The best free sleep app depends on what you want it to do. Whether you want to listen to audio, log your schedule or document snoring, the criteria change. A pretty score does not make these uses interchangeable.
My picks based on the documentation are simple: Insight Timer for finding French-language content, Medito if English works for you and you want to avoid a paid catalog, Insomnia Coach for a diary with behavioral tools in English, and SnoreLab for occasional recordings. Sleep as Android deserves a separate category: not all the features available during the trial remain free afterward.
Offer check: October 17, 2026. This comparison is based on official documentation, app store listings and privacy policies. No personal testing, overnight recording or network traffic audit was carried out. Android/iOS details reflect the platforms advertised, not verified installation on every French device.
Choose your need before choosing an app
A sleep aid plays content. A diary describes what you report about your nights. A recorder captures sounds. An analysis app applies an algorithm to indirect signals. Your first decision is which of these services is useful to you.
Ask a concrete question:
- I want a relaxing audio break in the evening: prioritize content available without a subscription and a language you are comfortable with.
- I want to understand my sleep schedule: prioritize a readable diary with retrievable data that is easy to fill in each morning.
- I want to hear snoring: check microphone access, free playback and audio storage.
- I want to know my exact sleep stages: do not buy into a promise just because the screen looks colorful.
An app can help you observe a habit without improving a sleep disorder on its own. This guide compares features and their constraints, not the five products’ clinical effectiveness against one another. It therefore gives them no overall rating.
Android and iOS table: ongoing free access, trials and limits
In this table, “ongoing free access” means a usable core is advertised as remaining available without a subscription. That promises neither no data collection nor free access forever. Official links help you identify the right developer and available downloads.
| App and use | Advertised OS | Documented free features | Trial or paid features | Data issue to watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medito, by Medito Foundation : relaxation | Android and iOS, iOS listing in English | Meditations, stories and sounds for sleep, with downloads advertised in the store listing | Entire catalog advertised as free, with no trial or premium tier. Optional donations | No account required, but usage data collected under the current policy |
| Insight Timer : relaxation, including in French | Android and iOS | Large selection of meditations, music, sounds and sleep content | Free core. MemberPlus for offline audio downloads, ad-free listening and premium content | Public profile by default according to the policy. Check visibility settings |
| Insomnia Coach, by the VA : diary and behavioral support | Android and iOS, English | Interactive diary, information, tools and guided plan | App advertised as free, with no subscription presented | Personal data entered is not accessible to the VA according to its policy. Anonymous usage statistics can be disabled |
| SnoreLab, called iRonfle on the French App Store : snoring | Android and iOS | Recording, statistics, playback of captured sounds, adding factors and remedies | After five sessions, free use is not available on two consecutive days. Full history, full-night audio and results export advertised as premium | Audio stored locally by default according to the developer, with optional remote audio backup and research sharing |
| Sleep as Android : alarm, sounds and limited tracking | Android only | After the trial: alarms, lullabies and bedtime reminders with no advertised limit. Restricted sleep tracking | Full fourteen-day trial advertised. One-time purchase or subscription for full tracking, ads in the free version after the trial | Statistics, advertising and location settings. Local, system or cloud backups depending on your choices |
Cost of use without purchases: €0 for the free features above, excluding connectivity and equipment you already own. Premium prices are not compared here: the focus is use without payment. Paid options are flagged to avoid confusing a temporarily trialed feature with one that remains free.
Commercial sources may change or contradict one another. The Sleep as Android page describes post-trial tracking as limited to “every other day,” but also displays a calendar that does not exactly match that wording. I retain only restricted tracking after the trial, without promising a precise frequency. For a record every night without paying, a manual diary avoids this ambiguity.
Relaxation: French or English, and what offline access?
The Insight Timer documentation confirms French-language content. Its presence does not mean every story or course is free. Select content marked as available in the free core. The timer that works offline and audio track downloads are two different features: downloads are part of MemberPlus.
Medito advertises no premium tier and no mandatory account. Its official French App Store listing lists English and describes downloads. A French store title does not prove there is a French audio catalog. Also check the developer, Medito Foundation, because a similar name does not guarantee it is the same app.
For this use, you do not need a sleep score when you wake up. Choose audio that suits you without scrolling through the catalog for an hour. If a practice increases your anxiety, stop it: the guide to mindfulness risks and signs to stop sets out the safety considerations.
Diary: Insomnia Coach does not automatically measure your nights
The US public-sector developer presents Insomnia Coach as a self-help tool open to everyone, with an interactive diary and a plan based on CBT-I, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Do not confuse this app with CBT-i Coach, designed to support treatment with a professional.
The French iOS listing for Insomnia Coach lists English. If that language is a barrier, a paper diary in French is better than misunderstood instructions. The guide to assessing restorative sleep without a tracker offers a downloadable diary.
A diary contains your estimates of bedtime, waking and alertness. It does not provide a brain recording. Sleep schedules recommended by a behavioral program should not be followed mechanically: the VA specifically recommends seeking advice first if you have sleep apnea, bipolar disorder, epilepsy, excessive sleepiness or a risk of falls.
