European Alternatives to Calm
Looking for a European alternative to Calm? Calm.com, Inc. is named in its privacy policy as the data controller for users in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, and the policy says Calm is based in the United States and processes information in countries that may not provide equivalent protection. The policy relies on adequacy decisions, consent or Standard Contractual Clauses for those transfers.
The European apps below range from course-based libraries such as 7Mind, Petit BamBou and Namatata to free foundation-run tools such as Medito and the Plum Village App, and sleep-focused options such as Meditation Moments and Sleep Cycle.
How we rank these tools — 4-step process
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1
European ownership, verified
The company is headquartered and incorporated in the EU, EEA, the UK, Switzerland or Israel, and processes customer data in Europe or Israel. A US parent company disqualifies a tool from this page regardless of where its servers are.
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2
Category fit and hands-on review
What the tool actually does, who it suits, and where it falls short — checked against the vendor’s own documentation, changelog and pricing page rather than its marketing copy.
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Compliance and pricing check
GDPR posture, hosting location and the prices quoted on this page are verified against the vendor’s public pricing before publication, and re-checked when we revisit the category.
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Position on this page
Placement on this page can be paid, and that can affect which tools appear here and the order they appear in. It never buys a good review: a tool that fails the checks above is not here at any price, and payment does not change the shortcomings we write about. A vendor can ask us to correct a factual error — not to remove a criticism.
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11 European Alternatives to Calm
7Mind
Berlin courses-first meditation app with monthly and yearly plans
Petit BamBou
French meditation, breathing and sleep app with a free tier
Medito
Free open-source meditation app run by a Dutch foundation
8Breath
German breathwork and meditation app with a large free tier
Namatata
French app with express sessions and a free seven-session start
Meditation Moments
Dutch-language meditations, sleep stories and yoga nidra
Plum Village App
Donation-funded mindfulness app with Thich Nhat Hanh teachings
Samten
Teacher-led UK mindfulness app for people and workplaces
Luisterrust
Dutch audio meditations aimed at anxiety, panic and sleep
Yogaia
Live and on-demand yoga, yoga nidra and meditation classes
Sleep Cycle
Smart alarm and sleep analysis with sounds and meditations
Key takeaways
- Calm.com, Inc. is the data controller for users in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, and its policy says the company is based in the United States.
- Calm names The DPO Centre Europe Ltd in Dublin as its EEA representative, which satisfies the formal requirement without moving the contract to Europe.
- Calm says it may infer health-related characteristics from how users describe their feelings in feedback.
- Medito and the Plum Village App are the only two apps on this page that cost nothing and are funded by donations.
- Sleep Cycle, Meditation Moments and Yogaia are the closest European answers if your use of Calm centres on sleep or movement.
Why people leave Calm
Calm is a meditation and sleep app made by Calm.com, Inc., a company based in San Francisco. Its privacy policy, last updated on 13 October 2026, says in so many words that Calm "is based in the United States and has operations there and in other countries". For someone in Munich, Lyon or Utrecht that sentence has a practical meaning: the account, the mood check-ins and the listening history of a European user belong to an American controller.
The same policy names Calm.com, Inc. as the data controller for people using the service in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, and it names an EEA representative, The DPO Centre Europe Ltd in Dublin, plus a separate UK representative in London. That is the formal arrangement a non-European company needs, and it still leaves the contract partner on the other side of the Atlantic.
Most people who start looking for a European option are not studying policies. They notice that the app asks how they feel, that the answers are stored, and that a meditation habit now sits in a profile at a company they never evaluated. The apps on this page answer that worry with different structures: a Berlin course library, a Dutch foundation with public code, a Finnish yoga studio, a Swedish sleep tracker.
- Mood answers and goals go into a profile Calm lists what you may hand over: goals, previous meditation experience, sleep habits, moods and reflections from check-ins. It adds that when users describe how they feel in feedback, the company "may infer health-related characteristics" from it. For an app used at bedtime or during a bad week, that is the part of the policy to read twice, because the data is closer to health information than to a shopping history.
