SproutAwake vs Alarmy: two alarm apps, one big difference
SproutAwake and Alarmy both make you complete a mission to turn off your alarm. Here's an honest comparison of missions, price, reliability and what your subscription pays for.
If you search for an alarm app that will actually get you out of bed, you’ll find Alarmy pretty quickly. It’s been around for years, it has a quarter of a million ratings on the App Store, and it’s very good at what it does.
I make SproutAwake, which does a similar job. So this isn’t a neutral comparison, but I’ll try to make it a fair one, and tell you when Alarmy is the better choice.
What they have in common
Both apps are built for people who sleep through normal alarms. Both use loud alarm sounds, and both make you complete a task (a “mission”) before the alarm will turn off. The idea is the same: by the time you’ve solved a math problem or found something in the kitchen, you’re awake enough to stay awake.
Both are free to download, with a paid subscription for the full experience.
Missions
Alarmy has more. Its App Store listing mentions math problems, memory games, shaking your phone, squats and taking a photo of something specific, and reviews mention others like scanning a barcode or walking a set number of steps. Some of these are Premium-only.
SproutAwake has five: solving a math problem, finishing a puzzle, unscrambling a word, shaking your phone, and finding a household object.
If variety matters to you, Alarmy wins this one. Especially if you want to do squats at 6am, which I respect but do not understand.
Reliability
This is where the newer iPhone software matters. Since iOS 26, Apple lets alarm apps use AlarmKit, which schedules alarms at the system level, the same way the built-in Clock app does. Alarms built this way ring through Silent mode and Focus and go off even if the app is closed.
SproutAwake is built on AlarmKit, which is why it requires iOS 26 or later. Alarmy supports iPhones back to iOS 17, which is great if you have an older phone. I’d check its current listing for how it handles alarms on iOS 26, since this changes as apps update.
Price
At the time of writing:
- SproutAwake: free to download. Pro is $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year.
- Alarmy: free to download, and reviews generally say the free version includes ads. The App Store lists several Premium plans, ranging from $4.99 up to $59.99 a year.
Prices change, so it’s always worth checking the App Store before you subscribe.
The big difference
Here’s where the two apps really part ways: what your money does once you’ve paid it.
With SproutAwake, 50% of proceeds go to One Tree Planted, a reforestation nonprofit that plants trees in over 80 countries. It’s not a feature tucked away in a settings menu. It’s the reason the app exists. We post the number of trees planted every month on TikTok, so you can see where it’s going.
You also earn points for every morning you beat your alarm and build a streak for not snoozing, which you can spend on themes, alarm sounds and effects. It’s a small thing, but it makes getting up feel a bit less like a punishment.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Alarmy if you want the biggest range of missions, you have an iPhone running something older than iOS 26, or you like the reassurance of an app millions of people already use.
Choose SproutAwake if you want a simpler set of missions, you’re on iOS 26, and you’d like your subscription to plant real trees. SproutAwake is rated 4.8 on the App Store. That’s from 54 ratings rather than 250,000, but we’re working on it.
Honestly, either one is a big step up from an alarm you can turn off with one sleepy tap. If you’re still deciding, my roundup of alarm apps for heavy sleepers covers a couple of other good options too, and this guide to stopping the snooze habit might help whichever app you pick.