Key takeaways
- Endel generates soundscapes in real time from inputs like time of day, weather and heart rate, and works offline.
- Endel's free version allows unlimited sessions of up to 10 minutes; its prices only appear inside the app.
- Endel's main focus study had 62 participants and was funded by Endel and the EEG company Arctop.
- Brain.fm costs $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year as of October 2026; focus.music costs $4.99 a month.
Endel review: is Endel still worth it in 2026?
Endel is a Berlin company that makes personalized soundscapes: sound generated live on your device and shaped by the time of day, the weather, your heart rate and the light where you are. You choose Focus, Relax, Sleep or Activity, or let Autoplay decide. It is less a playlist than a weather system for your ears.
Its reach is impressive. Endel runs on iPhone, Android, Apple Watch, Mac, Windows, the web, Apple TV, Fire TV and Alexa. It won Apple Watch App of the Year in 2020, signed a 20-album deal with Warner Music in 2019, and says its app has passed four million downloads.
Endel
Endel is polished, calm and available on nearly every screen you own. Because the sound is generated on your device, it works offline. The free version is genuinely usable for short sessions. What holds it back: there is no public price list, its big focus numbers come from its own research, and soundscapes can feel too thin if you want music.
- Price
- Free 10-minute sessions; paid plans shown in the app (Oct 2026)
- Best for
- People who want gentle, adaptive sound everywhere, including on a watch and offline
Pros
- Adapts to time of day, weather and heart rate
- Works offline; huge device list including Apple Watch
- Free version with unlimited 10-minute sessions
Cons
- No public price list: you only see prices inside the app
- Headline focus claims come from Endel-funded research
- Ambient textures, not songs
Does Endel actually work?
Endel's homepage promises up to a 7x increase in sustained focus and a 3.6x drop in stress. The peer-reviewed study behind its focus claims, published in Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience in 2022, tracked 62 people at home with a consumer EEG headband. Endel's soundscapes raised the focus measure above silence, while ordinary playlists had no significant effect overall.
That is a real result, but read the fine print: the authors worked for Arctop, the company whose focus model was used, and the study was funded by Arctop and Endel. The stress numbers come from Endel's own in-app surveys. Endel also offers a binaural beats scenario, and the evidence there is mixed. See our binaural beats guide.
- 62participants in Endel's focus study, funded by Endel and ArctopHaruvi et al., Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, 2022
- 10 mincap per session in Endel's free version, with unlimited sessionsEndel Help Center
- 4.4★Endel's Google Play rating, 1M+ downloads, October 2026Google Play
Endel vs Brain.fm: which is better?
| Endel | Brain.fm | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Paid subscription, price shown in the app | $14.99/mo or $99.99/yr |
| Free option | Unlimited 10-minute sessions | Free trial (length not stated) |
| What you hear | Generative soundscapes | Instrumental music with modulation |
| Adapts to you | Time, weather, heart rate, light | You set activity, genre and effect level |
| Published research | 2022 study, 62 people, company-funded | 2024 study, four experiments, company-led |
| Offline | ✓ | ✓ |
| Apple Watch app | ✓ | ✗ |
| Desktop | Mac and Windows | Mac and Windows |
Pick Endel if you want something ambient that follows your day and lives on your wrist. Pick Brain.fm if you want music, more control over the effect and the more detailed study. Our three-way comparison adds a free option to the mix.
The 6 best apps like Endel
Brain.fm
Brain.fm plays wordless music with a steady pulse designed to help attention, with activity modes, timers and an adjustable effect level. Its 2024 study in Communications Biology is the most detailed in the category, though it was led by a Brain.fm employee. It is the pricier choice.
- Price
- $14.99/mo or $99.99/yr (Oct 2026)
- Best for
- Endel users who want music instead of texture
Pros
- Sounds like music, with genres from lo-fi to classical
- Most detailed published research in the category
- Offline downloads and desktop apps
Cons
- $14.99 a month is steep
- Research is company-led
- No Apple Watch app
myNoise
myNoise offers a huge set of tunable noise generators and soundscapes, ad-free on the web and still adding new sounds in October 2026. You do the adapting yourself with sliders. If you used Endel mostly for calm background texture, this is the best free swap.
- Price
- Free website, donation-based (Oct 2026)
- Best for
- A free replacement for Endel's ambient side
Pros
- Free and ad-free on the web
- Precise sliders for every sound
- Actively updated
Cons
- Nothing adapts automatically
- Dated design
- No music
focus.music (formerly Focus@Will)
The team behind Focus@Will now runs focus.music. It says every track is composed and performed by people, with no vocals and no AI audio, and it costs $4.99 a month on web, iOS and Android. Its research claims rest on in-house data, not published papers.
- Price
- $4.99/mo or $39.99/yr, 7-day free trial (Oct 2026)
- Best for
- Cheap, human-made instrumental focus music
Pros
- Low price
- Human-made instrumentals
- Works on web, iOS and Android
Cons
- No published research to check
- No Apple Watch or offline mention
- Less polished than Endel
Boulevard Focus ModeOur app
Boulevard is a streaming app where every song is made with AI and performed by an AI artist. Focus Mode plays only tracks without lyrics, mixed on the beat, mostly deep and Afro house right now. On the web a quiet binaural layer plays underneath; we make no health claims for it.
