Rain and Brown Noise for Deep Sleep
Brown noise covers the traffic and the boiler, and rain softens the sharper sounds inside the room.
- Brown Noise 65%
- Rain 38%
Best Sleep Sound Apps 2026: 7 Sleep Noise Apps Compared
What separates one sleep sound app from the next comes down to four things: how many sounds it holds, whether you can stack them, how the timer ends the night, and what still plays when the Wi-Fi drops.
Slo is a sleep sounds app for iPhone, Android and Mac with 200+ sounds, 89 of them free, a mixer that gives every layer its own volume, a sleep timer up to 24 hours with fade-out, and playback built to hold through the night. In a browser, its 180 sounds at slonoise.com cost nothing and ask for no sign-up. White Noise by TMSOFT is the pick for a traditional sound machine with alarms and recording, BetterSleep for a big mixer with tracking and stories around it, Calm for polished guided content, Endel for audio it generates as you listen, Pzizz for a narrated session, and Apple’s Background Sounds for one steady preset with nothing installed.
Quick comparison
| Pick | Best for | Free access | Paid model | Platforms | Offline | Mixing | Timer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slo | Layered mixes that hold all night | 89 free app sounds out of 200+; every browser sound | Monthly, yearly or one lifetime payment | iPhone, Android, Mac; browser | In the app, once a sound has played | Layers without a limit, a volume on each, mixes you can save | 15 minutes to 24 hours, fading out over up to 2 minutes |
| White Noise by TMSOFT | Noise-machine features | Lite edition, with ads | One-time Full and Pro | iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows | Yes, sounds play from the device | Mix Pad | Yes, with fade |
| BetterSleep | Broad sleep toolkit | Free trial, then very limited | Subscription or lifetime | iPhone, iPad, Android | Sounds yes, and guided content after a download | Yes, sounds, music and brainwaves | Yes |
| Calm | Guided bedtime content | Selected meditations, Scenes and a Sleep Story | Premium subscription | iPhone, iPad, Android, web | Most sessions can be downloaded | No layer mixer | A duration you set for Scene sound |
| Endel | Adaptive sound | Free Edition, sessions up to 10 minutes | Subscription or lifetime | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows, web | Yes, per its App Store listing | Not stated; the audio is generated | Shutoff timer |
| Pzizz | Narrated sessions | Classic Pzizz | Pro subscription and other in-app purchases | iPhone, iPad, Android; Mac runs the iPad app on Apple silicon | Yes, per pzizz.com | Voice and music volumes set apart | Yes, up to 24 hours, with fade-out |
| Apple Background Sounds | Built-in basic playback | Included | None | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro | Not stated by Apple | No | Yes, from iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe |
How we picked
We went through every company’s product pages, help center and US App Store or Google Play listing, first on July 31, 2026, then again on September 13, 2026 for free access, pricing, platforms, playback without a connection, mixing and timers. What we weighed was sound control, the bedtime tools around it, which devices each app reaches and how plainly each company writes down what its product does. We installed none of the other six, and we counted neither star ratings nor any company’s claim about sleep as evidence. Slo is ours; version 3.132 of the app source, read on September 14, 2026, is where its figures come from. Nothing here can promise you better sleep. For no-cost options only, see the best free sleep apps.
1. Slo: best for a layered mix that runs all night
Slo carries 200+ recorded sounds with 89 unlocked for good. The library runs from 22 noise recordings, brown and pink through white, grey, green, blue and violet, to 11 rain tracks, 5 fan tracks, water, wind, thunder, fire and forest, plus solfeggio and Schumann tones. Layer as many as you want, set a volume on each, and every combination you save keeps the balance you gave it.
The sleep timer covers 15 minutes to 24 hours, and the sound fades for anywhere from 15 seconds to 2 minutes so the silence doesn’t wake you. Sound continues with the screen off on iPhone and Android, and Android asks to be left out of battery saving once a timer runs two hours or longer. Each sound lands on the device the first time you play it, and one option downloads the whole library at once, so a saved mix survives a dead router.
Paying for the rest of the library means a monthly or yearly subscription, or one lifetime payment. The 180 browser sounds carry their own 15, 30 and 60 minute timers and need no account.
