Breathwork · Review
Open Review
The mindfulness studio in app form — breathwork, meditation, and movement with your nervous system on screen.
Our rating
4.0 / 5
Starting price
Free trial, then ~$19.99/mo
Free tier
Yes
Platforms
iOS · Android
Developer
Open
Launched
2020
Our verdict
Open blends breathwork, meditation, and movement into studio-quality classes — live and on-demand — with a distinctive trick: camera-based biofeedback that estimates heart rate and HRV, letting you watch a session change your nervous system in real time. Premium-priced and LA-flavored, it is the most complete mind-body studio in an app, best for people who want classes rather than tools.
This review is editorial and unsponsored — no affiliate payments influence our ratings. Selfpause makes a wellness app of its own, so where a product competes with us, we say so plainly and let you judge.
Open positions itself less as an app than a studio: scheduled live classes and a deep on-demand library across breathwork, meditation, sound, and movement, taught by a consistent faculty with real presence.
Its signature is measurement — point your phone camera at your face and Open estimates heart rate and HRV through the session, plotting your downshift as it happens. The data is approximate, but watching your own physiology respond is uniquely convincing pedagogy.
The aesthetic is contemporary-LA-wellness and the price is studio-tier (~$19.99/mo). For class-takers who want one beautiful home for breath, sit, and stretch — with receipts — it earns its slot; tool-seekers will find Breathwrk faster and cheaper.
Pros & cons
What we like
- Studio-grade classes across breath, meditation, and movement.
- Camera-based HR/HRV biofeedback — watch sessions work.
- Live class schedule adds accountability and community.
- Consistent, high-quality teaching faculty.
- One subscription covers the full mind-body stack.
What we don’t
- Premium monthly pricing adds up fast.
- Camera biofeedback is approximate, not clinical.
- Aesthetic and tone are polarizing.
- Overbuilt for quick-tool users.
Best for / avoid if
Best for
- →Class people who thrive on schedules and teachers
- →Data-curious meditators who want visible response
- →Users consolidating breath, meditation, and movement apps
- →Former studio members replacing memberships
Avoid if
- →You want grab-and-go tools — Breathwrk
- →You want maximum emotional intensity — Othership
- →Budget rules — free options abound
Pricing
Trial
Free
Sample classes and the biofeedback feature.
Subscription
~$19.99/mo (annual discounts)
Full live schedule and on-demand library.
What Open is
Open is a mind-body studio app: live and on-demand breathwork, meditation, and movement classes with camera-based heart-rate and HRV biofeedback.
It is the class-membership model applied to nervous-system practice — teachers, schedule, and metrics included.
Why seeing your HRV move matters
Mindfulness asks for faith in invisible progress; Open shows the line move instead. Watching HRV climb during a slow-exhale sequence collapses skepticism faster than any study citation.
Approximate as camera estimation is, the feedback loop — practice, see response, repeat — builds belief, and belief builds practice.
Live and on-demand classes
A real schedule of teacher-led sessions plus a deep library across modalities.
The studio structure — appointed times, familiar teachers — is the retention engine tools lack.
Camera biofeedback
Phone-camera photoplethysmography estimates heart rate and HRV through sessions.
Your nervous system, charted live — imperfect numbers, persuasive curve.
Where Open falls behind
Cost. Studio pricing in app form.
Precision. Camera HRV is directional, not diagnostic.
Quickness. Classes want twenty minutes; panic wants twenty seconds.
Open vs. Breathwrk vs. Othership
The breathwork trinity: Breathwrk the toolkit, Othership the ceremony, Open the studio.
Choose Open if classes, teachers, and visible metrics keep you practicing; choose by temperament, since technique overlaps heavily.
Open’s biofeedback is unique among the three — for the show-me crowd, decisive.
Bottom line
Open is the best class-based mind-body app, and the only one that shows your nervous system responding. Worth studio money for studio people; tool people should grab Breathwrk and save the difference.
Want a daily positivity practice in your own voice? Selfpause lets you record personalized affirmations, layer them with calming music, and keep them on your lock screen.
Try Selfpause FreeAlternatives to Open
Breathwrk
4.3Quick utility breathing, lower price.
Read our review →
Othership
4.2Cinematic emotional journeys.
Read our review →
Headspace
4.5Structured meditation without the studio.
Read our review →
Frequently asked questions
How does the camera biofeedback work?+
Your phone camera detects subtle color changes in your face from blood flow (photoplethysmography), estimating heart rate and HRV. Treat the numbers as directional — the trend during a session is the useful signal.
Is Open worth $20 a month?+
If you attend classes the way you would a studio — yes, it replaces far costlier memberships. As an occasional tool, no; Breathwrk covers that for less.
Live classes — really?+
Yes, a daily schedule of teacher-led sessions you join in real time, plus the on-demand library.
Open or Othership?+
Open for structured classes and metrics; Othership for emotional depth and ceremony. Studio versus journey.
A note on mental health: apps and online services can support wellbeing, but they are not a substitute for professional care. If you are struggling, a licensed professional can help — and if you are in crisis, contact your local emergency number or, in the US, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).