Headspace App

Meditation made simple

Headspace is the brainchild of founders Andy Puddicombe and Richard Pierson. It became incorporated in May of 2010 in London, UK. The main headquarters of Headspace Health is in Santa Monica, California with other offices in London as well as San Francisco.

Andy Puddicombe, confronted with difficult times during his studies, left everything behind and became a Buddhist monk for 10 years. He was fully ordained in a Tibetan monastery in the Himalayas. He used to meditate up to 16 hours a day. Andy decided to return to the UK in 2004 with a mission to make meditation available to a wider audience via meditation clinics and it was during this time that he met his business partner, Richard Pierson.

Andy Puddincombe became famous in the UK with TV programmes, and he wrote three books. You can watch a 10-minute TED talk about his approach to Meditation. "You don't have to burn any incense, you definitely don't have to sit on the floor...". He recommends a daily meditation of 10 minutes to start seeing some changes.

Headspace's valuation

As of 2021, Headspace has raised in excess of $200 million and was valued at $1.2 billion.

Headspace merged with Ginger in 2021, for a combined value of $300 Billion and 800 staff. Both co-founders stepped out of the company in 2021 and they left the board in May 2022; the only thing left from them is Andy's voice during guided meditation sessions.

The company has been reported having currently 400,000 paying subscribers and $50 million in annual revenues.

Since the merger with Ginger, the company added coaching to the guided meditation. They claim to use meditation and mindfulness tools that are evidence-based and when combined with mental health coaching, therapy and other wellness methods, they can help create habits that support mental health while emphasizing life-changing practices to promote healthier and happier individuals.

Headspace is being used in over 200 countries with 70 million downloads from the app alone while helping over 100 million people.

How to Download the Headspace App

• Simply locate the Headspace App in the App Store for iOS or Google Play Store for Android by searching "headspace"
• Click on Install or Download. Once the download is complete, click OPEN.
• Create your Headspace account. You can do this by choosing your Google account, Facebook, Apple or Email Account.
• Click continue and choose what you want to do with the app. For example, you can choose to Be present and mindful, feel calm and relaxed, sleep better, etc.
• Click Continue
• You will then be offered up to 14 days free trial of the full features available with the app. Full access to all features in Headspace has an annual fee of £49.99 or you can pay £9.99 monthly. This option attracts a 7-day free trial period.
• Turn on the notifications. You can choose Stay Motivated, Mindful Moments, or both.
• Save your choices
• You can then explore Headspace with a quick breathing exercise. Breathe in, Breathe out.
• Choose an option to describe how you feel.
• Explore the many features in the Headspace App.
• Choose Meditate, Sleep, Move, Focus or another more specific feature.

Download the Headspace App for iOS

Download the Headspace App for Android

How Popular is Headspace?

With well over 70 million downloads and over 100 million users, Headspace is still one of the most popular apps for mindfulness and mental health. The guided meditations are easy to follow with the main focus being on well-being. This has resulted in Headspace becoming a must-have tool for people looking to find balance and harmony in their lives.

The Headspace App was one of the recipients of Apple Design Awards in 2023 as well as The Webby Awards People's Voice Award for the Best App in Health & Fitness.

Headspace seems to be generating less revenue ($235 Million) than its competitor Calm App ($355 million) as analysed by businessofapps.

Is Headspace free? How Much Does the Headspace App Cost?

The Headspace App works on a subscription model and costs £49.99 for 12 months and £9.99 if you choose to pay monthly. All the features are available for free during the trial period. You can enjoy the full features for 14 days if you choose the 12-month option or 7 days for the monthly option.

Headspace also has a free option with limited features, which include:

• A selection of basic guided meditations
• A session geared toward nighttime relaxation
• 10-Sessions Basic Course

Headspace also offer a family plan: six accounts for £74.99 GBP a year, if you live at the same physical address.

What is Available on the App?

The headpasce app is specialised in guided meditation, either guided by the voice, the music or video.

The main purpose of the Headspace App is to support mental health and ensure the tools are accessible to everyone. The app itself provides mindfulness tools for everyday life that include:

Guided Meditation - A collection of guided meditation videos artfully designed to help you relax and find inner peace. There are many different styles to choose from including different lengths of time so you can always find the right meditation session no matter how much or how little time you have. f

Sleepcasts - Much like the guided meditation sessions, sleepcasts offer audio and visual meditation and videos that first, help you unwind and then bring you into a state of relaxation that promotes deep, restful sleep. A music to help you sleep or fall back asleep and you can also set up wake-up music for the morning.

Mindful Movements - These include a variety of exercise sessions such as yoga and active cardio to promote physical activity and boost your overall wellbeing.

Focus Exercises - These include include meditations, Soundscapes, breathing exercises and other mindful activities to boost your mental clarity while also promoting inner peace and relaxation.

Headspace Free Resources for Schools

Headspace supports teachers and support staff in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Headspace Health offers free access to teachers from primary to secondary school (K-12 in the US: 4 to 16 in the UK). Some of the benefits include inspiring teachers to connect with students and offer new ways to bring calm to the classroom while building healthy habits that last a lifetime as well as better focus, less stress and calmer, happier thoughts.

You'll have to verify yourself as a teacher via this form to access the whole library if you are based in the UK.

The Headspace App in the UK

Headspace was above Calm App in terms of awareness until April 2019, but then Calm took over, with a peak in April 2019 and strong volumes during lockdown. Insight timer, another meditation app, is a third player in the UK.

Headspace has a number of membership options available for UK users. You may even be eligible for free membership but if this does not apply to you, you can choose £9.99 for the monthly subscription or £49.99 for an annual subscription.

The Headspace App User Reviews

Headspace is widely popular and the reviews are mainly positive. Users report the following:

• Feel less stressed in as little as 10 days
• You choose the length and style of your meditation sessions
• Ideal for beginners and advanced users
• Aesthetically pleasing design and interface
• Kid & family-friendly
• Great subscription options

Plans For Businesses

Headspace, since merging with Ginger, increased its BtoB offer to include:

• Unlimited mental health coaching, on demand
• In-person and video therapy
• 24/7 phone support for individual needs at any moment when it is needed
• Psychiatry services support (for US-based members)
• Critical incident support
• Work-life services including financial, legal, elder care, childcare, identity theft support and more
• Management consultations and referrals
• Mindfulness, sleep support & focus tools
• Support for managers and teams
• Meditation courses
• Mindfulness exercises
• Mindfulness meditation

Membership per employee seems to start from the same price as BtoC: £49.99 a year, or £9.99 a month per employee.