Comparison

Calm vs Buddhify

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. 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

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Calm4 screens
Buddhify4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

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 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Calm versus Buddhify: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalmBuddhify
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.8 (2M ratings) — better4.8 (6.2K ratings)
Positive reviews64.1% of reviews — better57.5% of reviews
Number of ratings2M — better6.2K
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#5 — better#94
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size173 MB622 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCalm.comCELESTIAN GOLDEN APPS

Customer experience

Calm

All ratings1,990,470 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral2.6%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews4,267 reviews
Positive64.1%
Neutral7.5%
Negative28.5%

Buddhify

All ratings6,155 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral2.0%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews428 reviews
Positive57.5%
Neutral8.6%
Negative33.9%

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

Buddhify

From 6.2K App Store ratings

What 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
Show 1 more
  • 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

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 trial2 variants$79.991 Year
  • Calm Premium$79.991 Year
1 purchases

Buddhify

Subscriptions1
  • Buddhify Membership (optional)$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Calm free?
Calm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Buddhify free?
Buddhify costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Calm or Buddhify?
Calm is rated higher. Calm averages 4.8 out of 5 from 2M ratings, while Buddhify averages 4.8 from 6.2K ratings.
Do Calm or Buddhify have ads?
Calm shows ads; Buddhify does not.
Which is updated more often, Calm or Buddhify?
Calm ships an update every 5 days, and Buddhify every 4 weeks. Most recently, Calm was updated on November 6, 2026 and Buddhify on November 1, 2026.
Which is more popular, Calm or Buddhify?
Calm currently peaks at #5 in the App Store charts, and Buddhify at #94. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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