- Derived data and advertising partners The policy says Calm derives an approximate location from the IP address, makes "educated guesses" about gender or age, and uses collected data to estimate the likelihood that you keep using the service. It also lets third parties serve advertisements for it, and some partners turn an e-mail address or phone number into an identifier. The opt-out sits on calm.com/optout, not in a single switch inside the app.
- Transfers rest on three possible mechanisms Calm says it and its service providers process information in countries that may not offer equivalent protection, and that it relies, where required, on consent, European Commission adequacy decisions or Standard Contractual Clauses. Which of the three applies to which flow is not spelled out. A European buyer who wants one answer, for example an employer rolling the app out to staff, has to ask the company in writing.
- Your employer or promoter can learn that you signed up The disclosure section says that if a subscription was provided by an employer or a family member, Calm may tell them that you signed up, and that for subscriptions bundled with another service or a promotional code, the third party may be told that you redeemed the offer. Anyone who wants a meditation habit to stay private from the benefits department should know this before accepting a company code.
What you have to replace, not just match
Calm is one app that mixes several jobs: daily meditation, courses, breathing, sleep audio and a mood check-in. Before you pick a European replacement, work out which of those jobs you actually used.
Someone who opened Calm only for sleep audio has a different shopping list from someone who followed a ten-day course. No single app on this page covers everything the incumbent bundles, and that is partly a feature: each European tool is narrower and says plainly what it is for.
The calm.com pricing and terms pages were blocked by a bot check when this page was researched, so this page makes no claim about what Calm costs or how big its library is.
What you can compare is what the European vendors publish: 7Mind lists 77,99 euro for the first year, Meditation Moments 56,99 euro, 8Breath 59,99 euro, Luisterrust 69 euro after the first year, while Medito and the Plum Village App are free. Check your own Calm renewal price before you decide that the swap saves money.
There is also content you replace rather than match. Spoken language is the obvious one: a German course app, a Dutch anxiety app and a French app with a free tier each serve a language community, and none of them is an English-language mirror of Calm. If your habit is built around a single narrator or a bedtime story you like, expect to rebuild it in the new library rather than import it.
The alternatives compared
| Position | Tool | Headquarters | Pricing | Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 7Mind | Berlin, Germany | Yearly plan 77,99 euro for the first 12-month term with a 7-day free trial; monthly plan 14,99 euro, cancellable at the end of the paid month | EU (Germany) |
| #2 | Petit BamBou | Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France | Free version without time limit; monthly, yearly and lifetime paid plans, prices not shown on the pages checked | EU (France) |
| #3 | Medito | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Free. No trials and no premium tier; funded by voluntary donations | EU (Netherlands) |
| #4 | 8Breath | Berlin, Germany | Free tier; Plus 14,99 euro per month or 59,99 euro per year (incl. VAT), 7-day trial on the yearly plan only | EU (Germany) |
| #5 | Namatata | Garches, France | Website: 79 euro for one year in a single payment; app stores: 6-month plan at 38.99 euro; free programme of 7 sessions | EU (France) |
| #6 | Meditation Moments | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Premium 56,99 euro per year with a 7-day free trial; free tier with 1 yoga nidra, 1 affirmation, 1 sleep story and 1 exercise; students 50% off the first year | EU (Netherlands) |
| #7 | Plum Village App | London, United Kingdom | Free; funded by voluntary donations | United Kingdom (adequacy decision, outside the EEA) |
| #8 | Samten | Brecon, United Kingdom | Prices set in the app, stated in pounds sterling including VAT per the terms; free route offered on the site | United Kingdom (adequacy decision, outside the EEA) |
| #9 | Luisterrust | Veldhoven, Netherlands | Free tier with 4 meditations; Premium shown as about 5,73 euro per month on annual payment, then 69 euro per year; 14-day free trial | EU (Netherlands) |
| #10 | Yogaia | Espoo, Finland | 1 month 19,99 euro; 6 months 14,99 euro per month (89,94 euro billed); 12 months 9,99 euro per month (119,88 euro billed); 14-day free trial | EU (Finland) |
| #11 | Sleep Cycle | Gothenburg, Sweden | 30-day free trial advertised; prices not shown on the pages checked | EU (Sweden) |
How each alternative compares to Calm
Best for: German speakers who prefer structured courses and a German company in the contract.
