Mindful Suite

The Best Soundscape Apps for Focus, Relaxation, and Sleep

Remember trying to fall asleep on a hot summer night by turning a clunky box fan to its highest setting, hoping the roar would drown out the world? Or maybe you’ve tried to work from home, only to be defeated by the sound of your neighbor’s suspiciously enthusiastic vacuuming. We’ve all been there—desperately seeking a pocket of peace in a world that never seems to turn the volume down.

Before our phones became our sound studios, we were at the mercy of our environment. But now, you can be the director of your own auditory scene. With the tap of a button, you can swap the distracting chatter of an open-plan office for the gentle hum of a Parisian café, or trade racing thoughts at 3 a.m. for the calming rhythm of a distant thunderstorm. These apps are your escape hatch, a way to build a fortress of focus or a cozy cocoon of calm, wherever you are.

The Best Soundscape Apps

Ambiance

  • Overview: A soundscape app with a diverse library of sounds to help you focus, relax, or sleep.
  • Key Features: Large sound library, sound mixing capabilities, background audio support.
  • Pros: Extensive collection of sounds, simple interface.
  • Cons: Some users find the interface slightly dated compared to newer apps.
  • Pricing: Free version available; premium subscription unlocks all sounds.

A Soft Murmur

  • Overview: A straightforward and elegant ambient sound app that lets you mix various sounds like rain, thunder, waves, and coffee shops to create a calming atmosphere.
  • Key Features: Simple sliders for mixing sounds, timer function, works offline.
  • Pros: Minimalist and very easy to use, great for creating custom mixes quickly, available on web and mobile.
  • Cons: Smaller sound library compared to more comprehensive apps.
  • Pricing: Free to use; a one-time purchase unlocks additional sounds.

Atmosphere: Relaxing Sounds

  • Overview: Atmosphere provides a wide variety of relaxing sounds that can be mixed to create personalized soundscapes for sleep, meditation, or focus.
  • Key Features: Extensive library of nature, urban, and meditation sounds; binaural beats and isochronic tones; timer system.
  • Pros: Excellent for sound mixing, very high user ratings on Android, completely free with ads.
  • Cons: The interface can feel a bit cluttered due to the sheer number of options.
  • Pricing: Free with ads.

Aura: Sleep & Mindfulness

  • Overview: Aura offers personalized meditations, stories, and life coaching, accompanied by a vast library of relaxing soundscapes.
  • Key Features: AI-powered personalization, guided meditations, mood tracker, large library of nature and ambient sounds.
  • Pros: Holistic approach to wellness beyond just sounds, highly personalized content.
  • Cons: Primarily a meditation app; soundscape features are part of a larger package.
  • Pricing: Free limited version; premium subscription required for full access.

BetterSleep

  • Overview: Formerly known as Relax Melodies, BetterSleep offers a rich library of soundscapes, guided meditations, and bedtime stories to help improve sleep quality.
  • Key Features: Sound mixing, guided content, bedtime stories, sleep tracker.
  • Pros: Huge library of high-quality sounds, comprehensive sleep-focused features.
  • Cons: Many features are locked behind a subscription.
  • Pricing: Free with in-app purchases and a premium subscription.

Brain.fm

  • Overview: Brain.fm uses AI to generate functional music designed to improve focus, relaxation, meditation, and sleep. The sound is scientifically designed to influence brainwaves.
  • Key Features: AI-generated music, dedicated modes for focus, relax, and sleep, backed by scientific research.
  • Pros: Unique, science-backed approach, highly effective for focus.
  • Cons: Less about natural soundscapes and more about functional music, subscription-based.
  • Pricing: Subscription-based with a free trial.

Breethe

  • Overview: Breethe offers guided meditations, calming music, nature sounds, and hypnotherapy sessions for sleep and anxiety relief.
  • Key Features: Guided meditations, sleep stories, calming music tracks, nature sounds.
  • Pros: Comprehensive wellness content, high-quality audio.
  • Cons: Soundscapes are part of a broader meditation app, not the core focus.
  • Pricing: Free limited access; full access requires a subscription.

