Buddhism by the Numbers: The Economics of Mindfulness

Happiest Apps:
As measured by the app Moment, which tracks iPhone users’ screen time and how apps leave them feeling:
1. Calm
2. Google Calendar
3. Headspace
4. Insight Timer

Unhappiest:
1. Grindr
2. Candy Crush Saga
3. Facebook
4. WeChat

App’s Annual Revenues (Net):
Calm: $80 million
Headspace: more than $100 million
Insight Timer: $400k [estimated]
Aura: $109k [estimated]
Breethe: $3.3 million

Meditation Apps Ranking:
Calm: #1 on Apple and Android;
Headspace: #2 on Apple and Android;
Insight timer: #3 on Android, #7 on Apple;
Aura: #3 on Apple, #4 on Android;
Breethe: #4 on Apple

Number of Downloads:
Calm: More Than 40 million
Headspace: More Than 42 million
Insight Timer: More Than 7 million
Breethe: 5 million
Aura: 160,000 [Estimated]

Meditation market worth: $1.2 billion

Meditation market annual growth: ~11%

Number of new meditation apps launched between 2015 and 2018: more than 2,000

Unicorn Status: The meditation app Calm is now valued at $1 billion. Privately held companies that are valued at ten figures or more are referred to as “unicorns.” Calm is the first meditation-based company to receive the label.

View past installments of Buddhism by the Numbers: Buddhism by the Numbers: Kentucky and Buddhism By The Numbers: African Great Lakes Region. 

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Data from the Center for Humane Technology, Marketdata Enterprises report “The U.S. Meditation Market” (Sept. 2017), Sensor Tower, The Wall Street Journal “Headspace vs. Calm” (Dec. 15, 2018), Business Insider “Calm, the 7-year-old meditation app…” (Feb. 6, 2019), and correspondence with app companies.

Due to a production error, a print version of this story incorrectly presented the annual revenues for Calm and Headspace at $80 billion and $100 billion, respectively. Those figures are in the millions, not billions. We regret the error.