Best apnea training apps in 2026

BreathHold is our pick: dry-land CO2 tables built from a baseline test you take in the app, on iPhone and Android. Pick STAmina Apnea Trainer if you train with an Apple Watch or a Garmin, Apnea Trainer: Freedive for a watch app plus a dive logbook on a current iPhone, or Freediving Apnea Trainer for AIDA-style phase cues and a Bluetooth chest strap.

BreathHold publishes this comparison and is one of the six apps in it. Treat our pick as an attributed recommendation, not an independent award. Read the safety guide before you run any table from any of these apps.

How this comparison was checked

Every competitor fact below comes from that product's current US App Store or Google Play listing, read on August 12, 2026. We did not run a controlled hands-on test of six apps, so this page compares what each product ships and who it appears to serve rather than scoring the training quality. Where a listing makes a performance promise, we attribute it to the listing instead of repeating it: research on apnea training and sports performance is mixed and protocol-specific, and no app on this page can tell you how long you will hold your breath after a month of it.

BreathHold's own entry is checked against the shipped Flutter build, not our marketing copy. Ratings, prices and paywall limits change by storefront, so nothing here is ranked by a volatile store number.

Store listings checked on August 12, 2026, with the wearable rows re-checked on September 10, 2026:

• BreathHold: App Store (2.6.0) and Google Play
• STAmina Apnea Trainer: App Store (8.2.0), Google Play and official site
• Apnea Trainer: Freedive: App Store (5.5.2) and official site
• Freediving Apnea Trainer: App Store (1.3.3) and Google Play
• Apnea Manager: App Store (1.7.4), listed as "freediving stamina training"
• Wim Hof Method: App Store (8.1.24) and Google Play

The six apps on features and price

Which app runs on your hardware

Cells come from the product's own store listing. Where a listing says nothing, the cell reads Unverified rather than No: a Connect IQ search on September 10, 2026 returned only third-party apnea apps, which is not evidence that a vendor has no watch app.

BreathHold reads Not yet on both wearable columns, and that is the current state of the app rather than a schedule. STAmina is the only app here with a Garmin build, which is a real reason to pick it over ours if you train from the wrist.

* Apnea Trainer: Freedive describes its Cyclic mode as CO2-tolerance training in rounds. That is a different session model, not a named CO2 table library, so treat the cell as a footnote rather than a tick.

Feature names are not interchangeable between these products. "O2 table" in one app is a preset you pick; in another it is something the generator produces from your best time; in BreathHold it is a table type you assemble yourself in the custom builder. Open the linked listing before you buy anything for one specific capability.

BreathHold

Best fit: someone who wants a CO2 table keyed to a test they just took, on either phone platform, without an account.

BreathHold runs CO2 tables in Easy, Classic and Hard, where the hold stays steady at 40%, 50% or 60% of your recorded maximum and the rest between rounds gets shorter. Two tests feed it: a max breath-hold test and a CO2-baseline test, and the baseline is what the app uses to suggest intervals. The custom builder covers hold times, rest intervals, rounds and progression, including O2-style tables where the holds lengthen and the rest stays fixed. Box, rectangular and rhythmic breathing sit alongside the tables, spoken cues call each phase with downloadable voice packs per language, and session history and progress charts are local to the device. It is $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year, with a 14-day free trial on the yearly plan only, as of 2026-08-29.

The honest limits: there is no preset O2 table, so you build that yourself in the custom editor. There is no external heart-rate or SpO2 support, no contraction marking, no account or cross-device sync, no Apple Watch or Garmin app (not yet), and the iOS build is iPhone-only. Equanimity tables, Full Breath Cycles and most of the instructional videos are part of the optional subscription. On store numbers we are the smallest app here by a wide margin: one US App Store rating and 1K+ Google Play downloads as of July 2026, against thousands of ratings for STAmina and Apnea Trainer.

If you want to try the mechanics before installing anything, the CO2 table generator, O2 table generator and custom table builder run in the browser.

STAmina Apnea Trainer

Best fit: a freediver who wants more table shapes than anyone else here, plus contraction logging and sync.

According to its App Store listing, STAmina ships six table types: O2 deprivation, CO2 tolerance, Wonka, Mix, Custom and Pranayama. The Wonka table is the one nothing else on this page has: the listing describes the hold timing starting after your first contraction, with the rest lasting one breath. It also lists unlimited contraction tracking, three difficulty levels generated from your personal record, per-exercise editing, training reminders, Apple Health synchronisation, cloud sync and backup across devices, and voice guidance in English, French and Russian recorded by voice actors.

It is the most established app in the group: 4.9 stars from about 5,400 US App Store ratings, 4.9 on Google Play with 100K+ downloads, and an update on August 7, 2026. Heart-rate and oxygen-saturation tracking is real but conditional. The listing says a compatible HR monitor or pulse oximeter is required, so budget for hardware you may not own.

Two things to know. Its listing leads with breath-hold and lung-capacity outcome language; that is its framing, not a finding we can support. And its own description mixes freediving with running and other sports, so read the table descriptions rather than the audience list. Full detail in BreathHold vs STAmina Apnea Trainer.

Apnea Trainer: Freedive

Best fit: an Apple-only diver on a current iPhone who wants a plan, a watch and a dive logbook in one app.