Calm

  • Overview: A leading app for sleep, meditation, and relaxation. Calm offers guided sessions, a huge library of soundscapes, and exclusive 'Sleep Stories' narrated by celebrities.
  • Key Features: Guided meditations, Sleep Stories, extensive soundscape library, breathing exercises.
  • Pros: High-quality, polished content; very popular with a large community; great for beginners.
  • Cons: Expensive subscription to unlock most content.
  • Pricing: Free trial and limited free content; requires a subscription for full access.

Coffitivity

  • Overview: This unique app recreates the ambient sounds of a coffee shop. The subtle chatter and clatter are said to boost creativity and help you work better.
  • Key Features: Different coffee shop ambiences (e.g., 'Morning Murmur', 'University Undertones'), simple interface.
  • Pros: Perfect for a niche need, great for creativity and focus.
  • Cons: Very limited sound variety, lower user ratings suggest potential app performance issues.
  • Pricing: Free with options to purchase additional tracks.

Dark Noise

  • Overview: A simple yet powerful ambient noise app exclusive to iOS with a variety of sounds and a clean, customizable interface.
  • Key Features: Over 50 high-quality sounds, customizable themes, Siri and Shortcuts integration.
  • Pros: Beautifully designed, great integration with the Apple ecosystem, no subscriptions.
  • Cons: iOS only, one-time purchase required.
  • Pricing: Paid app (one-time purchase).

Daylio Journal - Mood Tracker

  • Overview: While its main function is mood tracking, Daylio allows users to add calming background sounds to enhance the journaling experience.
  • Key Features: Mood tracking, journaling, goal setting, integrated ambient sounds.
  • Pros: Excellent for mental wellness tracking, sounds are a nice bonus feature.
  • Cons: Not a dedicated soundscape app; limited sound options.
  • Pricing: Free; premium subscription unlocks advanced features.

Endel

  • Overview: Endel creates personalized, AI-powered soundscapes that adapt to your environment, heart rate, and activity to improve focus and sleep.
  • Key Features: Patented AI technology, adaptive soundscapes for focus, relax, and sleep; integrates with Apple Health.
  • Pros: Highly personalized and dynamic audio, futuristic approach.
  • Cons: The generative nature means you can't choose specific sounds like 'rain'.
  • Pricing: Subscription-based with a free trial.

Five Minute Journal

  • Overview: A guided journal app focused on gratitude. It includes the option to play background sounds while you write.
  • Key Features: Guided journaling prompts, daily quotes, option for background audio.
  • Pros: Effective for building a positive mindset, simple and focused user experience.
  • Cons: Sound options are an auxiliary feature, not the main purpose.
  • Pricing: Paid app or subscription, depending on the platform.

Flowing

  • Overview: Exclusive to iOS, Flowing offers immersive 3D soundscapes of streams and rivers for meditation, sleep, and focus.
  • Key Features: High-quality 3D audio recordings of water, minimalist interface, timer.
  • Pros: Incredibly realistic and immersive water sounds, great for meditation.
  • Cons: iOS only, limited to water sounds.
  • Pricing: Paid app.

Grid Diary - Journal, Planner

  • Overview: A structured journaling app that provides templates for self-reflection and includes ambient sound options to aid focus during writing.
  • Key Features: Grid-based journaling, customizable templates, integrated soundscapes.
  • Pros: Great for organized journaling, clean interface.
  • Cons: Sound library is not extensive.
  • Pricing: Free with a premium subscription option.

Headspace

  • Overview: A major competitor to Calm, Headspace provides guided meditations, sleep sounds ('sleepcasts'), and mindfulness exercises to manage stress and improve focus.
  • Key Features: Large library of guided meditations, sleepcasts, focus music, and soundscapes.
  • Pros: Excellent for learning meditation, well-structured programs, high-quality production.
  • Cons: Primarily a meditation app, requires a subscription for most content.
  • Pricing: Free trial and limited free content; requires a subscription for full access.

