Head to head
Apple Health Sleep vs AutoSleep
You need an Apple Watch for either of these to say anything interesting, so settle that first. After that it's a question of appetite.
In short
If 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 hands you the data, AutoSleep hands you an argument about it
The Watch is doing the sensing in both cases. Apple presents the result plainly: hours, stages, a few trends. AutoSleep takes the same night and pulls it apart into readouts Apple would never put in a first-party app, and it's famous for exactly that.
Which one is better depends on whether more numbers make you curious or make you close the app.
Both of these depend on you wearing the Watch to bed
AutoSleep needs an Apple Watch, full stop. Apple's own Sleep tracking needs one for stage data. A Watch that spends the night on a charger is a Watch that tells neither app anything.
So before you compare features, be honest about the habit. Everything below assumes the Watch is on your wrist at 2am.
Neither of these is an alarm clock. Waking you up stays with whatever already does it.
One is free and one is bought once
Apple's tracking costs nothing and is already installed. AutoSleep is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription, which is a real argument for anyone tired of another monthly line on the card.
Over a few years, buying once usually wins against renting. Over a few weeks, free wins. That's the whole of the money question here.
Who actually ends up paying for AutoSleep
People who look. If you check your sleep data most mornings and keep wishing there were more of it, AutoSleep is the upgrade and it's hands-off enough that nothing changes about your routine.
If you glance at Health once a month and mostly want reassurance that you slept, Apple's version already answered you and the money is better spent elsewhere.
| What we compared | Apple Health Sleep | AutoSleep |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | Free, already installed (stronger here) | Bought once, no subscription |
| Waking you up | The Clock app's job (about the same) | Not an alarm clock (about the same) |
| Depth of readouts | Deliberately simple | Famously dense (stronger here) |
| Effort each night | Wear it, that's all (about the same) | Wear it, that's all (about the same) |
| Heart rate and readiness | Recorded, lightly presented | The centre of the app (stronger here) |
| Where your data lives | It is the source (stronger here) | Built on top of it |
| A night without the Watch | A schedule, not a night (stronger here) | Nothing to show |
| Learning curve | Nothing to learn (about the same) | Rewards a bit of reading (about the same) |
Which one to actually install
Pick Apple Health Sleep if
Apple's built-in tracking is the right stopping point for most people. It costs nothing, it asks nothing of you, and with a Watch it produces measured stage data every other app on your phone can read.
Pick AutoSleep if
AutoSleep earns its money if you genuinely look at the numbers. It's hands-off, it goes deeper into Watch-derived heart rate and readiness than Apple does, and it's a one-time purchase.
Pick neither if
Both of these assume a Watch. If yours lives on the charger, or you don't own one, neither has much to tell you. Tock tracks from the phone on the nightstand with the microphone and accelerometer, and it's also the alarm, which neither of these is. Stages from a phone are estimates rather than measurements, and Tock says so. A 3-day trial, then from $39.99 a year.
Questions people ask
Does AutoSleep replace Apple's sleep tracking?
It sits on top of it. The Watch is still doing the sensing. AutoSleep does the interpreting, and it interprets a great deal more than Apple chooses to show.
Can I use AutoSleep without an Apple Watch?
Not meaningfully. Automatic tracking from the wrist is the entire premise, and with no Watch there's nothing for it to read.
Is a one-time purchase actually cheaper?
Over a few years, usually. It depends how long you stay, which is the honest answer to every subscription question.
Does either of these wake me up?
No. AutoSleep isn't an alarm clock, and Apple's Sleep schedule hands the ringing back to the Clock app. Tracking and alarm in one place is a different category of app.
Where Tock sits against each of them
These pages are written the same way as this one, which means they state what Apple Health Sleep and AutoSleep each do better than we do.
Related matchups
Other pairings involving one of these two.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Elsewhere on the site
A different corner of the same problem.
- FeaturesSmart wakeSmart wake is a 30 minute window before your alarm in which Tock watches for a lighter moment in your sleep and rings as soon as it finds one. If it never finds one, your alarm goes off at the exact time you set.
- Sleep soundsCricketsA field of crickets is not one insect but dozens slightly out of phase with each other, and that stagger is what turns a repeating chirp into a steady high shimmer you can drift on. It lives almost entirely above 2 kHz, so it covers thin, sharp sounds well and does nothing whatsoever about traffic.
- Tock for youStudentsYou go to bed at a different time every night, set an alarm you already know you will sleep through, and you cannot just turn the volume up because there is someone asleep two metres away.
- 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.
- RoundupsThe best alarm apps for shift workersFor shift workers the most reliable alarm is still the iPhone Clock app, because it makes no assumptions about your schedule and lets you keep a saved alarm for every shift pattern. Tock is the better pick if you also sleep in the daytime and need something that will not let you turn it off half asleep at 4pm.
- Wake timesWaking up at 9:00amBedtimes by sleep cycle for a 9:00am alarm.
If neither of them is quite the alarm you wanted
Tock is built on Apple AlarmKit, so it rings on silent and through a Focus, moves earlier when it finds a lighter moment, and keeps ringing until you solve something.