Head to head
Two sleep apps, side by side, written by neither of them being flattered
Most of these pages do not involve Tock at all. They exist because working out the difference between two sleep apps is genuinely hard, the App Store descriptions are useless for it, and somebody should just write it down. Where we do turn up, it is at the end, and only where a third option is a fair suggestion.
Sleep Cycle and Pillow both track your night, but Pillow needs an Apple Watch to do its real job. Calm and Pzizz both make sleep audio, but Pzizz generates it and Calm narrates it. AutoSleep and SleepScore sit at opposite ends of the same question: wear something, or wear nothing.
- Head to head pages
- 26Head to head pagesNone of them a spec dump
- Products covered
- 13Products coveredAlarms, trackers, audio
- Prices asserted
- 0Prices assertedThey move, pages do not
How the pairings were chosen
Not by taking every product and crossing it with every other one. That produces a hundred pages nobody searches for, and Google reads a hundred near-identical pages exactly the way you would. These are the pairings people genuinely weigh up: two Watch apps against each other, two audio libraries against each other, the free built-in option against the thing you would pay for.
Every comparison that involves Tock lives on the alternatives hubinstead, so the same matchup never exists at two addresses.
Alarms and trackers
The main event. Smart alarms, phone trackers, and the built-in options they are trying to beat.
- Alarmy vs the iPhone Clock appIf you get up when your alarm goes off, the Clock app is the honest answer and Alarmy is friction you don't need. If you dismiss alarms in your sleep and it has already cost you something, Alarmy's tasks are the only thing on this page that changes the outcome.
- Alarmy vs Sleep as AndroidOn an iPhone this is over before it starts: Sleep as Android is Android only, so Alarmy is your only option of the two. On Android, take Sleep as Android if you want depth, and Alarmy if you only want the alarm to be harder to beat.
- Alarmy vs Sleep CyclePick Alarmy if you sleep through alarms and need one you can't beat. Pick Sleep Cycle if you wake up on time but feel wrecked when you do, and you want a gentler window plus a record of the night.
- the iPhone Clock app vs Apple Health SleepThis isn't a choice. The Clock app is the alarm and Apple's Sleep schedule is the plan around it, and if you wear an Apple Watch to bed the Sleep side is the only one of the two that records anything at all.
- the iPhone Clock app vs Sleep as AndroidYour phone already decided this. Sleep as Android has no iOS version and Apple's Clock app has no Android version, so unless you're switching phones over an alarm clock, the answer is whichever one you can install.
- Apple Health Sleep vs RiseApple is the better record and Rise is the better plan. If you keep opening your stage chart and still don't know what to change, Rise is the one built to answer that.
- Apple Health Sleep vs Sleep CycleIf you wear an Apple Watch to bed, Apple's built-in tracking is more accurate and costs nothing, so Sleep Cycle has to win on the alarm and the sound library instead. If you don't own a Watch, Sleep Cycle is the only one of the two that records anything.
- Rise vs Sleep CycleIf you want to plan a day around your energy and stop spiralling over one bad night, Rise. If you want the night itself drawn out and an alarm that finds a lighter moment, Sleep Cycle.
- Rise vs SleepScoreIf you will genuinely change your bedtime because an app asked you to, Rise is the more useful of the two. If you want the night measured properly without wearing anything, SleepScore.
- Sleep as Android vs Sleep CycleOn Android, if you want every dial and every integration you can get, Sleep as Android is unmatched. If you want something simple, or your partner is on an iPhone, Sleep Cycle is the one that works for both of you.
- Sleep Cycle vs SleepScoreIf you want one app that watches the night and also rings in the morning, Sleep Cycle. If you only want the measurement, and you want the method explained rather than asserted, SleepScore.
- Sleep Cycle vs SnoreLabIf someone in the bed has complained about your snoring and you want to test whether anything helps, SnoreLab. If you want a picture of the whole night and an alarm at the end of it, Sleep Cycle.
- SleepScore 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.
If you wear an Apple Watch to bed
Wrist-derived tracking is a different product from phone-derived tracking, and these pages treat it as one.
