Calm vs. Headspace vs. Insight Timer vs. BetterSleep vs. Waking Up: US iPhone meditation & sleep app snapshot, October 2026
How do the top-grossing meditation and sleep apps compare on downloads, spending, prices and complaints?
- Calm leads on both: an estimated 22K US downloads and $3.1M in App Store spend over 30 days, 29% of this group's downloads and 56% of its spend.
- App Store spend per download (30 days of spend, renewals included, over 30 days of new installs) ranges from about $16 (BetterSleep) to $143 (Calm). A high figure usually means a large base of paying subscribers, not a pricier first purchase.
- Calm moved from #46 to #42 on the US Top Free Health & Fitness chart between Sep 29 and Oct 25, the biggest climb in this group.
- Country
- United States
- Platform
- iPhone (App Store)
- Estimates
- 30 days to October 26, 2026
- Data collected
- October 26, 2026
Downloads against App Store spend
Each dot is one app's estimated US downloads and App Store spend over the same 30 days. Further right means more installs, higher up means more spending; both scales are logarithmic, so equal steps are equal multiples.
Share of downloads vs. share of spend
Within these 5 apps only: each app's share of the group's estimated downloads and of its App Store spend. An app whose spend bar is longer than its downloads bar earns more per install than the group.
- Share of downloads
- Share of App Store spend
The apps side by side
30-day US estimates with their confidence, the US App Store rating, and each app's first and last position on the overall US charts between Sep 29 and Oct 25.
| App | Downloads, 30 days | App Store spend, 30 days | Spend per download | Rating | US Top Free | US Top Grossing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 CalmCalm.com, Inc. | 22KHigh confidence | $3.1MMedium confidence | $143 | 4.81,990,303 ratings | Not in top 100 | Not in top 100 |
 HeadspaceHeadspace Inc. | 13KMedium confidence | $1.1MMedium confidence | $85 | 4.8973,793 ratings | Not in top 100 | Not in top 100 |
 Insight TimerInsight Network Inc | 11KMedium confidence | $880KMedium confidence | $79 | 4.9448,407 ratings | Not in top 100 | Not in top 100 |
 BetterSleepBetterSleep Health, LLC | 19KHigh confidence | $300KMedium confidence | $16 | 4.7390,831 ratings | Not in top 100 | Not in top 100 |
 Waking UpWaking Up Course, LLC | 10KLow confidence | $190KMedium confidence | Low confidence | 4.942,716 ratings | Not in top 100 | Not in top 100 |
What they charge
The in-app purchases each app lists on its US App Store page, grouped by the plan length the product name states.
| App | Monthly plans | Yearly plans | All listed prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| CalmCalm.com, Inc. | — | — | $14.99–$79.996 products |
| HeadspaceHeadspace Inc. | $12.99 | $69.99 | $12.99–$94.996 products |
| Insight TimerInsight Network Inc | — | — | $1.99–$99.998 products |
| BetterSleepBetterSleep Health, LLC | — | — | $11.99–$99.999 products |
| Waking UpWaking Up Course, LLC | $19.99 | $149.99–$229.99 | $19.99–$229.997 products |
A plan length is shown only where the product name states it (“Weekly VIP”, “12 Months”); other products count in the last column. The full list per app:
Calm: 6 listed prices
- Calm Premium$14.99
- Calm Subscription$14.99
- Calm Premium$16.99
- Calm Premium$29.99
- Calm Premium$69.99
- Calm Premium$79.99
Headspace: 6 listed prices
- Monthly Subscription$12.99
- Headspace$12.99
- Headspace Plus$12.99
- Annual Subscription$69.99
- Headspace Plus$94.99
- Headspace$94.99
Insight Timer: 8 listed prices
- Teacher Donation (XS)$1.99
- Teacher Donation (S)$4.99
- Insight Premium Meditation$9.99
- Teacher Donation (M)$19.99
- Teacher Donation (L)$49.99
- Insight Premium Meditation$59.99
- MemberPlus Family$89.99
- Teacher Donation (XL)$99.99
BetterSleep: 9 listed prices
- BetterSleep Premium$11.99
- BetterSleep Premium$23.99
- BetterSleep Premium$39.99
- BetterSleep Premium-Tracker$52.99
- BetterSleep Premium$59.99
- BetterSleep Premium-Tracker$69.99
- Subscription$69.99
- BetterSleep Premium$69.99
- BetterSleep Premium$99.99
Waking Up: 7 listed prices
- Premium Subscription$19.99
- Monthly Subscription$19.99
- Premium Subscription$149.99
- Waking Up Yearly Subscription$149.99
- Yearly Subscription$149.99
- Family Yearly Subscription$229
- Family Yearly Subscription$229.99
Chart movement
Each app's best daily position on the US Top Free chart (or its Health & Fitness chart when it was not in the overall top 100 on enough days). Hover a line for the rank on a given day.
