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Best Meditation Apps for Your Buck 2021
Meditation is one of the best ways to connect to yourself, but how much should you budget for a quality practice? These are our favorite apps for your practice, no matter your experience level.

Best Free and Paid Options for All Levels
- Price: One week free, then $59.99/year
- Most meditations are free, but when you upgrade you get to enhance your practice with premium access to longer courses
- The ability to pick up a meditation or course where you left off
- Offline downloads (which makes it great for travel)
- It has the most meditations out of every app tested
- Options for both beginners and advanced practitioners
- Spiritual AND “escape from everyday life” type meditations, so it’s good for people of all walks of life
- Free live yoga classes
Perfect App for Helping You Grow Into Your Best You
Why we chose Simple Habit:
- Price: free for one week, then $89.99/year (definitely one of the more expensive ones)
- Choose from longer-term programs such as “30 Days To Boost Positive Thinking,” or shorter ones like, “Healthy Couples,” which is 7 sessions of 5 minutes each
- It offers yoga classes for beginners as well as meditation
- Easy to navigate
- Option to download for offline with Premium
- They offer both life coaching and meditation
- Great app to help you grow as a person through meditation
- Good for beginners. Not a lot of advanced practices, but they do have a course on deepening your practice.
The Mindful App for Beginners and Growers
- Price: Free for one week, then $58.99/year
- Have both beginner and advanced practices, so it’s a good app for anyone
- 8D sound healing
- Has the option for unguided meditations
- Breathwork exercises
- Lots of mindfulness techniques that weren’t as prominent on other apps
- Easy to follow meditation style
Everything We Recommend
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Our Pick* Apps of the Year Winner - TIME magazine and Womens Health *
* Happiest App in the World - Tristan Harris *
The number 1 free meditation app. Guided meditations, sleep music tracks and talks led by the top meditation and mindfulness experts, neuroscientists, psychologists and teachers from Stanford, Harvard, the University of Oxford and more. Music tracks from world-renowned artists. Join millions learning to meditate on Insight Timer to help calm the mind, reduce anxiety, manage stress, and sleep deeply.
With 100+ new free guided meditations and sleep tracks added daily, more meditation is practiced on Insight Timer than anywhere else. Great for both beginners and experienced practitioners.
FREE FEATURES:
* 75,000+ guided meditations
* Select by time for short meditations when on the go, helping you to build a simple daily habit
* Thousands of music tracks and ambient sounds to calm the mind, focus, sleep better and relax
* Customizable meditation Timer
* Follow your favourite teachers
* Thousands of discussion groups
* Stats and milestones for tracking your progress
SLEEP FOR INSIGHT TIMER
Struggling with insomnia? Can't get a restful night's sleep? Want to learn how to sleep better? Insight timer offers thousands of free music tracks, meditations and stories to help you get a better night's sleep. Create the best environment for sleep and rest through meditation, there's something for everyone.
Sleep for insight timer features:
* Sleep Music
* Soundscapes
* Bedtime tales
* Sleep Meditations
* Sleep mode for all music
Sleep for insight timer also offers meditation courses for sleep. Improve your relationship with rest and sleep through the night with a number of courses that teach you how to: Sleep effortlessly, overcoming insomnia, Redefining approach to sleep, sleep with meditation and much more.
Browse popular topics including:
* Sleep deeply
* Dealing with Anxiety and Reducing Stress
* Getting through Recovery and Addictions
* Self-love and Compassion
* Focus and Concentration
* Leadership
* Better Relationships
* Loving-Kindness
Join 8000+ leading meditation teachers, musicians and sleep experts.
Practice the following meditation types:
* Secular Mindfulness
* Yoga Nidra
* Mindful Sleep
* Buddhist Mindfulness
* Zen
* Insight Meditation
* Vipassana
* MBSR
* Walking Meditation
* Breathing Meditation
* Kundalini Yoga
* Metta
* Advaita Vedanta
* And many more..
Join groups for:
* Beginners Meditation
* Sleep Meditation
* Poetry
* Atheism
* Christianity
* Hinduism
* Transcendental Meditation
* And many more..
PAID FEATURE - INSIGHT PREMIUM MEDITATION
We have one optional in-app subscription.
* Courses - Help you sleep better, feel happier and less stressed
* Listen offline (Listen to meditation and sleep music offline)
* Advanced Player (Repeat, Fast forward and Rewind, Pick-up where you left off)
* Sleep mode - Once the track is finished and you’re asleep we’ll lock your device
* High-Quality audioCostFreeFreeIn-App Purchases$1.99 - $59.99 per item$1.99 - $59.99 per item -
Runner UpSimple Habit is #1 app for your wellness & sleep recommended by top psychologists, therapists and mental health experts. Try Simple Habit for free today and join over 5 million people on this life-changing journey. Sleep better and be happier in your life, marriage, parenthood, work, and health.
