The best bedtime story app to help kids fall asleep (2026)
Full disclosure: we make a bedtime story app, and it isn't our top pick for falling asleep. A story you share is one part of bedtime. The last part, the drifting off, goes best with no screen, and the apps that do that well aren't ours.
| App | Best for | Price | The screen at lights-out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yoto | falling asleep with no screen, ages 3 and up | Players $79.99–$149.99; cards mostly $7–$15; Yoto Club from $4.99/month | None: your child slots in a card |
| Tonies | falling asleep with no screen, from age 1 | Toniebox 2 $129.99 (Lite sets $79.99); Tonies about $20 each | None: your child puts a figure on the box |
| Moshi | a big library of sleep stories, sounds and lullabies | About $13/month or $80/year in the app ($9.99 or $49.99 on its website); 7-day free trial | None if you play it on a smart speaker; otherwise a phone or tablet |
| Calm | sleep stories the grown-ups like too | $79.99/year after a free trial (Calm says the price is going up) | A phone or tablet, playing audio; put it on a speaker |
| Readmio | keeping your own voice at the center | Free stories; a subscription about $40–$50 a year | Yours, while you read; there are no pictures for your child |
| Branchlings (ours) | the shared story before lights out | From $9.99/month; sample stories free to read, no free trial | Yes, at first; it dims after the last choice and reads on as audio |
What pediatricians say
The American Academy of Pediatrics' 2026 advice on sleep: "Avoid screen exposures an hour before bedtime and devices in the bedroom." And for children who are used to a video to fall asleep, it suggests "meditation apps, sound machines, or quiet music" instead. (AAP policy statement)
That's why the top of this list is screen-free players and audio. If audio plays from a phone, put it on a speaker outside the bed, with the screen off.
1. Yoto
- Best for
- falling asleep with no screen, ages 3 and up
- Price
- Players $79.99–$149.99; cards mostly $7–$15; Yoto Club from $4.99/month
- The screen at lights-out
- None: your child slots in a card
A Yoto player has no screen, camera or microphone. Your child slots in a card and listens. The Yoto Player adds a night light, an ok-to-wake clock and a sleep timer, and the free app has free sleepy audio. You can record your own voice onto a Make Your Own card, for nights you're away.
The catch: players cost $79.99–$149.99, and cards are mostly $7–$15 each. If you have a Yoto Mini bought between November 2021 and April 2024, check the recall for a free battery replacement kit.
2. Tonies
- Best for
- falling asleep with no screen, from age 1
- Price
- Toniebox 2 $129.99 (Lite sets $79.99); Tonies about $20 each
- The screen at lights-out
- None: your child puts a figure on the box
The Toniebox 2 is a soft, screen-free speaker officially for ages 1 and up, with a sleep timer, a light and a sunrise alarm. Your child puts a figure on top to play it, and there's a Calm Tonie with children's sleep stories and breathing exercises.
The catch: about $20 per Tonie, $129.99 for the box (Lite sets $79.99), and its app's App Store privacy label lists data used to track you.
3. Moshi
- Best for
- a big library of sleep stories, sounds and lullabies
- Price
- About $13/month or $80/year in the app ($9.99 or $49.99 on its website); 7-day free trial
- The screen at lights-out
- None if you play it on a smart speaker; otherwise a phone or tablet
Thousands of hours of sleep stories, lullabies, sleep sounds and meditations for children, some read by famous voices. Play it on an Amazon Echo or over AirPlay and the phone stays out of the room. Moshi cites a small study (30 children over 10 days, with NYU's Grossman School of Medicine) in which children fell asleep sooner and woke less.
The catch: website and app prices don't match (about $10 or $13 a month), offline listening stops after 24 hours without a connection, and reviewers complain about billing and support.
4. Calm
- Best for
- sleep stories the grown-ups like too
- Price
- $79.99/year after a free trial (Calm says the price is going up)
- The screen at lights-out
- A phone or tablet, playing audio; put it on a speaker
Calm, the grown-up sleep and meditation app, has a Calm Kids section of sleep stories, meditations and lullabies, some with characters children know (Peppa Pig, Thomas & Friends, Trolls) and famous narrators. The same subscription gives you sleep stories of your own.
The catch: it's built for adults, with kids as one section; its family plan is for adults only; and its App Store listing says it uses data to track you.
5. Readmio
- Best for
- keeping your own voice at the center
- Price
- Free stories; a subscription about $40–$50 a year
- The screen at lights-out
- Yours, while you read; there are no pictures for your child
You read the story aloud from your phone, and Readmio listens (on the phone, without sending your voice anywhere) and adds sound effects and music as you go. The stories have no pictures, on purpose, so your child listens rather than watches.
The catch: it needs you there to read, its prices differ between the App Store and its website, and reviewers who expected pictures were disappointed.
6. Branchlings ours
- Best for
- the shared story before lights out
- Price
- From $9.99/month; sample stories free to read, no free trial
- The screen at lights-out
- Yes, at first; it dims after the last choice and reads on as audio
This is ours. Around bedtime, Branchlings stories turn calm on purpose: any choices come early, at least half the story is the wind-down, a storyteller reads it slowly and softly, the screen dims after the last choice while the pages turn themselves, and it ends with goodnight to everyone, with nothing to tap and nothing new starting.
The honest part: it's a story to share, not a sleep app. There are no sleep sounds and no timer, and it starts on a screen. Read it together earlier in the routine, then let a speaker do the drifting off.
Our pick
For falling asleep, Yoto from age 3 or Tonies from age 1, with the sleep timer on. For a big library of sleep audio, Moshi on a smart speaker.
For the story you share before that, a paper book, or Branchlings if your child wants to be in it and decide what happens, read together before the lights go down.
What we'd do today
- Move any screen story earlier, to before bath and pajamas.
- Put whatever plays audio on a speaker, outside the bed, with a sleep timer.
- Keep the same last song or story every night. Familiar is soothing.
Questions
- What's the best app to help kids fall asleep?
- One that plays audio with no screen in the room: Yoto or Tonies players, or Moshi or Calm played on a smart speaker. The AAP suggests meditation apps, sound machines or quiet music for children who are used to a screen at bedtime.
- Are bedtime story apps bad for sleep?
- The AAP advises avoiding screens in the hour before bed and keeping devices out of the bedroom. An app that plays audio from a speaker fits that. A story on a screen fits better earlier in the evening.
- Does Branchlings have sleep sounds or a sleep timer?
- No. Bedtime stories end with goodnight, and nothing plays after them. For sleep sounds, try Moshi, Calm, or a Yoto or Toniebox.
- Is Branchlings free?
- Branchlings is free to download, with in-app purchases. You can read the sample stories before you choose a plan. Painting your character and new stories come with a plan, from $9.99 a month. See pricing.
Try Branchlings
Your child dreams up the story and picks what happens at every fork, and Branchlings writes and paints it. Free to download, with in-app purchases. You can read the sample stories before you choose a plan. Painting your character and new stories come with a plan. Plans start at $9.99 a month, and there's no free trial. For iPhone and iPad in the US.
We checked prices and features for every app here in October 2026. Apps change fast, so double-check on each app's own site before you buy. Names of other apps are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to identify them; we're not connected with any of them.