- Price
- Free to listen, no account needed (Oct 2026)
- Best for
- Wordless music with a groove, free in the browser
Pros
- Free, no download needed
- Only wordless tracks, mixed on the beat
- Real grooves rather than ambient texture
Cons
- Small catalog, mostly one style for now
- No offline downloads
- No iPhone or Apple Watch app yet
Noisli
Noisli is a simple mixer for background sounds like rain, wind and coffee-shop chatter. The free plan covers 16 sounds and 1.5 hours a day. It does not adapt or play music.
- Price
- Free plan (16 sounds, 1.5 hours a day); paid Pro (Oct 2026)
- Best for
- Building your own rain-and-cafe background
Pros
- Fast to set up
- Usable free plan
- Good for noisy rooms
Cons
- Daily limit on the free plan
- No music
- Nothing adapts to you
Spotify focus playlists
Spotify's Deep Focus playlist and countless user playlists cost nothing extra on Premium. You get real, varied music and offline downloads. Nothing adapts, vocals can creep in through autoplay, and the free tier has ads.
- Price
- Free with ads, or Premium $12.99/mo (Oct 2026)
- Best for
- Anyone who already pays for Spotify
Pros
- No extra subscription for Premium users
- Endless variety
- Offline on Premium
Cons
- Not built for focus
- Ads on the free tier
- Vocals slip in via autoplay
Who should stay with Endel?
Stay if you use it on your watch, rely on it offline, or like that it changes through the day without you touching anything. No alternative here matches that combination. Switch if you want real music, if you dislike not knowing the price until you are inside the app, or if you only ever used it for background noise, which myNoise does for free. And if your main complaint is the 10-minute cap on the free version, try pairing it with short work sprints before you pay for anything.
Whatever you pick, judge it by your output. Run one app for a week of the same kind of work, then try another. Our deep work music guide has a simple way to compare.
Wordless tracks from Boulevard's Focus Mode
Quiet CatharsisMotheo
Sunlit CoolMotheo
Hypnotic SpiritMotheo
Deep EuphoriaMotheo
Almost Called YouMotheo
Tell My MamaMotheo
Deep and Afro house without lyrics, the core of Focus Mode today.
We make Boulevard, so weigh our pick accordingly. Scores reflect our own testing of features and prices as of the date above.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Endel cost?
Endel does not publish a price list on its website; prices appear inside the app and vary by store and offer. There is a free version with unlimited sessions of up to 10 minutes each, and a 7-day free trial that starts when you choose the yearly plan.
Is Endel free?
Partly. Endel's free version covers Focus, Sleep, Relax and Move, with unlimited sessions capped at 10 minutes each. Longer sessions and extra scenarios need a subscription.
Is Endel better than Brain.fm?
Endel is better for adaptive, ambient sound, offline use and Apple Watch. Brain.fm is better if you want something that sounds like music and a more detailed published study. Both companies fund or run their own research, so neither has independent proof that it beats music you like.
Does Endel use binaural beats?
Endel offers a binaural beats scenario alongside its main soundscapes. Research on binaural beats is mixed: a 2019 meta-analysis found a medium effect on some tasks, while a 2023 review of brainwave studies found more results against brain entrainment than for it.
Does Endel work offline?
Yes. Endel generates its soundscapes on your device, so it keeps playing without an internet connection. That is one of its biggest advantages over streaming-based alternatives.
What is a free app like Endel?
myNoise is the closest free option for ambient sound, with tunable generators on an ad-free website. Noisli has a free plan with 16 sounds for 1.5 hours a day. For wordless music instead of soundscapes, Boulevard's Focus Mode is free in any browser.
Sources
- Endel: personalized soundscapes to help you focus, relax and sleepEndel, 2026-10-31
- Endel free version and free trialEndel Help Center, 2026-01-07
- Using Endel offlineEndel Help Center, 2026-10-31
- Endel signs 20-album deal with Warner MusicEndel newsroom, 2019-01-22
- Endel: Focus, Relax & SleepGoogle Play, 2026-10-27
- Measuring and modeling the effect of audio on human focus in everyday environments using brain-computer interface technologyFrontiers in Computational Neuroscience (Haruvi et al.), 2022-01-27
- Brain.fm pricingBrain.fm, 2026-10-31
- Rapid modulation in music supports attention in listeners with attentional difficultiesCommunications Biology (Woods et al.), 2024-10-23
- focus.music pricingfocus.music, 2026-10-31
- myNoisemyNoise, 2026-10-31
- Noisli pricingNoisli, 2026-10-31
- Binaural beats to entrain the brain? A systematic review of the effects of binaural beat stimulation on brain oscillatory activityPLOS ONE (Ingendoh et al.), 2023-05-19