Comparison

Calm vs The Tapping Solution

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Calm

This app offers guided meditations, sleep stories, music, and breathing exercises to help users reduce stress, anxiety, and improve sleep. It caters to all experience levels, integrating mindfulness into daily routines for enhanced mental well-being.

Highlights
  • Guided meditations
  • Sleep Stories
  • Breathwork exercises
  • Relaxing music
  • Stretching exercises
  • Mindfulness programs
Features
Read full description

Calm is the #1 app for sleep, meditation, and relaxation. Find anxiety relief, stress relief, and better sleep through breathing exercises, sleep sounds, deep sleep music, and mindfulness programs for insomnia, beginner meditation, and beyond. Downloaded by 180 million people worldwide. Fall asleep faster with Sleep Stories, bedtime stories for adults narrated by Matthew McConaughey, Stephen Fry, P\!nk, Bob Ross, and more. Only on Calm. Manage stress, relieve anxiety, improve your sleep cycle, and refocus your attention. Apple App of the Year. Apple Editors' Choice. Happiest App in the World (Center for Humane Technology). 3M+ five-star reviews. Recommended by top psychologists, therapists, and mental health experts. SLEEP STORIES — ONLY ON CALM * Drift off to Matthew McConaughey's Wonder — a dreamy journey through the mysteries of the universe * Travel through the village of Provence with master storyteller Stephen Fry in Blue Gold * Fall asleep to the soothing brush strokes of beloved painter Bob Ross in Happy Little Zzzs * Tackle insomnia with 100+ exclusive Sleep Stories, new content added every month MEDITATION & MINDFULNESS * Beginner meditation to advanced practice — guided sessions for every experience level * Daily Calm with Tamara Levitt, Daily Jay with Jay Shetty, Daily Trip with Jeff Warren * Mindfulness topics: deep sleep, anxiety relief, stress relief, focus, breaking habits, self-care, personal growth, and more * 7- and 21-day mindfulness programs to build a lasting practice ANXIETY RELIEF & RELAXATION * Breathing exercises and breathwork to ease anxiety, stress, and insomnia * Bilateral stimulation music and neuroacoustic sounds for nervous system regulation and somatic relaxation * Guided breathwork for stress relief, anxiety relief, and deep calm * Stress management and self-healing through Dailies: programs for social anxiety, personal growth, and mood balance * Mindful movement and stretching with Daily Move SLEEP SOUNDS, MUSIC & SOUNDSCAPES * Calming music, nature sounds, and sleep sounds: ocean waves, heavy rain, campfire, and more * Exclusive focus and sleep music from top artists * Full soundscapes and sleep sounds to help you relax, meditate, and sleep soundly ALSO FEATURING * Daily Streaks & Mindful Minutes — emotion and mental health tracker * Calm saves your meditation and sleep sessions to your Apple Health app. Mental health is health. Calm is for anyone looking to improve their sleep, manage stress, and address everyday anxiety. Meditation novice or seasoned expert. Take a deep breath and find your Calm. Calm is free to download and use. There are never any ads and some of the programs and features are free forever. Some content is only available through an optional paid subscription. Be sure to check out our Apple Watch app to quick-start breathing exercises and track your meditations. Subscription pricing and terms: Calm offers an auto-renewing monthly subscription at $14.99/month and an auto-renewing yearly subscription at $69.99/year to provide you with unlimited access to the Calm Collection while you maintain an active subscription. Payment will be charged to the credit card connected to your iTunes Account when you confirm the initial subscription purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current subscription period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and the cost of the renewal will be identified. You may manage your subscription and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to your Account Settings after the purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription, where applicable. Read more about our terms and conditions here: Terms of service: https://www.calm.com/terms Privacy policy: https://www.calm.com/privacy

About

The Tapping Solution

Learn Tapping (EFT) techniques to reduce stress, anxiety, and pain, and improve sleep. Access hundreds of guided meditations for lasting results in areas like emotional release, physical discomfort, and women's health.

Highlights
  • Stress and anxiety reduction
  • Pain relief meditations
  • Sleep improvement techniques
  • Emotional release exercises
  • Support for specific health concerns
  • Meditations for various life stages and professions
Features
Read full description

