Headspace vs Calm: An Honest Comparison from a Mindfulness Teacher
“Should I get Headspace or Calm?”
I get asked this constantly — by students, by friends, and by people who’ve just decided this is the year they’ll finally meditate. So here’s my honest answer, having taught mindfulness for over twenty years and spent plenty of time inside both apps.
The short version: they’re both genuinely good, and the better one depends on what you actually want. Let me save you some money and some scrolling.
The quick answer
- Choose Headspace if you want to learn to meditate — it’s structured, progressive and teaches you the skill.
- Choose Calm if you mainly want help sleeping and relaxing — its Sleep Stories are the best in the business.
If you’d read nothing else, that’s the honest core of it. :)
Headspace vs Calm at a glance
| Headspace | Calm | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $12.99 | $14.99 |
| Yearly | $69.99 | $69.99 |
| Lifetime | $399.99 | $299.99 |
| Free trial | 7 days | 7 days |
| Best for | Learning to meditate | Sleep & relaxation |
| Signature feature | Structured courses, Ebb AI companion | Sleep Stories with celebrity narrators |
| Style | Cheerful, animated, friendly | Serene, cinematic, beautiful |
| Kids’ content | No | Yes |
(Prices as at July 2026 — do check, as they change.)
Headspace: the teacher
Headspace feels like a course, in the best sense. It was built by Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk, and it shows — there’s a genuine curriculum underneath it. You start at the beginning, and it walks you forward.
What it does well
- It actually teaches. The structured courses build real skill over time rather than just handing you nice audio.
- A big library — over 1,000 meditations once you subscribe.
- The animations. They’re charming, and they explain tricky concepts (like “thoughts are traffic”) better than words do.
- Gentle nudges — reminders that help the habit stick, which is most of the battle.
- Ebb, their AI companion, for when you want to talk something through.
Where it’s weaker
- Fewer sleep stories than Calm (it has Sleepcasts instead — ambient sound with soft narration, which some people much prefer).
- The cheerful style won’t suit everyone. If you want austere and serious, this isn’t it.
Best for: complete beginners, anyone who wants to genuinely learn meditation, and people who like structure.
Calm: the sanctuary
Calm is less a course and more a beautiful place to go. Open it and you get a lake, a fire crackling, rain on a window. It’s designed to lower your shoulders within seconds.
What it does well
- Sleep Stories. Over 100 of them, read by voices like Matthew McConaughey and Stephen Fry. They are genuinely, absurdly effective. This is Calm’s crown jewel.
- It’s gorgeous. You can set your own scene, and the whole thing feels like a deep breath.
- Content for children — which Headspace doesn’t offer, and matters if you’re a parent.
- Cheaper lifetime option if you’re certain you’ll stick with it ($299.99 vs $399.99).
Where it’s weaker
- Less structure. It’s more of a library than a syllabus. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can drift — dipping in and out without ever really learning to meditate.
- Slightly pricier month to month.
Best for: poor sleepers, stressed people who want relief now, and parents.
Head to head
For sleep → Calm, comfortably. The Sleep Stories are unmatched. (Though give Headspace’s Sleepcasts a try — some people find celebrity voices distracting.)
For anxiety → Headspace, narrowly. Anxiety tends to respond better to skill than to soothing. Calm will settle you in the moment; Headspace will teach you something you can use when the app isn’t open. Ideally you want both, which is really an argument for learning the skill.
For complete beginners → Headspace. The hand-holding is worth a great deal at the start.
For value → A tie at $69.99/year. If you’re a committed long-hauler, Calm’s lifetime deal is £100 cheaper.
Free alternatives → Worth knowing that Insight Timer has an enormous free library, and both Headspace and Calm have small free tiers. Don’t spend money until you know you’ll use it. (More options here: Headspace alternatives.)
The honest thing neither app will tell you
I want to be straight with you, because this is the bit that decides whether you’re still meditating in six months.
Most people who buy a meditation app stop using it. Not because the apps are bad — they’re both excellent — but because a recording can only do so much. There’s nobody expecting you. Nobody notices if you drift off for three weeks. And when a genuinely hard day arrives, a library of 1,000 tracks can feel like a fridge full of food when you’re too tired to cook.
An app gives you content. What most of us actually need is rhythm, and company.
That’s not a criticism of Headspace or Calm. It’s just the shape of the thing.
A third option (and yes, this one’s mine)
I should be upfront: I run the Daily Mindfulness Club, so treat what follows with an appropriate pinch of salt. But since you’re weighing up how to build a practice, it’s only fair to tell you there’s a different sort of option.
The Club isn’t an app library. It’s a live sit every weekday morning at 7:30am UK time, guided by me, with a small, friendly group of people who show up too. What makes it different from both apps:
- It’s live and human. I’m actually there, responding to how the room is that morning — not a recording made three years ago.
- There are people. A small community who notice you, and whom you notice. It turns out that being mildly expected somewhere is the most underrated habit-builder there is.
- It’s rooted in ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) — so it’s not only about relaxing, but about living in the direction of what matters to you.
- You get the recording if 7:30am isn’t your hour.
Is it for everyone? Honestly, no. If you want Sleep Stories with a Hollywood narrator, get Calm — it’s better at that than I will ever be. If you want to learn the fundamentals at your own pace at 11pm, Headspace is excellent and I recommend it happily.
But if you’ve bought an app before and drifted, the missing piece probably wasn’t more content. It was somebody expecting you.
No card needed. Come and sit with us one morning and see how it feels.
Frequently asked questions
Is Headspace or Calm better for anxiety? Headspace, slightly — it teaches skills you can use away from the app, which is what tends to help anxiety longer-term. Calm is better for immediate relief in a difficult moment.
Is Headspace or Calm better for sleep? Calm, clearly. Its Sleep Stories are the best sleep content of any meditation app.
Which is cheaper? They’re identical annually ($69.99). Headspace is cheaper monthly ($12.99 vs $14.99); Calm is cheaper for lifetime ($299.99 vs $399.99).
Can I use them for free? Both offer a 7-day free trial and a small free selection. For a genuinely large free library, look at Insight Timer.
Do I need an app at all? No. Apps are a helpful scaffold, not the building. Plenty of people practise beautifully with nothing but a chair and a few minutes. What matters far more than which app is whether you show up regularly — which is exactly why company and rhythm beat content in the long run.
So — which should you buy?
If you take one thing from this: pick based on what you’re actually trying to solve. Sleeping badly? Calm. Want to learn to meditate properly? Headspace. Tried before and drifted? Then the answer probably isn’t another app at all — it’s finding some people to practise with.
Whatever you choose, I hope you start. Five minutes tomorrow morning is worth more than the perfect app you never open. :)
Related reading: brand new to this? Start with meditation apps for beginners. Leaving Headspace? Here are the best Headspace alternatives.
If you’d like to explore the approach behind the way I teach, have a read about ACT here — or play The Bus Journey, a free little game that teaches it.