Balance vs. Headspace: Which Meditation App is Right for You?

Updated September 20, 2023

The art of meditation, a vital practice that aids in stress reduction, sharpening focus, and boosting overall wellness, has found its way into both the app store and digital realm. Many meditation apps are available today, each promising a unique approach to learning mindfulness. Choosing the best meditation or calm app, among others, can be daunting.

This guide compares two leading mindfulness apps: Balance and Headspace. By exploring their distinct features, pricing, meditation courses, and potential benefits, we aspire to guide you in finding the perfect meditation app for your specific requirements.

What are Headspace and Balance meditation apps?

Balance and Headspace are renowned meditation apps that provide a platform for individuals to gain mindfulness skills and maintain a consistent meditation practice. They each come with guided meditations, daily meditation courses, yoga instruction, sleep meditations, and various resources to bolster mental health and overall wellness.

Headspace, one of the oldest and most highly acclaimed meditation apps, hosts over 500 meditation sessions spanning many topics like stress, anxiety, happiness, productivity, meditation reminders, self-awareness, and more. Additionally, the Headspace app is home to many sleep stories, exercise meditations, group meditations, and podcasts to keep users engaged and inspired. It is created with simplicity, enjoyment, and accessibility, catering to individuals irrespective of their meditation experience or background.

Balance app, a relatively new meditation app, emphasizes customization and flexibility. The Balance meditation app presents a unique guided meditation program that adapts to your daily preferences and goals. Alongside a collection of standalone sessions, wind-downs, sleep sounds, and nature sounds, the Balance app offers a personalized meditation experience. The design of the Balance meditation app is user-friendly and intuitive and adjusts according to your feedback and progress.

How do they compare in price and value?

These two apps have similar pricing and annual subscription plans: they charge $12.99 per month or $69.99 per year for their premium subscription. However, they differ in their free version of trials and content.

Headspace offers a 7-day or 14-day free trial (depending on your location) for new users who want to try their premium features. After the free trial ends, you can still access some of their free content, such as the Basics course (a 10-day beginner’s course), a single meditation session, some sleep sounds, and some podcasts. If you are a university student, Headspace offers exclusive pricing and a special student plan; read more here.

Both apps have high-quality content that is professionally produced and regularly updated. However, Headspace has a much larger catalog than the Balance app, with more variety and depth in their topics and styles. Balance has a smaller catalog than Headspace but a more personalized approach that adjusts to your daily needs.

How do they differ in meditation session styles and options?

Both Headspace and Balance apps offer a guided program led by a voice instructor who guides you through meditation. However, they have different styles and options for their guided meditations.

Headspace has a more structured and consistent style for its guided meditations. They use the same voice instructor (Andy Puddicombe) for most of their meditations (except for some bedtime stories). They also use the same format for most of their meditations: they start meditating with a short introduction that explains the topic or goal of the meditation; then they guide you through some breath control exercises; then they lead you through the main meditation technique; then they end the quick meditation with some closing remarks or tips.

Balance has a more varied and flexible style for their guided meditations. They use different voice instructors (both male and female) for different meditations (you can choose your preferred voice). They also use different formats for different meditations: they start with a short questionnaire that asks you about your mood or goal for the day; then they customize the meditation based on your answers; then they guide you through some main meditation techniques; then they end with some feedback or suggestions.

Both Headspace and Balance offer unguided meditations not led by a voice instructor but by background music or sounds. However, they have different options for their unguided meditations.

Headspace has a more limited and fixed option for their unguided meditations. They only offer one type of unguided meditation: the Pro series, which consists of guided sessions in six levels of increasing difficulty and duration (10 minutes to 60 minutes). They also only offer one type of background music: soft ambient music that plays throughout the meditation.

Balance has a more diverse and customizable option for their unguided meditations. They offer several types of unguided meditations: the Timer, which lets you set your very own pace, duration, and background sound; the Soundscape, which lets you choose from a variety of nature sounds or music tracks; and the Mix, which lets you combine different sounds or music tracks to create your soundscape.

Headspace and Balance offer daily courses and single sessions covering different topics and goals. However, they have other options for their courses and sessions.

Headspace has a more extensive and organized option for its courses and sessions. They offer over 40 lessons divided into four categories: Basics, Health, Happiness, and Work & Performance. Each course consists of 10 to 30 sessions that range from 3 to 20 minutes. They also offer over 100 single sessions divided into six categories: SOS, On-the-go, Everyday Headspace, Sport, Students, and Kids & Parents. Each session ranges from 1 minute to 60 minutes.

The Balance app has a more straightforward, more adaptive option for courses and sessions. They offer one main course: the Personalized Plan, which consists of daily sessions tailored to your needs and preferences. Each session ranges from 3 minutes to 20 minutes. They also offer over 50 single sessions divided into four categories: Focus, Relax, Sleep, and Grow. Each session ranges from 3 minutes to 20 minutes.