7Mind GmbH is registered in Berlin, owned by 7NXT GmbH, and its imprint names two managing directors and a commercial register number. Against Calm, the useful difference is that you can trace the contract: a German GmbH with a stated hosting set-up in Luxembourg and Ireland, instead of a US controller with a European representative in Dublin. The pricing page promises more than 2,000 meditations and courses.
The yearly plan costs 77,99 euro for the first term with a 7-day trial, and the monthly plan 14,99 euro without a trial. The site is German-first, so an English reader will find it harder to use than Calm. The privacy policy lists several US analytics and e-mail processors, and a private-equity fund holds the majority of the parent group.
What 7Mind does better than Calm
- German GmbH with register number and managing directors in the imprint
- Hosting providers and their locations named in the privacy policy
- Health-insurer, student and company routes next to the consumer plan
- Euro prices stated on a public page
Where 7Mind is a step down from Calm
- Mostly German-language, unlike a global English catalogue
- Yearly price applies to the first 12 months only
- Pages checked do not describe a sleep-story catalogue
Standout against Calm. 7Mind is the only app here that sells meditation as courses first, with a named investor group behind it.
Best for: People who want to try a European app without paying anything first.
Petit BamBou is run by FEELVERYBIEN SAS in Villeneuve-d'Ascq. Compared with Calm, the first thing you notice is the entry level: the free version has no time limit, no ads and no payment method requirement, and it contains the Discovery programme, three meditations of the day, breathing tools and animated stories.
Paid plans unlock the programmes and the music catalogue, with monthly, yearly and lifetime options plus student and family offers. The prices are not shown on the pages checked, so they must be read in the store. The legal notice names OVH and Amazon Cloud as hosts, but the privacy policy gives no storage location, a gap worth raising before a company adopts it.
What Petit BamBou does better than Calm
- Permanent free version, not just a trial
- A lifetime plan exists next to monthly and yearly
- Website offered in six languages, including Dutch and German
- Legal notice names address, register and publication manager
Where Petit BamBou is a step down from Calm
- Prices not visible on the pages checked
- Privacy policy silent on hosting location and transfers
- Ownership of the SAS not stated
Standout against Calm. Petit BamBou lets you hear the full voice and pacing of its sessions before a payment screen appears.
Best for: People who want meditation without a subscription and with code they can inspect.
Stichting Medito is a Dutch non-profit with a KvK number and an Amsterdam address, and its app is licensed under the AGPL. Where Calm sells a subscription, Medito states that every meditation, course and feature is free and that it is paid for by donations. The foundation says fewer than 1% of users donate, which tells you how thin the funding is.
The privacy policy names the foundation as controller, yet it lists Firebase Analytics, Crashlytics, Superwall and Meta's SDK, all of which can be switched off in privacy settings. The pages checked do not give the number of meditations, the languages or the hosting location, so judge the library by opening the app.
What Medito does better than Calm
- No price at all and no premium tier
- Public code under the AGPL licence
- Non-profit structure with no incentive to upsell
- Analytics can be turned off by the user
Where Medito is a step down from Calm
- Library size and languages are not stated
- Still uses US analytics and ad-measurement tools
- Content depends on volunteers and donations
Standout against Calm. Medito is the only app on the page whose source code anyone can read before installing it.
Best for: German speakers who care more about breathing exercises than sleep stories.