Lower your stress levels, reduce anxiety, overcome fears, relieve pain, get better sleep, and so much more. All made possible with access to hundreds of meditations in the Tapping Solution App. You'll learn how to use Tapping (also known as EFT, or Emotional Freedom Techniques), to lead a happier and healthier life. Over 15 million sessions completed so far, ranging in length from 2 minutes (a quick session) to 20 minutes (to guide your deeper work). "Like someone turned off the anxiety switch." - Debbie, App member "This is one of the most calming and tools in my mindfulness toolkit." -App member "I'm 46 and struggled with a racing mind at bedtime and anxiety my whole life. I'm shocked that as I do this before sleep, I feel like I got the deep, restorative sleep my body with fibromyalgia needs to heal." -Susie, App member Tapping has also been recommended by top doctors, therapists, psychologists, personal development experts, and mental health experts including Mark Hyman, M.D., Tony Robbins, Ruth Buczynski, Ph.D., Dawson Church, Ph.D., Brendon Burchard, Eric Leskowitz, M.D., and many others! Clinical Research About The App Published in A Top-Tier Journal: A recent study conducted on the Tapping Solution App's effectiveness of immediate reduction of psychological distress concluded that there was statistically significant reduction in the emotional intensity ratings between the start and end of sessions for stress and anxiety sessions, thus offering preliminary evidence on the immediate effects of The Tapping Solution App in reducing psychological distress. Follow along effortlessly with Meditations designed for you to get lasting results. Topics include: * Lowering stress about: family, finances, health, work, the world & more * Sleep support for: insomnia, fall asleep faster, quiet your racing mind & more * Releasing emotions such as: anger, anxiety, fear, grief, guilt, sadness, self-doubt, shame & more * Relief from pain such as: arthritis, back pain, cancer pain, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, headaches, knee pain, neck pain, sciatic pain & more * Supporting your body in healing from: allergies, colds, high blood pressure, inflammation, indigestion, tinnitus, TMJ & more * Women's health support for: early motherhood, fertility, IVF, menopause, pregnancy & more * Weight loss & body confidence support for: critical self-talk, eliminating cravings, getting back on track & more * Support for children, military/veterans & teachers. Subscription Pricing and Terms: Auto-renewing monthly subscription & auto-renewing yearly subscriptions are offered, both of which allow full access to all content for as long as you maintain an active subscription. A lifetime subscription, which is a one-time-only payment, is also offered, giving unlimited access to all of the content inside the app forever. Prices are set in US dollars. Pricing in other countries may vary and actual charges may be converted to your local currency depending on your country. Payment will be charged to the credit card connected to your iTunes account at the time of the initial subscription purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current subscription period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period end date, and the cost of the renewal will be listed. You can manage your subscription and auto-renewal can be turned off by going to your Account Settings after the purchase. The information presented in this app, including introducing EFT Tapping is not intended to represent that Tapping is used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or psychological disorder. Tapping is not a substitute for medical or psychological treatment. We strongly advise that you seek professional advice as appropriate before making any health decision. Read more about the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy here: https://bit.ly/2UFLd02

Screenshots

Calm4 screens
The Tapping Solution4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Calm at free with in-app purchases against The Tapping Solution's subscription. Calm also leads on ratings volume (2M vs 24K) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks). The Tapping Solution's advantage is review sentiment (85% vs 64%) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Calm sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month and The Tapping Solution sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Calm against 4.8 for The Tapping Solution. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calm has 2M ratings behind it against 24K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 64% of Calm's written reviews are positive against 85% of The Tapping Solution's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Calm ships an update every 4 days, The Tapping Solution every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Calm versus The Tapping Solution: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalmThe Tapping Solution
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (2M ratings)4.8 (24K ratings)
Positive reviews64.1% of reviews84.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2M — better24K
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#9 — better#96
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size167 MB161 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCalm.comThe Tapping Solution, LLC

Customer experience

Calm

All ratings1,981,815 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral2.6%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews3,855 reviews
Positive64.1%
Neutral7.5%
Negative28.4%

The Tapping Solution

All ratings23,688 ratings
Positive96.5%
Neutral1.4%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews710 reviews
Positive84.5%
Neutral2.7%
Negative12.8%

User reviews

Calm

From 2M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💤 Helpful for sleep
  • 🧘‍♀️ Effective for meditation and relaxation
  • 🎨 Variety of content (sleep stories, meditations, music)
  • 🙏 Positive impact on mental health
  • 🤗 Soothing narrators

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription
  • 🔒 Limited free content
  • 🕰️ Difficulty finding specific content
  • 🔁 Repetitive sleep stories
  • 🙃 Accessibility issues for disabled users

The Tapping Solution

From 24K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Awesome App
  • 🚀 Regular use for more than two years!
  • 🚀 Outstanding
  • 🚀 Love this App
  • 🚀 Tapping brings me Peace

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Expensive!!!
  • 🐛 Not happy
  • 🐛 Dangerous negative messages
  • 🐛 Disappointing.
  • 🐛 Wish I could hear it better

Bugs and requests

Calm

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes or freezes
  • Playback issues with audio and video
  • Difficulty cancelling subscription

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add repeat button for sleep stories
  • Separate kids and adult content
  • Allow creating custom playlists
  • Improve search and navigation
  • Add more diverse narrator voices
Show 1 more
  • Provide text-based instructions for techniques

The Tapping Solution

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • New update affects downloaded category
  • Immediate turn off win $100 flashes up in your face

Requested features

2 requests
  • Language
  • Wish I could hear it better

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Calm

Subscriptions8
  • Calm Subscription$14.991 Month
  • Calm Premium$14.991 Month
  • Calm Premium$16.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Calm Premium$29.991 Month
  • Calm Premium$69.991 Year
  • Calm Premium7 Days trial2 variants$69.991 Year
  • Calm Premium7 Days trial3 variants$79.991 Year
  • Calm Premium$79.991 Year
10 purchases

The Tapping Solution

Subscriptions9
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Monthly Subscription$11.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$11.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription14 Days trial$67.991 Year
  • Yearly Subscription$94.991 Year
  • Yearly Subscription14 Days trial3 variants$94.991 Year
  • Yearly Subscription1 Month trial$94.991 Year
  • Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$94.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Subscription$399.99

Questions

Is Calm free?
Calm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Tapping Solution free?
The Tapping Solution is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Calm or The Tapping Solution?
Calm and The Tapping Solution are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2M and 24K ratings respectively.
Do Calm or The Tapping Solution have ads?
Both Calm and The Tapping Solution show ads.
Which is updated more often, Calm or The Tapping Solution?
Calm ships an update every 4 days, and The Tapping Solution every 3 weeks. Most recently, Calm was updated on September 24, 2026 and The Tapping Solution on September 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, Calm or The Tapping Solution?
Calm currently peaks at #9 in the App Store charts, and The Tapping Solution at #96. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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