Why HeadSpace or Calm Like Meditation App Development Is a Billion-Dollar Idea?

Meditation App Market: Size, Potential and Other Worth Knowing Stats

Here is a sneak peek to how these apps have transformed the Blueprint of Digital Meditation and Mindfulness Industry:

Isn’t it interesting? After having a look at these stats we can say that the meditation app market is exploding like never before. A number of new brands are putting resources into this domain, wherein numerous meditation market trends and technologies are being utilized for driving business advantages.

Now that you know all about the scope and idea of your business, let us see and analyze the market leaders of the meditation app market.

Market Leaders of Meditation App Market

As of now, the meditation applications market is profoundly consolidated. Two players – Calm and Headspace – hold more than 60% of the market share.

Both are receiving rewards of being first movers and are aggressively collaborating with schools, workplaces, and other such social spaces to hold their present positions.  Have a look at their journey so far:

All that these applications have achieved isn’t simple for any new business to accomplish. To maintain an edge over these strong competitors, new players must be on their toes, recognizing what users need and how to offer them the same – the right way.

To get there – let us see how these already established players reached the pinnacle of success by putting some spotlight on their business model:

Business Model of Calm Meditation App

Michel Acton – the founder of the Calm application launched several startups before Calm and felt the pressure of becoming a successful app owner. He followed his dream of doing something in neuroscience and mindfulness along with one of his friends – Alex Tew, who was trying to prove the impacts of meditation, and together they developed Calm. 

The application was launched in 2012 and since then its developers added a lot of interesting features to it so as to make the app “Nike for the mind”. At present, the app is available with all these features for iOS as well as Android users. 

Just like a number of applications in the mindfulness industry, Calm follows a Freemium business model. Users can download the application and explore its basic features for free but will have to pay for the advanced features.

The main motive of the Calm app is to give users a vibe of quietness and tranquility! And that’s why the application is very simple and intuitive and it guides users through the sign-up process in a savvy way. Have a look at its Business Model Canvas:

Business Model of Headspace App

Headspace’s story is quite interesting. The man behind the application is Andy Puddicombe who began his journey to India, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Australia, and Russia to learn meditation. After 10 years, he turned into a Tibetan priest and with his impressive knowledge, he came back to the UK and chose to teach everyone the concept of meditation.

He launched his application – Headspace in 2012 with the goal of offering access to wellness for everybody – anywhere, anytime.

Just like Calm, the application operates using a freemium business model. The basic program that teaches how to meditate is so well planned that users will find enough assets in their pockets for the premium version. Some rewards or incentives offered within the app make the process even simpler. 

According to Headspace’s owners, the basic version of the application is like a headache medicine that cures the pain in a particular moment, while membership packs represent the vitamin which improves users’ day by day living. 

Meditation Apps can be habit-forming. And, if you manage to make your meditation app a Habit for your users – none can stop you from making your business successful. Check out this guide on How to Develop Habit-Forming Apps Using the Hooked Model.

Now that you know how these successful meditation apps work and what is their business model – let us put some spotlight on the must-have features of a meditation app like Calm or HeadSpace.

8 Features to Consider While Meditation App Development

1. Profile Creation

While developing an app like Calm or Headspace – the first feature you have to focus on is Profile Creation. As the name suggests, the feature lets users create their own profiles on the application where they can see/store all the information related to them or the exercises they have to participate in.

Before a user joins you app, you should ask him/her information like name, email address, age and time (the user would be able to invest in the app) just to get an idea of what content he is looking for in your app and how you can serve him in the best possible way.

2. Introductory Course

It isn’t necessary that every user who downloads your app knows everything about meditation. 

Applications like Headspace are successful because they don’t work under the impression that each client who visits their app has an understanding of the 2500 years old practice. Thus, they add an introductory course to make users familiar with the mindfulness and meditation process.

3. Meditation Session Library

An important feature that you can consider while building a mindfulness application is a session library on various topics like stress management, depression, insomnia, happiness, harmony, relaxation, forgiveness, body-scan, and more.

By covering every one of these sessions, you can let your users listen and practice meditation. Such sessions will help users fight depression and feel happiness by getting relaxed. You can create sessions of various lengths like 5, 15, 20 or 25 minutes or even of an hour, allowing app users to select the correct length that fits in their schedule.

4. Virtual Assistance

With the help of a virtual assistant, your users will be able to ask for help 24*7. 

The expert help will help bring more traffic to your online meditation platform and will make a trustworthy relationship with the intended audience. You can also let your users save and download in-app video tutorials for help – offline or online – so that they can see them whenever they get time. 

5. Audio and Video Playback

An important part of the session sets would be an audio or video playback option. In addition to being integrated into the sessions, you can even let users record their chanting voice or video to let them track how their breathing has improved from the very first moment to now. 

6. Progress Tracking

This part of the application would look into the user application interaction history. It will show them how far they have come in the application and what number of stages they are yet to cover to reach the next phase of calmness.

7. In-App Purchases

You should give your users the option to pay for memberships or buy advanced features of the application through an in-built in-application purchase option. It then would turn into your responsibility to guarantee that the payment gateway is secure and the entire transaction experience is hack-proof. Remember, it is always crucial to make your app as secure as possible.

8. Push Notifications

Push Notifications is one of the best options to improve your app retention rate. They also help you increase your app open rate and hold your users so that they keep coming back to your application. 

It is easy for users to skip the meditation lessons because of busy schedules – so push notifications can also help you remind your user about the same. By sending them planned push-messages, you can send them reminders and an update about when they need to open the application to keep being quiet. 

Also Read: A Definitive Guide to Choosing the Perfect Mobile App Color Themes

Now that you know everything about the meditation app market and big players of the industry – let’s see how much it would cost you if you plan to build an app like Headspace or Calm.

How Much Does it Cost to Build Apps like Calm or HeadSpace?

The expense to develop a meditation application isn’t fixed and one can’t give you the exact estimation on the same. It varies depending on various factors such as:-

• App Specifications – The cost of building an app like Calm is directly proportional to the application size and complexity of features. So, if you are intending to develop a complete application, the cost would be high and if you are planning to build an MVP – the cost would be a bit lower.
• Development Team – The size, skills, location, and experience of the mobile application development company you hire also have a gigantic effect on the application cost. 
• Tech Stack – Also, the programming languages, frameworks, tools and other technical components you put into your development project will also impact the expense of Calm like meditation app development.

So, the ideal way to get an idea of the exact expense for building an application like Calm is to contact the mediation application development company you are planning to work with. At Apptunix, we have a detailed call with all the leads who ask us for Headspace or Calm like app development cost. If you too want to know the exact figure, just drop us a line at info@apptunix.com or you can directly call at +1 415 670 9326.