A free Calm and Headspace alternative, with nothing locked

Calm's free version is a sampler, and Headspace has no free tier in its app beyond a free trial. If you want meditation, breathing and sleep sounds without a subscription, Still is free with nothing locked: guided breathing, a meditation timer with bells, guided sessions, a sound mixer, a sleep timer and calm stories read aloud. Insight Timer is another good choice, and most of it is free too.

Calm and Headspace are both well made, and many people are glad to pay for them. This post is for anyone who wants to know what they get for free first, and what a free app can and cannot replace.

Checked on October 19, 2026. "Not stated" means the app's page does not say.

What Calm's free version includes

More than most people expect. Calm's help center lists these as free:

• over 230 meditations,
• 8 Sleep Stories,
• the first day of every program,
• a preview of the Daily Calm,
• the Breathe Bubble, a simple breathing guide,
• background scenes of nature sounds and music.

That is a generous sampler, but most programs, stories and soundscapes sit behind Premium, marked with a padlock in the app. Calm's own price could not be read on its site for this check, so we do not quote one. More in Calm compared with Still.

What Headspace's free version includes

Very little inside the app. Headspace's help center says you can unlock the whole library during your free trial, and after the trial you subscribe to keep going. Headspace also shares some free content outside the app, on YouTube, Radio Headspace and its articles. More in Headspace compared with Still.

What Still gives you for free

Still is a meditation, breathing and sleep app. Everything in it is free, with no trial, no subscription and no ads, and it never asks for a card.

• Breathing. Box breathing, 4-7-8 and coherent breathing, each with a gentle guide. New to them? See how to do box breathing and 4-7-8.
• A meditation timer. Set the time and sit, with soft bells at the start and end, and at intervals if you want them.
• Guided sessions for sleep, stress, focus and mornings.
• A sound mixer. Rain, ocean, wind and fire, plus white, pink or brown noise. Mix them to taste. More in free white noise and brown noise for sleep.
• A sleep timer that fades the sound out, so it does not stop with a jolt.
• Calm stories read aloud for winding down at night.

Still works offline after your first visit, and you can install it like an app. On Android phones and computers, the sound keeps playing with the screen off, with controls on your lock screen. On iPhone, Safari may stop sound when the screen locks; for the night, Still's Dim the screen keeps the screen on but black.

Every session, breathing pattern and sound mix has its own link. You can bookmark the one you use every night, or ask an AI assistant to send you straight to, say, five minutes of box breathing.

What Calm and Headspace do better

Be clear about this part before you switch.

• Human voices. Calm and Headspace sessions are recorded by human narrators and teachers. Still's sessions and stories use the voices built into your phone or computer. On newer devices those can sound fairly natural. On older ones they can sound flat. If a warm human voice is what helps you settle, that is worth paying for.
• Huge libraries. Both apps have very large libraries of sessions, programs and stories. Still has a small set of guided sessions for sleep, stress, focus and mornings. You will not find hundreds of sessions in it.
• Programs that build over time. Both apps offer programs that lead you step by step over days or weeks. Still has single sessions, a timer and breathing patterns, not courses.

What Still does not do

• No human narrators, as above. The voice you hear depends on your device.
• No video, live sessions or community. It is a quiet tool, not a social app.
• It is not therapy or medical care. Breathing exercises and quiet sounds help many people relax, but Still does not treat anxiety, sleep problems or any other condition. If you are struggling, a doctor or therapist can help in ways no app can.

Other free options

• Insight Timer. Largely free, with a meditation timer, a huge library of guided meditations from many teachers and many free courses. A paid membership, MemberPlus, costs $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year according to its help center, and adds all courses, offline listening and extra player controls. If you want variety and human voices for free, try it.
• Calm's free version. For a lot of people, over 230 meditations and 8 Sleep Stories are plenty. Try it before you pay for anything.
• Headspace's free content on YouTube and Radio Headspace, if you like its style but not its price.
• Sleep sound apps. If sounds are all you want, see how Still compares with BetterSleep and Noisli.

Why Still can stay free

Still costs almost nothing to run. Its sounds are generated on your device and its sessions use your device's voices, so there are no audio files to stream and no studio recordings to pay for. Dictate, our free speech to text app, works the same way: when your device does the work, there is no bill to pass on to you.

Still is an OpenApp. Its source is public, it has its own agent that keeps improving it, and OpenApps pays for the hosting. There is no paid tier, so there is no reason to make the free version worse. That is the promise behind the whole store: "Free software that is reputable, secure, reliable, and stays free." Read more in why these apps are free and free software you can count on.

Questions

Is there a free alternative to Calm?

Yes. OpenApps Still is free, with breathing exercises, a meditation timer with bells, guided sessions, a sleep sound mixer, a sleep timer and calm stories read aloud. Nothing is locked and there is no trial. Calm's own free version and Insight Timer are other good free options.

Is there a free version of Headspace?

Not really, inside the app. Headspace opens its library only during a free trial, and after that you need a subscription. It does share some free content on YouTube and Radio Headspace.

What does Calm's free version include?

Calm's help center lists over 230 meditations, 8 Sleep Stories, the first day of every program, a preview of the Daily Calm, a breathing exercise and calming scenes, with no ads. Most programs, stories and soundscapes need Premium.

How is Still different from Calm and Headspace?

OpenApps Still is completely free, works offline and runs on your device. Its sessions and stories use your device's voices instead of professional narrators, and its library is much smaller. Calm and Headspace have human voices and far larger libraries.

Is Still a replacement for therapy?

No. OpenApps Still is a free app for breathing, meditation and sleep sounds. It is not therapy or medical care, and it does not treat any condition. If you are struggling, talk to a doctor or a therapist.