For sleep sounds and relaxation, Mindael is a strong free alternative: rain, ocean, wind and fire recordings, white, pink and brown noise measured to spec, delta binaural beats, the nine solfeggio tones and a breathing guide, with a fading sleep timer and offline playback.

Endel alternative

A Free Alternative to Endel for Sleep and Focus Sounds

Mindael is a free iPhone app with more than 100 sounds made in our own studio: noise colors, rain and ocean, binaural beats from delta to gamma, and the nine solfeggio tones.

Headspace alternative

A Free Alternative to Headspace for Meditation Sounds, Sleep Sounds and a Quiet Timer

For the sound side of meditation, Mindael is a good free alternative: a 6 Hz theta beat with research behind it, low drones and the nine solfeggio tones, rain and ocean recorded without loops, two-sound mixing, a timer that fades instead of ringing, guided slow breathing, offline play and no account.

Insight Timer alternative

A Free Alternative to Insight Timer for Meditation Sounds and a Simple Timer

For meditation sounds and a quiet place to sit, Mindael is a good free alternative: a 6 Hz theta beat with research behind it, low drones and bowl-like tones, rain and ocean recorded without loops, two-sound mixing, a timer that fades instead of ringing, guided slow breathing, offline play and no account.

Sleep Cycle alternative

A Sleep Cycle Alternative: What Sleep Cycles Are, What Tracking Can and Cannot Tell You, and Sound for Sleep

A sleep cycle lasts roughly 90 minutes and repeats four to six times a night, moving through light sleep, deep sleep and REM, with more deep sleep early in the night and more REM toward morning.

ADHD app

Best ADHD App: What an App for ADHD Should Actually Do, With the Research, and Where Mindael Fits

The best ADHD app for getting started is the one with the fewest steps between opening it and working: one tap to a steady sound, a short block with a clear end, no notifications pulling you back to the phone, and nothing to set up, log or maintain.

Alarm app

Best Alarm App: What an Alarm Should Do to Wake You Well, With the Research, and Where Mindael Fits

The best alarm app wakes you reliably with a sound that does not jolt: melodic rather than a harsh beep, which a 2020 study linked to less sleep inertia.

Apps for anxiety

Best Apps for Anxiety: What Actually Helps, What the Research Says, and Where Mindael Fits

The best app for anxiety depends on the job.

Focus app

Best Focus App: What a Focus App Needs, How It Differs From iPhone Focus Mode, and How Mindael Covers It

The best focus app puts a steady sound under your work, runs a timed block with real breaks, ends the block gently, lets you mix sounds for the task, works with the screen locked and offline, and asks for no account.

Mindfulness apps

Best Mindfulness App: What the Trials Found, What to Look For, and Where Mindael Fits

The best mindfulness app is the one you still open in week six.

Stay focused app

Best Stay Focused App: What an App to Stay Focused Needs, With the Research, and How Mindael Covers It

The best stay focused app keeps the phone quiet during the block, puts a steady sound under the work so voices and noise fade, runs a fixed work and break cycle, ends the block gently, keeps running with the screen locked, works offline and asks for no account.

Study timer app

Best Study Timer App: What a Timer for Studying Needs, With the Research, and How Mindael Covers It

The best study timer app runs a fixed work and break cycle (25/5 or 50/10, four blocks then a long break), puts a steady sound under the block so the library and the flatmates disappear, ends the block with a fade rather than an alarm, keeps running with the screen locked, works offline, and asks for no account.

Free meditation apps

Free Meditation Apps: What to Look For, What Most Free Tiers Leave Out, and What Mindael Gives You

A free meditation app is worth having if its free tier includes what a session actually needs: a steady sound to return to, a theta beat or drone with research behind it, no voice talking over you unless you want one, offline play, no account, and nothing nagging you to upgrade mid-sit.

Best binaural beats app

The Best Binaural Beats App for iPhone: What to Look For

The best binaural beats app generates true two-channel beats with a clean carrier tone, covers all five bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta, gamma) at the exact frequencies it states, lets you layer the beat under noise or nature sound so the tone sits in the background, and runs on a timer.

Best breathing app

The Best Breathing App for iPhone: What It Needs and How to Choose

The best breathing app has a clear visual pacer with an audio cue so you can close your eyes, the slow-breathing patterns the research used (a long exhale, about six breaths a minute, 4-7-8 for sleep, the physiological sigh for a spike of anxiety), a steady sound underneath, a session that ends with a fade, offline play and no account.

