The science behind Calm: 27 studies and surveys

Clinically reviewed by Dr. Chris Mosunic, PhD, RD, MBA

Calm takes an evidence-based approach to well-being. Here’s what researchers have found across sleep, stress, cancer care, workplace productivity, and more.

Since 2019, academic researchers at institutions including Arizona State University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School have studied Calm in published, peer-reviewed research and user surveys. The studies below span randomized controlled trials, longitudinal surveys, feasibility trials, and qualitative research — published in journals including PLOS ONE, Obstetrics & Gynecology, JMIR mHealth, and General Hospital Psychiatry.

A note on how to read this page: Each finding reflects outcomes observed in a specific research population and links back to its source study. Calm is a wellness app, not a diagnostic or treatment tool. Individual results may vary.

Calm and sleep

Testing a Mindfulness Meditation Mobile App for the Treatment of Sleep-Related Symptoms in Adults with Sleep Disturbance

Randomized Controlled Trial · PLOS ONE · 2021

Findings: Over eight weeks, people using Calm had significantly larger reductions in fatigue, daytime sleepiness, and pre-sleep arousal than the wait-list control group. Within the Calm group, more app use was also linked to better self-reported sleep quality.

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Sleep quality
Fatigue
Daytime sleepiness
Pre-sleep arousal

A Mindfulness Meditation Mobile App Improves Depression and Anxiety in Adults with Sleep Disturbance

Randomized Controlled Trial · General Hospital Psychiatry · 2021

Findings: A secondary analysis of the same trial listed above found that people using Calm had greater improvement in symptoms of depression and anxiety than the wait-list control group. The researchers found these mood improvements were largely explained by reductions in pre-sleep arousal, racing thoughts, and physical tension that tends to build towards bedtime.

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Depression
Anxiety
Pre-sleep arousal

Can a Meditation App Help My Sleep? A Cross-sectional Survey of Calm Users

Cross-Sectional Survey · PLOS ONE · 2021

Findings: In a survey of Calm users who used its sleep content, most said the app helped them fall asleep, stay asleep, and sleep more restfully. Among users with a mental health diagnosis, a majority also reported that Calm helped their symptoms. These are users’ own perceptions, and the researchers note that controlled studies are still needed to test whether the app improves sleep.

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Sleep quality
Anxiety
Depression
Usage patterns

Use of the Consumer-Based Meditation App Calm for Sleep Disturbances: Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Cross-Sectional Survey · JMIR Formative Research · 2020 · 

Findings: In a survey of nearly 9,900 Calm subscribers who used its sleep content, people with insomnia used the app most often—about five days a week—followed by poor sleepers. Both groups were more likely than good sleepers to have downloaded Calm specifically to help with sleep, and typically used it while lying down to fall asleep.

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Insomnia
Sleep quality
Usage patterns

Calm for stress and mental health

Efficacy of the Mindfulness Meditation Mobile App “Calm” to Reduce Stress Among College Students

Randomized Controlled Trial · JMIR mHealth · 2019

Findings: Stressed college students who used Calm for eight weeks showed significant improvements in perceived stress, all five facets of mindfulness, and self-compassion, compared to a wait-list control. The gains persisted at follow-up, with moderate to large effect sizes.

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Stress
Mindfulness
Self-compassion
College students

A Mobile App for Stress Management in Middle-Aged Men and Women (Calm): Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial

Feasibility RCT · JMIR Formative Research · 2022

Findings: A four-week feasibility trial in 83 middle-aged adults found Calm was well-received, with high satisfaction and good adherence. It didn’t produce significant improvements in perceived stress or other psychological measures, though the authors call for larger studies.

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Stress
Adherence
Middle-aged adults

Identifying App-Based Meditation Habits and the Associated Mental Health Benefits: Longitudinal Observational Study

Longitudinal Observational · Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) · 2021 

Findings: In a study of 2,771 Calm subscribers, people who meditated at a consistent time of day were more likely to keep using the app and report mental health improvements. These are self-reported benefits from observational data, not a controlled trial, but the findings suggest that anchoring meditation to a regular daily cue may help reinforce the habit.

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Habit formation
Adherence
Depression
Anxiety
Stress

Evaluation of Mood Check-in Feature for Participation in Meditation Mobile App Users

Retrospective Analysis · JMIR mHealth · 2021

Findings: In an analysis of 2,600 Calm subscribers, those who used the mood check-in feature were more likely to meditate the following week, completed more sessions, and spent more time meditating. The effect was strongest among previously inactive users.

