The 10 Best Meditation Apps Tested Over the Long Term

Would you like to improve your memory, become more focused, healthier, slimmer, more refreshed and creative? Or at least calm your thoughts once a day? Then meditation is one of the best ways to combine all these benefits. The wonderful effects of meditation have long been scientifically proven. To this day, scientists are discovering more and more fascinating effects of meditation on the body and mind. The best part: You can bring this thousands-of-years-old mindfulness technique into your everyday life immediately. You don't need an ascetic guru, Tibetan singing bowls or your own ashram for that.

 

A good meditation app is just two or three clicks away on your smartphone. But which one is the best fit for you? The selection is huge and continues to grow. We are your machete in the thicket of the digital jungle and have tested ten of the most popular apps for you for two months. This post will help you get started right away and hopefully save you many trial months :-)

By the way, this post does not contain any affiliate links. So we do not earn any money if you subscribe to one of the apps.

1. Calm – the all-inclusive package

Languages: German, English

We start with a really good all-rounder among meditation apps. Calm has been on the market since 2012. In 2017, it was chosen by a small, insignificant company called Apple as App of the Year ;-)

Cost: You can test Calm for free for seven days, then your subscription renews for a year and you'll pay €70.

Operation: From the very first click, it radiates calm, and the app's interface with nature images, birdsong, and the sound of rushing water is already very soothing. You are greeted by name right away and receive a new suggestion for a "DailyCalm" meditation every day.

Duration: Calm is quite varied. The length of the programs varies greatly. Different series on topics such as "Dealing with Anxiety", "Self-Esteem", etc. build on each other. It starts with three minutes, then continues in five-minute increments (i.e., three, five, ten, 15 minutes) up to 30 minutes. Sleep meditations with bedtime stories range from 20 minutes to one hour.

Voice: There is a male and a female voice. But they are fixed, so you cannot switch within a meditation. The audio quality is excellent and the speaking pace is pleasant.

This app is for you if:

• you're a beginner or already advanced
• you are looking for a good mix of guided meditations and cosy soundscapes without pre-recorded texts with enough space for your own meditation
• you like practising breathing exercises

2. 7Mind – subsidized by health insurance

Languages: German

7Mind is considered the most popular meditation app on the German market. And finally, members of a statutory health insurance fund have an advantage over privately insured people: Because many funds cover up to 100 percent of the costs of your subscription. Check here, how much your fund covers. In addition, there are many special programs for students and companies.

Cost: A few meditations are free, such as an introductory course as well as unguided nature meditations with gongs. For €11.99, you can test all the offers for one month. After that, you pay €4.99 a month (€59.88 a year). Or 7Mind is yours forever with the All-Time-Free-Pass for €149. Just to be safe, check with your health insurance fund again what they contribute.

Operation: The design is clear and makes a high-quality and well-thought-out impression. You quickly get an overview of all the offers. The operation is simple and intuitive.

Duration: The duration of the guided meditations varies between three and 15 minutes – unfortunately, you cannot clearly see this beforehand. But with the individual meditation, you can determine the length as well as the number of gongs yourself.

Voice: You can choose between a male and a female voice. Both are clear and gentle, the male speaker sounded like a pleasant fairy tale uncle to us. Minor criticism: Sometimes slightly longer speaking pauses would be nice to follow the rich content even better and to let yourself fall deeper.

This app is for you if:

• you want to save money and at the same time rely on a high-quality product
• you like it quieter and occasionally do not need gently-soothing background sounds for the guided meditations
• you want to be optimally introduced to the basics of meditation on topics such as health, stress, sleep, happiness, potential and so on. Since November 2020, there has been the 7Mind Kids & School section with meditations specifically for eight- to twelve-year-olds. The 7Mind app has become a favourite in our team, by the way :-)
  

3. Headspace – from monk to human

Languages: English, German

Here someone knows what they are talking about: Andy Puddicombe, the English voice and the inventor of the app, actually lived as a Buddhist monk for ten years, among other places in the Himalayas. 

Cost: A simple calculation: You're either with them for €12 a month or for €60 for a whole year. 

Operation: Headspace also has a beautiful and simple design. By the way, the offer has recently become much clearer. The library is divided into courses and singles and alphabetically from A to Z by topic. The sleep meditations have their own library. 

Duration: For the very hectic days, there are one-minute "emergency meds", otherwise the sessions are three, five, ten, 15 or 20 minutes long. Here too, there are half-guided meditations, where you can set the time.

Voice: Andy Puddicombe's voice sounds cosy and also a little funny, because it is a bit nasal. With the sleep meditations, you can choose whether you want to be lulled into the land of dreams by a male or a female voice. In the German version, you will find various speakers who also sound lovely and soft. The speaking pace is good and leaves enough pauses.   