Best brown noise app

The Best Brown Noise App: What Real Brown Noise Needs

The best brown noise app plays true brown noise, with a 6 dB per octave slope and no audible loop, keeps it steady all night, lets you set a timer that fades, mix it with rain or a binaural beat, and plays it offline.

Best Pomodoro app

The Best Pomodoro App for iPhone: What It Needs and How to Choose

The best Pomodoro app lets you set the block and break lengths, runs the full four-block cycle with a long break, plays a steady sound under each block, ends the block with a fade rather than an alarm, works offline and in the background, and asks for no account.

Best sleep app

The Best Sleep App for iPhone: What It Needs and How to Choose

The best sleep app gets you to sleep rather than measuring you: steady sounds with research behind them (pink and brown noise, long nature recordings), a delta binaural beat for the nights when noise is not enough, a guided breathing pattern for the racing mind, a timer that fades instead of stopping, mixing, offline playback and no account.

Best sleep sounds app

The Best Sleep Sounds App for iPhone: A Checklist Before You Download

The best sleep sounds app has true noise colors (pink for a loud room, brown for a loud mind), nature recordings long enough that you never hear the loop, a delta binaural beat for the nights when noise is not enough, a timer that fades, a mixer, and offline playback.

Best white noise app

The Best White Noise App for iPhone: What It Needs and How to Choose

The best white noise app has all three noise colors generated to spec (white flat, pink falling 3 dB per octave, brown 6 dB), no audible loop, a fine volume control for low-level use, a timer that fades, the ability to mix a noise with rain or a beat, offline play with the screen locked, and no account.

Sound library

Every sound in Mindael, explained on its own page

Noise colors, rain and ocean, binaural beats from delta to gamma, and the nine solfeggio tones, with samples.

How it works

Three taps, then nothing to manage.

Pick a mode

Focus, Sleep, Relax or Move. Each one starts with a soundscape built for that moment.

Shape the mix

Layer up to eight sounds, balance each one, save the mix you like.

Set the timer

Sound fades out on its own. Wake to a soft alarm if you want one.

What the research shows

We only say what studies have shown.

No miracle claims. Where there is good evidence, we cite it; where there is not, we let you listen and decide.

Pink noise pulses deepened slow-wave sleep and improved overnight memory in a controlled lab study.Ngo et al., Neuron, 2013. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2013.03.006

In a hospital study, 80% of newborns fell asleep within five minutes with white noise, against 25% without it.Spencer et al., Archives of Disease in Childhood, 1990. doi:10.1136/adc.65.1.135

A meta-analysis of 22 studies found binaural beats had a measurable effect on anxiety, attention and memory.Garcia-Argibay et al., Psychological Research, 2019. doi:10.1007/s00426-018-1066-8

White noise, flatPink noise, -3 dB per octaveBrown noise, -6 dB per octave

Energy per octave across the hearing range. The steeper the fall, the deeper the sound feels.

Journal

What the sounds do, explained plainly.

All articles

Sleep

Newborns and Sleep: How Much They Sleep, Active Sleep, Safe Sleep and What Helps

Newborns and sleep: how many hours is normal, why active sleep looks restless, when babies sleep through the night, safe sleep rules and how sound can help.

7 min read Breathing

Deep Breathing for Sleep: 4-7-8 and Other Breathing Techniques That Help You Fall Asleep

Deep breathing for sleep: how slow breathing calms the body, the 4-7-8 method step by step, simpler slow breathing, what research shows and the sound to use.

7 min read Manifestation and goals

The Power of Attraction: What Is Real, What Is Not, and How to Use It

The power of attraction, honestly: what the law of attraction gets wrong, what expectations and attention really do, and how attraction between people grows.

7 min read

Questions

Before you press play.

Is Mindael free?

Yes. Download it and start listening right away, no account needed.

What is the difference between brown, pink and white noise?

They differ in how much low and high frequency they contain. Brown is the deepest, white the brightest, pink sits between. Read the full comparison.

Do binaural beats need headphones?

Yes. Each ear receives a slightly different tone, and the "beat" is created inside your hearing. On a speaker the effect disappears. Everything else in Mindael works fine on a speaker.

Can I use it offline?

Yes. Sounds are stored on your phone, so flights and bad signal do not interrupt a session.

Does it work with the sleep timer and lock screen?

Yes. Set a timer, lock the phone, and the sound fades out on its own. Controls stay on the lock screen.

Try it tonight.

Free on the App Store. No account needed to start listening.

Download on the App Store

Sound, engineeredfor the way you rest.

One app, four ways to use it.