Journey: Diary, Journal

  • Overview: A popular digital journal that also includes the option to add background audio, including ambient sounds, to your writing sessions.
  • Key Features: Cross-platform journaling, rich text formatting, mood tracking, background audio player.
  • Pros: A powerful and feature-rich journaling app.
  • Cons: Sound features are secondary to the journaling experience.
  • Pricing: Free with a premium subscription.

Lo-Fi Radio

  • Overview: This Android-only app streams lo-fi hip hop radio, a genre known for its calming, ambient, and focus-enhancing qualities.
  • Key Features: 24/7 streaming, multiple lo-fi stations, timer.
  • Pros: Great for studying and focus, free to use.
  • Cons: Android only, limited to lo-fi music, contains ads.
  • Pricing: Free.

MellowMe: Sleep & Relax

  • Overview: MellowMe provides a variety of calming sounds and melodies to help users unwind and sleep better.
  • Key Features: Sound library, customizable mixes, sleep timer.
  • Pros: Good selection of sounds, simple to use.
  • Cons: Android only, may contain ads.
  • Pricing: Free.

myNoise

  • Overview: myNoise is a highly customizable soundscape generator with a vast collection of unique sounds. It features sliders that let you control different frequencies and elements within a soundscape.
  • Key Features: Highly customizable sound generators, huge library (from rain to spaceship drones), binaural beats.
  • Pros: Unparalleled customization, unique and high-quality sounds, generous free offering.
  • Cons: The interface can be intimidating for new users.
  • Pricing: Free with many sounds; additional sounds available via purchase or donation.

Naturespace

  • Overview: Naturespace provides incredibly immersive 3D soundscapes recorded in natural environments, promoting deep relaxation and focus.
  • Key Features: Holographic 3D audio, high-quality recordings from nature, curated catalog.
  • Pros: Astonishingly realistic sound, high ratings on iOS, great for escaping.
  • Cons: Android version has significantly lower ratings, suggesting performance issues.
  • Pricing: Free with a few sounds; many more available via in-app purchases.

Noisli

  • Overview: Noisli allows you to mix and match different ambient sounds to create your perfect sound environment for focus or relaxation.
  • Key Features: Sound mixing, curated playlists, productivity timer, text editor.
  • Pros: Simple and intuitive, great for productivity, cross-platform availability.
  • Cons: Free version is quite limited.
  • Pricing: Free with a limited number of sounds; a Pro subscription unlocks all features.

Noizio

  • Overview: An iOS and Mac app that provides a variety of ambient sounds for focus and relaxation in a clean, minimalist package.
  • Key Features: Simple interface for mixing sounds, high-quality audio loops, background play.
  • Pros: Easy to use, aesthetically pleasing design.
  • Cons: Only available on Apple devices.
  • Pricing: Paid app.

Oasis: Sleep & Relax Sounds

  • Overview: Oasis offers a collection of high-quality ambient sounds to create a relaxing atmosphere for sleep or focus.
  • Key Features: Sound mixing, curated scenes, sleep timer.
  • Pros: High-quality sound library, beautiful interface.
  • Cons: Android only.
  • Pricing: Free.

Portal

  • Overview: An iOS app that delivers immersive, spatial audio soundscapes from beautiful locations around the world, combined with smart lighting integration.
  • Key Features: Spatial audio, Philips Hue light integration, high-resolution visuals, focus timer.
  • Pros: Highly immersive experience, unique smart light integration, beautiful design.
  • Cons: iOS only, subscription-based.
  • Pricing: Subscription with a free trial.

Pzizz

  • Overview: Pzizz uses a system of 'dreamscapes'—a mix of music, voiceovers, and sound effects—to help you sleep, nap, or focus. Each track is algorithmically generated to be unique.
  • Key Features: Psychoacoustic principles, algorithmically generated soundscapes, dedicated modes for sleep, nap, and focus.
  • Pros: Every session is different, clinically validated effectiveness.
  • Cons: The voiceover component isn't for everyone.
  • Pricing: Free with limited features; subscription required for full access.