Snoring and tracking: free-tier limits change how you use them
SnoreLab is better suited to a one-off question than a complete free audio history. Its FAQ distinguishes captured sounds accessible in the free core from full-night recording and full history in premium. An audible clip can inform a medical discussion without, on its own, measuring the severity of a breathing disorder.
For Sleep as Android, the getting started guide advertises fourteen days of full access. Compare the app with your needs after that period. An alarm remaining free does not mean continuous tracking does too. Power-saving settings, phone placement and selected sensors are also constraints to check on your device.
What microphones and movement can estimate
The microphone captures sound. The accelerometer detects movement. Some apps also use acoustic signals that are emitted and reflected back. This information can feed an estimate of presence in bed, activity or sleep. It does not become an electroencephalogram because a graph says “deep.”
The Inserm description of polysomnography defines it as the recording of several parameters, including brain, muscle and eye activity. Sleep stages are established from these signals. With a phone alone, displayed stages are algorithmic inferences, not a direct reading of your brainwaves.
Noise from a partner, an animal, ventilation or the phone’s placement can complicate interpretation. Good agreement on total duration would not be enough to validate every stage or awakening. This comparison does not demonstrate the clinical accuracy of any free version presented.
The Toll, here, is the hidden cost of a service: time spent checking graphs, notifications, shared data or anxiety. The subscription can cost zero euros while monitoring takes up plenty of space. If you start judging your day by a score, read the guide to orthosomnia and the obsession with sleep data · FR.
To compare wearable devices next, the guide to choosing a sleep tracker · FR addresses that separate goal. Adding hardware does not remove the need to check the limitations of the model and its algorithm.
Privacy: local audio does not mean no data collection
Three questions must remain separate: where are the recordings, what usage data is sent, and who can see your profile?
The Medito policy dated April 20, 2026 provides for session data, device data and approximate location. It also describes third-party services that can be disabled in settings. “Free” and “no account” therefore do not mean “no data collection.” This review describes the published policy without technically checking what each version transmits.
The Insight Timer policy states that profiles are public by default. Switching to private limits visibility, but your name and photo remain visible to other users according to that document. Avoid putting health information you do not want to share in a profile or shared space.
For SnoreLab, the privacy policy distinguishes local audio, optional remote backup and voluntary sharing for research. The microphone may capture the person sleeping next to you. Inform them and check their consent before recording, then again before any sharing.
The VA app policy distinguishes personal data entered from anonymous usage statistics. For Sleep as Android, the documented settings and the Urbandroid policy detail statistics and backup services, among other things. An Android system backup or enabled cloud service must also be included in your assessment.
Checklist before the first night
The CNIL points out that a permission grants technical access. On its own, it does not tell you all the subsequent uses of the data. Before keeping an app, check these points:
- Correct identity: official developer, right app, compatibility and a language you understand.
- Cost after the trial: features still available, any renewal and the end date if you subscribe.
- Permissions: microphone only for a use that requires it, location or health access only if necessary for your needs.
- Storage: audio, diary, usage statistics and backups examined separately.
- Visibility: account, profile, community and research options configured according to your choices.
- Retrieval: export format, exported content and any paid access understood before accumulating months of data.
- Exit: deleting sessions and your account, revoking permissions and canceling any subscription handled separately.
Exporting statistics is not the same as copying audio files. The Sleep as Android backup documentation thus distinguishes ZIP/CSV files from sound recordings that must be transferred separately. The SnoreLab FAQ describes exports but lists results export among premium features: do not assume it is free for your use.
When to choose a diary or a consultation instead
A simple diary is often enough to prepare for a discussion about sleep schedules and alertness. Write down what you remember in the morning, without checking the time at every awakening to make a box more precise. If tracking increases your worry, simplify it or pause it.
Snoring with breathing pauses, nighttime choking or daytime sleepiness warrants medical advice. The French national health insurance service, Assurance maladie, explains that diagnosing sleep apnea relies on an assessment and, depending on the case, a medical recording. A reassuring score or no captured snoring does not replace this process. Do not drive if you feel drowsy.
If insomnia persists or interferes with your daily life, seek an assessment rather than constantly changing apps. Relaxing audio, a diary and structured CBT-I are not the same service.
Method and next review
The selection covers five tools with features usable without wearable hardware. It prioritizes identifiable documentation and distinct uses. Features and business models are those advertised as of October 17, 2026. Versions, account country and individual offers may change the screen you actually see.
Paid prices in euros, comparative clinical effectiveness, alarm reliability, accessibility and battery consumption were not tested. No screenshot is presented as a real-world observation. The matrix is an original synthesis of documentation, not a certification of the apps. Target date for the next editorial review: January 17, 2027, followed by quarterly checks of offers and policies.
The Verdict
Main sources
Official documents accessed on 17 October 2026. Publishers’ statements about their features and data do not constitute an independent audit.
