SchlummerSchlummer comparison
A Sleep Cycle Alternative for iPhone
Sleep Cycle has been doing this since 2009 and is very good at it. Before anything else, here is the part most comparison pages leave out: for a lot of people it remains the right answer.
Where Sleep Cycle is simply ahead
- History and trends. Its whole design assumes years of nights. Statistics, long term trends and data export are what a mature product accumulates, and Schlummer has none of that depth.
- Online backup. Your nights survive a lost phone. Schlummer keeps everything on the device, which means a lost phone is a lost archive.
- More than one device. Its App Store listing covers iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro. Schlummer is an iPhone app and nothing else.
- A real content library. Sleep stories, meditations and recorded soundscapes. Schlummer synthesizes twelve noise textures and has no spoken content at all.
- Track record. Tens of thousands of ratings and an Editors' Choice badge against an app with no rating history yet. That is a fair thing for you to weigh.
Where Schlummer is built differently
- There is a price that ends. Alongside the monthly and yearly plans, Schlummer sells a one time Lifetime purchase. If you dislike renting software, that option exists here.
- Nothing leaves the phone. No account, no login, no server on the other end. That is a deliberate limit, not a feature list: it is exactly why there is no backup and no sync.
- Snore clips on the first free night. Recording the loud moments, playing them back and tagging a partner are in the free version.
- It is small. Four tabs, two alarm settings, one slider. There is nothing to configure and nothing to learn.
| Schlummer | Sleep Cycle | |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking signal | iPhone microphone | Microphone and accelerometer, per its listing |
| Wake window alarm | Yes, 10 to 30 minutes | Yes |
| Snore audio you can play back | Yes, in the free version | Snore detection is listed as a premium feature |
| Long term statistics | No, the app shows the latest night | Yes, a core part of the product |
| Cloud backup | No, by design | Yes |
| Apple Watch | Not supported | Supported |
| One time purchase | Yes, Lifetime at 69.99 EUR | Subscription based |
| Free version paid for by | Ads, removed by Pro | Feature limits |
Stay with Sleep Cycle if
You want a sleep archive that grows for years, you want it backed up, you own an Apple Watch, or you fall asleep to stories and guided audio rather than to noise. Those are not things Schlummer is planning to be, and switching would cost you something real.
Try Schlummer if
You want to hear your own snoring without paying first, you would rather buy an app once than rent it, or the idea of your sleep history sitting on somebody's server is the part you object to. In that case the missing backup is not a shortcoming, it is the point.
A small, on device sleep tracker with a price that can end.
Free to download. iPhone, iOS 17 or later.
Details about Sleep Cycle were taken from its public App Store listing on 2 September 2026. Features and prices change, so check the listing before you buy. Sleep Cycle is a product of Sleep Cycle AB and is not affiliated with Schlummer.
Where to go next
- What microphone based tracking can honestly tell you, which applies to both apps.
- How Schlummer's wake window behaves minute by minute.
- Pillow compared, if an Apple Watch is on the table.
- SnoreLab compared, if snoring is really the whole question.