Ten Percent Happier positions itself as a meditation app that is different from other meditation apps. Though the free version offers basic skills and daily reminders, for $99 per year, members gain access to a variety of meditative skills as well as some personal coaching. With learning skills aimed at lowering stress, improving focus, boosting happiness, and increasing teamwork, Ten Percent Happier could be worth the cost.
Mental health apps like Ten Percent Happier may be a good option for some. Others may see significant benefits from working one-on-one with a licensed therapist. Therapists can help you develop skills and strategies to better manage stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as uncover the root causes of those feelings. Click here to get up to three personalized therapist recommendations – it’s free, easy, and confidential.
What Is the Ten Percent Happier App?
In an increasingly crowded field of online mental health offerings, Ten Percent Happier (sometimes stylized at 10% Happier) uses meditation skills as a way to target and improve several key facets of a person’s life.
Ten Percent Happier does not attempt to provide a wide array of mental health therapy techniques. It does not offer individualized one-on-one appointments with a licensed mental health provider. It does not position itself as an alternative to professional mental health therapy.
What Ten Percent Happier aims to do is promote meditation and the many benefits of the age-old practice. It offers a combination of education about the basics of meditation and guided meditations appropriate for varied goals and objectives.
Through the app, a person can explore many of the benefits linked to meditation including:1,2
- The Basics: These are the fundamental building blocks of meditation that may otherwise confuse, intimidate, or overwhelm beginners. In this app, the experts guide users through the process to increase benefit.
- Stress Reduction: Ten Percent Happier uses scientifically proven methods to lower stress levels through meditation. This way, even when facing a stressful situation, the person can remain calm and balanced.
- Happiness: Ten Percent Happier hopes to increase happiness through meditation, which can improve the experience of joy, gratitude, and love. The app claims to help users enjoy their lives.
- Sleep: Most people understand the restorative nature sleep has on their physical and mental health. Through meditations specifically geared towards sleep, Ten Percent Happier helps people get to sleep faster at night and wake up more refreshed in the morning.
- Focus: With life being full of distraction and constant information input, focus suffers. The app provides short and effective meditations to increase attention and levels of focus.
- Teamwork: For people who live and work in social environments, Ten Percent Happier can boost their understanding of other people, their motivations, and their needs as it guides you in mindfulness. Mindfulness practice can deepen communication skills to enhance collaboration and teamwork.
The Ten Percent Happier app follows the success of a book and podcast by the same name created by Dan Harris. Since 2000, Mr. Harris has been seen nationally as a network news anchor. When he had an on-air panic attack, he began searching for ways to calm his mind, and stumbled upon meditation.
Since then, the message and the tools of Ten Percent Happier have reached millions. In 2014, the 10% Happier book became a #1 bestseller, and the 10% Happier podcast is currently in the top five of all health-related podcasts.3
A person signs up for Ten Percent Happier on a computer or directly from the app, but the meditation content is only the App Store or Google Play apps. A week-long free trial is available for new users or those who are unsure about paying $100 for a year of the service. A free version of the service provides fewer exercises to explore.
When one starts the app for the first time and enters their user information, they are greeted by Dan Harris and meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein. Over the course of seven informational videos and adjoining guided meditations, the pair educate and teach the basics of meditation.
The basics of meditation include:
- The best ways to get started
- The challenges and successes of clearing the mind
- Working meditation into one’s daily schedule
- The important principle of responding, not reacting, to the environment
- Overcoming challenges of meditation
- Helpful methods to continue the practice
Ten Percent Happier seems based on the notion that people using the app are not proficient with meditation, and even if someone has never explored the practice before, they could learn the basics from the app. Someone could complete the seven basic videos at whatever pace they choose, but the user must view them completely before access to the complete library is unlocked.
The app is separated into four tabs – courses, singles, sleep, and talks. Courses feature skill-building exercises set up in a step-by-step style to learn and explore specific topics with titles like:
- The Basics I and II
- Healthy Habits
- Stress Better
- Focus
- Emotions
- Performance
- Compassion
- Relationship
- Mindful Eating
The Singles tab offers individual meditation exercises that are not apart from a course. A user can seek out a meditation based on topics like focus, happiness, waking up, or relationships. They can also search the meditations by teacher with 16 featured experts.
The Sleep tab is the way to quickly access all meditations connected to sleep. With options ranging from three to 45 minutes, people can explore the calming effects of meditation to better induce sleep.The final tab, Talks, features talks and lectures from meditation experts covering more specific topics.
Most talks are under 10 minutes and focus on important issues like:
- Meditating with past trauma
- Dealing with boredom
- Mindfulness
- Working through anger
- Managing rejection
- Courage, joy, and racism
The app also contains a Profile tab that allows the user to keep track of their progress. Here, they can also contact a “coach” that can answer some questions. This person acts as part customer service representative and part meditative coach to guide each user’s progress. Depending on the individual’s needs, this coach could be essential or easily forgotten.