Our wellness & sleep therapy sessions offer guided mindfulness & meditation, daily motivation, guided sleep sessions and coaching by world-renowned experts, personalized for the way you live your life. We’ll help you feel less stressed, get better sleep and be your best self whether you have 5 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes during your commute or need to fall asleep quickly. Start your Simple Habit for free today and live better every day.
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FEATURED ON
* 2018 Google Play Awards Standout Well-Being App Winner
* 2018 Google Material Design Awards Winner
* 2017 Google Play's Best Apps Winner
* Shark Tank Season Premiere 2017
WHY SIMPLE HABIT?
MINDFULNESS AND MEDITATION
• Just 5-minutes of mindfulness and meditation per day can improve your life through stress relief and improved sleep
• New meditation guided by the world’s best experts, from mindfulness experts at Google to former monks
• Track your progress and stay motivated with Mindful Minutes
• Access meditations offline with Premium subscription so you can meditate at any time
WELLNESS FOR YOUR BUSY LIFESTYLE
• Perfect for busy lifestyles— listen when you wake up, while driving or go to sleep
• Sessions designed for life’s daily problems
• Use Simple Habit's On-the-Go feature to quickly calm your anxiety to achieve a sense of mindfulness
HEALTH AND RELAXATION
• Sleep better
• Relieve stress
• Manage anxiety and depression
• And more
FIND MOTIVATION
• Coaching content
• Motivational talks
• Streak tracking and mindful minutes to track your progress
BENEFITS OF USING SIMPLE HABIT
• Build a meditation habit
• Get a better night’s sleep
• Motivation in your pocket
• Improve focus
• Reduce stress and anxiety
• Stay calm and relaxed
• Increased self-awareness
• Be an effective leader
• Breathe deeper and easier
• Increased sense of perspective
• Achieve mindfulness on the go
• Calm down and relax at the end of a long day
• Tackle different life challenges in a calm, focused manner
• Improve relationships
• Be happier, more relaxed, and calm
GET UNLIMITED ACCESS WITH PREMIUM
Simple Habit offers two auto-renewing subscription options to help you achieve mindfulness and breathe easier. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of each term and your credit card will be charged through your Play Store account. You can turn off auto-renew at any time from your Play Store account settings, but refunds will not be provided for any unused portion of the term. Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when a subscription is purchased. These prices are for United States customers. Pricing in other countries may vary and actual charges may be converted to your local currency depending on the country of residence.
CONNECT WITH SIMPLE HABIT
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/simplehabitapp/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/simplehabitapp/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/simplehabitapp
Have questions or feedback? Reach out to us at feedback@simplehabit.com.
Thanks for using Simple Habit :)
Privacy Policy - https://www.simplehabit.com/privacy
Terms and Conditions - https://www.simplehabit.com/tosCostFreeFreeIn-App Purchases$4.99 - $131.99 per item$3.99 - $95.99 per item -
Also GroovyINSCAPE Meditation App: Reduce stress & anxiety, improve focus, and sleep better using daily mindfulness meditations, breathing exercises, music, and sounds. The app includes personalized content recommendations based on your goals, time of the day, and experience.
Make meditation and mindfulness part of your health, fitness, and wellness routine with INSCAPE guided meditation.
Research shows the benefits of meditation to include:
IMPROVED
* Sleep
* Happiness
* Heart Health
* Cholesterol Levels
DECREASED
* Stress
* Anxiety
* Blood Pressure
* Sadness & Depression
* Aggression & Irritability
The INSCAPE meditation app includes guided meditation sessions for beginners, intermediate, and advanced meditators and range in length from 5 minutes to 85 minutes.
INSCAPE meditation and mindfulness sessions focus on
Sleeping Better
Reducing Stress
Relieving Anxiety
Breathwork
Increasing Happiness
Love & Relationships
Fear of Flying
Boosting Creativity
Improving Focus
Building Acceptance
Commuting
Kids Sleep & Relaxation
And more...
Inscape has been designed to fit around your busy lifestyle. The simple habit building exercises have been designed to deliver maximum impact, with only a few minutes a day to help you get to a better headspace.
The Inscape meditation and relaxation app can help you enjoy a happier and healthier life. Download now for free. For our friends in NYC, come visit our guided meditation and relaxation studio in the Flatiron district.CostFreeFreeIn-App Purchases$9.99 - $59.99 per item$9.99 - $89.99 per item
The 411 from our Appventurer
How we tested?
