Calm vs Buddhify
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Guided meditations
- Sleep Stories
- Breathwork exercises
- Relaxing music
- Stretching exercises
- Mindfulness programs
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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. Calm offers an auto-renewing subscription 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
Buddhify
This app offers guided meditations to reduce stress, anxiety, and improve sleep. It provides exercises for various situations, from work breaks to bedtime, helping users find calm and clarity throughout their day.
- Over 200 guided meditations
- Mindfulness exercises for any situation
- Sessions for beginners and experienced users
- Solo meditation timer
- Kids meditation content
- Integration with Apple Health
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Buddhify is here to help you bring more calm, clarity and kindness to all parts of your life. Whether you're looking to reduce stress and anxiety, or get a better night's sleep buddhify has easy-to-follow guided meditations to help you live happier and healthier. No need to find the time for a formal meditation session everyday, we'll show you how to bring mindfulness to all parts of your life with exercises for whatever you're doing and wherever you are - from travelling, taking a break at work or going to sleep. We'll help you find calm in any situation. WHAT'S INCLUDED? - Over 200 meditations to help overcome life's challenges including anxiety, stress, sleep, pain and difficult emotions - Mindfulness exercises you can do wherever you are, in categories such as travelling, at work, waking up, eating, and even when you're online - Sessions for complete beginners and those with more experience, with lengths from 3-40 minutes - A solo timer for more seasoned meditators - A range of experienced teachers so you can choose the voice and style that's right for you - Kids content for the little people in your life - Brand new buddhify Membership available as an optional in-app purchase with a range of additional features for those looking to take their meditation practice further Buddhify integrates with Apple Health so you can track your meditation using the Mindful Minutes category within the Health app. BUDDHIFY MEMBERSHIP For those of you who want to deepen your practice even further, you can do that through Buddhify Membership. Becoming a Member is optional and gives you access to three amazing features: Together, Formal and the karaoke-style Transmission. Buddhify Membership is an annual subscription and payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period and your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. TERMS OF USE & PRIVACY You can see our terms of use at https://buddhify.com/terms-of-use/ and our privacy policy at https://buddhify.com/privacy-policy/. WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING This app is incredible. I've been trying to get into meditation for a while now and I've found other apps or videos I've tried have been repetitive or not very good. The meditations on here are so easy to follow and the app is very user friendly. I'm always sceptical about spending money on apps but this one is so worth it. ****** I have used many meditation apps but like this one best because it offers a variety of guided meditations to use in different situations or for different purposes. They vary in the amount of time required so the app is very flexible. I also like the stats which encourage you to practice regularly. Plus I can add meditation that I do outside of the app and track that too. I highly recommend whether you are a beginner or an experienced meditator. ***** HERE TO HELP Buddhify is made by a values-led family business and we love hearing from you. Your feedback, suggestions and comments make all the hard work feel so worthwhile and makes the app better as we continue to make buddhify as effective, accessible and beautiful as it can be. Say hello@buddhify.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Calm at Free against Buddhify's $4.99. Calm also leads on ratings volume (2M vs 6.2K) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 4 weeks). Buddhify's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 18.0). On rating, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Calm is free to download; Buddhify costs $4.99 up front. Calm sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month and Buddhify sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $29.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Calm against 4.8 for Buddhify. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calm has 2M ratings behind it against 6.2K, 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 57% of Buddhify's.
Calm ships an update every 5 days, Buddhify every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Calm | Buddhify |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (2M ratings) — better | 4.8 (6.2K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 64.1% of reviews — better | 57.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2M — better | 6.2K |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #5 — better | #94 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 173 MB | 622 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Calm.com | CELESTIAN GOLDEN APPS |
Customer experience
Calm
Buddhify
User reviews
Calm
From 2M App Store ratingsWhat 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
Buddhify
From 6.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🌟 Excellent meditation app
- 👍 Variety of meditations for different situations
- 💰 One-time payment, no subscription
- 🧘♀️ Helps with anxiety, stress, and sleep
- 🎨 Customizable wheel of meditations
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent bugs and glitches
- ⏱️ Slow to load and open the app
- 🔇 Lack of background music or nature sounds
- 🙄 Some voices/narrators not preferred by users
- 🤔 Difficulty navigating between kid and adult wheels
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
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- Provide text-based instructions for techniques
Buddhify
Reported bugs
5 issues- Meditations not downloading or playing
- Frequent crashes and error messages
- Inability to log in or access account
- Wheels not loading or updating properly
- Syncing issues between devices
Requested features
5 requests- Apple Watch integration
- Ability to create playlists of meditations
- More advanced/longer meditation options
- Improved offline functionality
- Better support and communication from developers
In-app purchases
Calm
- Calm Subscription$14.991 Month
- Calm Premium$14.991 Month
- Calm Premium$16.991 Month
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Calm Premium$29.991 Month
- Calm Premium$69.991 Year
- Calm Premium7 Days trial2 variants$69.991 Year
- Calm Premium7 Days trial2 variants$79.991 Year
- Calm Premium$79.991 Year
Buddhify
- Buddhify Membership (optional)$29.991 Year