How do they cater to different levels of experience and needs?

Headspace and Balance cater to different experience levels and needs by offering beginner-friendly, personalized, and flexible features. However, they have different ways of doing so.

Headspace caters to different levels of experience and needs by offering:

• A-Basics course that teaches the fundamentals of mindfulness meditation for beginners.
• A Progress page that tracks your stats, streaks, milestones, and achievements.
• A Move mode that offers exercise meditations for physical health.
• A Wake-up mode that offers daily videos for inspiration and motivation.
• A Sleep mode that offers sleep meditations, bedtime stories, sleep sounds, and sleep casts for better sleep.
• A Headspace Plus subscription gives you access to all the content and features of the app.

Balance caters to different levels of experience and needs by offering:

• A Profile page that shows your progress, mood, streaks, and preferences.
• A Wind-down mode that offers wind-downs, sleep sounds, and nature sounds for relaxation and sleep.
• A Soundscape mode that offers a variety of sounds and music for unguided meditations.
• A Balance subscription that gives you access to all the content and features of the app.

How do they support sleep and relaxation?

Headspace and Balance apps support sleep and relaxation by offering sleep meditations, bedtime stories, and sound libraries. However, they have different options for these sleep tabs and features.

Headspace is a meditation app that offers guided meditations and other features to help you sleep and relax better. Some of the ways they support sleep and relaxation are:

• Headspace offers sleep meditations, sounds and music, and a Grand Canyon sleep cast to help you wind down and drift off. It also teaches you how to breathe deeply and lower your heart rate to reduce anxiety and stress.
• Headspace has 10-day plans that teach fundamental meditation skills for your goals and needs, such as reducing anxiety, improving focus, or boosting happiness.
• Headspace has singles that are bite-sized meditations you can use anytime, even on the go, to enhance moments in your everyday life. You can choose from topics like waking up, working out, focusing, relaxing, energizing, and more.

Balance is a meditation app that offers personalized meditations tailored to your mood, goals breaking habits, and challenges. According to their website, some of the ways they support sleep and relaxation are: Balance uses an audio library of thousands of files to assemble meditations personalized for you. You answer daily questions about your meditation experience, goals, and challenges, and the app adapts accordingly.

• Balance has a wind-down activity that uses bilateral stimulation and controlled breathing to help you relax before bed and prepare for restful sleep. It also has sleep sounds and music to soothe you to sleep.
• Balance has innovative experiences like vibration-based immersive meditations and interactive breathing exercises that help calm your mind and body.

So, how do you choose the best meditation app for you?

Consider your goals and preferences. What are you looking for in a meditation app? Do you want to learn the basics of meditation and mindfulness? Do you want to improve your mental health and well-being? Do you want to explore different topics and styles? Do you want to have a personalized and flexible experience? Do you want to have a lot of options and variety? Do you want to have a simple and easy app?

Try out the free trials and content. Both Headspace and Balance offer free trials and content that you can use to test out their features and quality. You can sign up for free trials on their websites, the app, and google play stores. You can also access some of their free content without signing up. Try out their courses, sessions, sounds, and other tools, and see which ones resonate with you more.

Compare the prices and values. Both Headspace and Balance have similar prices for their premium version of subscriptions: $12.99 per month or $69.99 per year. However, they offer different value for your money. Headspace has more content and features than Balance, but Balance has a more personalized and flexible approach. You can also take advantage of the discounts and offers that they may have from time to time.

Conclusion

Meditation is a great way to improve your mental health and wellness, but finding the right meditation app can be challenging. In this article, we compared two of the best meditation apps: Balance and Headspace. We looked at their features, prices, styles, and benefits and gave tips on choosing the best.

Balance and Headspace are great meditation apps that can help you learn mindfulness skills and develop a regular meditation practice. However, they have pros, cons, and key differences that may suit different users better.

Headspace is a more structured and consistent app with more variety and depth in topics and styles. It is ideal for users who want to have a lot of options and variety, who want to explore different topics and styles, who want to have more content for all age ranges, and who want to have more features for exercise, inspiration, community, who want to have more options for unguided meditations.

Balance app is a more personalized and adaptive app with more varied and flexible formats. It is ideal for users who want to have a personalized and flexible experience, who want to have more options for sounds and music, who want to have more options for nature sounds, who want to have more options for wind downs, who want to take advantage of a generous free trial.

Ultimately, the best meditation app for you depends on your goals and preferences. We recommend you try both apps and see which works better for you. You can also use both apps to enjoy the best of both worlds.

We hope this article helped you find the best meditation app for you. Happy meditating!