Aura vs. Insight Timer: Which App is Best to Improve Your Sleep?

Looking for a meditation app to improve your sleep? Aura and Insight Timer are among the top choices for sleep meditation apps. 

Both Aura and Insight Timer offer sleep meditation tracks. By listening to calming tracks before bed and overnight, you can boost your sleep quality. These meditations help you fall asleep quickly, stay asleep and return to sleep if you wake up during the night.  Unsure which app to pick? Let's compare Aura and Insight Timer to see which one is best suited for you so you can get a better night's rest.

Aura vs. Insight Timer at a Glance

Aura Meditation App

Aura, “Spotify for mental wellness,” is the all-in-one app for mental wellness and sleep that provides the world’s most extensive mental wellness content library and community. Over 8 million people choose Aura to find peace, and Aura has won the “Best of Apple” award.

By partnering with hundreds of top coaches & therapists worldwide as creators, Aura offers the world’s largest premium collection of meditations, stories, sleep tracks, life coaching, cognitive behavioural therapy, breath work, hypnosis, prayer and much more.

Unlike traditional meditation apps that provide one-size-fits-all content libraries created by a few coaches, Aura leverages AI to provide anyone with personalized access to its all-in-one mental wellness library that continuously learns what works for you. Moreover, you can connect with the community on Aura Live hosted by our coaches and receive 1-1 coaching directly on Aura. Aura is the one app you need to transform your well being and life.

Insight Timer Meditation App

Insight Timer offers a user-friendly platform for those interested in mindfulness and meditation. With a variety of guided sessions, the app caters to individuals at every stage of their meditation journey, providing a structured and accessible approach. Its extensive library features themed sessions addressing specific needs such as stress management and improving sleep quality. With its intuitive interface and diverse content selection, Insight Timer is a valuable tool for those seeking to explore mindfulness and meditation techniques.

Aura Meditation App Overview

Aura’s Features

• Vast library of high-quality sleep content: Aura hosts an impressive library of over 30,000 tracks. Aura offers a wide variety of innovative sleep content, including meditations to relax before going to sleep, sleep stories, hypnosis, energy healing, sleep meditations and sleep music tracks. 
• Mindfulness tracks for an all-in-one mindfulness library: You’ll find a selection of ever-growing content beyond sleep, helping to improve all other facets of well being and lifestyle that could be affecting your sleep. Additional content categories include Life Coaching, Breath work, Affirmations, Health Coaching and more.
• Coaching & community: Coaches and meditation teachers offer free, live sessions, so listeners can connect and interact with experts. Listeners can also schedule 1-1 coaching sessions within the app. This fosters a sense of community to help listeners feel supported and inspired.
• AI personalization: Aura uses innovative AI technology to recommend tracks based on each individual’s unique and changing preferences, needs and moods. This helps the user save time and energy in finding the right track for their needs in each moment.

Aura’s Benefits

• Improve sleep: Aura is known for offering high-quality, effective guided meditations and sleep-focused content that many users attest are beneficial for improving sleep quality and duration. 
• Intelligent customisation: With Aura’s algorithm that accurately curates meditations that fit your changing moods from day to day, you’ll spend less time searching for tracks and more time listening to content that is meaningful to your day.
• Life coaching: Aura offers access to an impressive community of coaches. You can add-on optional coaching sessions and free live sessions where you can get to know coaches. These 1-1 and group sessions can support you in improving lifestyle habits impacting your sleep.

Aura - What Could Be Better

• Limited free features: While pricing is competitive, the free version limits Aura users to 3-minute meditations and Aura Live sessions are free to all users, making the longer sleep meditations available to only premium customers. There are some free trial options for the premium content to get you started.

Positives for Aura:

Top Coaches and Therapists. You can trust that vetted expert coaches and therapists create the content with Aura. Moreover, you can connect with the community on Aura Live hosted by our coaches and receive 1-1 coaching directly on Aura.

A Personalized Experience. Unlike traditional meditation apps that provide one-size-fits-all content libraries created by a few coaches, Aura leverages AI to provide anyone with personalized access to its all-in-one mental wellness library that continuously learns what works for you.

Great for all levels. Aura provides meditations suitable for all levels, catering to beginners and experienced practitioners alike. Aura is an app that you can use to grow. 

Downsides of Aura:

You have limited access with the free membership. With the basic membership, your access to the recorded tracks is limited, but you have full access to attend the live meditations. 

Overwhelming options. With so much content available on Aura, it can initially be overwhelming for new users. However, Aura’s personalized approach helps to offset this.

Aura Pricing:

‍Aura’s limited version: Free, access to live coaching sessions and a variety of 3-minute meditationsA Premium subscription gets you unlimited access to all meditations, life coaching, stories, music, hypnosis, offline capabilities, and much more.Annual Plan: US$ 69.99 with 7-day free trialMonthly Plan: US$ 11.99Lifetime Plan: US$ 399.99Family Plan: (upgrade to add more members in one subscription) US$ 119.99

Insight Timer Meditation App Overview

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Insight Timer Core Features

• Guided meditations. Insight Timer offers guided and timed meditation sessions suitable for all levels, from beginners to advanced practitioners, led by experienced meditation teachers.
• Vast content variety. Insight Timer offers a large library of guided meditations, music tracks, talks and more, catering to a wide range of preferences. Tracks targeting specific needs like stress relief, anxiety management and improving sleep quality provide users with support for various aspects of wellbeing.
• Family content. Insight Timer provides content tailored for children, including soundscapes ideal for supporting sleep routines, which can be beneficial during relaxation periods in preschool or kindergarten.

Insight Timer Benefits

• Customisation: Users can create playlists and customise meditation sessions based on their desired duration and theme.
• Sleep-focused meditations and bedtime stories. A wide variety of effective sleep meditations and relaxation techniques as well as enjoyable bedtime stories that encourage you to look forward to sleep.

Insight Timer - What Could Be Better

• Needs more personalization. Insight Timer may offer less personalised recommendations based on the listener’s usage and preferences.
• Limited focus on sleep:  Insight Timer's focus is more diverse, offering a wide range of meditation and mindfulness content beyond sleep-specific practices, placing less priority on sleep content.

Positives for Insight Timer:

Community features. Insight Timer does a great job of building community through its community features and discussion groups. 

Live meditations are offered throughout the day and provide a great way to connect with the community and the instructors. 

Downsides of Insight Timer:

The Timer is only for paid subscriptions. Free subscribers cannot access the Timer feature, a significant source of frustration.

It is difficult to navigate the app. Finding what you’re looking for on this app is difficult, which can be frustrating for new users. 

Lacking options. Insight timer offers a lot of variety in meditation recordings, but if you’re looking to expand your mindfulness practice beyond meditation, this isn’t the app for you.

Insight Timer’s pricing:

Insight Timer’s limited version: Free content is limited.

For access to all features: 

Annual Plan: $59.99/year 

Monthly Plan: $9.99/month

Insight Timer or Aura: Which Should You Choose?

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Conclusion: Aura Is Your All-In-One Solution for Improving Sleep

While both Aura and Insight Timer provide sleep meditations that can significantly enhance sleep quality, Aura's customisation approach, supported by a content library of over 30,000 tracks, gives it a distinct advantage. With its innovative and extensive content, including hypnosis and energy healing, Aura offers a more comprehensive solution for adults struggling with sleep issues. Aura caters to individuals committed to improving well being, emphasising self-care and enhancing sleep quality while embracing mindfulness. Additionally, Aura provides access to a remarkable community of coaches. By joining Aura, you gain access to personalised sleep meditations tailored to your unique mood and needs, ensuring truly restful and enjoyable nights.