Meditation App Development: Using examples like Headspace or Calm
Published: December 29, 2023
18 min read
In this article, you'll learn:
1
🔎 Understanding the Meditation App Market Size
2
📰 Success Story Behind the Headspace Meditation App
3
⚙️ Top Features of Meditation Apps like Headspace
4
💰 How Much Does it Cost to Build a Meditation App?
5
💵 How to Make Money with a Meditation App?
6
❓How to Create a Meditation App After All: Basic Steps
7
🛠️ Tech Tips
8
📚Case Study
9
💡 Takeaways
Some say that our smartphones make us unproductive and distracted. But what if we say that it depends on how you use them? Sometimes it may have the opposite effect!
Take a look at any meditation app. Nowadays some of them — for example, Headspace or Calm — have over 10.000.000 downloads. They are the bright example of how your smartphone can help you stay concentrated, rested and productive throughout the day.
Therefore, in this article, we will delve into the details of how to create a meditation app using the examples of popular apps like Headspace and Calm. We will discuss the top features for developing such an application, outline the development stages you can expect, share the technical stack that can expedite and facilitate the development process, and answer the main question: how much does it cost to develop a meditation app? So, shall we begin?
🔎 Understanding the Meditation App Market Size
To begin with, let's examine the state of the meditation app market. This will help us understand how lucrative this sector can be and the popularity of such applications.
In the years 2019-2020 (during the global quarantine due to the coronavirus), millions of people had to stay at home and seek new ways to suddenly fill these free hours and days. During this time, mobile apps proved to be the perfect solution in many industries — from food and grocery delivery to meditation, home fitness, online coaching, and others.
We believe it would be beneficial to explore specific success stories in this market. Let's focus on a prominent example: the success of the Headspace app.
📰 Success Story Behind the Headspace Meditation App
Headspace was launched in 2010, and its origin story is quite interesting. The app was created by a few friends and one of them was… a Buddhist monk! Well, not as you may have imagined that, right?
Andy Puddicombe was born in Bristol but at the age of 22 left the country for a 10 years long Tibetan monastic training across Asia. After coming back to Britain, together with his friends he started holding live meditation events. The crew eventually came to the idea of meditation mobile app development.
But what are the secret components when you creating your own meditation app that helped the app (and other apps like Headspace) succeed? Here they are!
⚙️ Top Features of Meditation Apps like Headspace
When building a meditation app, it's crucial to consider top features. Let's look at them in more detail.
Onboarding Block: introduce meditation to users 🎎
Meditation becomes more popular with every coming year. Yet, for many people, it’s still something likely unknown and even a bit exotic. If you don’t want to leave your users frustrated, you should create a comprehensible onboarding screen.
An Onboarding Tutorial is a short walkthrough that appears when users open your app for meditation at the first time.
💰 How Much Does it Cost to Build a Meditation App?
As usual, our app development team prepared a rough estimation of the main features. Don’t forget that the estimation for your project might be different depending on your individual list of features and other factors.
Yet, the cost estimation of the Headspace app by the Stormotion team will help to form a general idea of the possible cost to build a meditation app:
💵 How to Make Money with a Meditation App?
You could notice that we’ve already shared a few ideas on how to make money with this kind of app. Nevertheless, we decided to make up a table where we listed all the possible options. Enjoy!
- Pay Per Download
Paid downloads are quite outdated and, frankly speaking, not an effective way to make revenue with such an app. Modern users don’t want to buy a pig in dwell and prefer to explore the app before paying for it. Yet, there are still some apps that use this monetization model.
Example: Buddhify - $4.99 for iOS and $2.99 for Android.
- Subscription
Subscriptions is the most common monetization model for apps like Headspace. The idea behind it is as simple as that: users get unlimited access to all the features as long as they pay for them on a monthly or yearly basis. subscription plans are used by the main industry leaders, so their efficiency and profitability don’t need additional confirmation.
- In-App Purchases
Another option for you is to implement in-app purchases. That will allow users to buy specific session packs without unlocking other content.
Example: the Insight Timer app offers (along with the monthly subscription) to buy separate collections at a price of $2-$3.
- Ads
Finally, you can generate revenue from advertisements and leave your app completely free. However, since you are going to make your own meditation app, you might want to think about users' mental state in the first place. Thus, we'd not recommend using this monetization model since some people might find it somewhat irritating.
❓How to Create a Meditation App After All: Basic Steps
When you're wondering how to create your own meditation app, our list of basic steps can help you along the way. Let's go through each point.
Market Research and Competitive Analysis
This is always the first and key stage in creating any application. You need to track and understand current market trends and the annual growth rate of meditation applications. This is what we talked about with you at the beginning of the article. In your work, use authoritative sources such as Statista and so on.