Rain Rain Sleep Sounds

  • Overview: As the name suggests, this app specializes in high-quality rain and other nature sounds to aid with sleep and relaxation.
  • Key Features: Huge library of rain sounds (over 100), sound mixer, sleep timer.
  • Pros: The go-to app for rain lovers, extensive and high-quality library.
  • Cons: Focus is primarily on rain, though other sounds are included.
  • Pricing: Free with ads; premium version removes ads and unlocks all sounds.

Rainy Mood

  • Overview: The original rain sound generator, Rainy Mood provides the simple, calming sound of rain to help you sleep, study, or relax.
  • Key Features: High-quality stereo recording of rain, adjustable volume.
  • Pros: The ultimate in simplicity, iconic rain sound.
  • Cons: Only one primary soundscape.
  • Pricing: Paid app.

Reflectly: AI-Powered Journal

  • Overview: While primarily an AI-powered journaling app, Reflectly integrates calming soundscapes to enhance the user experience during reflection.
  • Key Features: Guided journaling, mood analytics, integrated soundscapes.
  • Pros: A modern and engaging way to journal.
  • Cons: Soundscapes are a supplementary feature.
  • Pricing: Free with a premium subscription.

Relaxing Music: Sleep Sounds

  • Overview: This popular Android app provides a large collection of soothing music and sounds to aid with sleep and relaxation.
  • Key Features: Large library of sounds, works offline, sleep timer.
  • Pros: High ratings, large user base, simple and effective.
  • Cons: Android only, ad-supported.
  • Pricing: Free.

Sleepa

  • Overview: Sleepa provides a great collection of HD sounds that can be mixed into the perfect relaxing ambiences for sleep or focus.
  • Key Features: Sound mixer, timer, background play.
  • Pros: Good variety of sounds, simple to use.
  • Cons: User ratings are a bit lower than top competitors, suggesting some usability issues.
  • Pricing: Free.

Sleep Engine - white noise

  • Overview: A straightforward white noise and soundscape generator for iOS designed for simplicity and effectiveness.
  • Key Features: Mixable sounds, procedural generation for smooth looping, timer.
  • Pros: Simple and does its job well, no subscription.
  • Cons: iOS only, less feature-rich than others.
  • Pricing: Paid app.

Sleepiest: Sleep Meditations

  • Overview: Sleepiest offers a wide range of bedtime stories, sleep sounds, and meditations to help you drift off.
  • Key Features: Bedtime stories for adults and kids, soundscapes, guided meditations.
  • Pros: Great variety of content, particularly strong on bedtime stories.
  • Cons: Many features are behind the subscription paywall.
  • Pricing: Free limited content; subscription for full access.

Sleepo

  • Overview: Sleepo offers a collection of HD sounds that can be blended into the perfect relaxing ambience for sleep or focus.
  • Key Features: High-quality sounds, sound mixing, timer, works offline.
  • Pros: Very high user ratings, simple and effective design, available on both platforms.
  • Cons: Interface is functional but not as polished as some premium apps.
  • Pricing: Free with in-app purchases.

Slumber: Fall Asleep, Insomnia

  • Overview: Slumber provides a collection of soothing stories, meditations, and soundscapes designed specifically to help you fall asleep.
  • Key Features: Large library of sleep stories and meditations, customizable background ambience for each track.
  • Pros: Excellent for those who enjoy stories before bed, high-quality content.
  • Cons: Primarily focused on guided content, not just soundscapes.
  • Pricing: Free limited content; subscription for full access.

Sound Scape: Sleep & Calm

  • Overview: Sound Scape provides a variety of soothing sounds and music to help with sleep, meditation, and relaxation.
  • Key Features: Library of sounds and music, customizable mixes, timer.
  • Pros: Simple and focused on its core purpose.
  • Cons: Android only, generic name makes it hard to find.
  • Pricing: Free.

