Is there a free alternative to Calm for breathing?
There are two, and one of them is Calm's own. Calm publishes a free breathing bubble in the browser, a circle that grows and shrinks on one adjustable count, without signing in. The timer above is the second: seven named patterns, a tone and a vibration at each turn, offline, with the research for each one on its page. Neither replaces Calm's sleep stories, music or courses, which are what the subscription is for.
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On 13 September 2026 Calm's US App Store listing showed $14.99 a month and $69.99 a year, and also Premium prices of $79.99, $29.99 and $16.99 without saying what period each covered. The listing says Calm "is free to download and use" and that some programs and features stay free permanently, without listing which, so the scope of its free tier is not something this page can verify. Offline downloads are not mentioned on the listing either.
The breathing bubble is the part worth knowing about. It is a single pattern with the length of each phase on a slider, it lives at a public address, and it costs nothing. If you only ever want one even count, it is enough. What it does not do is name the patterns, cue you with sound at each phase, run a pattern with a hold or a double inhale, keep going with the screen locked, or tell you what any of it rests on.
What Calm gives you that a timer does not
Calm is production. Narrated sleep stories, music composed for falling asleep, a daily meditation with a consistent teacher, masterclasses, and the habit machinery of streaks and reminders. Breathing is in there, as a short guided exercise and the bubble, but it is not what the company makes or what the $69.99 a year buys. If you fall asleep to a story most nights, a timer is not an alternative to that and this page will not pretend it is.
What Calm does not have is a better breathing pattern than anyone else. Slow breathing at five or six breaths a minute, the pace the timer above runs, is the same pace in every app and in the trials; nobody owns it.
Side by side
Help Me Breathe's row is the house's own. Calm's row is what its listing said on 13 September 2026; "not verified" means the listing did not say.
| Calm | Help Me Breathe | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 a month, $69.99 a year. Premium prices of $79.99, $29.99 and $16.99 also listed, periods not stated. | $10 a month or $100 a year, one plan, three days free, 14-day refund. |
| Free tier | "Free to download and use"; some features stay free, which ones not listed. The breathing bubble in the browser is free, with no sign-in. | Three sessions on any device with every pattern and length; the anxiety and panic pages run for anyone forever. |
| Breathing patterns | One adjustable even count in the bubble; guided breathing exercises in the app. | Seven named patterns, custom counts in whole seconds. |
| Cues | Visual bubble; voice in the guided exercises. | Visual circle, a tone at each phase, vibration on phones. |
| Offline | Not verified; the listing does not mention downloads. | Yes, once loaded; keeps running with the screen locked. |
| Account | Required for the app; the bubble needs no sign-in. | Not for the first three sessions; then an email address, no password. |
| Sleep stories, music, courses | Yes; this is the product. | No. |
| Evidence | Not stated per exercise on the listing. | Each pattern's page quotes the study it rests on and says where the evidence stops. |
When to keep Calm, and when the bubble or a timer is enough
Keep Calm if the stories and the music are what put you to sleep, or if a daily guided meditation with one teacher is the habit that holds. Those are worth paying for, and a pacer does not touch them.
Use the bubble if you want one even count and nothing else, and do not mind the silence. Use a timer like this one if you want to follow a pattern with your eyes closed, want the long-exhale or double-inhale patterns the bubble cannot run, want it to keep going with the screen locked, or want to read what the pattern rests on before you trust it.
How to switch in five minutes
- Decide what you were using Calm's breathing for. A reset in the day points at box or cyclic sighing; winding down at night points at 4-7-8 or extended exhale; a long, even sit points at heart coherence, which the timer above runs.
- Run one session with the sound on. The tone changes at each phase, so you can close your eyes. Press Begin above.
- For sleep, turn on night mode in the plan, or simply dim the screen; the timer keeps the screen awake for the length of the session.
- Add it to the home screen if you want an icon. "Add to Home Screen" in the browser installs it as an app that opens on the timer.
- If you cancel Calm, do it in the app store's subscriptions screen, and keep the bubble bookmarked; it is free and it is good at the one thing it does.
Where this page stands. It is written by the person who runs Help Me Breathe, who is not a clinician. No link on it pays us, and we have no relationship with the company it names. Prices were read by hand off the vendor's US App Store listing on 13 September 2026 and will have moved; the apps comparison keeps the dated sources.
Common questions
Is Calm free?
Its App Store listing on 13 September 2026 said Calm is free to download and use and that some features stay free permanently, without listing which; the subscription was $14.99 a month or $69.99 a year. Calm also publishes a free breathing bubble in the browser that needs no sign-in.
Is the Calm breathing bubble enough on its own?
For one even count with no sound, yes. It cannot run a pattern with a hold or a double inhale, it gives no tone at each phase, and it does not keep going with the screen locked. A timer with named patterns covers those.
What breathing pattern does Calm use?
The bubble runs a single even count whose length you set on a slider. The app's guided breathing exercises vary. None of them is a pattern you cannot run elsewhere; the counts are public.
Can a breathing timer replace Calm for sleep?
Only for the breathing part. If you fall asleep to Calm's stories or music, a timer is not a substitute for those. For the wind-down itself, 4-7-8 or extended exhale with the sound on, in the dark, does the breathing job.
Does Help Me Breathe have sleep stories or music?
No. The plan has soundscapes to breathe over and a night mode, not narrated stories. It is a pacer with the research attached, not a library.
Does Help Me Breathe earn anything from this page?
No link here pays us and there is no relationship with Calm. The site earns from its own plan, which this page names, and from marked affiliate links on the apps comparison page.