This app is for you if:

• you want to learn meditation, as it is taught in Buddhist monasteries
• you want to meditate on many, very concrete topics such as stress, anxiety or loneliness. Headspace is perfect for targeted topic searches. There are courses on anxiety disorders, relationships, self-confidence, motivation, focused work, and even sports
• you like "Sleepcasts", which help you fall asleep. Our favourite: The Indigo Gallery – a museum exhibition where everything is soothingly blue
  

4. The Mindfulness App – playground for enlightened people

Languages: English (predominantly), German, Japanese, Spanish, French, Norwegian, Chinese, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Dutch 

The app is a platform where completely different enlightened people from all over the world offer their self-designed meditations.

Cost: Inner reflection costs €48 a year here. 

Operation: The loading screen first invites you to take a deep breath … :-) The app is easy to use and has a few gimmicks like adjustable river noise or self-set gongs. 

Duration: Mostly between 8 or 12 minutes. For some body scans (a mindfulness exercise where you feel into your body and "scan" it from top to bottom), you can plan for a full 45 minutes.

Voice: There are completely different voices. They are mostly male and partly have an accent, so we immediately felt like we were back on the backpacker trip through India.

This app is for you if:

• you rely on classic topics, want to try many different influences and publish meditations yourself
• you do not necessarily rely on German offers, because these are quickly exhausted if you meditate every day. The English selection is larger
• you are looking for a platform for various "meditation gurus"
  

5. Balloon – the light, quiet start

Language: German

If you want to let the Balloon rise and subscribe to the app, you will also receive a free subscription to the mindfulness podcast "Understand, feel, be happy" by meditation researcher Dr. Boris Bornemann and the editor-in-chief of the magazine Flow, Sinja Schütte, as well.

Cost: There are three access models to choose from: a monthly subscription (€11.90), the annual subscription (€79.90) or without a time limit (one-time €199.99) 

Operation: The navigation could certainly be made clearer with a clearer overview of all available meditations. However, there is a quite practical filter function.

Duration: On average twelve to 15 minutes. The shortest unit ("Stress Brake Mini") takes two minutes, the longest ("MBSR Sitting Meditation") 41 minutes. 

Voice: Dr. Boris Bornemann speaks himself, in some units there is also a female voice. The speaking pace and tone are pleasant and soothing. Here and there, the pauses between the spoken words could be a little longer so that you do not have to rush in your inner calm.

This app is for you if:

• you are looking for an easy, playful start into meditation and do not like background music. For the start, we recommend the "Super Course", which contains 96 units and introduces you to all topic areas: from mindfulness basics, stress, Metta meditation and freedom to thoughts, feelings, serenity and self-care
• you like visualisations. We found, for example, the invitation to imagine that we were a mountain to regain inner strength great
• you need a logbook to stay on the Ball(oon)

 

6. Ten Percent Happier – separates practice and knowledge

Language: English

This meditation app was created by journalist Dan Harris, who published the bestseller "10% Happier" as well as launched a podcast of the same name. 

Cost: This app is only available with an annual subscription for €109.99. There is a free seven-day trial version. If you don't cancel in time, you will automatically be charged for the annual subscription. Some basic features are freely accessible. If you only test the free content, you will receive an email about every other day trying to persuade you to buy the annual subscription at a reduced price. 

Usability: The user interface could be designed more minimally and intuitively. When you click on the individual categories (e.g., Courses, Singles, Sleep, Talks, Profile), the variety of offers and features can initially be overwhelming. 

Duration: Meditations last between five and 30 minutes. 

Voice: Various speakers are involved here. The pitch and speaking pace vary greatly. However, the meditation sessions often sound like they are being read aloud, and a slight background noise can be heard.  

This app is for you if:

• you are interested in a lot of background information on the topic of meditation
• you want to experience the scientific background and the meditations separately. While other apps often mix both, Ten Percent Happier has two separate categories for each session: “Learn” and “Meditate”
• you like an unusually large amount of video content and expert interviews. Tip: There is currently a freely available section on the topic of “Coronavirus Sanity”

7. Meditopia – combines practice and knowledge

Languages: German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish

The app comes from Istanbul, but the developers have also opened a branch in Berlin and now want to conquer the German market. 

Cost: After a free trial month (during which you must cancel in time), you'll automatically pay €7.99 a month or €58 a year.

Usability: The German version is still being developed, but there are already many options. The app offers a series of seven meditations for nine topics such as “First Steps,” “Anxiety,” “Breathing,” “Gratitude,” or “Sleep Well.” If you can't decide, simply click on your current feeling. Then the app will suggest the appropriate meditation.

Duration: The meditations last between seven and 15 minutes. There are also various soundscapes with which you can create cosy thought-lounges for any length of time.