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Mood tracking
Engagement
Adherence

Using Personalized Anchors to Establish Routine Meditation Practice with a Mobile App

Randomized Controlled Trial · JMIR mHealth · 2021

Findings: In a trial testing whether a daily anchor can help meditation become a habit, people assigned a fixed morning anchor kept meditating more consistently over an eight-week follow-up than those who chose their own anchor or had none. The most persistent meditators were those who stuck to their anchor, and nearly all of them anchored to the morning.

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Habit formation
Adherence

Characteristics and Usage Patterns Among 12,151 Paid Subscribers of the Calm Meditation App

Cross-Sectional Survey · JMIR mHealth · 2019

Findings: In a survey of 12,151 Calm subscribers, more frequent use was associated with a higher likelihood of reporting positive changes in sleep, mental health, stress, and physical health. Sleep was the most common reason people gave for downloading the app (62.9%). These are self-reported associations from a self-selected sample.

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Usage patterns
Sleep
Stress

A Novel Educational Control Group Mobile App for Meditation Interventions: Single-Group Feasibility Trial

Feasibility Trial · JMIR Formative Research · 2020

Findings: To improve the quality of future meditation trials, researchers built and tested an educational podcast app that excluded meditation content, to serve as a comparison group. A trial in cancer patients found it usable, though the authors noted it needed refinement to better match the engagement of a meditation app.

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Methodology

Impacts of the Mindfulness Meditation Mobile App Calm on Undergraduate Students’ Sleep and Emotional State: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Pilot RCT · JMIR Formative Research · 2025

Findings: An independent 2025 pilot RCT of 80 Canadian undergraduates found that 30 days of using the app’s sleep section significantly improved their states of anxiety, stress, and sleep quality compared to a control group. These benefits were maintained even though only about half of the participants met the full recommended usage.

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Sleep quality
Anxiety
Stress
College students

Calm in the workplace

Testing the Pragmatic Effectiveness of a Consumer-Based Mindfulness Mobile App in the Workplace

Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial · JMIR mHealth · 2022

Findings: In a workplace cluster RCT at a large multi-site U.S. employer, employees using Calm for eight weeks showed significant improvements over a wait-list control group in symptoms of depression and anxiety, insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and some measures of work impairment, along with fewer medical visits. 

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Depression
Anxiety
Insomnia
Daytime sleepiness
Work impairment
Medical visits

The Indirect Effects of a Mindfulness Mobile App on Productivity Through Changes in Sleep Among Retail Employees

Secondary Analysis · JMIR mHealth · 2022

Findings: In this analysis of the same 1,029-employee workplace trial detailed above, Calm reduced insomnia symptoms among retail employees. Those whose insomnia improved tended to show less presenteeism and overall work impairment — though Calm didn’t produce an overall productivity benefit on its own. The researchers describe better sleep as a possible pathway to workplace benefits, and note this is among the first studies to trace that link in a real workplace setting.

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Insomnia
Presenteeism
Work impairment
Retail employees

Calm and cancer care

Leveraging a Consumer-Based Product to Develop a Cancer-Specific Mobile Meditation App: Prototype Development Study

Prototype Development · JMIR Formative Research · 2022

Findings: Researchers worked with cancer patients, survivors, and clinicians to design a prototype meditation app tailored to cancer care, using Calm as a foundation. Participants identified cancer-specific needs, including content addressing fear of recurrence and grief, along with symptom-based options and a dedicated cancer section.

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Methodology
Cancer patients & survivors

Cancer Patients’ and Survivors’ Perceptions of the Calm App: Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study

Cross-Sectional Descriptive · JMIR Cancer · 2020

Findings: In a survey of 82 cancer patients and survivors who already use Calm, most reported high satisfaction with the app. Many wanted more cancer-specific content, such as meditations for fear of recurrence and coping with difficult emotions, and a majority were interested in a cancer-focused community feature. As a survey of existing Calm users, results reflect an already-engaged group.

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Engagement
Usage patterns
Cancer patients & survivors

Experiences of Using a Consumer-Based Mobile Meditation App to Improve Fatigue in Myeloproliferative Patients

Qualitative · JMIR Cancer · 2019

Findings: In a qualitative study, 128 patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms who were new to meditation found app-based meditation enjoyable and preferred Calm over a competing app, citing the narrator’s voice and content variety as reasons for their preference. Participants reported perceived benefits for mental health, sleep, fatigue, and pain.

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Fatigue
Pain
Sleep
MPN patients

Smartphone-Based Meditation for Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Patients: Feasibility Study to Inform Future Trials

Feasibility · JMIR Formative Research · 2019

Findings: In a feasibility study of 128 MPN patients, Calm scored higher than a competing app. Among those who completed the Calm program, 97% said they would recommend it, and Calm users meditated more than twice as many minutes per week as those using the competing app (about 71 vs. 31).