Then identify your competitors, look at their products, and analyze their advantages, strengths, and weaknesses. Here it is important to pay attention not only to the basic functionality of the application and its design but also to the methods of communication with customers and marketing strategy.
Also, define your target audience. What are their needs and preferences?
Defining Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Determine the type of meditation application you want to develop. This could be guided meditation, a mindfulness app, or a community app. Think about the unique value of your application that will distinguish it from competitors. This could be the implementation of unique features or approaches, such as personalized user experience or e-commerce features.
🛠️ Tech Tips
We would also like to share a few tech tools that will help you create a great mindfulness application. Check them out:
- For sending push notifications, Firebase SDK can be applied.
- Braintree and Stripe SDKs are good tools for integrating in-app payments for purchasing a subscription or separate meditation blocks.
- LUNSegmentedControl may be used as a nice UI element of your application.
- Facebook Mobile SDKs can be used for many different purposes: a fast sign up process, analytics, monetization, providing customer support through Messenger etc.
📚Case Study
We have acquired expertise in meditation mobile application development, a field that has witnessed high growth in demand. Some of our projects that we undertook include Feel Amazing and Mindance each having its own set of challenges and solutions.
There is a meditation and wellness application Feel Amazing that allows users to unwind their minds, and become a better version of themselves. It provides an array of functions for improving mental health by way of guided meditations, mindfulness workouts, and health monitoring.
Feel Amazing focused on simple, intuitive design. We followed the minimum approach, creating the application that didn’t overload with soothing colors and navigation. The hybrid development approach saved development time while enabling concurrent iOS and Android deployment.
Mindance is one of the most unique mental health mobile apps. It revolves around a theory of mental health, incorporating different courses or lectures in the form of text, video, or audio providing psychological information about a particular issue. It also includes events by Familienservice (application owner company), which users can sign up for, as well as group and 1: 1 visits with psychologists and psychotherapists.
Currently, Mindance is a B2B product. Familienservice deals with client companies who want their employees to have access to the app. Companies sign various contracts that provide different levels of access to the features by different departments depending on their contract type. The goal is to enhance a positive mental attitude within the company.
💡 Takeaways
Embarking on the journey of how to create a meditation app for startup development seems like a promising idea. It’s not very expensive or complicated from the development perspective, yet, it can be quite profitable.
The top elements of the app that require the most attention are:
- Clear and comprehensive Onboarding Block to introduce the main idea and features of the app.
- Specific motion UI with calm colors and smooth animations.
- User Profiles that allow to tailor the experience and engage the audience with gamification elements.
- Various sets of meditation sessions.
- Plain Play Screen with a minimalistic UI.
- Discover Screen where users can explore your app on their own.
- Push Notifications to keep people engaged.
Contact us! We are ready to help you make your own meditation app and provide an estimation of your project within 24 hours. Let’s change the world together!
Was it helpful?
Questions you may have
Take a look at how we solve challenges to meet project requirements
Do you have experience integrating IoT devices or wearables into meditation apps for a more immersive experience?
Yes, our team of meditation app developers have experience in creating meditation applications with IoT device integration. We worked on an application that integrates with saunas via Bluetooth, allowing people to listen to instructions and control the app while sitting in the sauna. This experience is closely related to one of our main directions - creating IoT applications. We specialize in developing interconnected systems that enhance user interaction through seamless integration of digital applications with the physical environment.
How do you handle meditation app design and user experience (UI/UX design) to create a calming and user-friendly environment?
Creating a calming and user-friendly environment is very important, especially in building a meditation app. In our work, we follow these principles:
- Minimalist Design
- Soothing Color Palette
- Intuitive Navigation
- Responsive and Adaptive Design
- Engaging yet Relaxing Content
- Personalization
Can you assist with content creation, such as guided meditation scripts, audio recordings, or video production?
Certainly! While our primary focus is on development, we have partners who can assist with content creation aspects such as illustrations, audio processing, and more.
What strategies do you employ for app monetization (e.g., subscription models, in-app purchases, ads), and can you provide insights into the most effective monetization approach for a meditation app?
For app monetization, particularly when aiming to build a meditation app, several strategies can be employed, each with its advantages and considerations. Here are some common approaches:
- Subscription Model
- In-App Purchases
- Freemium Model
- Ads
- Sponsorships and Partnerships
- One-Time Purchase
In terms of the most effective monetization approach for a meditation app, it largely depends on the target audience and the unique value proposition of the app. Subscription models are generally effective due to the ongoing nature of meditation practice and the opportunity for continuous content delivery. However, a combination of strategies (like freemium with in-app purchases) can also be effective in catering to a wider range of user preferences and willingness to pay.
It's important to balance monetization with user experience, ensuring that the revenue model aligns with the calming and soothing nature of the app. Regular market research and user feedback can provide insights into which monetization strategies are most effective for your specific app.
