Best Meditation Apps · head-to-head
Calm vs Insight Timer
A sourced, side-by-side comparison for meditation apps. Insight Timer has the lower entry price. Every figure links to the public page it was captured from — the vendor's own wherever the vendor publishes the number, otherwise the named public source — with the date we captured it.
Insight Timer has the lower entry price — Calm starts at $5.83/mo, Insight Timer at $0/mo. Free tier: Calm No, Insight Timer Yes. HIPAA: Calm —, Insight Timer —.
As of 2026-09-05 · figures link to their source below
Side by side
Calm
$5.83/mo entryInsight Timer
$0/mo entrySources — Calm: apps.apple.com (verified 2026-09-02) · Insight Timer: insighttimer.com (verified 2026-09-05)
Key features
Calm: 300+ Sleep Stories narrated by celebrities (Matthew McConaughey, Harry Styles, etc.); 50,000+ minutes of science-backed content; Daily Calm guided meditation updated each day; Mindful movement and stretching video lessons; Breathwork and body-scan sessions; Calm Kids content included in Teams licenses; 180M+ downloads; Apple App of the Year 2017; Teams analytics dashboard (unlocked at 10+ activated employees)
Insight Timer: 300,000+ free guided meditations, music, and talks — world's largest free library; 20,000 teachers across 50+ languages including secular, scientific, and spiritual traditions; 30 million active users worldwide; Customizable meditation timer with interval bells and ambient sounds; Live events and teacher-led group sessions; 7,500+ structured Insight Courses (10- and 30-day programs) with Member Plus; Yoga nidra, breathwork, and sleep music; Community features: local groups, retreats, therapist directory; Ad-free audio library; Available in 50+ languages