Calm
#46 → #42US Top Free Health & Fitness, Sep 29–Oct 25
Headspace
#94 → #99US Top Free Health & Fitness, Sep 29–Oct 25
Insight Timer
#90 → #99US Top Free Health & Fitness, Sep 29–Oct 25
BetterSleep
#42 → #43US Top Free Health & Fitness, Sep 29–Oct 25
What reviewers complain about
Of each app's recent 1–3-star US App Store reviews, the share that mention each theme. Each app's most common complaint is in bold. "Paywall & subscription push" and "Bugs & broken features" are top-three themes for most of these apps.
| Complaint theme | Calm | Headspace | Insight Timer | BetterSleep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paywall & subscription push | 25% | 25% | 14% | 53% |
| Bugs & broken features | 14% | 11% | 7% | 3% |
| Missing features & requests | 8% | 6% | 15% | — |
| Billing, refunds & cancelling | 12% | 7% | — | 3% |
| Confusing design | — | 10% | 11% | — |
| Customer support | 14% | — | 4% | — |
| Too expensive | — | — | — | 16% |
| Pop-ups & rating requests | — | — | 10% | — |
| 1–3★ reviews / all reviews in the sample | 237 / 310Aug 9–Oct 24 | 250 / 301Jan 27–Oct 22 | 144 / 199May 31–Oct 23 | 252 / 303May 26–Oct 23 |
Where they meet in search
App Store search positions in the US, from our latest keyword checks.
| Search | Popularity | Calm | Headspace | Insight Timer | BetterSleep | Waking Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| calm | 65 | #1 | #2 | #6 | #5 | — |
| white noise | 65 | #8 | — | — | #4 | — |
| sleep | 61 | #4 | — | — | #2 | — |
| sleep number app | 61 | #9 | — | — | #7 | — |
| headspace | 60 | #2 | #1 | #4 | #9 | — |
| insight timer | 60 | #2 | #3 | #1 | — | — |
| the calm app free | 57 | #1 | #8 | — | #3 | — |
| meditation | 56 | #3 | #2 | #1 | — | #6 |
| sleep sounds free | 56 | #3 | — | — | #2 | — |
| better sleep | 54 | #2 | — | — | #1 | — |
| sound machine free | 54 | #10 | — | — | #3 | — |
| sleep sounds | 53 | #5 | — | — | #2 | — |
| ambiance | — | #6 | — | — | #3 | — |
| anxiety release based on emdr | — | #9 | #5 | — | — | — |
| anxiety relief | — | #5 | #2 | — | — | — |
| Searches where the app ranks top 10 | 94 | 67 | 62 | 81 | 21 |
The most popular US searches where at least two of these apps rank in the top 10 of App Store results, by Apple's popularity score (5–100). “—” means the app is not in that search's top 10. Brand searches for other apps show up because the store also returns related apps for them.
Key findings
- Calm leads on both: an estimated 22K US downloads and $3.1M in App Store spend over 30 days, 29% of this group's downloads and 56% of its spend.
- App Store spend per download (30 days of spend, renewals included, over 30 days of new installs) ranges from about $16 (BetterSleep) to $143 (Calm). A high figure usually means a large base of paying subscribers, not a pricier first purchase.
- Calm moved from #46 to #42 on the US Top Free Health & Fitness chart between Sep 29 and Oct 25, the biggest climb in this group.
- "Paywall & subscription push" is a top-three complaint for all 4 apps with a review sample.
- Searching for one app's name shows its rivals too: for "calm", Calm is #1, with Headspace #2 and BetterSleep #5 in the top 10 (3 rivals in all).
Use this data
You are welcome to quote these figures and reuse the tables and charts in articles, newsletters and talks. Please credit AppTrendKit with a link to this page, and call the figures estimates.
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How this snapshot was made
Selection. The meditation and sleep apps at #6, #14, #15, #26 and #52 of the US Health & Fitness Top Grossing chart, averaged over October 19–26, 2026. Hatch Sleep, the companion app for Hatch's sleep devices, is not included.
When and where. US App Store, iPhone apps. Data collected on October 26, 2026; download and spend estimates cover the 30 days to October 26, 2026; chart positions are daily best ranks from September 29, 2026 to October 25, 2026. This page is a frozen snapshot and will not change; newer editions get their own page.
Sources. Apple's US Top Free and Top Grossing charts (overall and Health & Fitness), recorded several times a day; each app's US App Store listing (rating, listed in-app purchase prices); recent US App Store reviews; and US App Store search results for the keywords we track. Downloads and spend are AppTrendKit estimates from chart positions, ratings and pricing. How we estimate.
- Downloads and App Store spend are AppTrendKit estimates for the US App Store over 30 days, not figures from Apple or the developers. Spend is what users paid through Apple before Apple's commission, so it is higher than what a developer receives.
- Web subscriptions, advertising income, enterprise deals and Android are not included.
- Spend per download divides 30 days of App Store spend, which includes renewals from existing subscribers, by 30 days of new downloads. It shows how much an app earns relative to its install volume, not what a new user pays, and it is left out where either estimate has low confidence.
- Prices are the in-app purchases Apple lists on each app's US App Store page; Apple shows a limited number, and the price someone actually pays can differ with offers and trials.
- Complaint themes come from a sample of recent US App Store reviews, classified by topic. A theme's share is the share of the sample's 1–3-star reviews that mention it, not a share of all reviews or users. Themes mentioned fewer than 3 times are left out.
- Calm and Headspace also sell subscriptions on the web and through employers and health plans, which App Store spend does not see.
- Calm's and BetterSleep's product names mostly don't state a plan length, so their prices are listed without one.
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