How do you approach user data privacy and security, considering the sensitive nature of meditation app users' data?
User data privacy and security are of paramount importance. We adhere strictly to data protection laws like GDPR and HIPAA, ensuring compliance through explicit user consent and transparent privacy policies. Our approach focuses on collecting only essential data, minimizing the risk associated with data storage and processing. We employ robust encryption methods for both storing and transmitting user data, ensuring it remains secure against unauthorized access.
What is your approach to app scalability and performance, especially if the user base grows rapidly?
Our approach to ensuring app scalability and performance in the face of rapid user base growth involves a combination of cloud-based infrastructure and microservices architecture. This setup allows us to efficiently manage resources and scale specific aspects of the app independently as needed. We place a strong emphasis on performance optimization through efficient data handling and caching strategies, which helps in reducing load times and enhancing user experience.
Can you assist with submitting the app to app stores (e.g., Apple App Store and Google Play Store) and navigating the approval process?
Yes, we can certainly assist with submitting your app to app stores like the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and help navigate the approval process.
How do you handle ongoing app maintenance and updates, including bug fixes and feature enhancements?
After the product release, we understand that the development process involves constant improvement and correction work. This is where post-release maintenance becomes crucial.
The maintenance cycle is a continuous process that includes releasing product versions, collecting user feedback, formalizing new requirements to create a backlog, and then performing development iterations based on this feedback.
For urgent issues like third-party SDK problems, we immediately start working on solutions. Routine bugs and crashes are proactively fixed using analytics tools like Sentry or Firebase Crashlytics to detect issues.
In addition to technical maintenance, we also offer post-release consulting. This service includes free consultations to help companies plan out their post-release maintenance and future product ideas. We assist in creating technical roadmaps and provide budget estimations for future developments.
Our post-release maintenance and updates are designed to ensure that the app not only continues to function smoothly but also evolves in line with user expectations and technological advancements.
Can you provide references or client testimonials from previous app development projects?
Of course, you can see this in our portfolio!
What is your project timeline and development process, from concept to launch?
Our project development process from concept to launch includes several key stages. It starts with Project Initiation & Planning, where we define the project's goals and set up a detailed plan and team. This is followed by Project Executing, using Agile methodologies like Scrum for efficient development through sprints and regular meetings.
During the Project Controlling phase, we focus on task management, efficiency, and quality control. The process concludes with Project Closing, where we finalize the product and prepare it for release after thorough checks and client approval.
An essential part of our process is Project Discovery, involving collaboration with stakeholders to identify opportunities and reduce risks. We also prioritize regular technical debt management and rigorous Quality Assurance (QA) to ensure the software is flawless and meets customer needs.
Post-release, we provide ongoing support and consultations, helping with aspects like budgeting and strategic adjustments. This structured approach ensures timely, within-budget project completion, meeting the highest quality standards for successful market entry.
What is the estimated cost of developing a meditation app, and how do you handle changes in project scope that may arise during development?
When developing a meditation app, the cost can vary significantly based on the app's complexity and features. For a basic app, the cost might start from $45,000 but more sophisticated apps with extra features and custom designs can reach $65,000 or more.
To handle changes in project scope during development, we employ a flexible and transparent approach. We use Agile development practices, allowing for flexibility and adaptability to changes. This is complemented by regular communication with our clients to ensure any scope changes are promptly discussed and understood.
In the event of a proposed scope change, we conduct an impact analysis to assess how this change will affect the project in terms of timeline, resources, and budget. Based on this analysis, we provide revised estimates and seek formal client approval before proceeding.
Our contracts are designed to be flexible, accommodating scope changes with clear procedures for managing these changes, including adjustments to budget and timeline. We also work closely with clients to prioritize new features, ensuring effective project management of the development timeline and budget.
Overall, our approach ensures that scope changes are managed efficiently, keeping the project on track while maintaining the quality and integrity of the final product.
How do you stay updated on the latest trends and technologies in meditation mobile app development?
To stay updated on the latest trends and technologies in mindfulness app development process, we engage in continuous learning and research, regularly attending industry conferences and workshops. Analyzing user feedback and app performance data is crucial for us to understand user preferences and improve our offerings. Additionally, we prioritize the professional development of our team and experiment with new technologies and advanced features to ensure our apps are innovative and effective.
Read also
What is Prototyping in IoT and Some Practical Advice
What is IoT Device Management?
How to Make your React Native Application Accessible to ALL, not just to MANY
Our clients say
![Stormotion client Pietro Saccomani, Founder from [object Object]](/static/40e913b6c17071a400d1a1c693a17319/1b3aa/pietro.webp)
They make the whole business work for us, and their improvements are fundamental to our operations. They’re reliable, honest, and willing to try new things that will help us. We appreciate how flexible and easygoing they are.
Pietro Saccomani, Founder
MobiLoud