A variety of sleep apps offer guided meditations, music and stories, breathing exercises and a number of other insomnia cognitive behavioral therapy tools that can help people fall asleep faster. Some also provide advice and coaching from experts in the field of sleep.

A popular app that turns novices into meditation pros, Calm offers a library of calming sounds and bedtime stories as well as guided meditation tracks with varying lengths. It requires a subscription, but offers a seven day free trial.
1. Sleepio

This app is a digital therapeutic that uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help you sleep. It’s a program crafted by the startup Big Health and Oxford University sleep expert Professor Colin Espie, who has worked on several studies of CBT for insomnia. It is a six-week programme that begins with a questionnaire and ends with a session with a virtual sleep expert. Outside of these sessions, users can track their progress using a sleep diary and join a community section of chatrooms.

While the app is free to download, it does require an in-app purchase to get access to its full program. Currently, the complete Sleepio sleep improvement program costs £149 ($149). While it’s more expensive than other apps that use CBT to treat insomnia, it is significantly less than in-person therapy.

As of 2019, Sleepio is available to patients through employer-sponsored healthcare and private insurance plans. It is also endorsed by CVS Health. These partnerships are important because employers spend more on employee health benefits than on any other kind of worker compensation.

The first step in Sleepio is a questionnaire that helps determine how severe your insomnia is. Then, the app tailors a program to fit your needs. It also tracks your sleep patterns and provides a personalized feedback report. It also includes a weekly live group session with a sleep expert that is available to all registered users. This is a nice feature, as many other insomnia apps have only public forums that lack a personal touch. The group sessions are a great way to get support from other insomnia sufferers and share your struggles with the sleep disorder. It’s important to note, however, that the app is not intended for people with severe insomnia or mental health issues such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or mania.
2. Pzizz

Pzizz is a sleep improvement app that uses credible, science-backed technology to help people get a better night’s rest. Its “dreamscapes” are a mix of music, voiceover and sound effects that the publisher says are based on clinical research to help you fall asleep quickly, keep you asleep, and wake you up feeling rested. The app has been endorsed by professional athletes, authors, and journalists and is designed to complement a healthy lifestyle.

Its soothing sounds can be played through earbuds or the built-in speaker, and users can choose between female and male voiceovers. The sounds can be adjusted to match your preferences, and the length of the listening session can also be set. Its patented technology works with the science of psychoacoustics, which is a proven method to reduce stress and induce sleep.

A free trial is available, and premium membership offers access to the entire library of Pzizz sleep tracks and stories. Some of the stories are based on Indian and Tibetan meditation traditions while others use relaxation techniques to soothe insomnia. The app can be used to treat a wide range of sleep disorders, including snoring and chronic insomnia.

In a clinical study, Pzizz was shown to be as effective as placebos for reducing insomnia and improving sleep quality, with the added bonus of no side effects. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy to customize for your personal preferences and use on a variety of devices. Its unique soundscapes, binaural beats and voice over are a perfect combination to relax the mind and body. In addition, the app has been endorsed by professionals in various industries and is a good choice for individuals suffering from jet lag or other sleep-related issues.
3. White Noise Lite

White Noise Lite is a free, easy-to-use app that features 40 perfectly looped sounds to choose from. You can also upload and share your own recordings. The app has a great design and is one of the best sleep apps available. The app also includes customizable sounds and alarms, which is perfect for those who struggle to find a sound that helps them sleep.

The sound library includes all the traditional white noise sounds (such as a fan or a rainstorm), but it also has more unique ones, including a babbling brook, Gregorian voices, ocean waves, and a restaurant cafe. Additionally, the app has exclusive soundtracks for various activities, like studying, sleeping, relaxing, and meditating. You can use the app to play these sounds at a specific volume or frequency, and the sounds can be filtered to reduce outside noise.

In addition to the sounds, the app has a built-in timer and alarm. You can even set up the timer to shut off at a certain point in the night. It also has a dark theme and an easy-to-navigate interface, making it a great option for insomniacs.

Although myNoise doesn’t have as many sounds as some of the other apps on this list, it does offer some interesting options that aren’t found in other white noise apps. The app has a chatter view that lets you explore popular sounds and listen to users’ comments. It also allows you to download weekly featured sounds.

If you’re looking for an insomnia therapy app that uses CBTi, try Somryst. The FDA-approved digital therapeutic has been proven to help chronic insomniacs fall asleep faster and stay asleep throughout the night. It’s available for iOS and Android.
4. Restful

This app is designed for those with chronic insomnia and provides a combination of experiences to help you fall asleep quickly and stay asleep all night long. It features a six-part bedtime story series, meditation sessions, soothing background noises (including rain and ocean sounds) and more. It also adds new sleep-inducing stories and meditations to its library each week.

The free version of the app includes a few stories and some nature sound tracks, but to access all the available options you'll need to upgrade to its premium subscription. The good news is that a seven day trial is available for those looking to give the app a try before committing.

A popular choice for insomnia sufferers, Calm has been turning app novices into meditation pros for a decade with its diverse library of calming sounds, bedtime stories and guided meditations that vary in length. The app's sleep section includes a variety of soothing sounds and sleep-inducing programs that have been vetted by sleep professionals. It also offers a variety of other meditations for sleep, stress and anxiety, and even ASMR.

Another CBT insomnia therapy app that's free to use, Reflectly acts as a digital diary that prompts you with questions about your day and your mood before bedtime. The app analyzes your responses to identify any patterns and recommends sleep habits that could improve your sleep.

Unlike other CBT insomnia apps, this one isn't a complete insomnia treatment program but rather an extension of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This talking therapy focuses on changing unhelpful thoughts and habits that lead to a racing mind and a struggle to fall asleep. It's best used in conjunction with a health professional, but it can also be useful on its own.
5. NapBot

Using cognitive behavioral therapy CBT techniques, this app can help you get back to sleep. It includes a customizable guided meditation and soothing sounds to calm your mind before you try to fall asleep. It also offers helpful tips and resources on healthy sleep practices. This free download can help you learn how to relax before bed and address issues such as anxiety, stress, weight gain, and jet lag. It is available in six languages and has over 50 million downloads.

A minimal sleep tracking and analyzing app that has recently been updated with some impressive features, NapBot makes use of CoreML on-device machine learning to understand your sleep patterns. It displays a graph of your total sleep time along with light and deep sleep percentages, as well as a chart showing your sleeping heart rate over the night. It can also analyze your environment by presenting a report on how environmental sound exposure affects sleep quality.

The app offers a calendar view to help you visualize your sleep habits day by day, which you can select to reveal more details. A separate tab called trends provides a snapshot of your sleep data over an extended period of time. This helps you track trends and make changes to your sleep routine if needed.

The app is very easy to use and has a clean, simple user interface. Its lack of advanced features might be a drawback for some users, but it’s an excellent choice if you are looking for a straightforward and highly effective sleep aid. It’s also one of the most affordable apps in this category, offering a monthly or yearly subscription with a seven-day free trial.