Honest comparisons
Thirteen comparisons, several of which end with us telling you to pick the other one
Comparison pages written by the company being compared are usually worthless, and everybody knows it. So these have a rule: every page states what the other product genuinely does better, every table has rows the other product wins, and the verdict is allowed to send you away. Six of these do.
If you own an Apple Watch and want automatic tracking from your wrist, AutoSleep or Pillow beat Tock, because Tock has no Watch app. If you want an alarm and nothing else, keep the free iPhone Clock app. Tock is the pick when you want the alarm itself rebuilt: a system alarm that rings on silent, moves into a lighter moment, and asks for a task before it stops.
- Products compared
- 13Products comparedAcross five categories
- Verdicts that point elsewhere
- 6Verdicts that point elsewhereWhere they are the better pick
- Prices or ratings asserted
- 0Prices or ratings assertedThose change faster than a page
How to read a comparison written by one of the two companies
Sceptically, which is correct. So here is what we did to make these worth your time. Nothing on these pages asserts a competitor's price, star rating or user count, because those change monthly and a stale number is worse than no number. Where we were unsure of a specific feature, the page describes the category difference instead of inventing a spec.
Every table has rows the other product wins, marked with a filled dot on their side. Where a product is genuinely better for a large group of people, the verdict card says so plainly:AutoSleep and Pillowboth have a real Apple Watch app and Tock does not, andthe built-in Clock app is free and will outlive us all.
If you want head-to-heads that do not involve Tock at all, those live onthe compare hub.
The other smart alarms
Apps that try to move your alarm or make it harder to dismiss. The closest thing to a direct comparison.
- Tock vs Sleep CycleSwitch to Tock if you want the alarm itself to be different: a system alarm that rings on silent and through a Focus, moved up to 30 minutes earlier into a lighter moment, with a task before it stops. Stay with Sleep Cycle if you have years of history in it, or if someone in the house is on Android.
- Tock vs AlarmyIf all you need is a harder alarm, Alarmy has more dismissal tasks than Tock and a free tier, so it is the sensible pick. Tock is worth paying for when you want the night tracked and the ring moved earlier into light sleep, with a mission still standing between you and the off button.
- Tock vs Sleep as AndroidAndroidSleep as Android is Android only, so an iPhone owner cannot have it at any price. Tock is the nearest thing on iOS in spirit: sleep tracking from the phone, a smart wake window, snore detection and a task before the alarm stops. It is not as deep, and it does not talk to your smart bulbs.
Trackers and coaches
Products built around the night rather than the morning. Some of them do things Tock does not attempt.
- Tock vs SleepScoreSleepScore is the better pick if you want breathing and movement read contactlessly by a method you can have explained to you, and you already have an alarm you trust. Tock is the pick if you want one app that both tracks the night and wakes you, with playable audio of what it heard.
- Tock vs RiseChoose Rise if planning your day around energy peaks and a running sleep debt is what actually changes your behaviour. Choose Tock if you want the alarm itself to be smarter, the night recorded from the phone, and a coach that can talk about what it heard.
- Tock vs SnoreLabSnoreLab is better if snoring is the only thing you care about and you want a remedy-tracking loop and a score you can show someone. Tock is better if you want the snoring inside a full night, with the alarm, the estimated stages and the score in one app instead of two running overnight.
If you own an Apple Watch
These have a real Watch app. Tock does not, and reads your Watch data through Apple Health instead.
- Tock vs PillowStay with Pillow if you track on your wrist, because it runs on the Watch and Tock does not. Choose Tock if your phone is the only thing on the nightstand and you want the alarm to be the centre of the product rather than a feature of the tracker.
- Tock vs AutoSleepIf you wear an Apple Watch to bed and you already have an alarm you like, AutoSleep is hard to beat and you pay for it once. Tock makes sense if you do not want to sleep in a watch, or you want the alarm and the tracking to be the same app.
What Apple already gave you
Free, installed, and enough for a lot of people. Worth knowing where it stops being enough.
