The fast-paced world where almost everyone is stuck in a cycle controlled by capitalism faces a plethora of challenges every day. Physical health and mental health getting bad are a couple of examples of these challenges.
The report by theĀ National Library of Medicine (NLM)Ā department of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) mentions that mental health disorders have a lifetime prevalence ranging between 12% to 47.4% million globally.
These disorders impact the mental health of millions of people around the world making healthcare organizations and experts overburdened.
And it is also a dark reality that mental health is still an ongoing topic and across many regions, there are not enough resources to help people keep their minds healthy.
Thankfully, the advancement of technology has brought some comforting options into existence that are helping in bridging gaps between users and mental health assistance. For instance, Calm, one of the most popular mental health apps existing in the current market.
But before we move further and dive into the in-depth Calm app review, we have a few stats to share to show you the position ofĀ top mental health appsĀ in the industry.
Top mental health apps statistics
To get a deeper look into the position ofĀ mental health appsĀ in the current market, here are some important mental health app statistics that can help:
- AĀ DeloitteĀ report suggested, in 2022, the global mental health app market spending valued at $500 million
- The growth rate predicted by Deloitte was 20% for 2022 compared to the actual 32% growth rate in 2019 and 2020
- As per aĀ Grand View ResearchĀ report, the mental health apps market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.9% between 2023 to 2030. In 2022, the mental health apps market was valued at $5.2 billion.
- As per aĀ StatistaĀ report, the Calm app generated $22.54 million in the first quarter of 2023 in revenues generated by in-app purchases
Where does the Calm app stand in all this?
- As per aĀ StatistaĀ report, in the Q1 and Q2 of 2020, the Calm app was downloaded 9.36 and 9.54 million times respectively
- Calm witnessed a 66% rise in its revenue in 2021 generating $330 million
- CalmĀ has organized over 8 funding rounds raising $218 million in overall. The last funding was raised on Feb 05, 2021
Calmās story
The Calm app was launched in 2012 with the purpose to make this world mentally healthier. Michael Acton Smith and Alex Tew are two geniuses credited for building this one of the most loved mental health solutions.
The saga of building the Calm app has some interesting phases. Acton Smith, one of the co-founders of the Calm app was bored of his regular jobs after he graduated from the University in Birmingham, England.
So, he and a friend of his decided to build a business that sold toys and gadgets on the Internet. Later on, Acton moved to another business venture that focused on a real-world scavenger hunt video game.
Acton started leaving clues for the scavenger hunt in the form of classified newspaper ads and hired actors that he planted on the streets. But as he says himself, the business idea turned out to be completely bonkers.
The next brainchild of Acton was another game with similarities to Tomagotchi but in the online form. The game was called Moshi Monsters and soon attracted 80 million registrations making it valued at $200 million.
Creating and managing businesses impacted the mental health of Acton making him feel stressed and burned out. However, he was not sure about tactics like 10-minute meditation that could help him tackle his mental health issues.
But his curiosity triggered a research of mental health assistance by Acton making him see meditation as a form of neuroscience. And that became the reason behind the birth of Calm which Acton decided to create with his friend.
After creating the Calm mental health service, Acton and Alex Tew (co-founders of Calm) relocated to California in their hunt of looking for a more open-minded market for mental health compared to the UK.
For almost five years, Calm struggled due to bigger competitors in existence like Headspace. But by 2019, a major investment led Calm to value at $1 billion.
Features of the Calm app
Now, weāre all aware of the wonders of meditation. And what could be better than having an app that makes us sit down and calm our minds; an app that we can use to sleep peacefully at night, all stress-free?
Calm is one of theĀ best free meditation appsĀ that can help you meditate and sleep better through its various programs and sessions.
Calm promises to lower stress, decrease anxiety, and give more restful sleep with its sleep stories, guided meditations, calming sleep music, and breathing programs. Moreover, all these programs are certified and recommended by top psychologists, therapists, and mental health experts.
For beginners and advanced users alike, it caters to your needs with its dedicated programs and sessions, varying in length to 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 minutes. So, you can choose the meditation length as per your schedule.
- Change your life with meditation
One of the very first Calm app features, that we need to discuss in this Calm app review is its range of meditations. There are helpful tags that you get under the Meditation category of the Calm app like All, Anxiety, Stress, Self-care, Kids, Inner Peace, etc.
Once you pick the tag that defines your meditation requirements better, click on it to find a range of guided meditations. Some guided meditations are free while others are locked under a Calm subscription.
Calmās mediation feature has been praised by thousands of users in Calm app reviews posted on app stores like the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
- Bedtime stories for everyone
You can feel the calming impact of bedtime stories that the Calm app features in its app. These stories are tagged with categories as well; for instance, Fiction, Sleep Stories for Kids, Trains, Celebrated Voices, Non-fiction Sleep Stories, and more.