Voice: The German female voice, who introduced herself as Martina, was completely replaced by a new, this time nameless voice in the summer of 2020. The ways of Meditopia are inscrutable … 

This app is for you if:

• you like very detailed explanations in your meditations about what you are doing and why
• you want to be motivated with a lot of praise to keep meditating diligently
• you want daily little pieces of wisdom as a pop-up on your smartphone. Our favourite quote so far: “If you can't solve a problem, it might not be a problem, but a truth to be accepted.”

8. Meditation of the Day – the minimalist

Language: German

This app was created by a single developer named Nils Klippstein. In a small publishing house, he designs so-called fantasy journeys with three employees. Klippstein explained on his website: If more people buy the full version, he will also develop more content.

Cost: It is free for exactly twelve consecutive meditations and two music tracks. The full version for the small price of a one-time payment of €6.99 contains 64 more meditations and four new music tracks.

Usability: It is designed very simply and clearly. Once installed, you can click on “I want to meditate,” set the time and the number of gongs, and you're off. 

Duration: You cannot set silent meditation for longer than 120 minutes ;-)

Voice: The gentle male voice gives you a short food for thought. On day seven, for example, it takes you on a journey back to your childhood. After that, there is silence. As long as the gongs you set sound. 

This app is for you if:

• you already meditate at a very advanced level
• you are a true minimalist because the meditations are really stripped down. They only give you prompts and then leave you alone with your thoughts
• you want to have a lot of freedom over your time. There is now a successor with the title Guided Meditation. It costs a one-time payment of €9.49. A meditation here is about ten minutes long
  

9. BamBu – the solid giant

Languages: German, English, French (the largest selection), Spanish, Italian

BamBu is, according to its own statements, one of the largest European meditation apps with more than six million users. And also one of the oldest: It has been around since 2015. Don't be confused: In the Google Play Store, the app is called Petit BamBou, and in the confirmation emails it is then only BamBu.

Cost: The first eight sessions (ten minutes each) are free. You also have free access to “Free Meditations,” where you can set the duration, background music, and gong. If you want more, you have to purchase a subscription (€8.99 a month, €29.99 for six months). 

Usability: The logo with the serenely grinning Zen monk accompanies you everywhere. The app is easy to use and plays with colourful icons and symbols.

Duration: The meditation itself lasts ten minutes. Before that, there is a video with a message, e.g., our thoughts are like soap bubbles, a waterfall, a lake, etc. – a real challenge if you have drunk a lot of tea before the meditation ;-) There is also an introduction and a concluding section, which is why you should plan at least 15 minutes of quiet time.

Voice: The inherently soothing female voice once again provides a lot of content, especially before and after the meditation.

This app is for you if:

• you are looking for a very solid app. BamBu also offers beautiful explanatory videos
• you are looking for a lot of content on topics such as sleep, progress, mind, body, education and training, work, and everyday life
• you prefer shorter meditations

10. My Life – the highly praised

Languages: English, Spanish

My Life was once called Stop.Breathe.Think. In 2020 it was chosen by Apple as the App of the Day. Already in 2017 it won the Webby People’s Voice Award for the best health app, one of the most important awards for quality on the web. My Life also offers daily meditations for children. 

Cost: €10.99 a month, with the annual subscription, the monthly price is halved. For a one-time payment of €264.99, you have the app forever.

Usability: At first, we found the usability a bit complicated. At the bottom of the app, you will find four tabs, one of which is the Check-In, where you have to say for the first time how you are doing mentally (connected, anxious, sleepy, neutral, etc.). The app then looks for the appropriate “Best Activities.” After meditating, the app asks you again how you are doing.

Duration: The range goes from three to 20 minutes

Voice: In the English version of My Life, you have the choice between a male or female voice. 

This app is for you if:

• you are looking for a really large range of meditations –it ranges from “Calm,” “Coronavirus Anxiety,” “Get Started,” “One Minute,” to “Find your Focus.” Under “Progress,” it records how often and how long you have meditated and what your “Top Emotions” are
• you are looking for meditations for children, for example
• you like funny, but also very American-sounding stories
  

Conclusion

We at the 6-Minute Team have become such fans of meditation apps that we have signed up for annual subscriptions in several cases. We no longer want to miss the gentle, always available voices from the off. And finally, each of us has at least one app on their phone that occasionally does not take away our concentration, attention, and composure, but gives them back. Feel free to share your experiences with meditation apps in the comments. Which one do you use and why?

If you are already in the process of turning your phone into a source of mindfulness, then these mindfulness podcasts might be just right for you. 

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This post is by Daniel Dzienian, former journalist and word juggler. Instead of working under time pressure as a reporter for a daily newspaper, he now writes with great effort about composure.