Soundly: White Noise Sleep

  • Overview: An iOS app offering a variety of white noise and other ambient sounds to help you sleep and focus, with the ability to create your own mixes.
  • Key Features: Sound mixing, personal mix saving, sleep timer.
  • Pros: Clean interface, good sound quality.
  • Cons: iOS only.
  • Pricing: Free with a subscription for more sounds and features.

Sunny

  • Overview: An iOS app that provides realistic beach and ocean soundscapes to transport you to a sunny day by the sea.
  • Key Features: High-quality 3D audio of beaches, simple interface.
  • Pros: Very specific and high-quality niche sounds, from the creators of Thunderspace and Windy.
  • Cons: iOS only, limited sound variety.
  • Pricing: Paid app.

TaoMix 2

  • Overview: TaoMix 2 allows you to create your own unique and evolving soundscapes for relaxation, meditation, or sleep by dropping sounds onto a board.
  • Key Features: Interactive sound mixing, evolving soundscapes, save and share creations.
  • Pros: Fun and engaging way to create ambient sound.
  • Cons: The interactive element might be too distracting for some users.
  • Pricing: Free with in-app purchases for more sounds.

Thunderspace

  • Overview: From the same Emmy-award-winning audio engineer as Naturespace, Thunderspace delivers stereoscopic 3D audio of thunderstorms for an incredibly immersive relaxation experience.
  • Key Features: Stereoscopic 3D audio, uses your phone's flash to simulate lightning.
  • Pros: Unbelievably realistic thunderstorm sounds, unique lightning effect.
  • Cons: iOS only, focused exclusively on thunderstorms.
  • Pricing: Paid app with in-app purchases for more storm varieties.

Tide

  • Overview: Tide is a beautifully designed app that integrates sleep, meditation, and relaxation with nature sounds. It also features a Pomodoro timer and breathing exercises.
  • Key Features: Nature sounds, focus timer, sleep and nap modes, breathing guides.
  • Pros: Elegant and minimalist design, combines multiple wellness tools in one app.
  • Cons: Some content requires a subscription.
  • Pricing: Free with a premium subscription for more content.

White Noise Deep Sleep Sounds

  • Overview: This app offers a wide selection of calming sounds, including various types of white noise, to help you fall asleep and stay asleep.
  • Key Features: Large library of white noise and fan sounds, nature sounds, sleep timer.
  • Pros: Great selection for white noise enthusiasts.
  • Cons: The interface is quite basic.
  • Pricing: Free with a subscription for full access.

White Noise Lite

  • Overview: One of the original ambient noise apps, White Noise Lite offers a variety of looping sounds to help you sleep, relax, and block out distractions.
  • Key Features: 40+ sounds, sound mixing, digital clock display, background audio.
  • Pros: Long-standing and reliable app, generous free version.
  • Cons: Interface feels a bit dated.
  • Pricing: Free ('Lite') version; paid version unlocks more sounds and features.

Wildfulness 2

  • Overview: An iOS-exclusive app that pairs hand-drawn, animated nature scenes with psychoacoustic 3D soundscapes for a unique relaxation experience.
  • Key Features: Illustrated landscapes, 3D audio, breathing exercises.
  • Pros: Beautiful and artistic approach to relaxation.
  • Cons: iOS only, more of an experience than a utility.
  • Pricing: Paid app.

Windy

  • Overview: From the creators of Thunderspace, this iOS app offers psychoacoustic 3D recordings of wind, captured in stunning natural locations.
  • Key Features: Six high-quality wind soundscapes, 3D audio, beautiful artwork.
  • Pros: Incredibly realistic and immersive wind sounds.
  • Cons: iOS only, focused exclusively on wind.
  • Pricing: Paid app.

Web-Based Alternatives

For those who prefer not to install an app, several websites offer fantastic soundscape experiences:

  • Clariti: Blends AI-generated sounds for focus.
  • Lofi Garden: A continuous stream of LoFi music for studying.
  • Eter: Access thousands of radio stations for ambient background noise.
  • Rainy Cafe: A simple site combining cafe sounds with rainfall.
  • VirtOcean: Create custom aquatic soundscapes with ocean and sea creature sounds.