To dictate stories under the Celebrated Voices, the Calm app features popular celebrities like Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Kirby, Harry Styles, ROSĆ, Matthew McConaughey, and more.
- Masterclasses organized by meditation gurus
Calm app features masters of meditation from around the world to organize expert masterclasses. The feature that you will find people appreciating in Calm app reviews is the appās ability toĀ keep videos safe offline. To guide you through the meditation, the app has Calm subscription packages that cover exclusive content.
- Calming music to help you relax
The music that you hear can be a great impact on your mood and experts at Calm understand it. So, the Calm app features a range of music that can shift your mood for good. The categories included in the music section of this one of theĀ soothing music appsĀ are Healing Piano, Cascade Falls, Lindsey Stirling: Lunar Lullaby, Calming Thoughts, Campfire, Quietness, and more.
The Calm subscription features a great range of music that you can unlock for a greater range of choices.
- Offers support for the digital watch as well
Another impressive feature that Calm app reviews are found to commonly appreciate is its ability to support digital watches. The Calm can be accessed without using a smartphone if you have it installed on your smartwatch.
Play music, meditations, change songs, control playbacks of sleep stories, and more using your smartwatch for greater comfort.
- Track the daily progress of your mental health
To ensure your mental health is progressing, you need to keep it in check, and you can do that by using the Calm app. While using the Calm app features to boost your mental health, you can track how much progress you are making using an in-depth mood tracker of the app. The Calm app comes with a smart analytical graph that shows the progress you are making.
- Comes with a daily streak as well
Using the Calm app, you get to maintain a daily streak that shows for how many days you are regularly using the app. Maintaining these daily streaks is a reflection of the efforts you are making to feel better.
If you are consulting a specialist that has recommended the app, using daily streaks you can show that you are taking care of yourself mentally and physically and the Calm app has been helpful throughout the process.
How to use the Calm app?
The Calm app features one of the easiest UI/UX designs to make usersā journeys easier. However, if you are a new Calm app user, you can simply refer to this guide on how to use the Calm app to start using the app.
- Download the Calm app from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store
- Click on Get Started
- Pick a preference What can we help you with. Your options are:
- Relieve my stress and anxiety
- Improve my sleep
- Learn mindful habits
- Deepen my practice
- Not sure
- For instance, if you choose Relieve my stress and anxiety, the screen will remain blue
- Click on the Continue button to land on the page with sign-up options
- You can sign up with Google, Facebook, or your Email address
- For users that are already registered, there is a Login screen at the bottom of screen
- Once signed up, you will see a screen explaining Calm subscription plans
- You can try the Calm app free for 7-days but will have to register a subscription payment option to continue
- Or, you can click on the Cross sign on the top left to move to the next screen
- If there is any offer on subscription packages, you will get to see that offer on this screen
- Once on the next screen, you will get another question How many times a week do you want to destress? Your options are:
- Once
- A few times
- Every day
- Not sure
- Pick an option and on the next screen, Allow or Donāt allow Notifications
- Now you have to answer the question How did you hear about Calm? Pick one of these options:
- Podcast ad
- TV Ad
- My employer
- Therapist or health professional
- Friend or family
- Social media or online Ad
- Article or blog
- App Store or Google
- Billboard
- Other
- Now you will land on the Homepage of the Calm app
- On the Homepage, you can pick a mood to answer the question How are you feeling to start recording your mood
- You will also recommendations like the Meditation exercises and Courses that you can directly access from this screen
- The Discover page lets you search using the topic, title, narrator, or artist to help you find the helpful content
- If you want to see Premium features of the Calm app, you can do that by clicking on the fourth option at the bottom right corner part of the screen called Premium ā
- The Profile screen of the lets you keep a track of your progress. You get details like:
- Number of days since you have been a Calm app user
- The Longest streak that you maintained
- How many Mindful Minutes have you spent
- How many sessions have you explored
- Dates of your streaks
- Library of the content that you played recently, marked favorite, and added to your collection, etc
- History of the content that you have accessed along with their respective dates when you used the content
- Some additional Check-Ins data is provided as well. For instance, the Mood Check-in, Gratitude Check-in, Daily Calm Reflection, and Sleep Check-in
Tip: Start with 3-5 minutes daily and gradually increase it to 8-15 minutes. The guided programs of this relaxation app will help you achieve your targets easily.
How does the Calm app make money?
The Calm app follows a freemium business model to keep users engaged. It provides some content free and some exclusively under Calm subscription packages to help users. Here are some sources from where the Calm app makes money:
Calm subscriptions:Ā Calm subscription costs are categorized into three sections for individuals, family members, and employees of organizations.
- Calm Individual Plans: Calm offers a subscription package to its users along with a 7-day free trial. The monthly Calm subscription costs $49.99 per month while the Life package costs $399. You can buy the Calm for Life package once and use it forever without having to pay a renewal fee.
