As a young kid, I remember my mom asking me one particularly chilly morning why in the world I had turned the fan on. The only honest answer I could give, while bundled up under several blankets, was that I liked the sound. I eventually replaced the fan with three ticking wall clocks (which I guess was a little much for anyone but me because the morning after my grandparents stayed in my room on their visit, I found all three clocks had had the batteries taken out).
So I put the batteries back in the clocks and have enjoyed finding new ways to help me fall asleep faster or focus better during the workday (which can be a challenge sometimes with my ADHD). But recently, I have wanted to get some help with all this, so when the opportunity came along to test out theCalm app, I was excited to explore its many sleep aid sounds.Would there be a fan or a ticking clock too?
I tried the app for several months to find out and while sadly, there wasn’t a clock in the soundscapes, I did find a wide array of auditory offerings to help me get up in the morning, power through the day, pause for a meditation moment, or help me drift off to sleep. Read on to find out more about my experience.
How I Signed Up for Calm
The Calm app is available through itswebsite, on the Apple App Store, and on the Google Play Store. I downloaded it to my iPhone.
I could immediately access a limited amount of free content—like a free timed meditation, one sleep story, and the first day of some multi-day meditation sessions—but this is more of a preview of what you can expect from the paid premium version than a useful mindfulness tool; it would likely turn stale after several repeated exercises, so I signed up for the full subscription.
How Much It CostsThere are three subscription price options at Calm.I could pay $14.99 a month (after a seven day free trial).I could pay for a full year for $69.99.I could sign up for a lifetime subscription, which costs $399.99. With this option, you never have to remember when your subscription auto-renews. However, that’s a pretty big commitment—not to mention the fact that you’d have to be sure you’d use the app for more than five years and nine months before that price would really be worth it.I opted for the monthly subscription because I wasn’treallysure if it would work for me—and this allowed me to cancel whenever I wanted. Plus the monthly price is pretty comparable to most premium video streaming platforms I already subscribe to, so it didn’t seem out of budget.
How Much It Costs
There are three subscription price options at Calm.I could pay $14.99 a month (after a seven day free trial).I could pay for a full year for $69.99.I could sign up for a lifetime subscription, which costs $399.99. With this option, you never have to remember when your subscription auto-renews. However, that’s a pretty big commitment—not to mention the fact that you’d have to be sure you’d use the app for more than five years and nine months before that price would really be worth it.I opted for the monthly subscription because I wasn’treallysure if it would work for me—and this allowed me to cancel whenever I wanted. Plus the monthly price is pretty comparable to most premium video streaming platforms I already subscribe to, so it didn’t seem out of budget.
There are three subscription price options at Calm.
I opted for the monthly subscription because I wasn’treallysure if it would work for me—and this allowed me to cancel whenever I wanted. Plus the monthly price is pretty comparable to most premium video streaming platforms I already subscribe to, so it didn’t seem out of budget.
When you sign up, you do answer a few questions about yourself and what you’re hoping to gain from the app. For example, it asked me how familiar I was with meditation, and what life stressors were keeping me from being calm in my daily life. The questions felt similar to intake questions you’d see before signing up for a mental health service, but where those questions would lead me to match with a therapist, this felt more like data collection than something that would help tailor the app to my needs.
My Experience With the Calm App
So it would have been easy to assume from the commercials that Calm was a story-reading service like Audible or a phone-based white noise machine for sleep, but I was surprised to see just how much more content was available to paid subscribers once I signed up.
In addition to all of these features designed to help you disconnect and relax, the Calm app also offers guided meditations for just about any circumstance—think “Reducing Work Anxiety” or “Overcoming Negative Thinking,” for example. I even stopped while writing this review to participate in the four-minute “Step Away From the Computer” meditation, which encourages you to check in with your body and breathe from your computer chair, then asks you to go for a brief walk around your office—or your WFH office, in my case—while staying indoors (it’s only four minutes long, after all) and focus on the sensations of mindful walking before heading back to your seat.
I Started By Using Calm’s Soundscapes
At first, I started off easy, playing around with the Calm soundscapes for sleep, like simple rain sounds. I had previously cued up my Amazon Alexa to play rain sounds if I had trouble sleeping but it only ever seemed to play the same one track. In contrast, the Calm app has over 15 different rain soundscapes based around different locations, like “Rainforest Rain,” “Rolling Thunderstorm,” “Rain on Tent,” “Skylight Rain,” “Lighthouse Cottage” (with or without the radio playing) and my favorite—I have no idea why—“Car in the Rain.”
Outside of rain sounds, I was really impressed with how imaginative and diverse the options were.
There were simple and repetitive sounds, from washing machines and ocean waves to city noise and airplane cabins to more creative soundscapes like “Spaceship Engine Room” and “Serene Submarine.”
