Head to head
Sleep as Android vs Sleep Cycle
Sleep as Android doesn't run on an iPhone, so if that is what is in your pocket the comparison is already over. On Android it is a real fight, and depth is the axis it turns on.
In short
On 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.
Start with the platform, because it settles most of this
Sleep as Android is Android and Wear OS. There is no iPhone version, so for an iPhone owner this is not a choice between two apps, it is a choice between Sleep Cycle and something else entirely.
Sleep Cycle runs on both, which is the practical answer for a household split across platforms, or for anyone who suspects their next phone might not be the same brand as this one.
On Android, nothing goes deeper
Sleep as Android is the most feature-dense smart alarm on the platform. Tracking, CAPTCHAs to get the alarm to stop, snoring detection, and a long tail of integrations with wearables, smart bulbs and home automation that nothing else in this comparison attempts.
That density is the appeal and the cost. There is a lot to configure, and if you want an app that just works on night one without a settings tour, this is not that app.
Sleep Cycle is the calmer, more portable habit
Sleep Cycle does less on purpose. It listens with the phone microphone, estimates the shape of the night, rings inside a window near your set time and carries a large library of sleep aids. That is roughly the whole product, and it is easy to keep doing.
Being a long-established name matters more than it should, too. It is the one your partner has probably heard of, which makes it the easier app to get two people using.
Stages estimated from a phone microphone are estimates, whichever of the two you use.
The iPhone answer to this question
People who search this pair on an iPhone are usually looking for the density of Sleep as Android on a platform that does not have it. There is no equivalent, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
What does exist on iOS is Tock, which takes the parts that translate: a smart wake that watches the half hour before your alarm, missions you have to solve before the ringing stops, snoring and sleep talking classified on device with clips you can play back, and an alarm on AlarmKit that rings through silent mode and Focus. It is much quieter than Sleep as Android by design, has no home automation hooks, and costs from $39.99 a year after a 3-day trial.
| What we compared | Sleep as Android | Sleep Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| If you own an iPhone | Not available at all | Yes, and on Android (stronger here) |
| Sheer depth of features | Very little is missing (stronger here) | Deliberately narrower |
| Smart bulbs and home automation | Integrations built in (stronger here) | Not attempted |
| Wear OS watches | Supported on the wrist (stronger here) | Built around the phone |
| Getting the alarm off | CAPTCHAs before it stops (stronger here) | Not what it emphasises |
| Tracking with the phone alone | Yes, out of the box (about the same) | Yes, out of the box (about the same) |
| Night one, out of the box | Dense, takes patience | Simple immediately (stronger here) |
| A name people recognise | Known among enthusiasts | A household name (stronger here) |
Which one to actually install
Pick Sleep as Android if
Sleep as Android is the right answer for an Android owner who enjoys configuring things and wants the alarm wired into the rest of their house.
Pick Sleep Cycle if
Sleep Cycle is the right answer for someone who wants a simple habit that works the first night, or who needs the same app to run on an iPhone as well.
Pick neither if
On an iPhone, Sleep as Android is not an option at all. Tock is the closest thing in spirit: a smart wake window, missions before the alarm stops, and playable audio of what it heard overnight. iPhone only.
Questions people ask
Is there an iPhone version of Sleep as Android?
No. It is Android and Wear OS only, and it is built around Android capabilities that do not exist on iOS. On an iPhone your realistic options are Sleep Cycle or another iOS app.
Which one is better at getting me out of bed?
Sleep as Android, if you are on Android. CAPTCHAs before the alarm stops are part of its identity, where Sleep Cycle puts its effort into ringing at the right moment rather than making it hard to stop.
Can they both track without a watch?
Yes. Both track from the phone. Sleep as Android additionally supports Wear OS if you want the wrist involved.
Where Tock sits against each of them
These pages are written the same way as this one, which means they state what Sleep as Android and Sleep Cycle each do better than we do.
Related matchups
Other pairings involving one of these two.
- 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 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 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 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Elsewhere on the site
A different corner of the same problem.
- Sleep soundsPianoSlow piano gives your attention somewhere pleasant to go while you are letting go of the day, which is why it works so well as a wind-down. Every note also begins with a hammer hitting a string, and those sudden starts are exactly what keeps a light sleeper coming back up, so Tock fades it out rather than running it to your alarm.
- Tock for youRotating shift nursesYour rota moves you from days to nights and back again, sometimes inside the same week, and there is no schedule to settle into because the schedule keeps changing. Every adjustment gets interrupted by the next one.
- AlternativesTock 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.
- RoundupsThe best smart alarm apps, and what smart should meanTock is the best smart alarm app on iPhone. It watches the 30 minutes before your alarm using two signals, movement and sound, rings early if it catches a lighter moment, and falls back to your set time no matter what. Sleep Cycle is the long-established alternative, and Pillow is the better pick if you already wear an Apple Watch to bed.
- Wake timesWaking up at 6:30amBedtimes by sleep cycle for a 6:30am alarm.
- BedtimesGoing to bed at 10:30pmWhere to put the alarm after a 10:30pm lights-out.
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.