- Tock vs the iPhone Clock appIf you want an alarm and nothing else, keep the Clock app. Tock rings on the same Apple framework it does, so the reliability argument is a draw. Tock is only worth paying for if you want the night before the alarm to change when it goes off, and you want a morning report and a mission before it stops.
- Tock vs Apple Health SleepIf you wear an Apple Watch and you only want to see how long you slept, Apple Health already does it for free and does it better than any phone estimate. Tock adds the room: sound, snoring, a score, an alarm that can move earlier, and a coach that can explain what it found.
The other half of the night
Audio and meditation apps. These are complements more than competitors, and we say so on every page.
- Tock vs CalmTock is not a Calm replacement and does not try to be. Calm has a narrated library with named voices and licensed music that a small team cannot match. Tock wakes you, tracks the night and tells you what happened. If falling asleep is your problem, Calm is the better buy.
- Tock vs Headspace SleepHeadspace Sleep is the better choice if you want a voice walking you through a wind-down inside a proper course structure. Tock is the choice if you want the night measured from the phone and an alarm that moves into a lighter moment. Neither one covers the other.
- Tock vs PzizzKeep Pzizz if you nap, or if your mind needs words to hold onto while you fall asleep. Tock generates its sound too, but it has no voiceover and nothing for naps. What Tock adds is the alarm, the tracking and the morning report Pzizz does not attempt.
Questions people ask
What is the best alternative to Sleep Cycle on iPhone?
It depends what part of Sleep Cycle you are replacing. For the tracking alone, SleepScore takes a different and interesting approach. For the alarm, Tock rebuilds it on Apple AlarmKit so it rings on silent and through a Focus. If you own an Apple Watch, Pillow and AutoSleep both track from the wrist, which no phone-only app can match.
Is there a good sleep app that does not need an Apple Watch?
Yes, several. Tock, Sleep Cycle and SleepScore all work from the phone alone. The trade is that a phone on a nightstand estimates your sleep stages rather than measuring them, and any app claiming otherwise is overreaching.
Does Tock have an Apple Watch app?
No. Tock runs on iPhone only. It reads what your Watch writes into Apple Health, including sleep, heart rate, HRV, blood oxygen and respiratory rate, but there is nothing to install on the Watch and nothing to see on it.
Is Tock free?
No. There is a 3 day free trial and then a subscription, from $39.99 a year. If a free alarm is what you need, the iPhone Clock app is genuinely good and we say so on the roundup for free alarm apps.
Elsewhere on the site
Different corner of the same problem.
- Wake timesWaking up at 6:30amBedtimes by sleep cycle for a 6:30am alarm.
- Wake tonesGentle alarm soundsA gentle alarm works when it catches you at a light moment and fails when it lands in the heaviest part of your night, which is a timing problem rather than a volume one. Tock watches movement and sound across the 30 minutes before your alarm and rings early at a lighter moment if it finds one, with your set time as the fallback.
- Head to headSleepScore vs SnoreLabIf snoring is the complaint and you want to find out whether the mouthguard made a difference, SnoreLab. If you want the whole night measured without wearing anything, SleepScore.
- FeaturesSleep scoreThe sleep score is a single number for a night, sitting at the top of that night detail view. Underneath it are the parts that produced it, and across nights the insights cover 21 metrics in 7 groups plus long-run measures like sleep regularity and sleep debt.
- Sleep soundsDistant stormFar-off thunder helps at the start of the night because the slow rolling swells give your attention something easy to follow while it lets go, and it hurts later because every roll is a change in level, which is exactly what surfaces a light sleeper. Tock treats it as a fall-asleep aid and fades it out after half an hour by default.
- Tock for youNew parentsYou do not wake up to an alarm any more, you wake up to a small person, three or four times, and then you have to be a functioning adult by seven. The night is not so much short as it is in pieces.
Waking up mid-cycle is why mornings hurt
That is the problem Tock was built for. Everything else on this page solves a different one, and several of them solve it well.