For me specifically, “Infinite Lofi for Focus” was a great tool. I had learned a while back that one of the best ways to manage my ADHD during the workday was to listen to something that could draw just a little bit of my attention while I worked, without fully pulling away my focus. I’ve found that some of the music that works best for me during the workday is instrumental without vocals (like some types of lofi, vaporwave, and smooth jazz), so I jumped at the chance to explore Calm’s “Infinite Lofi for Focus.” It was like it was made specifically for me! It’s unique enough to calm my racing thoughts without stealing my focus through distracting vocals or song breaks.
Calm’s Sleep Stories Really Worked for Me
I stumbled across one of Calm’s sleep stories that I quickly favorited so I could easily find it over the next few nights: ‘Mr. Calm.’
I’m proud to admit that I have no idea how “Mr. Calm” ends and a part of me hopes I never will. In fact, the Calm app agrees too, because when I opened my phone the next morning, I saw a “Good Morning” message that said, “How did that sleep story end? We hope you never find out.”
The Calm app has a lot to offer but one of its biggest downsides is, like a gym membership or a library card, you will only get as much out of it as the time you engage with it.
For example, during the sign-up process, I was shown occasional, promotional stats about the percentage of users who’d reported positive results from using the app, and I can say that on nights where “Mr. Calm” or rain sounds played in the background, I fell asleep faster. Conversely, on the night my cellphone battery died and I sat in a bedroom that was too dark and quiet, I did miss it. Had I used it that night, maybe I’d have slept better or maybe I wouldn’t have, but I could imagine that several quiet nights without it would leave my mind racing and my sleep cycle off.
Pros & Cons
I had a largely positive experience with Calm, but there are always positives and negatives for any app like this. Here are my pros and cons.
ProsWide variety of soundscapes, guided meditations, music, and narrated storiesMonthly, annual, and lifetime subscription plans availableFree 7-day trialUses talented voice actors, mediation leaders, and celebritiesAudio is crystal clearAbility to set reminders to come back to the app, flag your favorites, download content for offline use, and set sleep timersConsArefund may not be possibleCould be a waste of money if you don’t use it consistently
ProsWide variety of soundscapes, guided meditations, music, and narrated storiesMonthly, annual, and lifetime subscription plans availableFree 7-day trialUses talented voice actors, mediation leaders, and celebritiesAudio is crystal clearAbility to set reminders to come back to the app, flag your favorites, download content for offline use, and set sleep timers
Wide variety of soundscapes, guided meditations, music, and narrated stories
Monthly, annual, and lifetime subscription plans available
Free 7-day trial
Uses talented voice actors, mediation leaders, and celebrities
Audio is crystal clear
Ability to set reminders to come back to the app, flag your favorites, download content for offline use, and set sleep timers
ConsArefund may not be possibleCould be a waste of money if you don’t use it consistently
Arefund may not be possible
Could be a waste of money if you don’t use it consistently
Final Thoughts
Overall, I really enjoyed my time testing the Calm app and seeing what unique and specialized experiences it offered. To be honest, I laughed out loud when I opened the app one morning when I was struggling to get out of bed and saw a five-minute “Starting Off on the Right Foot” meditation with an image of someone stretching out of bed against the sunrise shining through the window. It really felt like that encouraging friend who texts you a supportive message after a particularly hard day.
Being able to take the app with you is also a major perk. Especially as someone who always needs some kind of background noise during the day, it was nice to replace a droning fan (or droning newscaster) with peaceful sounds or an infinite beat.
Even when I was cleaning out my storage unit, out of respect for anyone else around, I didn’t want to play my usual band of opinionated podcasters and hot take live streamers out loud—so I turned once again to “Infinite Lofi for Focus.”
Had it not been for this review, I may have never ventured outside of the dozen or so sleepy rain sounds (which I’d say wouldn’t have been worth the price alone) but I can see this being a regular part of my routine as long as I commit to using it.
In the end, you will only get out of the app what you take from it.
That’s why I would argue that if the full-year subscription (or the lifetime subscription) is within your budget, it would be worth it because it will always be available, even during months of heavy or light use. During a particularly busy month, I’d feel like I wasted $15 if I didn’t use it, but averaging it all out over several months, I’d know I was getting my money’s worth.
The Calm app would also make for a great gift when you want to get something a bit more meaningful for a stressed-out loved one. For example, I’m not sure that the Calm app is something that I’d see buying for myself, primarily for budget reasons, but I loved interacting with the content and would absolutely adore it as a gift.
So if you’re looking for a quick break or a longer meditation session, Calm has you covered; and if you’ve ever wondered what the bridge of a starship might sound like, well, Calm has you covered there too. As for me, I’m still wondering what in the world happens during the last 29 minutes of “Mr. Calm.”
Hannah Owens, LMSW
andSimone Scully
Simone Scully
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