Comparison

Steady vs ShiftSleeper

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Steady

This app helps shift workers manage fatigue and optimize sleep. It offers a smart wake alarm, fatigue forecasting, and personalized coaching tips. Prioritizing privacy, it keeps all your data on your device.

Highlights
  • Drive home risk alert
  • Smart wake alarm
  • 3-day fatigue forecast
  • Evidence-based coaching tips
  • Bilingual (English/Spanish)
  • Private, on-device data storage
Features
Read full description

Steady is built for shift workers, not 9-to-5. WHAT MAKES STEADY DIFFERENT SUBSCRIPTION TERMS Steady Pro is an auto-renewing subscription, $3.99 a month or $24.99 a year. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. It renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://jcmobileappstudio.com/apps/steady/privacy/ • Roster import from a photo: point your camera at the printed schedule on the wall. Steady reads the dates, codes and hours, and you confirm every day before it's saved. Or import from your Calendar. • Drive home risk alert: warns you before you get in the car when fatigue makes the drive too risky. 17 hours awake is roughly a 0.05% BAC. • Your next 24 hours: a predicted alertness curve that shows when you'll crash, plus the best windows for exercise, meals and light. • A sleep score that understands nights: consistency is measured against your own rotation, not a 9-to-5 clock. • Sleep debt, and a way out: how far behind you are, whether it's growing, and a payback plan built around your real rota. • Discoveries: learn what actually changes your sleep, corrected for work nights vs rest nights. • Smart wake alarm: wakes you in your lightest sleep within a 30-minute window, backed by a real system alarm on iOS 26 and later. • 290 evidence-based coaching tips, grounded in AASM, NIOSH and chronobiology research, matched to how you're doing right now. • Bilingual English and Spanish, written natively in both. • Private and on-device: no accounts, no servers, no tracking. Apple's "Data Not Collected" badge. BUILT FOR YOUR ROTATION • Manufacturing: DuPont, 4-on-4-off, Panama 2-2-3, 5-on-5-off • Healthcare: 12-hour rotating, fixed nights, on-call • Public safety: police, fire, corrections, dispatch • Hospitality: hotels, restaurants, bars, gaming • Transit and logistics: trucking, rideshare, public transit, delivery FREE FEATURES • Shift templates and a custom pattern editor • Roster import from your Calendar • Sleep log with Apple Health sync and write-back • Daily fatigue score with a full "why" breakdown • Ten-second bedtime and wake check-ins • Wind Down: brown noise, pink noise and 4-7-8 breathing • Smart nap planner • Caffeine, alcohol, exercise and meal logging • Bedtime and shift-day reminders • Sleep streaks • Apple Watch app with complications • Home Screen, Lock Screen and Control Center widgets • Live Activity for your next shift • Siri and Shortcuts STEADY PRO Free for 7 days, then $3.99 a month or $24.99 a year. • Roster import from a photo • Drive home risk alert • Your next 24 hours and the light plan • Sleep debt ledger • Shift-aware sleep score • Sleep stages and overnight vitals • Discoveries • 7-day fatigue forecast on your calendar • Smart wake alarm • Unlimited Apple Health history and shift overrides • The full coaching library EVERY SCREEN • iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch • iPhone Duo inner display: two columns, a sidebar layout, menu commands and keyboard shortcuts. Never a stretched-out phone screen. WHY WE BUILT THIS Most shift workers don't get to choose their schedules. They do get to choose how they recover. Steady helps you do that, without selling your data or charging $70 a year. Steady is not a medical device. Always consult a licensed clinician for medical advice.

About

ShiftSleeper

Features
Read full description

ShiftSleeper is the sleep planner built for the shifts your body shouldn't have to fight alone. Apple's built-in sleep features assume you go to bed at night. ShiftSleeper assumes nothing — except that your shifts aren't normal, and you deserve a plan that respects them. WHO IT'S FOR - Nurses, doctors, EMS, fire, police - Pilots and flight attendants - Oil & gas, manufacturing, hospital staff - Truckers, security, hospitality - Anyone working a rotating roster WHAT IT DOES ShiftSleeper takes your shift schedule and generates a personalized sleep plan around it: - Pre-shift naps - Anchor sleep windows - Caffeine cutoff timing - Light exposure / avoidance windows - Wind-down reminders - Notifications you can actually trust ROTATION PRESETS One-tap setup for the common patterns: - 4-on / 4-off - Pitman (2-3-2) - DuPont - Panama (2-2-3) - Continental - Nurse 3×12 Or build your own with the visual rotation editor. APPLE WATCH Native Watch app shows your next shift, today's sleep window, and quick-log buttons (nap, caffeine, wake). Complications keep your schedule on the watch face. LIVE ACTIVITY Persistent Lock Screen and Dynamic Island view of your current shift or sleep window — visible without opening the app. WIDGETS Next Shift and Sleep Window widgets for Home Screen and Lock Screen. APPLE HEALTH Reads your actual sleep recorded by Apple Watch or third-party apps. Writes planned sleep windows, logged naps, wake events, and dietary caffeine. SCAN PAPER SCHEDULES Photograph a printed roster and ShiftSleeper uses on-device OCR to detect shifts and import them automatically. No cloud upload. CALENDAR EXPORT Push your shifts to Apple Calendar with a 1-hour reminder. From there they sync to Google, Outlook, iCloud — whatever you use. LIGHT THERAPY Built-in bright-screen timer for circadian phase shifting. Daylight, amber, and red modes. Replaces a $200 SAD lamp with software. PATTERN INSIGHTS "Nights cost you 1.5h sleep." Real comparisons between actual sleep and shift type, generated from your Health data. SLEEP DEBT TRACKER See your 7-day cumulative deficit at a glance. Color-coded so you know when to prioritize rest. SIRI + SHORTCUTS "Hey Siri, when's my next shift in ShiftSleeper?" "Hey Siri, log a nap in ShiftSleeper." PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Your data stays on your device. No accounts. No email required. No servers we run. Apple Health permission is optional. OFFLINE-FIRST Everything works without a network connection. Notifications are scheduled by your iPhone locally. PRICING Free tier: schedule input, basic sleep plan, notifications. ShiftSleeper Pro unlocks Apple Health sync, the Apple Watch app, all rotation presets, Calendar export, photo schedule scan, light therapy, and trend insights. - $6.99 / month — 1-week free trial - $39 / year (save 53%) — 1-week free trial - $79 Lifetime — pay once, yours forever Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled 24 hours before the period ends. Manage in iPhone Settings → your name → Subscriptions. NOT MEDICAL ADVICE ShiftSleeper is not a medical device. If you suspect Shift Work Sleep Disorder or have a sleep condition, please consult a clinician. Built for the shifts your body shouldn't have to fight alone. Privacy Policy: https://shiftworker-site.onrender.com/privacy.html Terms of Service: https://shiftworker-site.onrender.com/terms.html

Screenshots

Steady4 screens
ShiftSleeper4 screens

Verdict

The call

Steady and ShiftSleeper are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Steady sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and ShiftSleeper sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Steady versus ShiftSleeper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSteadyShiftSleeper
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB2 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperJC Mobile App Studio LLCJason Amburgey

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Steady

Subscriptions2
  • Steady Pro, Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Steady Pro, Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year
3 purchases

ShiftSleeper

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Pro7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Yearly Pro7 Days trial$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pro$79.99

Questions

Is Steady free?
Steady is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ShiftSleeper free?
ShiftSleeper is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Steady or ShiftSleeper have ads?
Neither Steady nor ShiftSleeper shows ads.

Other comparisons