Scientific Basis for Mindfulness Meditation
Recent scientific studies found that mindful meditation, like that offered through Ten Percent Happier, is an effective addition to conventional treatment for a number of mental health and physical health conditions.4
Regarding mental health, meditation is an effective tool to help improve anxiety, depression, anger, and insomnia. This benefit could be due physical changes in the brain triggered by meditation. A study found physical differences in the brains of people who regularly meditate compared to the brains of people who never meditate.4
In terms of physical health, studies show that types of meditation can:4
- Lower blood pressure
- Help with small improvements to the quality of life for people who have irritable bowel syndrome
- Reduce the perception of stress during flare-ups, and may reduce the rates of flare-ups from stress in people with ulcerative colitis
- Lower the perception of pain in people with chronic pain
- Help people reduce and stop smoking
Aside from these specific findings, meditation may also help people manage symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression linked to cancer, menopause, and other conditions.4 Perhaps the most positive facet of meditation is the low risk of side effects. The practice is considered safe for most healthy people.
Physical limitations could limit the practice of meditation involving movements for some people. Rare cases have been reported implying that meditation could cause or worsen symptoms for some individuals with certain mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.
Meditation is nothing new, but the amount of people in the U.S. meditating is increasing rapidly. The number of adults in the U.S. who meditate has more than tripled from 2012 to 2017 – from about 4% to 14%. The number of children in the U.S. who meditate has increased nine-fold during the same time period.4
Who Is the Ten Percent Happier App Right For?
Based on the scientifically proven effects of meditation, the Ten Percent Happier App could be right for a range of people interested in learning about or deepening their understanding of meditation. Someone with physical or mental health concerns may explore the benefits of meditation through Ten Percent Happier to address depression, anxiety, blood pressure, pain, or other troublesome conditions.
Someone who is looking for a simple and streamlined way to practice meditation with the aid of clear instructions and guidance from renowned experts will likely find a positive experience with the app. The app is useful for individuals, but due to its nature, the entire family could use the app and discover what Ten Percent Happier has to offer. The app is rated for people as young as four-years-old, which makes it appropriate for nearly every member of the family.
Ten Percent Happier may be right for:
- People seeking stress reduction
- People who have trouble getting good sleep at night
- Those wanting a directed approach to learning meditation
- People struggling with chronic mental health or physical health symptoms
- Families interested in exploring meditation together
Like other apps, Ten Percent Happier is going to be right for a person motivated towards self-help. Afterall, no one can make any progress without opening the app and following the instructions.
Who May Want an Alternative to the Ten Percent Happier App?
Personal preference may be the main driving force behind people who want an alternative to Ten Percent Happier. The app offers a large amount of content, but with only 16 meditation teachers, people may not make a strong connection with the style or the background of any experts.
Other people may be turned off by the systematic way Ten Percent Happier introduces people to the app by making them view and complete the most basic exercises. Because of this, someone who is more experienced and advanced with meditation may want to look elsewhere.
Another group of people who may not enjoy Ten Percent Happier are those looking for a more interactive or individualized experience. This app offers limited text interactions with coaches, and zero personalized content.
Ten Percent Happier – Free Trial
How Much Does Ten Percent Happier Cost?
Ten Percent Happier has a limited free version, but the paid membership costs $99.99 per year after a seven-day free trial. On the free side, the users receive very basic information and instructions regarding meditation and its benefits, performance tracking statistics, and daily reminders to continue the practice. These may be helpful for some, but most will tire of the limited options and access very quickly.
Along with the options from the free version, those choosing to become a member receive:
- More than 350 guided meditations from experts that cover options “for every mind, mood, and experience level”
- A different meditation featured each day called “Daily Dose”
- Sleep meditations that help users fall asleep quickly and wake up ready for the day
- Personal coaching, which allows an email-like messaging feature with an experienced meditation coach
- Short speeches and lectures from teachers to add inspiration to the practice of meditation
- The ability to listen offline and without a data connection
At about $100 per year, Ten Percent Happier is a more expensive option than similar apps like Calm and Headspace.
How to Get Started with the Ten Percent Happier App
Getting started with the Ten Percent Happier App is quick and easy. Unlike some other apps in the same category, the pricing and process is transparent to reduce questions and concerns.
A person can sign up for Ten Percent Happier in five easy steps:
Step 1: Download the App and Sign up for Free
A new user can simply log onto the Ten Percent Happier Homepage or the app. Since none of the content is available on the website, though, it makes more sense to sign in directly through the app to streamline the process.
Step 2: Access Free Trial to Explore the App
Unless the person is certain Ten Percent Happier is for them, signing up for the free trial to explore the content is a great idea. When someone signs up for the trial, they must enter their credit card information, which allows the card to be billed immediately after the seven-day trial. In the iOS app, a person can log in with email, Apple, or Facebook credentials.
Step 3: Answer a Few Questions
Once a person enters the app, Ten Percent Happier asks the user a few questions to assess their previous experience with meditation, the goals that are important, recent feelings, how stress presents, coping skills, and the best times to meditate.
