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.

Jenny La · Answer

This app is not made for only meditation tracking. But also other activities and habits.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

Aleksandra · Answer

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

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

William · Answer

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Answer

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

Mark Jordan · Answer

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

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.

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.

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.

Duarte Martins · Answer

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

Drew Bedard · Answer

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

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.