I tried two of the most popular meditation apps, Headspace and Calm, for a week. One app was the clear winner for starting my workday with focus and mindfulness.

Sarah JacksonSep 26, 2021, 18:38 IST

Jens Kalaene/Picture Alliance via Getty Images

Many people swear by meditation to start their days with a moment of mindfulness and clarity.
I put the popular meditation apps Headspace and Calm to the test to see which worked better for me.
Calm was the clear winner in giving me a better meditation experience to begin my day. Here's why.

I've often heard people tout the benefits of meditation, but I'd never tried it myself. Having worked remotely for roughly a year and a half now, like millions of other people, I've settled into a pretty calcified morning routine at home.

So I decided to finally give meditation a shot, both to change up my routine a bit and to see if it would give me more focus and clarity throughout the day, as so many people who meditate report feeling.

I'd heard good things about Headspace and Calm, which are two of the most popular meditation apps on the market, so I put both apps to the test. After two weeks, one spent using each app, I found that Calm was better by a long shot.

Here's how Headspace and Calm stacked up for me:

On Day 1 of Headspace, I followed the default morning routine from the "Today" section of the app.

Headspace

The breathing exercise was simple enough: Take a few deep breaths.

Headspace

Next up on the morning agenda was The Wake Up.

Headspace

Then, I did the third and final step of the morning routine: the daily meditation.

Headspace

One bright spot, though, was that the app lets you choose between teachers for many meditations, including this one.

Headspace

You're also able to choose the duration of the daily meditation. This flexibility is probably one of my favorite parts of Headspace, but it doesn't entirely work as advertised.

Headspace

You're also able to choose the duration of the daily meditation. This flexibility is probably one of my favorite parts of Headspace, but it doesn't entirely work as advertised.

On Day 2 of Headspace, I checked out what was under the "Meditate" tab of the app.

Headspace

Before long, I had wound up looking at Headspace's course library.

Headspace

Headspace's library is also a great showcase of what I think is one of the app's strongest assets: its look.

Headspace

After some digging around, I settled on one of the courses in the "Focus at Work" section: Productivity.

Headspace

Overall, I was disappointed with the first lesson.

Headspace

I skipped over the "Sleep" tab in the app because my main goal with my meditation experiment was to better start my days, not end them.

Headspace

The following day, I detoured from strict meditations.

Headspace

I browsed some of Headspace's yoga classes designed to get you up and at it in the mornings.

Headspace

I ended up trying out a 10-minute class called "Rise and Shine."

Headspace

By Day 4, I had reached the last of the app's tabs: Focus.

Headspace

As a fan of several of Hans Zimmer's film scores, I decided to give his playlist a listen.

Headspace

On my fifth and final day of using Headspace, I stayed on the Focus tab, this time browsing a series of exercises.

Headspace

I ended up trying a very fitting course aimed at helping you start the day while you're working from home.

Headspace

For Week 2 of my meditation experiment, I turned my attention to Calm.

Calm

The onboarding also asks what type of clips you'd most like to see when using Calm.

Calm

Lastly, Calm asks about your level of familiarity with meditation.

Calm

Once I answered these questions, I was shown the home page of the app.

Calm

The water sounds continued playing into the first meditation I tried, which was part of the app's everyday series, Daily Calm.

Calm

The next day, I listened to an episode in a different Calm series, the Daily Trip.

Calm

On Day 3, I looked through Calm's catalog of meditations and decided on a series called Mindfulness at Work.

Calm

On Day 4, I looked through Calm's movement-based sessions.

Calm

I followed a simple morning stretch exercise.

Calm

On my last day on Calm, I looked through the series that were recommended to me based on the goals I selected when I first downloaded the app.

Calm

I decided to give the "Improve Focus" series a shot.

Calm

In keeping with my choice on Headspace, I also listened to a few playlists designed to promote focus.

Calm

Overall, Calm was the clear winner for me.

Calm

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I tried two of the most popular meditation apps, Headspace and Calm, for a week. One app was the clear winner for starting my workday with focus and mindfulness.

On Day 1 of Headspace, I followed the default morning routine from the "Today" section of the app.

The breathing exercise was simple enough: Take a few deep breaths.

Next up on the morning agenda was The Wake Up.

Then, I did the third and final step of the morning routine: the daily meditation.

One bright spot, though, was that the app lets you choose between teachers for many meditations, including this one.

You're also able to choose the duration of the daily meditation. This flexibility is probably one of my favorite parts of Headspace, but it doesn't entirely work as advertised.

On Day 2 of Headspace, I checked out what was under the "Meditate" tab of the app.

Before long, I had wound up looking at Headspace's course library.

Headspace's library is also a great showcase of what I think is one of the app's strongest assets: its look.

After some digging around, I settled on one of the courses in the "Focus at Work" section: Productivity.

Overall, I was disappointed with the first lesson.

I skipped over the "Sleep" tab in the app because my main goal with my meditation experiment was to better start my days, not end them.

The following day, I detoured from strict meditations.

I browsed some of Headspace's yoga classes designed to get you up and at it in the mornings.

I ended up trying out a 10-minute class called "Rise and Shine."

By Day 4, I had reached the last of the app's tabs: Focus.

As a fan of several of Hans Zimmer's film scores, I decided to give his playlist a listen.

On my fifth and final day of using Headspace, I stayed on the Focus tab, this time browsing a series of exercises.

I ended up trying a very fitting course aimed at helping you start the day while you're working from home.

For Week 2 of my meditation experiment, I turned my attention to Calm.

The onboarding also asks what type of clips you'd most like to see when using Calm.

Lastly, Calm asks about your level of familiarity with meditation.

Once I answered these questions, I was shown the home page of the app.

The water sounds continued playing into the first meditation I tried, which was part of the app's everyday series, Daily Calm.

The next day, I listened to an episode in a different Calm series, the Daily Trip.

On Day 3, I looked through Calm's catalog of meditations and decided on a series called Mindfulness at Work.

On Day 4, I looked through Calm's movement-based sessions.

I followed a simple morning stretch exercise.

On my last day on Calm, I looked through the series that were recommended to me based on the goals I selected when I first downloaded the app.

I decided to give the "Improve Focus" series a shot.

In keeping with my choice on Headspace, I also listened to a few playlists designed to promote focus.

Overall, Calm was the clear winner for me.