How We Feel vs Calm
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
How We Feel is the better app overall, scoring 8.9 to 8.5. How We Feel wins on 2 of the 5 scores, Calm on 2, with 1 tied.
Anyone who wants to understand their moods without paying or oversharing
Light sleepers and anxious minds who want help winding down each night
Score by score
The details
| Feature | How We Feel | Calm |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mind & Focus | Mind & Focus |
| Category rank | #2 of 11 | #8 of 11 |
| Developer | The How We Feel Project | Calm.com, Inc. |
| Pricing | Free | Subscription |
| Usable for free | Yes | No |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web | — | ✓ |
Common questions
Is How We Feel better than Calm?
How We Feel is the better app overall, scoring 8.9 to 8.5. How We Feel wins on 2 of the 5 scores, Calm on 2, with 1 tied.
Which is cheaper, How We Feel or Calm?
How We Feel: Free; made by a nonprofit funded by donations. Calm: Some free sessions and a free trial; Calm Premium subscription unlocks the library. On value for money, How We Feel scores higher.
Do How We Feel and Calm work on the same devices?
Only Calm runs on Web.
Which is more private, How We Feel or Calm?
How We Feel scores higher on privacy (9.2/10). The developer says your data stays on your device unless you opt in to share anonymized check-ins for research. App Store label: contact info, identifiers and other data may be linked to you.
Strengths and weaknesses
How We Feel
- Completely free, from a nonprofit
- Data stays on your device by default
- Strategies take a minute or two
- Android version is rated lower than iOS
- Not a substitute for professional care
How We Feel helps you find the exact word for a feeling, which makes it easier to act on. It was conceived with Yale's Center for Emotional Intelligence, and it links your check-ins to sleep, exercise and other Apple Health trends so patterns show up over time. Short video strategies can shift a bad moment in about a minute, and you can share feelings with close friends. It's free and keeps data on your device by default.
Full How We Feel review
Calm
- Best-in-class Sleep Stories and sleep music
- Soothing, beautifully produced design
- Wide range of content for stress and anxiety
- Most content is paywalled
- Less structured for learning to meditate
- Privacy label declares tracking
Calm is the app to get if better sleep is your main goal. Its Sleep Stories, read by voices like Matthew McConaughey and Stephen Fry, are excellent at helping you drift off, and soundscapes, music and breathing exercises round it out. Guided dailies cover anxiety and focus too. Most content needs a subscription, the teaching is less structured than Headspace's, and the privacy label declares tracking.
Full Calm review