Best for: One mix you return to, a timer that fades, and a price you can settle once.
Consider: No sleep stories, no meditations, no tracking. For a voice at bedtime, read the Calm and Pzizz entries below.
2. White Noise by TMSOFT: best noise-machine replacement
TMSOFT documents 50 stock sounds playing from the device, a Mix Pad, fade timers, alarms, recording, playlists and community downloads through its Market. Lite is the free, ad-supported edition, and Full and Pro are one-time purchases with different tools in each.
Best for: People who want alarms, loops they recorded themselves, or support on an unusual device.
3. BetterSleep: best all-in-one sleep toolkit
BetterSleep’s current support pages describe more than 500 sounds and melodies, over 100 SleepTales, meditations, a timer, bedtime reminders, tracking and a sleep recorder. Its mixer takes music and a brainwave track alongside the sounds, which is the widest mix on this page.
Best for: Someone who wants sleep content and a record of the night around an ambient mixer.
Consider: BetterSleep says it moved to a subscription in 2025. A new user gets a trial, and when it ends only a very limited selection stays open. If one noise sound is all you need, most of the subscription goes unused.
4. Calm: best guided sleep library
Calm covers iOS, Android and the web with soundscapes, music, meditations and Sleep Stories. Its help center counts more than 300 Premium Sleep Stories, with a smaller set of free Stories and background Scenes. The soundscapes are there, but they are not the reason to buy it.
Best for: People who want narration and guided sessions more than a mixer.
Consider: The price moves with your region and your store, so read the current offer instead of an annual figure from a review.
5. Endel: best low-decision adaptive audio
Endel generates its audio in real time and can react to the time, the weather, light, motion or your heart rate, depending on the device and the permissions you grant. Its site lists a Sleep mode and apps for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows and the web, and its App Store listing says every soundscape is available offline and describes a shutoff timer.
Best for: People who would rather press one button than balance layers.
Consider: Endel’s help center describes free sessions of up to 10 minutes, so a night of it needs a subscription or a lifetime purchase. If audible changes pull you back awake, a steady loop or a noise generator suits you better.
6. Pzizz: best for narrated sessions
Pzizz plays timed sleep, nap and focus sessions. Its App Store listing describes the audio as music, voiceovers and sound effects together, with several narrators and a choice of narration styles. You set the sleep length and the wake-up time, and pzizz.com lists sessions running up to 24 hours with separate fade-outs for the music and the voice. The App Store app is built for iPhone and iPad and runs on a Mac with Apple silicon as an iPad app, and pzizz.com links an Android app too. Classic Pzizz is the free option alongside a Pro subscription.
Best for: People who want a voice leading a fixed-length session they don’t have to set up.
Consider: The voice is the product. If speech keeps you awake, a wordless mixer is the safer buy.
7. Apple Background Sounds: best built-in option
Background Sounds plays ambient audio on an iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Vision Pro. Apple documents volume and equalizer controls, and a stop timer from iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe onward.
Best for: A steady sound tonight with no new account anywhere.
Consider: One preset, no layers, and no library to grow into.
Sleep presets
Compare two low-complexity mixes
Use the timer, keep playback comfortable and remove any layer that makes you listen actively.
Ocean and Pink Noise for Restful Sleep
Pink noise runs steady while the waves rise and fall over it, for nights when the room feels too quiet.
- Pink Noise 62%
- Ocean Waves 36%
Which app has the most sounds?
By the numbers each company publishes, BetterSleep is the biggest at more than 500 sounds and melodies, Slo comes next with 200+ in the app and 180 in a browser, and TMSOFT starts at 50 stock sounds and grows through its Market. Endel counts differently, since it generates the audio and there is no list to browse.
A big catalog is worth less at 11 p.m. than it looks in a store listing. Most people end up with two or three sounds they trust and never open the rest. What a wide library buys you is the chance to find those two, and a rain track for the night the usual one sounds wrong.
