Insight Timer’s free tier is genuinely comprehensive — 250,000+ meditations, community features, and a full meditation timer forever free. MemberPlus at $59.99/year adds structured courses, offline downloads, premium audio quality, and advanced playback controls. For casual meditators the free tier is enough. For anyone who wants course-based learning or offline access, MemberPlus is the cheapest premium meditation subscription available.
Insight Timer’s biggest strength is a free tier so generous it makes you wonder what the paid version could possibly add. If you have been trying to work out whether MemberPlus is worth $59.99 a year, here is exactly what you get on each tier and how to decide.
Insight Timer Premium (MemberPlus) at a glance
What is free forever on Insight Timer
The free tier is where Insight Timer is genuinely different from every other major meditation app. Where Calm offers a free sample and Headspace only a free trial, Insight Timer’s free tier is a full standalone product:
250,000+ guided meditations from 20,000 teachers, across every meditation style, tradition, and topic.
The full meditation timer — customizable interval bells, ambient sounds, session tracking, and full statistics. Widely considered the best meditation timer in any app.
Live events and community groups. Real-time group meditations happening around the clock, plus discussion groups you can join and participate in.
Music and soundscapes for relaxation and focus.
Discussion groups and community features. Connect with other meditators, join topic-specific groups, participate in challenges.
Ad-free experience. Unlike some “free” apps, Insight Timer’s free tier does not force you through ads.
The company is genuinely committed to making meditation accessible. The free version is not a limited demo — it is a complete meditation platform on its own.
What MemberPlus adds
MemberPlus is the paid tier at $9.99/month or $59.99/year. Here is what you get for the money:
Thousands of structured courses. This is the single biggest MemberPlus benefit. Free users get individual meditations; MemberPlus users get multi-session courses that progress week by week — think “10 days to less stress” or “21 days of mindfulness.” If you want structured learning rather than a browse-and-pick library, this is where MemberPlus earns its price.
Offline downloads. Download meditations to listen to anywhere, without needing internet. Useful for travel, flights, or areas with unreliable connections. Not available on the free tier.
Premium tracks. Some professionally-produced tracks are only available to MemberPlus subscribers. These tend to be higher-production content, though the free library is huge and the quality on free tracks is often excellent too.
Advanced player controls. Skip forward, rewind, and other detailed playback controls that the free tier does not include.
Custom folders and organization. Better tools for organizing your favorite meditations.
Premium timer sounds. Hundreds of long-form ambient sounds and soundscapes for the meditation timer.
What stays free even with MemberPlus
Some clarifications on what does NOT change when you upgrade:
The 250,000+ track free library is still there. MemberPlus is additive: it adds courses, premium tracks, and extra features on top of the free library, which does not change.
The community features are the same. Free and MemberPlus users have equal access to groups, live events, and community participation.
The core timer is free on both tiers. Interval bells and session tracking work the same; MemberPlus adds hundreds of long-form ambient sounds to the premium timer.
Should you upgrade?
The honest test: do you want structured courses, or offline access?
If yes to either, MemberPlus is worth $59.99 a year. It is the cheapest paid meditation subscription of any major app — Calm is $69.99 to $79.99/year, Headspace is $69.99/year. And Insight Timer’s course library, which runs into the thousands, is substantial.
If no to both, the free tier is genuinely enough. You could meditate daily for years without paying anything and never run out of content. If you find yourself wanting a starting point rather than an infinite library, you might want Headspace instead of upgrading Insight Timer.
Insight Timer Premium vs Calm and Headspace Premium
Since Insight Timer MemberPlus competes with the paid tiers of Calm and Headspace, the comparison matters:
| Platform | Annual price | Free tier | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insight Timer MemberPlus | $59.99 | Massive (250K+ free tracks) | Course variety + free breadth |
| Headspace Premium | $69.99 | Trial only (14 days on annual) | Beginner structure |
| Calm Premium | $69.99-$79.99 | Limited | Sleep content depth |
MemberPlus is the cheapest of the three by $10-$20 per year. If courses and offline access are what you want, MemberPlus delivers those at the lowest price.
MemberPlus is less curated than the alternatives. Insight Timer’s model relies on community teachers submitting content; quality varies. Calm and Headspace produce their content in-house with tighter quality control.
For the full comparison of meditation apps, see our best meditation apps roundup or the Calm vs Headspace guide.
How to try MemberPlus before paying
Use the 7-day free trial. MemberPlus includes a real 7-day trial. Sign up, use the courses and downloads intensively for a week, and decide whether they add enough to your practice to be worth paying.
Use the free tier first, seriously. Spend at least 2-4 weeks on the free version before deciding. Many users find the free tier so comprehensive that MemberPlus feels unnecessary. Others find that after using the free tier consistently, they specifically want courses or downloads and upgrade for that reason.
Common questions
Is Insight Timer free forever? Yes — the free tier is permanent and comprehensive. It is not a limited trial. Our dedicated Insight Timer free tier breakdown goes through exactly what you get without paying.
Is MemberPlus worth it if you meditate daily? For daily meditators who want structured courses, offline access, or premium content — yes. For daily meditators happy with browsing and self-directed practice — probably not.
Can you cancel MemberPlus anytime? Yes, cancel anytime and retain access through the end of your billed period.
Does MemberPlus include everything Calm and Headspace do? No. It has more free content than either but less polished sleep content than Calm and less structured beginner learning than Headspace.
Is there a family plan? Not as a standard option right now. Insight Timer’s help center says it does not offer a family plan for MemberPlus and that an earlier family-plan trial has ended, although a MemberPlus Family purchase still appears on the App Store. Check the subscription screen in the app before you buy.
The bottom line
For most Insight Timer users, the free tier is genuinely enough. If you value structured courses (thousands available), offline downloads, or premium audio, MemberPlus at $59.99/year is the cheapest premium meditation subscription available — below Headspace at $69.99 and Calm at $69.99 to $79.99.
Use the free tier for 2-4 weeks first, then decide. If specific limitations start bothering you — no offline for a trip, wanting a structured course to work through — MemberPlus is a fair upgrade. If not, save the money and keep using one of the best free wellness apps available.
For the full picture on Insight Timer, see our complete Insight Timer review. For the broader meditation category, see our best meditation apps roundup.