Top 10 Free Alternatives To Calm App You Should Consider For Meditation
“Learn to be calm and you will always be happy” – Paramahansa Yogananda
Feeling calm when everything around you gives you stress can be quite challenging, isn’t it? No matter what you do, stress doesn’t seem to fade. Thanks to the advent of so many stress-relieving and meditation techniques available at the click of a button, managing stress seems accessible, if not easy.
When I talk about meditation and mindfulness apps, there are two that top my mind and I’m sure yours too – Calm and Headspace. These two meditation apps have been quite popular and rightfully so too.
Here, I’m talking about the Calm app. The Calm app offers meditation sessions, sleep stories, lullabies, soothing music, soundtracks from around the world, and even mindful exercises to help your physical health. Available to both iOS and Android users, the Calm app has other features for non-subscribers but, sadly, with limited access.
The Calm app, like its competitors, has a subscription price that may not suit everyone. But, don’t worry! I’m not going to ask you to spend hundreds of dollars on the app if you don’t want to.
Below, I’ve compiled a list of free alternatives for the Calm app. While these free alternatives have helped me, I hope they’ll bring you the same comfort.
Also Read: 51 Keep Calm Quotes To Help Your Mind Stay Calm
10 Free Alternatives To Calm App
1. Insight Timer
Insight Timer is a community-based meditation app that offers meditation and mindfulness features such as Secular Mindfulness, Yoga Nidra, Buddhist Mindfulness, Insight Meditation, Kundalini Yoga, and many more. You can also join communities and groups on this app to practice meditation.
This free alternative to Calm also offers more than 100,000 meditations but to access additional courses and offline meditation sessions, you’d need to purchase access.
This app is free to download from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
2. Smiling Mind
Smiling Mind is another free alternative to Calm that you should consider adding to your meditation app list. Created by an Australian non-profit organization, Smiling Mind offers meditation sessions on sleep, mindfulness, stress, relaxation, relationships, and more. This app also offers a beginner’s course and if you’re new to meditation, then it can be a good place to start.
Along with the above sessions, Smiling Mind also gives you access to sound meditation, body-scan meditation, sleep meditations, and more.
With all the features of any popular meditation app, you can download Smiling Mind by clicking the links given below.
3. Medito
Medito is another free Calm alternative that is a good choice for beginners. With no signup charge, you can access meditation courses, and listen to sleep sounds, stories, and soothing sounds to help you sleep better.
With hundreds of meditation sessions to choose from such as breathing exercises, walking meditation, and mantra meditation, you can easily handle your stress and anxiety for free.
This app is free and created by volunteers and is available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
You can click the links below to download Medito.
4. The Mindfulness App
If you’re struggling with daily stress and want to balance your life, then The Mindfulness App might come in handy. This other free alternative to Calm offers more than 300 meditation courses led by experts from around the world. You can also access the same in over 10 different languages, personalize your reminders, and even listen to sleep stories as you tuck in.
The Mindfulness App also features 3-99 minutes of meditation, silent or guided, background sounds including rain, forest, waves, and more. If you’d like access to offline meditations, then you’d be required to pay a subscription fee but even without it, you’ll get access to meditation and mindfulness sessions.
Download the app by clicking the links below.
5. Buddhify
Another free alternative to the Calm app, Buddhify is here to help attain calm and clarity. If you’re looking to reduce anxiety, and stress, or improve your sleep, this app can help you.
The Buddhify app offers over 200 meditations that can help address anxiety, sleep, pain, and other strong emotions, mindfulness exercises, beginner sessions, content for kids, and more.
The Buddhify app is a good choice if you’re looking for apps to help you strengthen your meditation practice. This app is free to download on Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Click the links below to download the app.
6. Mindfulness With Petit BamBou
Petit BamBou is another app on our list that can make for a good alternative to Calm. With over 2000 guided meditations in six languages, learn simple techniques guided by experienced practitioners and gurus.
With this free Calm alternative app, you can also access meditations for kids, meditation of the day, calming meditation, and a wide selection of soothing music with other features.
The meditation sessions that Petit BamBou offers address sleep issues, stress, compassion, self-confidence, mindfulness, positive thinking, and more. You can learn to train your attention and ground yourself in reality with meditation and this app supports that.
You can download the app by clicking the links below.
7. Mindfulness Coach
What could be best if not an app that doesn’t require any in-app purchases and is free? Mindfulness Coach is one such alternative to Calm that doesn’t require any subscription cost.
This app aims to help you ground yourself in the present moment and learn to observe your thoughts without judgment. Mindfulness Coach was developed to help Veterans and other Service members to practice mindfulness.
This app features a self-guided meditation program that can help you understand simple mindfulness techniques. With a library of information on meditation and mindfulness, this free app can help you set your goal, track your progress, set customizable reminders, and offer access to crisis resources as well.
You can download the app by clicking the links below.
8. Let’s Meditate
A straightforward approach to guided meditation Let’s Meditate is a free alternative to Calm that offers guided meditations that cater to a wide range of topics such as anxiety, healing, sleep, and more. With short and long meditation tracks, you can even get offline meditation sessions. The best part is that there are no ads and no sign-ups.
This app has a simple interface and is available to download on Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Click the links below to download.
9. The Plum Village
Created by Thich Nhat Hanh, a monk, The Plum Village is another free alternative to Calm that offers amazing meditation and mindfulness sessions instructed by the Vietnamese Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh himself. The app offers access to mindfulness programs, online discussions, workshops on meditation, and others with a click of a button.
The Plum Village features more than 50 guided meditations, mindful practices daily, more than 300 video discussions, guided meditations for kids, and more. This free alternative to Calm is available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
To download the app, click the links below.
10. Meditation Mindfulness: Lojong
Meditation can be easy for everyone with the right support and luckily we have more than a few options available. One such free alternative to the Calm meditation app is Lojong. With this app, you can learn to calm your worries in just a few minutes.
With access to mindfulness meditations such as anxiety relief, stress management, sleep meditations, gratitude meditations, anger management, happiness booster, and more, you can develop a better understanding of how mindfulness works.
With this app, you can also get access to features such as a gratitude journal, mind-training programs, mindfulness relaxation, health meditation, free soothing mindfulness, and more. Lojong is developed by mental health experts and can be downloaded by clicking the links below.
You can access meditation and mindfulness sessions from anywhere in the world, anytime you feel the need for it.
FInal Words:
While the Calm app in itself is note-worthy, it might not be for everyone. I hope these free alternatives to the Calm app will help you find the best app for you.
For more, you can connect with us at info@calmsage.com or DM us on social media. You can also share your favorite meditation and mindfulness app or suggest other alternatives to the Calm app in the comments below.
Take Care and Keep Meditating!
Why wasn't better sleep included? It is mostly free and has a high number of users.
Hey Amanda, Thank you for your suggestion. But this list is for meditation apps that have features that focus mainly on meditation as that's what Calm App's main features are. Rest assured, we'll take your suggestion in mind, try the app, and see if we can include it as an alternative to Calm App.