Mixing your own sleep sound
If layering matters to you, three of these apps let you do it without paying. TMSOFT’s plan table puts a Mix Pad in the free, ad-supported Lite edition. Slo lets a free account stack the 89 free sounds, set a volume on each and save the result, and the browser mixer at slonoise.com/mix opens with no account and no download. BetterSleep’s mixer is the widest of the group, taking music and a brainwave track, but it sits behind the subscription once the trial is over.
Endel and Pzizz work the other way around: they build the audio for you, and there is nothing to balance. Calm has no layer mixer at all.
How to evaluate a sleep sound app
- Check what it does for your room. Steady sound softens noise that comes and goes, like a door or a TV next door. It reaches none of the medical causes of bad sleep, and sound is not a treatment for anything. Weeks of broken nights are a reason to see a doctor and ask about CBT-I.
- Keep the controls dim-screen simple. Starting a saved sound should take a few taps without your glasses on.
- Try the timer and the Wi-Fi test before you need them. A night away from home is the wrong time to find out that the app streams.
- Watch the volume. Use only enough to soften the distraction, and if you find yourself reaching for more, move the speaker or change the sound.
Read how to create a sleep soundscape for a step-by-step setup.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best app for sleep sounds?
For one layered mix that holds all night, Slo: 200+ sounds with 89 free, a timer up to 24 hours that fades before it stops, and a lifetime option. White Noise by TMSOFT is the classic sound machine, BetterSleep and Calm reach past sound into stories and tracking, Endel generates its audio as it goes, Pzizz talks you through a session, and Apple’s Background Sounds plays one preset with nothing installed.
Which sleep sound app has the best variety?
On documented counts, BetterSleep is the largest with more than 500 sounds and melodies, and Slo is next with 200+ in the app and 180 in a browser. TMSOFT ships 50 stock sounds and adds community downloads through its Market. Variety in a bedroom is narrower than a catalog, though: most people settle on two or three sounds and stop browsing.
Which sleep sound apps let me mix my own sounds for free?
Three of these, with different ceilings. TMSOFT’s plan table puts a Mix Pad in the free Lite edition, ads included. Slo lets a free account layer sounds and save the mix, using the 89 free sounds, and the browser mixer at slonoise.com is open with no account. BetterSleep’s mixer sits behind the subscription once the trial ends.
Do sleep sound apps work without Wi-Fi?
Some do. TMSOFT says its sounds play from the device, Endel’s App Store listing says every soundscape is available offline, and pzizz.com documents offline use. Slo keeps any sound you have played once on the device, and can fetch the whole library in one go. Apple does not say either way for Background Sounds. Test it the cheap way: start a sound, turn the Wi-Fi off, and see whether it survives.
Which noise color is best for sleep?
Nobody wins that argument. White noise is a bright hiss that blurs voices, pink noise is the softer version of it, and brown noise is a deep rumble that suits traffic and boilers. Listen to the noise colors at the same level on two nights and keep the one you stop noticing.
Are sleep sound apps safe to use all night?
Set the volume where you could still talk over it, and use a timer if you only want sound while you fall asleep. Keep a loud speaker off the pillow, since hearing damage comes from loud sound close to the ear over long hours. Sound is not a treatment for anything; take sleep that stays broken to a doctor and ask about CBT-I.
Sources checked July 31, September 13 and September 20, 2026
- TMSOFT White Noise
- BetterSleep current offering, getting-started guide, is BetterSleep free? and offline mode (September 13)
- Calm sleep content, free content, available apps, using Calm offline and the Calm Scenes guide (Scene playback duration, September 20)
- Endel product overview, technology/platform details, Endel on the App Store and using Endel for free (September 13)
- Pzizz App Store listing (modules, narrators and session controls, September 10) and pzizz.com (offline use, timers and apps, September 13; Mac compatibility re-read September 20)
- Apple Background Sounds
- Slo app source, version 3.132 (sound list, timer, fade-out and store products), and the slonoise.com sound catalogue, reviewed September 14, 2026
Related guides
- Best sounds for deep sleep
- How to create a sleep soundscape
- Best white noise apps, free and paid
- Best free sleep apps
- Best nature sound apps
Explore more sounds in Slo
Stack two or three sounds, keep the blend, and let the timer stop it. Slo, on iOS, Android and Mac.
