Calm app combines sleep stories, Daily Calm meditations and subscription pricing

Calm presents itself as a single app for sleep, meditation and relaxation that pairs celebrity-narrated Sleep Stories with a daily guided practice and a subscription model. The Apple App Store listing frames the payment terms plainly: “Calm offers an auto-renewing monthly subscription at $14.99/month and an auto-renewing yearly subscription at $69.99/year to provide you with unlimited access to the Calm Collection while you maintain an active” subscription. The app markets flagship hosts such as Tamara Levitt on Daily Calm and Sleep Story narrators including Matthew McConaughey, Stephen Fry and Bob Ross.

Daily Calm remains a central draw and is presented as a short, daily practice for busy meditators. “Daily Calm, which is updated every morning, offers an original 10-minute guided meditation that focuses on a different wellness topic each day.” Access to these Dailies is gated: “Only users with premium memberships can access Daily Calm. However, users who have a free trial can access Daily Calm Highlights, a collection of the most popular Daily Calm sessions.” Premium users can revisit previous sessions via the app’s history feature.

Sleep content is a clear selling point for users with insomnia or fragmented sleep. Calm’s Sleep Stories include “Wonder” read by Matthew McConaughey, “Blue Gold” narrated by Stephen Fry and “Happy Little Zzzs” featuring the brush-stroke voice of Bob Ross. The Play Store highlights sleep offerings “for adults and children alike,” pairing narrated stories with soundscapes such as Ocean waves, Heavy Rain, Camp Fire and Babbling Brook. One user summed a common effect: “I also tend to sleep longer when I’ve used the app to go to sleep,” she says. “Without the app, I often wake up in the middle of the night.”

Distribution and billing are straightforward across platforms. Calm is available on iOS, Android and via Calm.com, and the Play Store states bluntly, “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.” Google Play billing is processed through the user’s Google Account at confirmation of purchase, while the App Store frames the $14.99 monthly and $69.99 yearly options as auto-renewing subscriptions. For trial seekers, one guide notes, “There is a free seven-day trial.”

Beyond Dailies and Sleep Stories, Calm’s library includes short guided meditations that range in length, personalization tools and a research arm. “Meditations range from 90 seconds to 30 minutes. ‘The Daily Calm’ is only 10 minutes long,” and the app prompts new users for reasons such as reduce stress, develop gratitude, increase happiness, better sleep and build self-esteem to tailor recommendations. Calm also promotes an in-house research group: “Calm Science, the company’s scientific research branch, is incorporated across all of Calm’s offerings. The company uses evidence-based strategies to improve the app.”

Calm positions itself against competitors by leaning on flexibility, celebrity narrators and a large content library. Competitor pricing cited alongside Calm’s includes Headspace at $12.99 monthly or $69.99 yearly, Breathwrk at $5.75/month when paid annually or $12 monthly, and the Healthy Minds Program listed as free. The app’s marketing highlights awards and reach with phrasing such as “Best of 2018 Award Winner - Apple,” “2017 App of the Year - Apple” and the label “Happiest App in the World - Center for Humane Technology,” while the Play Store notes “New music added every week, from top artists” and Fphwellness reports that “Calm is regularly updated.” Users deciding whether to subscribe will weigh the $14.99/month or $69.99/year price against the appeal of celebrity Sleep Stories, the Daily Calm routine and the seven-day trial window.