A free online meditation timer with ambient sounds — no account needed, no ads, works in any browser. Set any duration, pick a gentle alarm tone, and add brown noise, rain, or café ambience to support your practice. Polytimer keeps accurate time in the background so you can close your eyes and meditate without worrying about the timer.
How to Use the Meditation Timer
The timer is pre-set to 10 minutes — the most common beginner session length.
Adjust the duration in the Countdown tab if needed (5, 15, or 20 minutes are also popular).
Open the Sounds drawer and select an ambient sound (Brown noise or Rain are recommended for meditation).
Choose a gentle alarm tone: Chime or Bell are best — they end the session softly without startling.
Press play, close your eyes, and focus on your breath. The alarm will gently signal when time is up.
Recommended Session Lengths
5 minutes — ideal for a quick morning or lunchtime reset
10 minutes — the standard beginner session; enough to calm the nervous system
15 minutes — a deeper session; used by most regular practitioners
20 minutes — the most common duration for TM (Transcendental Meditation)
45 minutes — extended practice for experienced meditators
Best Ambient Sounds for Meditation
Brown noise — deeper and warmer than white noise; excellent for blocking environmental distractions without drawing attention itself
Rain — consistent, rhythmic, and naturally calming; popular for evening sessions
Café ambience — low-level background noise; some practitioners find it helps maintain light focus awareness
White noise — clinical but effective for blocking sudden environmental sounds
Box breathing — 4s inhale / 4s hold / 4s exhale / 4s hold. Set four 4-second timers with Repeat enabled.
4-7-8 breathing — 4s inhale / 7s hold / 8s exhale. Set three timers at the respective durations.
Wim Hof method — 2-minute breathing round followed by a 1-minute breath retention. Use the 2 minute timer and 1 minute timer with Repeat.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a meditation session be?
For beginners, 5–10 minutes daily builds the habit consistently. Research shows 10–20 minutes of daily mindfulness produces measurable stress reduction within 8 weeks. Experienced practitioners often sit for 20–45 minutes. Start with 10 minutes and increase as the habit becomes automatic.
What ambient sounds are best for meditation?
Brown noise and rain are most widely used — both provide consistent, non-distracting backgrounds that mask environmental sounds. Open Polytimer's Sounds drawer and try each; set the volume so it just covers background noise without being distracting itself.
Should a meditation timer have a gentle alarm?
Yes. A sudden alarm can startle you out of a meditative state, causing stress rather than ending the session calmly. Polytimer's Chime and Bell tones are soft and resonant — they gently signal the end of the session without jarring you awake.
Can I use a meditation timer for breathing exercises?
Yes. For box breathing (4s inhale / 4s hold / 4s exhale / 4s hold), use four 4-second countdown timers in Multiple Timers with Repeat enabled. For Wim Hof rounds, use a 2-minute and a 1-minute timer.
Can I meditate with the screen off?
Yes. Once running, minimise the browser or turn off the screen — Polytimer uses a background Web Worker to keep accurate time even when the tab is inactive. The alarm sounds when your session ends regardless of screen state.