The app claims to use this information to create a plan tailored to the individual’s needs and wants, but it is not initially obvious how those answers factor into the app layout.
Ten Percent Happier – Quiz
Step 4: Complete the Basics
After responding to the initial questions, users are directed to complete a beginner’s course of meditation called The Basics. The Basics is a series of seven brief videos with Dan Harris and an expert meditation teacher followed by a guided meditation that lasts about five minutes.
These videos must be completed in order, and one must be completed before the user can move to the next. The videos in this series help to explain the basis of meditation and address potential issues before they present to keep the user engaged in the process.
Step 5: Explore the App
Once The Basics is completed, the entire app experience is unlocked. If the user wants to jump to hour-long, advanced meditative experiences, they can do so.
Beginners may want to continue with other courses that directly guide the meditation process, while others may enjoy experimenting or testing meditations for sleep and focus. There does not seem to be a “wrong way” to use the app, but users will likely discover the types of meditations and courses that fit with their goals over time.
Pros & Cons of Ten Percent Happier Based on User Reviews
With a 4.8 out of 5 average over 70,000 ratings on the App Store, Ten Percent Happier seems to be a beloved app. Not only do users have many positives to share, but the app is an “Editors’ Choice,” which speaks to the high quality of the program.
Pros of Ten Percent Happier
The high rating speaks for itself, but some specific areas that users appreciate include:
- The app being an incredible value for the price
- The lack of religious overtones to the app
- Teachings and meditations geared towards people with ADHD, anxiety, and depressive symptoms
- The introduction videos that explain and help prepare the user for the meditation to come
- The streamlined content. Instead of having thousands of options that may differ in quality and format, Ten Percent Happier provides high-quality, consistent guides
- The fact that Ten Percent Happier offered free service to essential employees during the COVID-19 pandemic
- The courses as a fantastic guide to grow and deepen meditative skills
- The expert guides featured in the app
Cons of Ten Percent Happier
Even the most popular and user-friendly apps will find some critics. Some of the cons of Ten Percent Happier according to users include:
- People being charged for the app even when they cancelled within the trial period
- Those who find the app too expensive for the available options
- Finding the app unhelpful as a way to address their goals
- The lack of a comprehensive search feature to find the wanted meditations or experts
- The lack of calming and peaceful sound effects like rain, water, and insects for relaxation
Based on the information from reviewers, it seemed like they were able to quickly decide that Ten Percent Happier was not for them.
Ten Percent Happier vs. Headspace vs. Calm
Ten Percent Happier is not the only meditative app trying to capture the interest of users, and has competitors like Headspace and Calm. Similar products offer competitive options, but how does Ten Percent Happier compare?
Ten Percent Happier vs. Headspace
Upon navigating to the Headspace homepage, the user can spot a few differences. For one, Headspace seems interested in emphasizing the science backing their app with statistics from their research, noting users can “increase their happiness by 16%” using the app. Headspace also features their app as a way to connect with friends and over 60 million other users who benefit from mindfulness.5
Headspace boasts a library of hundreds of articles for users about meditation, sleep, stress, and healthy living to extend the benefits of the audio/ visual options. Some other notable differences with Headspace include:5
- Soundscapes for relaxation and sleep as well as sleeping playlists
- A daily “wake up” program to gain inspiration and motivation for the day
- A “Move Mode” that pairs mindful meditation with physical movement to emphasize the mind-body connection
Users get all of these features for about $30 per year less than Ten Percent Happier.
Ten Percent Happier vs. Calm
Whereas Ten Percent Happier is transparent regarding service availability, Calm is much more opaque. One must dig through and engage the site to find exactly what Calm involves.
Calm provides a fairly wide range of services like:6
- Guided meditations
- Sleep programs
- Music options to help aid focus, relaxation, and sleep
- Lessons that integrate movement and stretching with meditation
- Classes taught by mindfulness experts
- Nature sounds for listening
Not only does Calm offer more services than Ten Percent Happier, the app seems to have more users and more positive reviews. Calm claims to be the top app for sleep, meditation, and relaxation with over 50 million downloads. It was the app of the year in 2017, according to Apple and has earned over 700,000 5-star reviews from users, all for about $70 per year.6
Final Verdict on the Ten Percent Happier App
For people seeking a dedicated meditation app featuring a small group of experts providing more than 350 guided exercises, Ten Percent Happier will be a great fit. If someone is seeking a wider variety of teachers, a depth of reading material on related subjects, soundscapes, relaxing music, and exercises that combine movement with meditation, Calm or Headspace may be better options.
Ultimately, meditation is an extremely personal experience that deserves some time, thought, and exploration. Even if Ten Percent Happier is not the app for you, it deserves consideration as a valid contender to teach and deepen one’s understanding and experience of meditation. Fortunately, all of the apps listed offer trial periods lasting one or two weeks to make the decision easier.