- Calm Family Plans– The Calm Family Plan costs $99.99 per year + applicable taxes
- Calm Team Plans– The Calm Team Plan starts with a minimum of 5 people and can go as high as 100 people. However, you can contact Calm salespeople as well if you like to purchase Calm subscriptions for more people.
Notable features of the Calm Premium pack:
- An original Daily Calm every day;
- Over 100 guided calming meditations covering anxiety, focus, stress, and more;
- Library of Sleep Stories, with new stories, added every week;
- Calming music for stress, Relaxation, and Sleep, with new music, added weekly;
- Calm Masterclasses lessons by world-renowned experts;
- Access to all Calm Body programs
Featured Calm app reviews
The Calm app has received some amazing reviews on app stores like the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. At the time of writing this Calm app review, there are over 522k reviews posted on the Google Play Store maintaining a 4.3-star rating out of 5.
On the Apple App Store, the average rating is 4.8 stars out of 5 stars. This rating is an average of 1.6 million ratings making Calm one of the highest-ratedĀ mental health appsĀ out there.
Here are some featured Calm app reviews to give you a sample of its popularity:
āThis is no joke. Hands down the best app out there for “calming” the mind. So many sounds to choose from. I just put it on and it takes me on a journey. The music this app has. It makes you feel like you’re present at a different location (use your imagination when you listen to music). Really good! Some might even get addicted. If you’re feeling sad, if you’re feeling happy, if you need some motivation or even some stress relaxation this app works for everything!ā
-Review posted on the Google Play Store
āI got this app when I started a new job/new career and was experiencing a lot of stress and anxiety. It definitely helped me through those first few months with different programs, soothing music to start the day, and guided meditations to help me fall asleep at night…there is so much material there for stress, anxiety, depression, etc. Most meditations are short enough to start the day off right or provide quick anxiety relief at lunch-time, or even during a 10 mn break. I highly recommend it!ā
-Review posted on the Google Play Store
āIām generally wary of meditation apps because they sometimes weave in too much mystic talk for my taste. But Calm instead contains guidance like āConcentrate on your bodyāā
– New York Times
āIn the frenetic, crazy, digital world we live in, sometimes it’s necessary to take a step back and smell the rosesā
– Mashable
Calm competitors
The journey of the Calm app has not been a cozy one thanks to its major competitors like Headspace which were existing in the market already where Calm was introduced. However, asĀ SensorTowerĀ statistics show, Calm dominated the English-Language Mental Wellness Apps category for April 2020 in terms of downloads.
Calm maintained the first position in Global Downloads, United States Downloads, and Great Britain Downloads as well. However, the race between Headspace and Calm was close and its other competitors were Meditopia and Reflectly.
- Headspace– Headspace is a subsidiary company of Headspace Health. The company was initially founded in 2010 and has been a dominating mental wellness app in the target market. The app is used in 190 countries and has over 70 million users worldwide.
- Meditopia– The company originated in 2017 and has a user network spread across 120 countries. Meditopia offers a range of mental wellness solutions and specializes in one-to-one coaching sessions to help people feel better. There are sleep stories, natural sounds, daily motivational quotes, and other such tools included in the mental health app.
- Reflectly– This Calm competitor is a smart journal app where users can safely vent out their inner thoughts and feelings. The AI in Reflectly helps users tackle negative thoughts and find a more positive mindset to become happier and healthier. Recording a journal on Reflectly daily helps you find out the source that triggered your mood.
Specifications of the Calm app
Our Calm app review
If you are stuck with your absurd office life and need some space to breathe, Calm is one of the best meditation apps that will give you some peace of mind. It starts with an introductory 7-day program, which later includes statistics and meditation tracking, along with optional daily reminders.
The other fascinating fact about this amazing app is its customizable audio and visual cues to support relaxation. If this doesnāt suffice, there is a complete curriculum, including stories, to help sleep like a baby.
However, it does cost a bit more than other similar productive apps, but it really depends upon the user what all features and functionalities they want from the app. Also, to access content beyond introductory sessions, you need to shell out some coins!
Then again, the results depend upon the userās commitment and adherence to the programs.
Calm, the best meditation music app, does call for attention. All thanks to its innovative and exciting features. To summarize in short what you can expect from the Calm app, here are a few topics covered by the mental health app:
The meditation topics of Calm include:
- Calming Anxiety
- Managing Stress
- Deep Sleep
- Focus and Concentration
- Relationships
- Breaking Habits and more.
Once you get started with this relaxing app, you can track your progress with:
- Daily streaks
- Time spent meditating
Since this Calm app review was written after having gone through thousands of user feedback, we can assure you that this app will surely help you in some way or the other. So, if you are considering the Calm app, you should go for it.
App Download Links