After determining which 10 apps would be the best to take a look at, I spent 7 days returning to each app to see what features each app had and test different meditations available on each app. Many had different types of meditations available for different levels so that I could play around with the settings. I am more advanced when it comes to my own meditation practice, so I was able to test out quite a few meditations for every level on each app.
On every app, I focused on exploring whether they had meditations for beginners, helpful guides for newcomers to allow them to learn how to meditate, advanced practices, and other mindfulness practices such as yoga, breathwork, and sound healing. I also wanted to test the usability of the app, so that I could figure out which apps would feel welcoming to people who were new to meditation, and which would encourage them to come back daily to create a real and personalized practice.
Many meditation apps are in the same price range, but to determine the best value for your dollar, I wanted to find the apps that had the biggest selection in that price range with room to grow with the app.
Why get the app?
Meditation is an ancient practice of mindfulness and connection to your inner and highest self, but if you’ve never meditated before, it can be so hard to learn how to do it. Meditating is definitely easier when you have access to guided meditations and resources on how to meditate, which many of these apps include.
When you have all of your favorite meditations in an app, you’ll always have your practice at your fingertips, and with the ability to track your practice through your app, you’ll be able to grow and progress more than if you were just using free meditations online. Using a meditation app can help you start your practice, and grow it into a daily routine, so that you can continue to live mindfully, no matter what your future brings.
These apps are best used to help you learn meditation skills, start meditating daily, and grow your practice into something you can implement daily.
More About Insight Timer: Our Pick
The Premium version did have really cool perks, such as access to courses and the ability to download a meditation for offline use, which is an excellent feature for anyone who travels a lot and might not always have access to WiFi.
Snags but not drags:
More About Simple Habit: Runner Up
What I loved most about Simple Habit was that it organized its meditations into courses so that you could stay up on one program and focus on one topic while learning to meditate. I thought this was a really great way for people who were new to meditation to actually start a real practice and have the motivation to come back every single day. The Premium version of the app does have courses for anyone trying to learn any mindful skill through the app, spanning from 30-day courses to shorter week-long courses.
Simple Habit is free for 1 week and then $89.99 per year, and we love the premium features here because you don’t really have much access to any of the courses without upgrading. Once you choose to upgrade, you have the ability to truly grow your practice by making it a habit of yours to keep coming back to the app.
More About Inscape: Also Groovy
The guided meditation style here was easy to follow and relaxing to complete, but for the ultimate relaxation, they have breathwork exercises, sound healing, and 8D Sound technology, which, as far as I could tell, is exclusive to Inscape.
Other Apps Considered
While Calm is easily the leading meditation app out there, there was not a ton of variation in the meditations. It’s good for beginners, and for those looking to calm anxiety and sleep better, but there is not much room to grow a practice with Calm.
Headspace is the second leading meditation app, but it’s SO geared toward beginners that it made it hard to ACTUALLY meditate. It feels like it’s more of a good resource for people trying to learn more about meditation than a place for people to drop in and meditate themselves.
Ten Percent Happier was really hard to navigate when compared to other apps and feels more “clinical” or scientific than other apps. It contained a lot of good information on meditation and the benefits of meditation, but not necessarily the best app for finding meditations to do.
Mesmerize is an interesting one. It’s trending right now, and ads are being pushed on social media apps like TikTok, but the thing is, this app is not suitable for everyone (particularly anyone who has epilepsy or seizure history). You don’t have a lot of control over your meditation, and the app is tough to navigate. It is okay for people who are visual learners but not good for regular meditation practice as it’s actually quite dizzying. We also found that this app sort of defeats the purpose of disconnecting while meditating.
The options for meditations here were okay, but nothing made it stand out against other apps, especially because it didn't have a lot of different options for meditation practices. Aura was really only good for beginners looking to learn, but not for people looking to grow their practice.
While meditation might serve as a good way to step away from current life, many of the recommended meditations on Breethe have to do with escaping from pandemic fear or politics. Many people meditate to fully disconnect from that, not to be reminded of it. It was easy to get overwhelmed with the presence of these topics while trying to find one that works for the current moment.
Shine was much harder to navigate than other apps and did not have as many meditations as other apps in this category. Shine does have sessions you can integrate into your daily habits, such as breakfast, or your commute, though, which is pretty cool!
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About the Appventurer
I am a content writer, copywriter, and content creator who lives on the road full time, traveling in her campervan with her boyfriend and border collie. I specialize in content writing within the world of travel and even run my own blog detailing adventure travel, vanlife, and National Park travel within the US with the goal of making travel easier for everyone. I have written for sites such as Canadian Traveller, Hanalei Company, Discover Athens, and more.
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