Meditation Apps

 

Introduction

There is a huge amount of mindfulness and meditation apps available promising to help you combat anxiety, depression, sleep problems etc. Over 2000  new apps were published between 2015 and 2018 with yet more launched during the pandemic. 

However, according to research quoted in "The American Psychologist*" - Only 4.7% of initial users continue to use digital meditation apps after 30 days. With some estimates suggesting that the average lifetime use of a meditation app is between one and four session.

That having been said, there is a role for meditation apps and here is a list of the top five free apps suggested by Mindful magazine. At least you won't be wasting a load of money trying them out.

*The Meditation App Revolution – The American Psychologist August 7th 2025.

Mindful

Not too surprisingly - mindful magazines own app appears in the list. However, this is a really good app with over 2,000 guided meditations. https://www.mindful.org/

Insight Timer

A real global community behind this one with over 80,000 free meditations, live events and real-time meditation stats. There is a paid for upgrade which unlocks courses and offline downloads. https://insighttimer.com/

Smiling Mind

Not-for-profit organisation behind this app provides structured programs for different age groups. Entirely free - no paid for upgrades. https://www.smilingmind.com.au/smiling-mind-app/

UCLA Mindful

Developed by the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. https://www.uclahealth.org/uclamindful Scroll down page for links to the app.

Healthy Minds Program

Now branded as "HUMIN" the healthy minds program is a blending of neuroscientific research and meditation training. https://www.humin.org/ Scroll down to find a link to the app.