Headspace vs Calm
· Facts checked October 29, 2026
If sleep is the main problem, Calm is the better fit: its library is built around Sleep Stories and music. If you want to learn meditation step by step, or want an AI guide and therapy in the same app, Headspace fits better. Headspace was cheaper per year on October 29, 2026: $69.99 against Calm's $79.99.
What we checked, on October 29, 2026: headspace.com (the app, family plan and therapy pages), calm.com (homepage and plans page), and both US App Store listings, including the price list, privacy label and rating. We also read the two studies each company is best known for. What we did not do: we did not pay for either app, take any courses or listen to any Sleep Stories. Everything here is what the two companies publish; how either one feels at 1 a.m., night after night, we can't tell you.
The comparison table
| Headspace | Calm | |
|---|---|---|
| Price (US) | $12.99 a month or $69.99 a year | $79.99 a year; monthly price not shown on calm.com |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days on calm.com's homepage (yearly plan); its plans page showed 7 days on October 29 |
| Other plans | Family, up to 6 people, $99.99 a year | "Calm for Life," $39.99 once, marked limited time |
| Best known for | Guided meditation courses | Sleep Stories and music |
| AI | Ebb, an AI companion | None named in its App Store listing |
| Human support | Coaching, plus therapy that takes insurance | None named in its App Store listing |
| App Store privacy label: data "used to track you" | None listed | Purchases, identifiers, usage data |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Android, web | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Android, web, Wear OS |
Both companies' pages and US App Store listings were read on October 29, 2026; the links are under Sources. Stars don't split them: both showed 4.8 that day.1,2 Joyful, which is ours, isn't in the table and comes up near the end.
- Headspace may suit you better if: you want to learn meditation in order, from the basics, or you want coaching or insurance-covered therapy in the same app.
- Calm may suit you better if: falling asleep is the hard part, you like stories and music at night, or you want it on your Apple TV.
Price and free trial
Headspace is $10 a year cheaper, and its prices are easier to find.
Its App Store listing gives $12.99 a month or $69.99 a year in the US, its app page offers a 14-day free trial, and a family plan covers up to 6 people for $99.99 a year.1,3,4
Calm took more digging. When we rechecked on October 30, 2026, calm.com's homepage offered a 14-day free trial on the $79.99 yearly plan.5 Its plans page had shown 7 days on October 29, under a "Limited Time Offer" heading that also listed "Calm for Life" at $39.99 billed once.6 No monthly price appears on calm.com. The App Store lists several Calm Premium prices from $14.99 to $79.99 without saying which is monthly.2
If the one-time "Calm for Life" offer tempts you, check that it's still there before you choose.
Sleep
Calm is built around sleep. Headspace has sleep content; Calm leads with it.
The App Store listing opens on Sleep Stories, bedtime stories for adults read by narrators such as Matthew McConaughey and Stephen Fry.2 How many there are depends on which Calm page you read: over 500 on the homepage, over 100 on the plans page.5,6 Headspace's answer is sleepcasts, sleep sounds and sleep music.3 Those are fine, but they come second.
If falling asleep is the main thing, start with Calm's trial.
Learning to meditate and handling stress
Headspace works as a course you go through in order. Calm works more like a shelf you pick from tonight.
Headspace's app page lists "1,000+ guided meditations, expert-led exercises courses" and a CBT Mood and Anxiety program, while its App Store listing says 500+ guided meditations, from 3-minute resets up.3,1 Calm offers daily sessions (Daily Calm, Daily Jay, Daily Trip), 7- and 21-day programs, breathing exercises and Masterclasses.2,6
AI and human support
Want a person? Of the two, only Headspace says it offers one.7
It includes Ebb, which it calls an "empathetic AI companion" that recommends content based on how you feel.3 It sells mental health coaching too, and its therapy service takes insurance; for an Aetna member, the cost tool showed a typical $25 a session after the deductible, and up to $149.7
Calm's App Store listing names none of these.2
Privacy
Headspace's label is the cleaner of the two, if cross-app tracking bothers you. Calm's label says purchases, identifiers and usage data may be used to track you across other companies' apps and websites, while Headspace's lists none, though it does list data linked to you for its own marketing.2,1
Both labels are self-reported and, Apple says, unverified, so before you start therapy or coaching through either company, read its full privacy policy as well.
What the research behind each app shows
Neither study shows one app beats the other. Both are small, short and tied to the company.
Eight weeks of Calm left 88 stressed college students reporting less stress than a wait-list group.8 The paper discloses that its lead author later became Calm's Director of Science.8 For Headspace, the first 10 sessions beat an audiobook control on irritability, mood and one kind of stress, and all four authors worked for Headspace when they ran the trial.9 Together they suggest the apps can help some people for a while.
What's new
On October 29, 2026, Calm's plans page carried a "Limited Time Offer" for its one-time purchase.6 Headspace's pages promoted therapy "from $0" with insurance, and Ebb.7 Prices on both move often, so check the date at the top of this page.
Where Joyful fits
Joyful is ours, and it isn't a meditation app: no Sleep Stories, no music, no meditation courses. If that's what you came for, pick Headspace or Calm.
It's for a different moment, when a worry keeps looping and you'd rather say it out loud than sit with it. You talk with Joy by voice, Joy remembers earlier calls, and guided entries such as the thought record take one thought apart step by step. It costs $13.99 a month or $118.99 a year after 10 free entries.10
Some people use a meditation app and a journal side by side.
How to switch
We found no tool on either site for moving your history from one app to the other. Start the free trial of the new app before you cancel the old one. Both say you can cancel at any time.11,5
Think about the last night you couldn't settle. Was it your body that wouldn't calm down, or a thought that wouldn't stop? Write down which one, and what it was about.
Answer this with JoyQuestions people ask
Can I pay for Headspace with an HSA or FSA?
In the US, yes, on an annual plan: Headspace says adults can use HSA or FSA funds after filling in an eligibility form.3
Is there an app better than Calm?
For sleep content, Calm is hard to beat. If what keeps you awake is a thought you can't put down, a journaling app such as Joyful (ours) may suit you better. If it's more than a run of bad nights, talk with a doctor.
Is Headspace or Calm free?
Free to download, both of them, and each has some free content, but Calm says its full library needs a subscription,5 and the free trial is how you find out whether either is worth paying for.
Does Headspace or Calm work for anxiety?
Each has one company-linked trial on stress, and Headspace adds a CBT Mood and Anxiety program.8,9,3 Neither trial tested an anxiety disorder. For anxiety that's with you most days, an app is a supplement to care.
The verdict
Choose Calm if sleep is the main reason you're looking. Choose Headspace if you want to learn meditation in order, or want coaching or therapy in the same app, and choose Joyful, which is ours, if what you need is to put a looping thought into words, out loud.