Last updated: October 17, 2026
The best sleep sounds app depends on what you want to hear and whether you'll pay for it. If you want something free, the Background Sounds feature already on your iPhone is a good start. For more control with no subscription, try myNoise. For stories, try Calm. For soundscapes that adapt, try Endel, and for music that never repeats, try our app, StillTune.
We make StillTune, a sleep and focus music app, so we have a stake in this list. We've tried to say plainly where other apps do something better. Every price and feature below comes from the app's own App Store listing or support page, checked in October 2026, and prices can change.
The best sleep sounds apps at a glance
Apple Background Sounds: free, built into the iPhone, with a timer in iOS 26.
myNoise: detailed control over noise and ambient soundscapes, with no ads and one-time purchases.
Rain Rain Sleep Sounds: simple rain and nature sounds, free with a small banner ad.
BetterSleep: a large library you can layer into your own mix, plus sleep tracking.
Calm: Sleep Stories, soundscapes, and sleep music, with no ads.
Endel: soundscapes that respond to inputs like your location and heart rate.
StillTune: instrumental music that doesn't repeat, for people who'd rather fall asleep to music than noise.
Is there a free sleep sounds app with no ads?
Yes, and if you use an iPhone, you already have one. Apple's Background Sounds works on iOS 15 and later and plays sounds such as ocean, rain, and white noise from Control Center. In iOS 26, Apple added a timer under Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Background Sounds. The sound can stop at a set time or after a set length. It's part of iOS, so there's nothing to buy. For a lot of nights that's enough. If you want more sounds, mixing, or music, you'll need an app.
Rain Rain Sleep Sounds is a good free app if a small ad doesn't bother you. Its listing says the free version shows "a small image banner ad at the bottom" and no audio or video ads. The free tier includes more than 50 sounds, a mixer with a separate volume for each sound, and every fade-out timer option. Premium removes the ad and adds 60+ more sounds, with monthly and annual plans and a 7-day free trial.
Which sleep sounds app has no subscription?
myNoise is the one we'd point to. Its App Store listing says "No ads, no subscription, no AI." Instead it sells one-time purchases: at the time of writing, $19.99 for Full Access or $14.99 for an option called All You Can Hear. It has over 300 soundscapes, from rain and fireplaces to white, pink, and brown noise, and each one comes with its own sliders. Offline listening is listed as a feature. The listing doesn't mention a sleep timer, so check that before you buy if you need one.
StillTune also offers a one-time lifetime purchase alongside its monthly and yearly plans; more on that below.
Which apps let you build your own sound mix?
To us, BetterSleep is the most complete mixer on this list. Its listing describes more than 300 sleep sounds and music tracks, a Smart Mix feature for layering them, and a place to save favorite mixes. It also includes sleep tracking, a timer that stops the app, and over 100 SleepTales and stories. Premium is a paid plan, and the listing shows several Premium prices without saying which plan each one belongs to.
myNoise suits people who like to fine-tune. Its Creation Mode lets you combine up to 10 sliders from different soundscapes, so you can put a little rain over brown noise and shape both. Rain Rain's free mixer is the simpler version of the same idea.
If you're not sure which kind of noise to start with, our guide to brown, pink, and white noise for sleep explains how they sound and what the research says.
Soundscapes or guided meditation and stories: which helps more?
Calm is the pick if you'd rather listen to a voice. Its listing promises more than 100 Sleep Stories, along with soundscapes and sleep music. Some content is free, the app has no ads, and the rest needs a subscription.
The research on these formats is uneven. A 2025 perspective in the journal Sleep reviewed the evidence on "sonic sleep aids." Music had the best support for how well people say they slept, though its effects on objective measures such as polysomnography and actigraphy may be limited. The authors called the findings on ambient sounds like white and pink noise inconclusive. They wrote that support for narrated content "remains limited." One pilot trial of app-based sleep stories found benefits compared with a waitlist, but a crossover study in people without sleep problems didn't replicate them. Mindfulness practices looked promising, though the authors said more research is needed on using them at bedtime. They also warned that many app studies use waitlist controls, which may overestimate the effects.
So pick the format you like. If a voice helps you stop replaying the day, try stories. If you'd rather have nothing to follow, choose sound or music.
What's the best sleep music app?
A Cochrane review of music for insomnia pooled 13 studies with 1,007 adults. Compared with no treatment or usual care, daily music listening probably improves self-reported sleep quality a lot (moderate-certainty evidence). The people in those trials listened to prerecorded music for about 25 to 60 minutes a day. Three smaller studies that measured sleep objectively suggest music may not improve things like how fast people fall asleep.
Those trials used prerecorded music, so the evidence doesn't point to any one app. What separates sleep music apps is how the music behaves over a whole night. Endel builds soundscapes from inputs such as location, environment, and heart rate, and its listing says all soundscapes work offline. It's subscription-based, with a lifetime option listed at $124.99. StillTune takes a different route, covered below.
Wondering whether it's fine to leave music on all night? We looked at that in Is it bad to sleep with music on?
How we'd choose one tonight
Start with Background Sounds and its timer if you're on an iPhone and want something free.
Skip subscriptions with myNoise's one-time purchases or StillTune's lifetime option.
Try Rain Rain's free tier for rain sounds, a mixer, and fade-out timers, as long as a small banner ad is fine.
Pick BetterSleep or myNoise if you like to tinker.
Choose Calm's Sleep Stories if a voice helps you settle.
Try Endel or StillTune for music without a playlist.
Whatever you choose, keep the volume low. The NIDCD at the National Institutes of Health says sounds at or below 70 dBA are unlikely to cause hearing loss, even after long exposure. A timer that fades out is handy if you don't want sound running all night. If you still sleep badly after a few weeks of good habits, talk to a doctor or sleep specialist.
How StillTune fits
StillTune plays instrumental music built from bells, glass, handpan, flute, and soft pads. It never repeats, so there's no loop point to notice at 2 a.m. In Sleep mode the music gets slower and thinner as the night goes on, and the sleep timer fades it out gradually. You can add rain, wind, ocean, or brown, pink, or white noise underneath in the Mixer, or start from one of the presets on our sleep sounds page. You don't need an account, and it works offline after you've played a mode once while online. It's free with ads. Pro removes the ads and adds more soundscapes for $5.99 a month, $39.99 a year, or $69.99 once. Get StillTune on the App Store.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free sleep sounds app?
On an iPhone, Apple's Background Sounds is built into iOS, so there's nothing to buy, and in iOS 26 it can stop on a timer. If you want more sounds and a mixer, Rain Rain's free tier includes more than 50 sounds and fade-out timers, with a small banner ad.
Is there a sleep sounds app without a subscription?
Yes. myNoise says it has no ads and no subscription and sells one-time purchases instead. StillTune offers a one-time lifetime Pro purchase, and Apple's Background Sounds is part of iOS. BetterSleep and Calm both sell Premium subscriptions.
Are sleep sounds or sleep music better for sleep?
Music has more research behind it. A Cochrane review found that music probably improves self-reported sleep quality, while a 2025 perspective in Sleep called the evidence on white and pink noise inconclusive. Most of that evidence is about how people rated their sleep, so personal preference still matters.
Are sleep sound apps a treatment for insomnia?
No. Sleep sounds and music can be part of a calm bedtime routine, but they don't treat a sleep disorder. If you have trouble sleeping most nights, a doctor or sleep specialist can help you find the cause.