Waking Up: Meditation & Wisdom

In-app purchases
4.8
41.4K reviews
10L+
Downloads
Content rating
USK: All ages
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About this app

Recognized as a 2025 Pick by NYT Wirecutter

Thousands worldwide call Waking Up life-changing. Whether you want better sleep, more clarity, or deeper meditation, Waking Up is your complete guide.

What’s Inside

• Introductory Course—a transformative 28-day program, for both beginners and experienced meditators
• Daily Meditations—regular guided sessions with Sam Harris
• Moments—short reflections when you need them most
• Daily Quotes—a spark of insight each day
• Reflections—breif lessons that shift perspective
• Sleep—talks and meditations to help you rest
• Meditation Timer—customize your own sessions
• A vast library of meditations, theory sessions, life courses, conversations, and Q&As
• Community—connect with members to discuss meditation, philosophy, psychedelics, and more


Why Waking Up Stands Out

Unlike conventional meditation apps, Waking Up blends practice with theory—so you not only learn to meditate but also understand how it transforms your mind. It’s meditation, science, and timeless wisdom in one place.

Topics & Techniques

Our library combines contemplative traditions with modern science, offering tools for both practice and understanding. Techniques include mindfulness (Vipassana), Loving-Kindness, body scans, yoga nidra, and nondual awareness practices from Dzogchen, Zen, and Advaita Vedanta. Topics span neuroscience, psychology, Stoicism, ethics, psychedelics, productivity, and happiness.

Content & Teachers

Created by neuroscientist and best-selling author Sam Harris, Waking Up features leading voices in meditation, philosophy, and psychology:

• Practice—Vipassana, Zen, Dzogchen, Advaita Vedanta (Joseph Goldstein, Diana Winston, Adyashanti, Henry Shukman, Richard Lang)
• Theory—Philosophy and science of consciousness, ethics, and well-being (Alan Watts, Charlotte Joko Beck, Joan Tollifson, James Low, Douglas Harding)
• Life—Mindfulness in relationships, productivity, Stoicism, and more (David Whyte, Oliver Burkeman, Matthew Walker, Amanda Knox, Donald Robertson, Bob Waldinger)
• Conversations—Sam Harris with Yuval Noah Harari, Michael Pollan, Morgan Housel, Roland Griffiths, Cal Newport, Shinzen Young, and more
• Q&As—Sam Harris with Joseph Goldstein, Adyashanti, Henry Shukman, Jack Kornfield, Loch Kelly

Created by Sam Harris

Neuroscientist and best-selling author Sam Harris built Waking Up as the resource he wished he’d had when he began meditating 30 years ago. Every practice, course, and teacher is chosen for its power to change lives.

Testimonials

“Waking Up has led to my most consistent meditation practice. Family and staff also use it because it’s such a powerful tool.” —Andrew Huberman, neuroscientist

“Waking Up is a critical part of my daily practice. It’s my go-to for presence, peace, and well-being.” —Rich Roll, athlete & author

“Waking Up is the most important meditation guide I’ve ever used.” —Peter Attia, MD

“If you’ve had trouble getting into meditation, this app is your answer!” —Susan Cain, best-selling author

Free for Anyone Who Can’t Afford It

We never want money to be the reason someone can’t benefit.

Subscriptions renew unless auto-renew is disabled 24 hours before the current period ends. Manage in Apple account settings. Payment charged to your Apple account.

Terms: https://wakingup.com/terms-of-service/

Privacy: https://wakingup.com/privacy-policy/

Satisfaction guarantee: Email support@wakingup.com for a full refund.
Updated on
27 Oct 2025

Data safety

Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data. Data privacy and security practices may vary based on your use, region and age. The developer provided this information and may update it over time.
No data shared with third parties
Learn more about how developers declare sharing
This app may collect these data types
Location, Personal info and 4 others
Data is encrypted in transit
You can request that data be deleted

Ratings and reviews

4.7
40.7K reviews
Aditya Tiwari
18 June 2021
This app stands out from all the other guided meditation apps I know of. It is more like an inner journey of self discovery, for which meditation is the medium. And there's an aspect of pragmatism to it as well - in small steps, all the things you discover in your journey, you will have ideas for how to integrate them in your daily life. I'm grateful to have found it in this phase of my life -- I'd surely recommend you try it out too!
2 people found this review helpful
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Tobias Dänzer
24 December 2023
This is a wonderful app. It features high-quality meditations and supplementary lessons; the content is secular (i.e. there's no woo whatsoever); there are no ads; etc. I tried Balance, another meditation app, and found Waking Up to be soooo much better. The subscription is expensive, but there are even scholarship options if one can't afford to pay the full price. Also, if you do intend to subscribe, check the pricing on the website, which might be cheaper than in-app.
6 people found this review helpful
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Klemen Lilija
27 October 2020
I would highly recommend this app to anyone who is interested in meditation or is already practicing it. The introductory course is a great start for getting into meditation and trying out different techniques. If you are already familiar with those then you can practice meditation through koans, poetry, intellectual approaches, etc. It's a gold mind of content that is constantly being updated.
1 person found this review helpful
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What's new

Tomorrow starts tonight.
We’ve introduced a new Sleep section in the app, found on the home screen:
Sleep Talks—drift off while listening to calming lessons and background sounds
Guided Sleep Meditations—structured practices for deep and restorative rest
Rest deeply. Begin again tomorrow.
This version also includes bug fixes and behind-the-scenes improvements to ensure your experience is smooth and reliable.