What is the difference between a sleep app and a CBT-I app?

Most sleep apps track your sleep or play sounds to help you relax. A CBT-I app delivers cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia: a structured program built around a sleep diary, a set sleep window and lessons that change the habits and thoughts that keep you awake.

Sleep apps

Trackers measure your sleep. Sound apps help you relax. A CBT-I app teaches the method sleep doctors recommend first for chronic insomnia. These guides explain the difference and how to choose.

Four overlapping circles on a night-sky background, one for each part of CBT-I

CBT-I science

CBT-I apps: what they are, what they do, and who they suit

A CBT-I app is a structured program, not a sleep tracker. What a real one delivers, what the first weeks feel like, and who should talk to a doctor first.

Oct 14, 20269 min read

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CBT-I science

How to choose a CBT-I app: what actually matters

Every one of them says clinically proven. Here are the questions that separate a real CBT-I program from a sleep-tracking app with a nice interface.

Aug 26, 20265 min read

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CBT-I science

Sleep app vs CBT-I app: what's the difference for insomnia?

Trackers, sleep sounds, meditation and CBT-I programs all get called sleep apps. Only one of those categories is a treatment for insomnia.

Oct 7, 20265 min read

A phone outline showing a week of sleep diary bars getting steadily taller

CBT-I science

Does online CBT-I work? What the trials of digital CBT-I found

Digital CBT-I has been tested in large randomized trials. What it improved, what it did not, and what separates the programs that deliver it.

Oct 7, 20265 min read

CBT-I science

Are sleep trackers accurate? What your sleep score can and can't tell you

Wearables and phone apps guess at your sleep from movement and heartbeat, not brain waves. What they get roughly right, what they miss, and why CBT-I runs on a diary instead.

Oct 18, 20268 min read

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The middle of the night

Does brown noise help you sleep? What it can do, and what it can't

Brown, pink and white noise explained in plain language: what steady sound can genuinely do for sleep, how to use it safely, and why sound alone doesn't fix insomnia.

Oct 18, 20268 min read

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Getting help

Free CBT-I: how to start insomnia therapy on a budget

Most of CBT-I costs nothing but attention. Here is what you can do yourself tonight, the free public resources worth knowing, and where going fully DIY runs out.

Oct 18, 20269 min read

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CBT-I science

What actually happens in a six-week CBT-I program

Most programs will not tell you what is inside until after you have paid. Here is the whole thing, week by week, including the week that is genuinely unpleasant.

Aug 26, 20265 min read

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CBT-I science

What's included in Somnera's $79.99 program

What the one payment covers, what the optional plan afterwards is, and what the program is not. Written plainly because the billing is where this category loses people.

Sep 1, 20266 min read

Quick answers

What is the difference between a sleep app and a CBT-I app?: Most sleep apps track your sleep or play sounds to help you relax. A CBT-I app delivers cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia: a structured program built around a sleep diary, a set sleep window and lessons that change the habits and thoughts that keep you awake.
Does online CBT-I work?: Digital CBT-I has been tested in randomized trials, and guidelines recommend CBT-I as the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia. Results differ from person to person.
Are sleep trackers accurate?: Wearables estimate sleep from movement and heart rate. They are reasonable at total sleep time and much weaker at sleep stages and short awakenings, so treat the numbers as a rough guide.