- Alarmy vs PillowThese two aren't really competing. Choose Alarmy if the problem is that you stay in bed. Choose Pillow if you own an Apple Watch and the problem is that you have no idea what your nights look like.
- Apple Health Sleep vs AutoSleepIf you wear your Apple Watch to bed and want to know how long you slept, Apple's own tracking is free and already doing it. AutoSleep is for the person who wants that night pulled apart into far more detail than Apple would ever ship.
- Apple Health Sleep vs PillowApple's built-in tracking is enough if you want hours and stages and nothing more. Pillow is for the Watch wearer who finds Apple's presentation too thin and wants the night detected and shaped for them without pressing anything.
- AutoSleep vs PillowAutoSleep suits the person who wants every number and no recurring bill. Pillow suits the person who wants the night caught automatically and presented calmly, then written properly into Apple Health.
- AutoSleep vs RiseAutoSleep is for the Apple Watch owner who wants the night in detail. Rise is for the person who has seen enough charts and wants to know why the afternoon keeps falling apart.
- AutoSleep vs Sleep CycleIf you already wear an Apple Watch to bed, AutoSleep reads a night that Sleep Cycle can only estimate from the room. If you don't own a Watch and don't want one, Sleep Cycle is the only one of the two that works, and it's your alarm as well.
- AutoSleep vs SleepScoreIf an Apple Watch is already on your wrist at night, AutoSleep is the better tracker and it asks nothing of you. If you sleep bare-wristed and want to keep it that way, SleepScore is the only one of the two that can track you at all.
- Pillow vs Sleep CycleIf you wear an Apple Watch to bed, Pillow gives you measured stage data and starts itself. If you do not own a Watch, or half the house is on Android, Sleep Cycle is the sensible pick.
- Pillow vs SleepScoreIf an Apple Watch is already part of your night, Pillow gets far more out of it than SleepScore can from across the room. If buying a wearable is off the table for you, SleepScore was made for exactly that person.
Sleep audio and meditation
None of these wakes you or tracks you. They are competing on library, voice and structure.
- Calm vs Headspace SleepIf you want to be told a story by a voice you recognise, Calm has the deeper and better-produced library. If you want to be taught a wind-down and nudged to keep at it, Headspace's course structure does more for you.
- Calm vs PzizzIf you nap, or if hearing the same recording twice ruins it for you, Pzizz is the better buy. If you want big-name narrators and a library that carries you through the daytime too, Calm is the deeper product.
- Calm vs Sleep CycleIf the problem is lying awake with a busy head, Calm. If the problem is groggy mornings and having no idea what your nights look like, Sleep Cycle. Most people searching this have already decided which; they just have not said it out loud.
- Headspace Sleep vs PzizzIf you nap in the afternoon, or you get bored hearing the same track night after night, Pzizz. If you want to be taught how to wind down and to still be doing it in three months, Headspace Sleep.
Tock against each of them
These live on the alternatives hub, where the verdict is allowed to send you elsewhere. It often does.
- 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 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.
- 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 Sleep as AndroidSleep 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions people ask
Which sleep app is the most accurate?
Anything on your wrist beats anything on your nightstand for stage data, so an Apple Watch feeding AutoSleep, Pillow or Apple Health will be closer than any phone-only app. A phone estimates stages from movement and sound, and every honest app on this list says so.
Do I need a wearable to track my sleep?
No, but you need to know what you are getting. Phone-only tracking is good at duration, interruptions and what happened in the room, and it is estimating rather than measuring when it draws you a stage chart.
Why are there comparisons here that do not include Tock?
Because those are the comparisons people actually search for, and a page that answers the question properly is worth more to everyone than a page that redirects it. Each one ends with where Tock sits, and several of them end by telling you to pick something else.
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.
- 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.
- AlternativesTock 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.
Tomorrow, you wake up just before your alarm
Tock watches the half hour before your alarm for a lighter moment. If it does not find one, your set time rings exactly as you left it.
Get TockiPhone, iOS 26 and later. From $39.99 a year with a 3 day trial.