AllApps

Sleep sound apps you buy once.

Buy White Noise. It is a dollar, it has been doing this job for fifteen years, and it does everything most people need from a noise machine. Sleep Machine is the pick if you want to layer your own mix. Sleep Sounds uses real field recordings and is the one reviewers say treats the battery best. Sleep Sounds HQ has by far the largest library and by far the largest price, and the reviews do not show it sleeping anyone better.

The filter. Every app here is a single purchase. None of them can start charging you monthly for what you already bought. See every app under this rule ›
Top pick

White Noise

TMSOFT
View on the App Store ›
$0.99 once4.8★ (45,945)Updated Sep 4, 2026
Verdict
Costs less than anything else on this site and has been the default answer for over a decade. Plays a sound, on a timer, all night, without asking anything of you.
Best for
Anyone who wants a noise machine and does not want a project.
The catch
Six of the last two hundred reviews describe a version that stopped working for them, and others say it runs the battery down overnight. For something meant to play until morning, that matters.
One-time purchaseSleep timerMixes sounds

Sleep Machine

SleepSoft LLC
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$3.99 once4.7★ (2,999)Updated Feb 14, 2021
Verdict
A one-time-purchase white-noise app that reviewers praise for ease of use and sound variety, with no subscription and no ads. A small but consistent number of reviewers report crashes on launch, which matters more for an app you rely on every night.
Best for
Someone who wants a simple, no-subscription white noise machine for sleep and doesn't need cloud sync or custom sound imports.
The catch
A handful of reviewers report the app crashing on open, sometimes right after purchase, and it hasn't been updated in years so that's unlikely to get fixed.
One-time purchaseLayered mixesNo subscription

Sleep Sounds: relaxing sounds

Anna Koynova
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$2.99 once4.7★ (1,968)Updated Jan 26, 2021
Verdict
A simple sound library that does one job: play recorded ambient sounds to help you sleep, without draining your battery. It hasn't changed in years, but reviewers say the core recordings and ease of use still hold up.
Best for
Someone who wants a no-fuss collection of ambient sleep sounds on an iPhone and doesn't need alarm features or new content added over time.
The catch
Reviewers note you can't use the sounds as morning alarms, and with no updates in years, don't expect that or any other new feature to ever show up.
One-time purchaseField recordingsLight on battery

Sleep Sounds HQ: relaxing aid

Phase4 Mobile
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$59.99 once4.8★ (3,034)Updated Aug 12, 2026
Verdict
An enormous library of location recordings, and the only reason to consider it is that library — six hundred of them, in full stereo.
Best for
Someone who listens nightly, is tired of every loop they own, and wants somewhere new to sleep.
The catch
It costs more than every other app on this list put together, several times over. Nothing in the reviews suggests it is better at putting you to sleep than the one-dollar option.
One-time purchase600+ recordingsFull stereo

Side by side.

AppPriceLibraryMix soundsMade forUpdated
White Noise$0.99Generated and recordedYesEveryday useSep 4, 2026
Sleep Machine$3.99RecordedYesBuilding a mixFeb 14, 2021
Sleep Sounds: relaxing sounds$2.99Field recordingsYesBattery lifeJan 26, 2021
Sleep Sounds HQ: relaxing aid$59.99600+ recordingsYesNightly listenersAug 12, 2026

Who should skip this entirely.

A cheap fan does this, costs about the same, never updates itself into a broken version and does not sit on your charger all night. If you already sleep through the night, or you share a room with someone who does not want the noise, none of this helps. And if the reason you cannot sleep is stress or pain, a sound app is a way of not dealing with the actual problem.

Questions.

Will these keep playing all night?All of them can, but reviewers of two report heavy battery use overnight. Keep the phone on a charger, or use the timer rather than looping until morning.
Is a paid app better than the free ones?What you are buying is no ads, a longer library and offline playback. The sound itself is not meaningfully better.