8Breath is operated by an individual, Andreas Jansen in Berlin, which the imprint states without a company form. Set beside Calm, its free tier is the draw: more than 20 breathing exercises with all settings, custom exercises and no ads. Content comes from more than 150 teachers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, according to the site.
Plus costs 14,99 euro per month or 59,99 euro per year and opens more than 800 audios, courses, yoga, sleep stories and a journal. The app is entirely in German, no hosting provider is named, and a buyer who needs invoices from a legal entity should ask for an order form naming the contracting party.
What 8Breath does better than Calm
- Permanent free tier with 20+ breathing exercises
- Customisable breathing sessions
- Prices in euros including VAT on the pricing page
- Teachers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Where 8Breath is a step down from Calm
- German language only
- Imprint names a person, not a company
- Trial exists on the yearly plan only
Standout against Calm. 8Breath turns the breathing timer into the main product instead of an extra inside a meditation library.
Best for: French speakers who find long guided tracks hard to fit in.
NAMATATA SAS, seated in Garches near Paris, sorts its sessions into express, silent and activity-based formats and lets users choose a programme by goal. Against Calm, the sharpest difference is that the terms publish prices: 79 euro for one year paid on the website, or 38.99 euro for six months in the app stores.
The free programme holds seven sessions, and OVH in Roubaix is named as host. On the other side, the Paris register number appears as a placeholder in the terms, no monthly plan is listed, and neither the app languages nor the library size are stated. Confirm the registration in the French company register before signing anything.
What Namatata does better than Calm
- Prices in euros set out in the terms
- Express and activity-based formats for short moments
- OVH named as French host
- Free programme of seven sessions
Where Namatata is a step down from Calm
- Register number is a placeholder in the terms
- Library size and languages not stated
- Store and website prices differ by plan length
Standout against Calm. Namatata is the only app here with a session type that adapts to whatever activity the listener is doing.
Best for: Dutch speakers who want Calm-style sleep content in their own language.
Meditation Moments B.V. in Amsterdam was founded in 2018 by four co-founders, and the terms give its Chamber of Commerce number. Of all the apps on this page it comes closest to the Calm format in the content it lists: meditations, sleep stories for adults, sleep meditations for children, music tracks, yoga nidra and affirmations.
Premium costs 56,99 euro per year with a 7-day trial that needs no payment details, and students get half off the first year. The free tier is thin, one item per category. Michael Pilarczyk narrates most of the content, so the voice stays consistent but narrow. Data location and ownership are not stated.
What Meditation Moments does better than Calm
- Dutch-language catalogue with sleep stories
- Trial without payment details
- Student discount of 50% on the first year
- Kamer van Koophandel number published in the terms
Where Meditation Moments is a step down from Calm
- Free tier holds one item per category
- Hosting and data location not stated
- Library counts differ between two pages
Standout against Calm. Meditation Moments is the one European app on this page that copies the sleep-story half of the Calm model.
Best for: People drawn to Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings who want no upsell.
The Plum Village App is offered by the Centre for Applied Ethics Ltd in London, with the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation and Plum Village as partners. Compared with Calm it is a different kind of product: chanting by monks and nuns, practice songs, answers from the Zen master to students and a mindfulness bell, all free and funded by donations.
Signing in is optional, and the organisation says it sells neither advertising nor personal data. The trade-off is scope. The pages checked describe no sleep-story library, the content follows one Buddhist tradition, and library size and languages are not stated. The UK is outside the EEA, covered by an adequacy decision.
What Plum Village App does better than Calm
- Free, with no ads and no sale of personal data
- Account not required
- Teachings and Q&A content absent from commercial apps
- Web version and browser add-ons next to the apps
Where Plum Village App is a step down from Calm
- One tradition rather than a general catalogue
- No sleep-story or music range described
- Outside the EEA, relying on a UK adequacy decision
Standout against Calm. The Plum Village App is the only entry here where the content is a lineage of teaching rather than a catalogue.
Best for: UK users and employers who want a British supplier with a named teacher.
