Balloon is closing down: what you can listen to instead
When an app has been part of your evenings or your midday pause, losing it means losing a small ritual. On September 30, 2026, the meditation app Balloon will go offline, and its sister sleep app 7Schläfer will close with it. Below you will find what this means for you and which other apps deserve your attention. One of them is ours, and we want you to know that from the start. It is exactly why we are also open about where competing apps do things better.
What is changing
- Final day: You can use Balloon through September 30, 2026, and after that it is gone. This comes from the official FAQ published about the shutdown.
- Downloads: Meditations you saved will stop working as well, since they never lived on your phone as standalone files.
- One-time purchase: Buying Balloon outright does not protect you either; access ends after September 30. Nothing in the FAQ mentions any plan for refunds.
- Course with health insurance support: Prevention courses already underway can be completed by September 30. Your certificate of participation is issued as long as you finished the course within six months. Anyone who missed that window or booked straight through their German health insurer (Krankenkasse) is asked by the FAQ to reach out to Balloon support.
- Subscription: Nowhere does the FAQ spell out what happens to subscription time you already paid for. Look at your app store account and make sure the subscription has been cancelled.
No official explanation for the closure was published. Balloon was owned by Gruner + Jahr, which places it within RTL Deutschland.
What people appreciated about Balloon
The library held more than 200 meditations and exercises, together with courses covering themes like stress and sleep. Users often mentioned the soothing voice of Boris Bornemann and how clearly everything was organized. Its course "Stressreduktion durch Achtsamkeit" carried certification from the German central prevention office (Zentrale Prüfstelle Prävention), and a number of German health insurers paid part of the fee.
Because of this, the real question goes beyond which app is simply good. You first need to figure out which piece of Balloon you genuinely relied on.
Alternatives at a glance
| App | Good for | Course with insurance support | Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7Mind | set meditations and courses in German | yes, several prevention courses | people |
| Insight Timer | a huge free library with many teachers | not known | people |
| Headspace | structured programs, partly in German | not known | people |
| Calm | sleep stories, music, programs | not known | people |
| Solva | one session created for your moment | no | AI voice |
Everything above reflects September 29, 2026, drawn from the providers' own websites and the app stores. Where we say "not known", we simply could not find a course with insurance support on their side. Pricing and insurance conditions shift over time, so verify them yourself before committing.
When the course was the main thing
Should a prevention course backed by your German health insurer be your top priority, 7Mind is the most direct path, since it runs several certified courses of that kind. A course like this is something Solva cannot give you.
When the daily habit was the main thing
A course was never the point for everyone. Plenty of people just wanted a brief, steady pause in their day. Two reasonable directions follow from that:
- A large library to browse and choose from each day, such as Insight Timer or Calm.
- A session created for your moment, which is the idea behind Solva. In one sentence you say how you are feeling, and you receive a guided audio session lasting 5 to 45 minutes, written by an AI and read aloud by an AI voice.
Where Solva stands apart, and where it does not
- Personal rather than a catalog: Each session is built around your occasion, whether that is unwinding, recharging, falling asleep, focus or confidence.
- An AI voice: We state this openly. Should a particular human voice be what you are after, 7Mind or Insight Timer is the likelier place to find one.
- No insurance course: Solva is a wellness offering for relaxation. It is not a medical device, and it does not replace medical or psychotherapeutic care.
- Still in the making: Solva is opening gradually, and during this testing phase using it costs nothing.
Listen to a short sample on our home page before you make up your mind.
Sources
- Balloon, FAQ about the shutdown (PDF, German), accessed September 29, 2026
- 7Schläfer, shutdown notice, accessed September 29, 2026
- RTL, Balloon press kit, accessed September 29, 2026
- Balloon on the Apple App Store, accessed September 29, 2026
- 7Mind, prevention courses, accessed September 29, 2026
- Insight Timer on the Apple App Store, accessed September 29, 2026
- Headspace, home page, accessed September 29, 2026
- Calm on the Apple App Store, accessed September 29, 2026
Written with AI assistance; edited and approved by Thomas Gnahm.