The current App Store listing describes four modes (Apnea, Pranayama, Cyclic and Custom Pro, the last with all four phases adjustable from 0 to 240 seconds), plus a multi-week plan generated from your stated level and goal, a Performance Index that adjusts session times, an Apple Watch app with real-time heart rate and haptic phase cues, an apnea stopwatch, three home-screen widgets, Live Activities, Apple Health writes, and a logbook for real dives with location, depth and per-session heart-rate graphs. It is the second most reviewed app here: 4.8 stars from roughly 1,580 US ratings, updated August 9, 2026.

The hard constraint is the platform. Version 5.5.2 requires iOS 26 or later, there is no Android build, and the vendor's site points only at Apple platforms, so an older iPhone rules it out as surely as an Android phone does.

Its listing also states that training three times a week will quickly double your time underwater. We do not repeat that as a fact: research on apnea training and sports performance is mixed and protocol-specific, and a fixed multiple in a fixed number of weeks is not something a store listing can promise you. Full detail in BreathHold vs Apnea Trainer.

Freediving Apnea Trainer

Best fit: a diver who wants competition-style cues and a Bluetooth chest strap, and who is on Android.

Its listings describe tables calculated from your current best time, editable tables you can build yourself, AIDA time notifications during the preparation and table phases, a flexible "Square breath" timer, voice and vibration announcements of remaining time, contraction marking, pause and +10-second controls, completed-session history with charts, Apple Health integration for heart rate and oxygen saturation, and Bluetooth heart-rate devices named specifically: Mi Band 3 to 6 and Polar H10, H9 and H8. The vendor markets it to beginners as well as advanced divers, and its listing carries its own medical-advice disclaimer.

Platform maturity is lopsided here, and it matters. The Android app is 4.4 stars with 100K+ downloads and was updated on August 7, 2026, while the iPhone build is still 1.3.3, dated July 5, 2024, at 4.7 stars from about 278 ratings. Same product, very different update cadence.

Apnea Manager

Best fit: an iPhone or iPad user who wants a structured four-week block rather than a table library.

Listed on the App Store as "freediving stamina training", Apnea Manager starts with a breath-hold test and generates CO2 and O2 tables from your personal best. Its listing describes a four-week training plan that adapts to your level and best time, session history with charts and summaries, empty-lung holds as an advanced exercise, and, for Pro users, full table customisation, square breathing, alternate-nostril breathing and training reminders.

It is the smallest and newest of the dedicated trainers: 4.9 stars from 27 US ratings, version 1.7.4 from December 2025, requiring iOS 17 or later. We found no official Google Play listing on August 12, 2026, so treat it as Apple-only. Its listing describes empty-lung work in terms of building lung capacity; that is an outcome claim we do not make, and empty-lung holds are the single most instruction-dependent exercise mentioned anywhere on this page. Do them with a coach, not from a store description.

Wim Hof Method

Best fit: someone who wants guided breathwork and cold exposure, not apnea tables.

This one is on the page because people looking for breath-hold apps keep finding it, and it deserves a straight answer: it is a breathwork and cold-exposure app, not an apnea trainer. Its App Store listing describes guided breathing sessions in Wim Hof's voice, a customisable Guided Breathing bubble where you set the rounds, a retention timer, cold-shower and ice-bath practices, guided meditations, video courses, and a calendar with badges. On iOS it is 4.9 stars from about 12,900 ratings, updated August 3, 2026; its Google Play listing offers monthly and yearly subscriptions with a trial on the yearly plan.

What it does not have is a CO2 table, an O2 table, a custom table builder or a max-hold test structure, so it will not organise a dry-land apnea progression. It also markets breath retention inside a cyclic hyperventilation pattern, which is the opposite of what freediving safety guidance asks for before a breath hold. See Wim Hof breathing versus breath-hold training for what the research does and does not show, and never carry that breathing pattern into water.

Which one should you choose?

| Your priority | Better first install | Why | |---|---|---| | CO2 tables from your own baseline test, either platform | BreathHold | Two in-app tests feed the suggested intervals | | The widest set of table shapes | STAmina Apnea Trainer | Six table types, including the Wonka table | | Contraction logging and cloud sync | STAmina Apnea Trainer | Unlimited contraction tracking, backup across devices | | Apple Watch sessions and a dive logbook | Apnea Trainer: Freedive | Watch app, widgets, logbook with depth and HR graphs | | AIDA-style cues and a Bluetooth chest strap | Freediving Apnea Trainer | Named Polar and Mi Band support, AIDA phase notifications | | An Android phone | BreathHold, STAmina or Freediving Apnea Trainer | The other two dedicated trainers are Apple-only | | An older iPhone | Anything except Apnea Trainer: Freedive | It requires iOS 26 | | A four-week structured block | Apnea Manager | Its plan adapts to your level and best time | | Guided breathwork and cold exposure | Wim Hof Method | Different discipline; no apnea tables |

Whichever you install, the app is a timer and a logbook. It is not a coach and it is not a safety system.

What this page does not settle

Nobody ran six apps side by side for a month, so this is a comparison of what each product ships and not of how well it trains anyone. The matrix says what is in a listing on the date named, and listings change without notice. No app on this page can tell you how long you will hold your breath, and none of them supervises anyone.

Related reading

• BreathHold vs STAmina Apnea Trainer
• BreathHold vs Apnea Trainer
• CO2 table vs O2 table
• How to train CO2 tolerance
• Breath-hold safety guide
• What is static apnea?