Samten Limited, company number 10546784 at Companies House, was incorporated on 4 January 2017, and the register lists two persons with significant control. Its content is led by Gelong Thubten. Where Calm presents a corporate brand, Samten shows who owns the company and who teaches, and the website has separate sections for individuals, workplaces and education.
No prices appear on the pages checked, and the terms say only that fees are in pounds sterling including VAT. The privacy policy names Microsoft Azure without a region and still holds unfilled template text for transfers and the data protection officer, which a procurement team would want corrected.
What Samten does better than Calm
- Public Companies House entry with named owners
- A named teacher rather than a generic catalogue
- Separate individual, workplace and education offers
Where Samten is a step down from Calm
- No prices on the pages checked
- Template text left in the privacy policy
- Azure region not named
Standout against Calm. Samten is the only app here where the register entry lets you check the owners in a minute.
Best for: Dutch speakers who want short audio support for anxious moments.
Luisterrust is run by Oxygen Coaching, trading under the app name, with a KvK number in the terms. Next to Calm its range is deliberately small: a Help category for anxiety and panic, 100+ meditations, 17 sleep meditations, 20+ music tracks and recovery affirmations. It presents itself as a self-help audio tool, not treatment.
Premium is shown as 5,73 euro per month on annual payment and then 69 euro per year, with a 14-day trial and a 14-day right of withdrawal. The legal form is not stated, the terms point to Veldhoven while a map link points to Eindhoven, and hosting is not described on the pages checked.
What Luisterrust does better than Calm
- Content built around anxiety and panic in Dutch
- 14-day trial and a stated right of withdrawal
- Euro prices on the premium page
Where Luisterrust is a step down from Calm
- Small operator without a stated legal form
- Address and library counts differ between pages
- Hosting and privacy details not found
Standout against Calm. Luisterrust is the only app here built around panic attacks instead of general wellbeing.
Best for: People who want teacher-led classes with yoga and meditation together.
Yogaia Oy is a Finnish company in Espoo with a business ID in the terms. The home page advertises more than 3,000 classes and over 50 new ones a week in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Finnish. Compared with Calm, you swap a library of audio tracks for classes timed from 3 to 60 minutes, some of them live.
Plans run from 19,99 euro for one month to 9,99 euro per month on a 12-month plan billed at 119,88 euro, with a 14-day trial. Meditation is a minority of the catalogue. The privacy policy permits transfers outside the EU/EEA, though it says support processing uses AWS Bedrock in Ireland.
What Yogaia does better than Calm
- Live classes and a teacher-led format
- Four languages including English
- Plan prices in euros on the home page
- Business ID and address in the terms
Where Yogaia is a step down from Calm
- Yoga-led catalogue with less pure meditation
- One-month price is the highest per month
- Main hosting location not named
Standout against Calm. Yogaia is the only entry that offers live classes, so it replaces a studio habit more than a bedtime one.
Best for: People whose goal is better sleep, with tracking plus audio.
Sleep Cycle AB in Gothenburg names itself provider and controller in the terms and privacy notice, with a data protection officer address. Where Calm tells you about sleep, Sleep Cycle measures it: a smart alarm, a sleep test, a journal and Sleep Talk, plus sounds, meditations and stories as a supplement.
A 30-day free trial is advertised, but the pages checked show no prices, so read them in the store first. The app can use the microphone and the accelerometer, which some users avoid, and the privacy notice says health data stays on the device unless you consent. Hosting is not stated and the meditation library is not sized.
What Sleep Cycle does better than Calm
- Smart alarm, sleep test and journal in one app
- Health data kept locally unless the user consents
- 30-day trial advertised
Where Sleep Cycle is a step down from Calm
- Meditation is secondary to tracking
- Needs microphone and accelerometer access
- Prices and hosting not shown on the pages checked
Standout against Calm. Sleep Cycle is the only app here that measures your night instead of just playing audio for it.
