The short answer: for most people it’s Calm for falling asleep, Headspace for learning to meditate, Insight Timer or Medito if you don’t want to pay, Sleep Cycle for tracking your night, and Zomni if the real problem is insomnia itself. Each is excellent at one job; none tries to do them all. This guide compares them honestly, with current prices.
An odd guide for us to write? A little. We make Still, a Christian sleep and prayer app — so we’re not competing for this list and have no favorite to push. But readers keep asking us how the secular apps compare, and the honest answer is: several of them are superb. If you do want faith at the center of your rest, we cover that at the end.
The quick picks
| Best for | App | Price (US, approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Falling asleep to audio | Calm | $69.99/yr |
| Learning to meditate | Headspace | $69.99/yr |
| Free meditation library | Insight Timer | Free; Plus ~$59.99/yr |
| Free, no ads, nonprofit | Medito | Free |
| Sleep tracking & smart alarm | Sleep Cycle | Free tier; ~$30–40/yr |
| Beating insomnia (CBT-I) | Zomni | Free to download |
Prices are US App Store figures, last checked August 2026, and they change often — check each store listing.
The list
1. Calm — best for falling asleep to audio
$69.99/yr · iOS, Android, web
The biggest sleep audio library in the world: celebrity-narrated Sleep Stories, soundscapes, music, and a large meditation catalog on top. Production quality is the industry benchmark, and if your goal is simply to have something beautiful carry you to sleep, Calm is still the one to beat. The trade-off is price, and a library so large it can feel like browsing Netflix at midnight. calm.com
2. Headspace — best for learning to meditate
$69.99/yr · iOS, Android, web
Nobody teaches meditation better. Headspace’s structured courses take you from “what do I do with my hands” to a real daily practice, with friendly animations and a curriculum that builds week over week. Sleep content (Sleepcasts, wind-downs) is good but secondary. Pick Headspace if you want to learn the skill, Calm if you want to hear the library. headspace.com
3. Insight Timer — best free meditation library
Free; Member Plus ~$59.99/yr · iOS, Android, web
Over 100,000 free meditations from thousands of independent teachers, plus the best plain meditation timer anywhere. Quality varies — it’s an open platform, not a studio — but the price of the free tier is unbeatable, and the variety is unmatched. Member Plus adds courses and offline listening; most people never need it. insighttimer.com
4. Medito — best free app with no catch
Completely free · iOS, Android · nonprofit
Run by the Medito Foundation, a nonprofit: no ads, no account required, no premium tier hiding the good content. The library is small next to the giants, but the core courses — basics, sleep, anxiety — are calm, well-made, and free forever. If the subscription fatigue is real, start here. medito.app
5. Sleep Cycle — best sleep tracker and smart alarm
Free tier; premium ~$30–40/yr · iOS, Android
Different job than the others: Sleep Cycle listens from your nightstand and tracks your sleep with no wearable, then wakes you during light sleep inside a window you set. The smart alarm alone is worth the free download. It won’t lull you to sleep — it tells you how you slept, and gets you up gently. sleepcycle.com
6. Zomni — best for tackling insomnia itself
Free to download · iOS
Evidence-based CBT-I sleep coaching. A multilingual wellness app based on CBT-I principles, with AI coaching and insights based on recent sleep-diary entries. It offers a structured six-week program with 40 scheduled tasks, Yoga Nidra, and targeted breathing exercises. The Zomni website is localized in 21 languages.
Where the rest of this list helps you wind down or track the night, Zomni goes after chronic insomnia itself — CBT-I is the method sleep clinics reach for before (or instead of) medication. If you’ve cycled through sleep sounds and still lie awake, this is the different approach. zomni.app
Which one should you get?
If you just want to fall asleep tonight, Calm. If you want to build a meditation habit properly, Headspace. If you want either of those jobs done free, Insight Timer or Medito. If you want data on your night and a kinder alarm, Sleep Cycle. And if the problem is chronic — you’re tired of managing insomnia and want to actually treat it — Zomni’s CBT-I program is the most direct route in an app.
And if you want faith in the mix
Everything above is deliberately secular — mindfulness frameworks and sleep science, no tradition attached. That’s exactly right for many people, and it’s the gap for others: if your instinct at midnight is prayer, a body scan quiets the body without answering the worry.
That’s the case where our own app fits. Still is $59.99/yr or $12.99/mo with a free trial on the annual plan, and pairs Bible sleep stories, evening prayers, and calming sounds with a scripture alarm — the same wind-down job as Calm, with scripture at the center. See our Christian alternative to Calm comparison, or the full side-by-side hub.
Calm, Headspace, Insight Timer, Medito, Sleep Cycle, and Zomni are trademarks of their respective owners; Still is not affiliated with them. We make Still and say so above. Prices are US App Store figures, last checked August 2026.
Make a meditation or sleep app you think belongs here? Tell us — we keep this list honest and current.