What is your favorite Meditation app?

Question

After reading a lot about the benefits of meditation, I want to give it a try. I heard there are great apps to guide you through this process, and I'd love to get some recommendations. I've downloaded Headspace and Calm, but since I'm not an expert, I can't tell how good or bad they are and which is better. Thanks!

Jodie · Accepted Answer

Headspace is fantastic because it ultimately helps people change misconceptions about meditation. For me (and a number of my friends) - Headspace makes meditation feel 1) achievable -yes to 3 min options 2) playful - fantastic animations 3) and perhaps most importantly, feel like a tangible practice in the “real world”. I often highlight the themed option for ‘Commuting’ to demonstrate - how often do people highlight that meditation can happen in a jam packed metro and not, as commonly perceived in a quiet place undisturbed by the actual world?

Headspace hits that balance between aspirational (yes new years resolutions) and practical (the other 364 days a year), and I think that’s what makes it worth the plunge.

Answer

I love the simplicity, emphasis on community, and breathwork component.

Deep Dave · Answer

I have been meditating with Aura for a year. It has been a great experience with daily mindful meditation for 3 minutes!

Jimmie Thompson · Answer

I've recently tried this too. The UI is just great and the app is working great as a whole.

Tejas Kinger · Answer

I've been using HeadSpace for a while now, but I've read a lot of threads on Reddit and Quora about the benefits of Insight Timer over both HeadSpace and Calm. I might give it a shot.

Dave Williams · Answer

One of the best apps out there is Evenflow. Meditations are organized by topic like stress, anxiety sleep and performance and are done by licensed therapists so the quality is really high. It's also all free the first week so you can try it out without worrying about getting charged anything

Daniel Bakh · Answer

Great interface with nice gamification features. Lots of free content.

Matija Abicic · Answer

Guided meditations for every mood - you can be on multiple meditation tracks at the same time.

Brona Molnarova · Answer

the "onboarding" is better than anything ive ever experienced. it taught me meditation in the most gentle way

Gurvir Sangha · Answer

I've used Insight Timer (a great free option) and was turned off by the cost of Headspace. I decided to take the plunge with the New Year sale Headspace had, though. I do not regret it. The app is great for three reasons: 1) it does an excellent job of nurturing meditation as a habit; 2) the themed packs make meditation less daunting for those who are new to meditation and practicing it for a specific reason (e.g. anger management, focus); and 3) the design is wonderful.

Aleksandra · Answer

I love the variety of guided meditations, for different cases (better sleep, anxiety, stress, etc) and levels.

Jonathan Kosgei · Answer

I created an entire family of Ambient Sleep Sounds and Ambient Relaxing Sounds Alexa skills while learning the platform, to help with Sleep and Relaxation.

This is just one, others include; Ocean Sounds, Babbling Brook, Rain with Native American Flutes, Forest Night among others. All have positive reviews and feedback from users.

Important to note that many such skills exist in the Alexa skills store, the most popular created by Nick Schwab of Invoked Apps.

Lindsay Saewitz · Answer

So far my favorite (over headspace). I like that it's 5 minutes instead of 10, haha. makes me more likely to do it! and you can pick based on how much time you have.

Jeff Greenberg · Answer

They had a switch in narrators about a year ago. The new one has a really bad vocal fry/rasp.  Sets my teeth on edge. Lots of content, but I think Headspace is better for it's level of direction

Tejas Kinger · Answer

I've also been using the guided meditation skill from the Alexa skill store on my Amazon Echo Dot. That works well too!

Sam Bahreini · Answer

It has meditation and a few other features to get you through your day. Outside of meditation, the sleep and nap feature are insanely effective.

Jeff Greenberg · Answer

I use this for a change of pace for it's cost (Free) - there's some great content, but it's much more unguided/uncurated.

William · Answer

The only meditation app where you don't have someone talking :)

KP · Answer

Been using this for a while now.. very simple 5 min meditations for starters. I start my day with these now. Soothing simple voice-guided meditations. Try them!

Duarte Martins · Answer

Really great app with your own therapist and courses given by experts.

Günther Eberl · Answer

I’m not a huge fan of guided meditation. After I short time I want the speaker to shut up and leave me alone.
This app is essentially a timer with some beautiful bells and some stats.

Afarin Pirzadeh · Answer

@LonelyPlanet If you would like to try reflective meditation, try out the Inome (I know me) app. It guides you through a daily reflection and help you clarify your thoughts and emotions.

Karl Nislow · Answer

If you're looking for a little more flavor.

Vicki Casey · Answer

I can say the same

Jonathan Bentz · Answer

I actually used Headspace for weeks to help do two things - 1) help me establish a routine and 2) re-teach myself the best practices of meditation.

Then, I made the move to Insight Timer because of two other main reasons...

1 - it has a much larger library of free content (there's only a subscription fee if you want to download/listen offline)
2 - it has faith-based sessions, while Headspace is more focused on the mindfulness approach to meditation.

Both Headspace and Insight Timer are great apps, but for someone looking for a large library or faith-centered sessions, you will want the latter over the former.

Alex Alexakis · Answer

I've been using Insight Timer for quite some time - pretty good free alternative, great content, different techniques. I'd recommend this for non-beginners though, as the different options can be a bit overwhelming when you first start.

Parul Joshi · Answer

I have been using this app for a few months now! My friend recommended me. I am in love with its customization feature which allows me to create my own melody by adding multiple sound elements, controlling each element's volume. They have over 100 relaxation sounds, melodies, binaural beats etc. 
(Try Eternity - 50%,  Birds -20% - My favorite!!!)

Drew Bedard · Answer

Love this app. Great, practical meditation advice and sessions.

Answer

breathing timers/exercises are good, so are the guided meditations at a good price too

Juraj Pal · Answer

Other than Headspace, I've been really enjoying box breathing practice. As opposed to Headspace, it's something that you can do pretty much anytime, even if you have just 3 minutes before you go on stage, etc.

Nick Schwab · Answer

One of the largest selections of high-quality sounds (40+) for sleep, relaxation, and meditation available on Amazon Alexa, Microsoft Cortana, and on-the-go using Alexa in the Alexa smartphone app.

Uroš Gucunja · Answer

After learning a lot from Tony Robbins about priming, i researched a lot about good apps to help me practice and create good habits. Recently stared using Primed as an alternative to Headspace and Insight Timer.

Must say i am very pleased with their free Primes, and also consideration of purchasing their Pro.

Answer

Headspace is an application that teaches its users to meditate. It contains a set of guided meditations – audio instructions that accompany the user during meditation and help to concentrate. The Headspace has a free base course for 10 days, and a huge selection of meditations on all occasions, but they are available only by subscription. Overall, this app is a great tool for those who want to incorporate meditation into their life, reduce overall stress levels and improve mental health.

Mark Jordan · Answer

Fantastic app, really has helped me improve my state of mind!