What actually breaks when you switch
Cancel first. Deleting Calm from your phone does not end the subscription, so turn off renewal in the App Store, Google Play or your Calm account, and note the date. If an employer or a promo code supplied the subscription, ask them to end it, because the policy says they may be told when you sign up.
Then ask for your data. The policy gives European users rights of access, portability and deletion, and requests go to support@calm.com. Your streaks, favourites and mood history do not carry over to another app, so decide what you want to keep before deleting. Expect to rebuild a routine from scratch: the European apps here have their own session formats, narrators and course structures.
Language is the real cost of switching. 8Breath is German only and Luisterrust is Dutch, so a bilingual household may need two apps. Test the audio during the trial or in the free tier before cancelling Calm.
Does Calm let European users delete their data?
According to its privacy policy, yes: users can ask to know, access (including in a portable format), correct and delete the information Calm holds, whatever their location, and Europeans can also object to certain processing, restrict it and withdraw consent. Requests go to support@calm.com or through the contact form on calm.com. The policy adds that some information is kept when law requires or permits it, for example for tax records.
A European supervisory authority is named as the place to file a complaint, and the policy lists the EDPB directory for contact details. If you have used Calm for years, send the request in writing before you cancel, because deleting the app from your phone does not remove the account.
Is a European meditation app automatically more private than Calm?
No. A company seated in Germany, France or the Netherlands answers to a national regulator, but it may still use US analytics tools. Medito, a Dutch foundation, lists Firebase Analytics, Firebase Crashlytics, Superwall and Meta's SDK in its privacy policy, and 7Mind lists several US processors for analytics and e-mail. The difference is the contracting party and the supervisory authority, not an absence of transfers.
The cleaner picture comes from reading each vendor's processor list. Sleep Cycle says health data stays on the device unless you consent, Namatata names OVH in Roubaix as host, and the Plum Village App says it does not sell advertising or personal data. Those are statements worth comparing with what Calm discloses about advertising partners.
Which one to pick
For a paid, course-style replacement, 7Mind suits German speakers and Meditation Moments suits Dutch speakers who used Calm for sleep. Petit BamBou is the safe first test for anyone, because its free version has no time limit. If you do not want to pay anything, take Medito or the Plum Village App.
For narrower uses, pick Sleep Cycle for tracking, Luisterrust for panic and anxiety in Dutch, 8Breath for breathwork in German, Yogaia for live classes and Samten for a UK supplier with named owners. If your use of Calm is occasional and the price is small, staying put is a defensible choice; the case for moving is mostly about who holds your data.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on what you used Calm for. 7Mind from Berlin is the closest to a course-based subscription, Petit BamBou from France has a free tier without a time limit, and Meditation Moments from Amsterdam offers sleep stories in Dutch. Medito is free and has public code. Sleep Cycle from Gothenburg fits people whose main goal is sleep rather than meditation.
Calm's privacy policy has a section for people using the service in the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, so the company serves European users. The point of this page is not availability but the contracting party: Calm.com, Inc. is the controller, and the policy says the company is based in the United States.
Yes. Medito is free and funded by donations, the Plum Village App is free and built around Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings, and Petit BamBou keeps a free version without a time limit. 8Breath has a permanent free tier with more than 20 breathing exercises, and Luisterrust offers 4 free meditations.
Meditation Moments lists sleep stories for adults and sleep meditations for children, Luisterrust has 17 sleep meditations, 8Breath includes sleep stories in Plus, and Petit BamBou advertises sleep content. Sleep Cycle adds a smart alarm and sleep test on top of its sounds and stories. Check the library during a trial, since library sizes are mostly vendor figures.
Often not for the audio. 8Breath is German only, Luisterrust is Dutch, and Namatata does not state its app languages. Yogaia covers English, Portuguese, Spanish and Finnish, and Petit BamBou offers its website in six languages. Medito and the Plum Village App do not state their language lists, so open them before relying on them.
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