Nowadays, the benefits of meditation are no longer a secret. It helps to fight against stress, facilitates falling asleep and allows us to find a calm and peaceful mind day after day. At the same time, you can find plenty of meditation apps on the market, and Insight Timer is one of them. 

Want to know everything about this free meditation app? So don’t miss this in-depth Insight Timer app review. I’ll explain in details on what the app offers and who it is for.

What Is Insight Timer?

For those who are unfamiliar with the Insight Timer app, here is a brief introduction.

Insight Timer is a meditation app that features an extensive free meditation library. It helps teach you how to manage stress and anxiety, as well as how to get quality sleep through a variety of free mindfulness and meditation exercises. There are thousands of guided meditations, sleep music tracks and talks led by the top meditation and mindfulness experts, neuroscientists, psychologists and teachers from Stanford, Harvard, the University of Oxford and more. Whether you’re just starting to meditate, or having consistent practice, you’re sure to find something to suit your needs.

Insight Timer is available on Apple App Store and Google Play. Till now, it has more than 5 million meditators (people practicing meditation) around the world.

Who is Insight Timer for?

Now that you know what the Insight Timer app is, let’s take a look at who is Insight Timer for. I must say it is the most important part for the whole Insight Timer review.

1. Meditation Apprentice: One of the strengths of Insight Timer is its accessibility. Indeed, it is very easy for an uninitiated person to try meditation with a fairly short audio (some are less than 10 min). Also, the app is free to download and the meditations are also accessible for free. A “Search” function makes it easy to find a meditation on a desired theme.

2. Advanced meditators: If you have already practiced meditation and want to continue it anywhere, anytime by yourself using your phone, then Insight Timer is for you. Some meditations require a minimum of practice and obvious know-how.

3. The Stressed, The Anxious, And Those Who Have Trouble Falling Asleep: Meditation has seen its proven effects on stress and anxiety. By meditating, we learn to “come down”. For a few minutes, we take the time to relax and focus on who we are. Also, reconnecting with yourself allows you to truly relax by taking a real distance with the outside world, which removes anxiety factors. In addition, some people fail to silence their minds and struggle to sleep. Meditation offers techniques to fall asleep quickly and deeply.

4. The Curious Who Want to Learn More About Themselves: Thanks to meditation, it is possible to touch your subconscious, to free yourself from certain past traumas and to concentrate on what you really are. So, if you are looking to find inner peace and learn more about yourself, go ahead!

5. The Meditation Students: Here I want to separate the apprentices (uninitiated) and the students (who study). Indeed, the Insight Timer application offers courses and discussions to deepen notions and subjects that directly or indirectly relate to meditation.

6. Meditation Teachers: Insight Timer app is full of resources posted online by teachers and meditation professionals. Its resources are free (the meditations) but also paid (we will see it in the next points). Teachers can thus earn money by putting courses online but also thanks to donations from users and thanks to subscriptions (Premium version of the application). Everyone is benefiting!

Insight Timer Key Features

In this part of the Insight Timer reviews, I will present the different features of the Insight Timer app so that you’ll have an idea of ​​what is offered to you.

1. Meditations: As the spearhead of the application, meditations are the most used feature. There are over 200 themes are listed for meditations and you can search by popularity, benefits, exercises, or origins. Lasting from a few minutes to more than an hour and in different languages, you will surely find what you are looking for.

2. Classes: Classes allow you to learn something new in 10 minutes a day. They offer interactive classes (teachers/students) and are very convenient to follow on a mobile phone. It’s a perfect way to get a foothold in the community. The only downside is that you need to pay for these courses.

3. The Timer: The Timer is simply a bell sound, which you can modify and personalize. You can use it to keep track of your meditation or yoga session, for example.

4. Groups (community): Insight Timer allows you to create or join discussion groups. This is very useful for exchanging ideas with people near to you or who share the same interests. You can also simply become “friends” with another user and chat with them privately via messages.

5. Live Events:  Insight Timer also has live events like yoga, mood tracking, private mentoring, and workshops available. 

Insight Timer Cost

All mediations on Insight Timer are free. At the same time, Insight Timer offers an optional in-app premium subscription called Member Plus which allows you to access to:

• Insight Courses
• Offline Listening (download guided meditations to your device)
• Advanced Player (Repeat mode, Fast forward and Rewind, Pick-up where you left off)
• High Quality audio

The subscription is available for US$59.99/year or US$9.99/month. Payment will be charged through your iTunes or Google Play account at confirmation of purchase, and will automatically renew at the end of each term unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period.

Insight Timer Reviews: Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Huge amount of free meditations
• Mediations are translated into many languages
• A listening and open community

Cons:

The only point that I might find negative in Insight Timer is the phenomenal number of meditations available. It took me months to try everything! As a beginner, I was a bit lost 😅 and I didn’t know where to start.

Insight Timer Reviews Verdict

Insight Timer is the essential application for meditation enthusiasts but also for those curious about this increasingly trending activity. With a bewildering number of free meditations, paid courses and an active community, this application will satisfy you whatever you come for.