Watch keeps going).
- Widgets and the Live Activity need iOS 26.1 or later, although the app itself runs on iOS 18.6.
How can I check whether a breathing app collects my data?
Open the app’s App Store page and scroll to App Privacy. The headline tells you most of what you need:
- Data Used to Track You: data may be used to follow you across other companies’ apps and websites.
- Data Linked to You: collected and tied to your identity.
- Data Not Linked to You: collected, but not tied to your identity.
- Data Not Collected: the developer says it collects nothing.
Two caveats. These labels are filled in by developers, so they’re a declaration, not an audit. And a label can change with any update. For ATHA, the privacy policy spells out what the code does: no account, no analytics or ad SDKs, no network requests, and data that stays on your device.
Is Apple’s built-in Breathe app enough?
For a lot of people, yes. If you want one to five minutes of even, guided breathing with taps on your wrist, it’s free, already installed and perfectly good. Reach for a third-party app when you want holds (box breathing, 4-7-8), longer sessions, a sleep-friendly eyes-closed mode, or practice on iPhone without a Watch.
Common questions
What is the best free breathing app with no subscription?
It depends on your trade-off. Apple’s Mindfulness app is built into Apple Watch. Breathing Zone has no in-app purchases listed but its listing notes advertising. Awesome Breathing is tip-supported. ATHA is free with nothing for sale, works on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, and its label says Data Not Collected. (Checked 15 October 2026.)
Which breathing apps don’t collect data?
As of 15 October 2026, three apps in this comparison show Apple’s “Data Not Collected” label: Awesome Breathing, The Breathing App and ATHA. Labels are self-reported and can change with updates, so check the App Privacy section before you install.
Does Apple Watch have a built-in breathing app?
Yes. The Mindfulness app includes Breathe: 1 to 5 minute sessions at 4 to 10 breaths a minute, with haptics, and it logs Mindful Minutes to the Health app. It has no hold phases, so it can’t pace box or 4-7-8 breathing.
Is ATHA really free?
Yes. ATHA has no subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads and no account, and every feature is included. If that ever changes, it will be announced on the website before the update that changes it.
Why should I trust a comparison written by an app developer?
You shouldn’t have to. Every competitor fact on this page links to its App Store source with the date it was checked, and the page lists where other apps are the better choice.
Sources
All App Store pages checked on 15 October 2026 (US storefront). Prices are in US dollars and can differ by country.