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Adherence
Engagement
MPN patients

Associations Between Global Mental Health and Response to an App-Based Meditation Intervention in Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Patients

Observational · Integrative Cancer Therapies · 2020

Findings: In an exploratory analysis of MPN patients using Calm, those with poorer mental health at the start tended to show greater improvements in depression, anxiety, and sleep. This suggests the app may be of particular value to patients with higher baseline distress. As a secondary, exploratory analysis, these findings would need further confirmation.

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Depression
Anxiety
Sleep
MPN patients

Calm during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Effect of Meditation and Physical Activity on the Mental Health Impact of COVID-19–Related Stress and Attention to News Among Mobile App Users

Cross-Sectional Survey · JMIR Mental Health · 2021

Findings: In a survey of Calm subscribers during the early pandemic, people who maintained a stronger meditation habit and stayed physically active showed a weaker link between COVID-19 worry and self-reported PTSD symptoms. The authors describe continued healthy habits as buffering some of the pandemic’s mental health impact. As a survey of existing users, this shows association, not cause.

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Stress
PTSD
Habit formation

Mindfulness Effects in Obstetric and Gynecology Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Randomized Controlled Trial · Obstetrics & Gynecology · 2021

Findings: In a randomized controlled trial, 101 outpatient obstetric and gynecology patients were assigned to either use Calm or receive standard care during the early pandemic. Those using the app showed significantly greater reductions in perceived stress and symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as less sleep disturbance. These effects were observed at both 14 and 30 days.

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Stress
Depression
Anxiety
Sleep quality
Pregnant women

Mental Health and Meditation Practices of Pregnant Women during COVID-19

Cross-Sectional Survey · Obstetrics and Gynecology Research · 2021

Findings: In an exploratory analysis comparing 50 pregnant and 250 matched non-pregnant Calm users during the early pandemic, pregnant women reported more COVID-19 worry but less severe depression and PTSD symptoms. They also showed larger increases in the strength of their meditation habit. The authors suggest stronger meditation habits may play a role, but note the study’s design can’t establish cause.

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Stress
Depression
PTSD
Habit formation
Pregnant women

Associations Between Rural or Urban Status, Health Outcomes and Behaviors, and COVID-19 Perceptions Among Meditation App Users

Longitudinal Survey · JMIR mHealth · 2021

Findings: In a survey of 8,392 Calm users, rural and urban users showed few meaningful differences in mental health outcomes during the pandemic, suggesting that location wasn’t a major driver of outcomes in this group. 

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Stress
Rural/urban users

Meditation App Habits and Mental Health: A Longitudinal Study of Meditation App Users During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Longitudinal Study · Mindfulness · 2023

Findings: In a longitudinal study of Calm subscribers tracked across six time points over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, stronger meditation habit strength was associated with more app use and, after accounting for other variables, with lower rates of anxiety, stress, and depression. COVID-19 worry was linked to increased app use, suggesting people turned to the app during periods of heightened stress. As an observational study, the findings show association rather than cause.

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Habit formation
Anxiety
Stress
Depression

Calm and cardiovascular health

Usage Patterns of the Calm Meditation App Among People with Cardiovascular Disease

Survey · Mindfulness · 2021

Findings: In a survey of 1,512 Calm subscribers with cardiovascular disease, 67% used the app at least five times a week, and the most common reasons for starting were sleep (69%) and stress (67%). Those with co-occurring anxiety or depression used a wider range of features.

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Sleep
Stress
Usage patterns
Cardiovascular disease

Calm for children and teens

Parents’ Perceptions of Their Children’s Engagement in a Consumer-Based Meditation Mobile App: Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Cross-Sectional Survey · JMIR Pediatrics · 2020

Findings: In a survey of parents whose children used Calm, nearly three-quarters said their child used it at bedtime, with Sleep Stories being the most used and most helpful feature. Parents perceived benefits for their children’s sleep and well-being, with younger children more likely to use Calm for sleep and older children more likely to use it for stress and anxiety.

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Stress
Anxiety
Children
Teens
Parents

Describing the Use of a Mindfulness-Based App for Sleep and Mental Well-Being, Across Age, in Children

Observational · Child & Youth Care Forum · 2021

Findings: In a survey of 2,437 parents whose children used Calm, parents reported that younger children tended to use the app for sleep, while older children and teens used it more for stress and mental well-being. Parents reported perceived benefits for their children’s sleep and well-being, though the authors note that controlled studies are still needed.

Read study →

Sleep quality
Stress
Children
Teens
Parents

Calm your mind. Change your life.

Mental health is hard. Getting support doesn’t have to be. The Calm app puts the tools to feel better in your back pocket, with personalized content to manage stress and anxiety, get better sleep, and feel more present in your life.