Comparison

Calm vs Calming Sounds

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

Calming Sounds

Discover a curated collection of sounds designed to aid meditation, promote relaxation, and eliminate distractions. Enjoy nature, water, white noise, Zen, and LoFi beats. Set a timer for continuous playback, even with your screen locked.

Highlights
  • Nature sounds
  • Water sounds
  • White noise
  • Zen sounds
  • LoFi beats
  • Sleep timer
  • Background playback
Features
Read full description

*No In App Purchases*  Calming Sounds is a collections of sounds to help you meditate, relax or free you from distraction. Sounds of: Nature Water White Noise Zen LoFi Beats Spend less time finding your sound and more time relaxing. Set the timer and your chosen sound will continue playing even when you lock your phone. This app is great with headphones when your in a noisy environment and you want to enjoy some calm and its great for falling asleep to. Enjoy some white noise. If you have a baby that needs it or if its what you need, we have some here.

Screenshots

Calm4 screens
Calming Sounds4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Calming Sounds at none against Calm's 12. Calming Sounds also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (79% vs 64%). Calm's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (2M vs 1.3K). On price, rating and device support 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. Calming Sounds asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Calm against 4.7 for Calming Sounds. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calm has 2M ratings behind it against 1.3K, 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 79% of Calming Sounds's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Calm ships an update every 4 days, Calming Sounds every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Calm versus Calming Sounds: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalmCalming Sounds
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (2M ratings) — better4.7 (1.3K ratings)
Positive reviews63.9% of reviews78.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2M — better1.3K
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#6 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size167 MB193 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCalm.comGurmokh Sangha

Customer experience

Calm

All ratings1,981,815 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral2.6%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews3,923 reviews
Positive63.9%
Neutral7.5%
Negative28.6%

Calming Sounds

All ratings1,293 ratings
Positive93.7%
Neutral4.0%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews42 reviews
Positive78.6%
Neutral4.8%
Negative16.7%

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

Calming Sounds

From 1.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Calming and relaxing sounds
  • 🙌 No ads or in-app purchases
  • 💤 Helps with sleep and relaxation
  • 🎶 Wide variety of sound options
  • 🕰️ Ability to set timers for sounds

Room to improve

  • 🔇 Limited sound selection
  • ⏱️ 10-minute playback limit
  • 🔀 Inconsistent sound playback
  • 🔍 Lack of advanced features

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

Calming Sounds

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Sounds randomly stopping during playback
  • Compatibility issues with older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • More sound options (e.g., brown noise, binaural beats)
  • Ability to customize timer duration
  • Background playback without time limits
  • Additional music and ambient sound choices

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
None

Calming Sounds

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Calm free?
Calm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Calming Sounds free?
Calming Sounds is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Calm or Calming Sounds?
Calm is rated higher. Calm averages 4.8 out of 5 from 2M ratings, while Calming Sounds averages 4.7 from 1.3K ratings.
Do Calm or Calming Sounds have ads?
Calm shows ads; Calming Sounds does not.
Which is updated more often, Calm or Calming Sounds?
Calm ships an update every 4 days, and Calming Sounds every 3 months. Most recently, Calm was updated on September 29, 2026 and Calming Sounds on September 27, 2026.

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