Hallow vs Headspace

Updated November 2026 · AppBreakup editorial

Hallow

Catholic prayer and meditation app with guided prayers, Bible content, music and sleep audio.

Free plan + paid

Visit Hallow Hallow profile

Headspace

Subscription meditation and sleep app with structured courses, sleepcasts and focus music.

Free plan + paid

Visit Headspace Headspace profile

The short answer

Hallow suits Catholics and other Christians who want guided daily prayer, Scripture and faith-based meditation. Headspace suits beginners who want secular, structured meditation courses plus sleep and focus content. The biggest difference is purpose: Hallow is built around Catholic devotions like the Rosary and Bible in a Year, while Headspace teaches mindfulness without religious content.

Hallow or Headspace: our take

Hallow turns traditional Catholic devotions into guided audio: the Rosary, daily Gospel readings and reflections, the Examen, Lectio Divina, Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year, Christian meditation, music and sleep stories, plus seasonal prayer challenges. Parishes and schools can set up community spaces. Headspace is known for structured beginner courses starting with Basics, and its library covers sleepcasts, sleep music, meditations, movement sessions, short daily videos and focus music, with a new meditation every day. Headspace is now part of Sword, and the app also promotes coaching and therapy.

On price, Hallow has the more generous free tier: hundreds of sessions, including Bible in a Year and the daily Rosary. Its subscription costs $9.99/month or $69.99/year (US), the family plan is $119.99/year for up to 6 members, and individual plans have a free trial. Headspace offers little free content; it has a 14-day free trial on the yearly plan, a family plan at $99.99 a year for up to 6 people, and a student plan at $9.99 a year for verified students. Headspace's terms say it is meant for people aged 18 and over, with limited exceptions. Both apps run on iOS, Android and the web.

Each has limits. Hallow's content centres on Catholic tradition, so it suits other faiths or secular users less well, and much of the library sits behind the subscription. Headspace's courses can feel basic for experienced meditators.

Pick Hallow if your aim is a daily prayer habit rooted in Christian faith, or if your parish or family will use it together. Pick Headspace if you want to learn meditation from scratch without religious framing, need sleep and focus audio in the same app, or are a student who qualifies for the cheap plan.

Choose Hallow if…

Catholics and Christians who want guided daily prayer, Scripture and faith-based meditation
Large library of guided Catholic prayers and Bible content
Free version includes Bible in a Year and the daily Rosary

Choose Headspace if…

Beginners who want structured courses and a tidy app, and students on the cheap plan
Structured beginner courses starting from Basics
Sleep, focus music and movement sessions in one app

What is Hallow?

Hallow is a Catholic prayer app that turns traditional devotions into guided audio sessions. It offers the Rosary, daily Gospel readings and reflections, the Examen, Lectio Divina, Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz, Christian meditation, music and sleep stories, plus seasonal prayer challenges that large numbers of users follow together. Parishes and schools can set up community spaces with their own prayer requests and recordings. It was launched at the end of 2018 by Hallow, Inc. and is aimed at Catholics and other Christians who want a daily prayer habit in the style of Calm or Headspace. The app is free to download and has a free version with hundreds of sessions; an optional subscription unlocks the full library, with monthly, annual and family plans and a free trial on individual plans. It runs on iPhone and Android, with a web app for listening in a browser.

What is Headspace?

Headspace is a subscription meditation app known for its structured, beginner-friendly courses, starting with the Basics series. The library is organised into sleep content (sleepcasts, sleep music and white noise), meditations, movement sessions, short daily videos and focus music, with a new meditation every day. The brand has grown from a meditation app into a wider mental-health service: it now also sells coaching and therapy, and its about page says Headspace is now part of Sword. For individuals the core product is still the app subscription, with a free trial on the yearly plan. A family plan covers up to six people for one yearly price, and verified students get a heavily discounted yearly rate. Its terms say the products are meant for people aged 18 and over, with limited exceptions. The trade-off: free content is thin, the app increasingly promotes services beyond meditation, and experienced meditators may find the courses basic compared with apps aimed at deeper practice.

Side by side

Attribute	Hallow	Headspace
Pricing	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
Platforms	iOS, Android, Web	iOS, Android, Web
Best for	Catholics and Christians who want guided daily prayer, Scripture and faith-based meditation	Beginners who want structured courses and a tidy app, and students on the cheap plan
Status	Active	Active

Verified facts, compared

Facts both apps publish, checked on each vendor's own site.

Fact	Hallow	Headspace
Family plan	$119.99/year for up to 6 members	$99.99 a year for up to 6 people
Free trial	Yes, on individual plans	14 days