Snorly vs ShutEye: Snore Recorder or Sleep Tracker?

Two charcoal neumorphic tiles side by side, one with a glowing green LED snore waveform and one with a crescent moon made of soft blue LED dots.

ShutEye and Snorly both record snoring on an iPhone, but they are different products. ShutEye is a full sleep app: sleep tracking, a sounds library, stories, a smart alarm, and snore and sleep-talk recording, sold as a $59.99-a-year subscription with a 7-day trial. Snorly does one job: it saves the seconds it hears snoring and lets you play every clip back for free. We make Snorly, so read this as one side's comparison; each row below can be checked in the App Store.

Key facts
  • ShutEye has 4.8 stars from about 350,000 US App Store ratings; Premium is $59.99 a year or $9.99 a month after a 7-day trial (App Store listing and ShutEye FAQ, October 2026).
  • ShutEye's FAQ says "some basic features" work without a subscription but does not list them; its listing adds "No refunds for leftover free trial time."
  • Snorly's recording, playback of every clip, score, timeline, breathing flags and history are free every night; Premium ($24.99 a year in the US, or a one-time lifetime purchase) adds full-night audio, remedy comparisons, a PDF report and Apple Health.
  • ShutEye's App Store privacy label lists audio data among the data it collects; Snorly's does not, because recordings stay on the phone.
  • Neither app has an Apple Watch app, and no phone app can diagnose sleep apnea (App Store listings, October 2026; AASM 2018).

Side by side

FeatureSnorlyShutEye
Main jobSnore recorderSleep tracker with sounds, stories and night recordings
PlatformiPhoneiPhone, Mac with Apple silicon, Android
What it recordsOnly detected snoring, sleep talk and cough clipsSnoring, sleep talking, coughing and other night sounds, analysed by its AI
Sleep trackingNoWith the phone's microphone and accelerometer
Sleep sounds and storiesNoLarge library; part of it free
Score0–100 snore score, higher is betterSleep score
BreathingPauses and gasps per hour, flagged as worth discussing with a professionalA "sleep apnea risk report"
Full-night audioPremiumNot documented
Factors and remediesTag nights, compare with and without each (Premium)Not documented
Doctor reportPDF report (Premium)Not documented
AlarmGentle alarmSmart alarm
Apple Watch appNoNo; reads Watch data through Apple Health
Audio leaves the phoneNever, unless you share a clipPrivacy label lists audio data as collected, not linked to you
PricingFree every night: recording, playback, score, timeline, breathing flags, history. Premium $24.99 a year or one-time lifetimeFree with basic features. Premium $59.99 a year or $9.99 a month, 7-day trial

ShutEye's features are quoted from its App Store listing, FAQ and "how it works" page as of 20 October 2026. If something changed, tell us and we will update the row.

Is ShutEye free?

ShutEye is free to download, and some of it works without paying. Its FAQ says you can use "some basic features" without a subscription and that Premium covers advanced sleep tracking and personalized insights. ShutEye does not publish the exact split. Its own 2025 blog post on free sleep apps said free users get more than 50 white noise and sleep music tracks and that dream analysis is for premium users only.

What we could not confirm from ShutEye's pages is whether every snore recording plays back for free. If hearing your snoring is the reason you install it, check that in the first night, while the 7-day trial is still running. The listing is explicit that leftover trial time is not refunded, and the FAQ says subscriptions cannot be paused.

Snorly's free part is listed in full on the free snoring app page.

Where ShutEye is the better choice

You want one app for the whole night, not just the snoring: falling asleep to rain sounds or a story, sleep tracking, a smart alarm, a dream journal. You are on Android or switch between platforms. You like a large community: 350,000 App Store ratings, about six times SnoreLab's. You do not mind a subscription if it covers sounds, tracking and recordings in one place.

Where Snorly is the better choice

Snoring is the question and you want the answer without a subscription: every clip of the night, tap to play, free, with no night limit. You want proof for a partner, with each clip time-stamped on a timeline. You care that audio never leaves the phone and that there is no account. You want to test a remedy such as mouth tape or a nasal strip and see the nights compared. You want a PDF to hand to a doctor. Snorly does not track sleep or play sleep sounds; if you want those too, ShutEye covers more ground.

What do ShutEye app reviews say?

It depends where you look. On the US App Store ShutEye has 4.8 stars from about 350,000 ratings. On Trustpilot it has 1.6 from 179 reviews (October 2026), and a Reddit thread among the top Google results for "shuteye app review" warns people off the 7-day trial. Both can be true: the app can work well for most people while the trial and billing frustrate some.

The practical advice is the same for any app with a 7-day trial, including ours: set a reminder for day 6, and cancel in iPhone Settings, under your name, then Subscriptions, if you do not want to keep it. ShutEye's FAQ gives that path and a support email.

What neither app can do

Neither app can tell you whether you have sleep apnea. A phone hears sound; apnea is measured by airflow, breathing effort and blood oxygen in a home sleep test or a lab study. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says consumer sleep technology is not a substitute for that testing. ShutEye calls its feature a risk report; Snorly flags pauses and gasps as worth discussing with a professional. In both cases, a recording of snoring, silence, then a gasp is a reason to see a doctor. Snoring vs sleep apnea shows the pattern to listen for.

How to compare them yourself in three nights

  1. Install both. If you have one phone, alternate nights; with two, put them side by side on the nightstand, same distance from your head, both plugged in.
  2. Record three nights. In the morning, open each app and play the loudest snoring it saved. Note whether you could hear it without paying.
  3. Keep the app you actually opened at breakfast, and cancel any trial you will not use before it renews.
Snorly app icon

Hear your own snoring tonightSnorly records only when it hears snoring and plays it back in the morning. Free, no account, no night limit.

Download on the App Store

Related questions

Is ShutEye worth it?

If you want sleep sounds, sleep tracking and a smart alarm in one app, many people find $59.99 a year worth it. If you only want to hear and track your snoring, a dedicated recorder does that for less; Snorly's playback and history are free.

How do I cancel ShutEye?

On iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions, choose ShutEye and cancel. ShutEye's FAQ also lists a support email. It does not offer a pause, and the App Store listing says leftover free-trial time is not refunded.

Does ShutEye detect sleep apnea?

ShutEye offers a "sleep apnea risk report" based on breathing patterns its app hears. No phone app can diagnose sleep apnea. A home sleep test or a lab study is how apnea is confirmed.

Does ShutEye work with Apple Watch?

There is no ShutEye app for Apple Watch. ShutEye says it can read Watch data through Apple Health. Snorly has no Watch app either; both record with the iPhone microphone.

Is ShutEye better than SnoreLab?

They answer different questions. ShutEye is a broad sleep app with snore recording as one feature; SnoreLab is built around snoring. See Snorly vs SnoreLab and the six-app comparison in best snoring apps.

Sources

Snorly is a snore recorder and tracker, not a medical device. It does not diagnose sleep apnea or any other condition. If you notice pauses in breathing, gasping or daytime sleepiness, talk to a doctor.