This New Sleep Tracker is Outpacing Every Other Competitor

Sleep tracking is a sleeper industry that's grown 28% to more than 22M downloads in 2023. Jokes aside, demand for sleep-tracking apps is currently at an all-time high, and that's without even considering the latest competitor to join the race.

Let's have a look at this growth, who's most in demand, who's earning the most, and who's this new competitor that's outpacing all current competitors combined.

I looked at the top 3 apps for sleep tracking across the App Store and Google Play, which include Sleep Cycle, ShutEye®, and BetterSleep.

All three have been around for quite a while! BetterSleep and Sleep Cycle were released aaaaaall the way back in 2009 (the year Appfigures was born) and ShutEye® joined in 2019.

November was the best month of downloads for the trio, which together, saw 2.2M new downloads from the App Store and Google Play, according to our estimates.

Going back to 2020, monthly downloads for the trio averaged 800K. There's been a lot of growth since.

This year, another name joined the race - Pokemon!

What's a game have to do with sleep? I don't exactly know, but so far Pokemon Sleep has integrated into this race very well.

ShutEye® was the most downloaded of the three in 2023, adding 9.8M new downloads - up 51% from 2022. BetterSleep ranks second with 8M estimated downloads and up an impressive 127% from last year.

Newcomer Pokemon Sleep came in 3rd with 6.7M new estimated downloads. That's an impressive haul, considering it was released over the summer.

Sleep Cycle, the OG sleep app, came in 4th with 4.8M new estimated downloads. Unlike the rest, Sleep Cycle's downloads dropped when compared to 2022 - down 16%.

Pokemon Sleep's Takeover

Downloads are good, but revenue is better. And when it comes to revenue, Pokemon Sleep practically stole the show.

When it comes to revenue, Pokemon Sleep beat all three incumbents, even though it was released mid-year. Snorlax, Pokemon Sleep's mascot, collected $26M of net revenue from users since rolling out in July.

And what's even more interesting is that the velocity hasn't dropped significantly since release, so it's not just a big launch.

ShutEye™ came in 2nd with $17M of net revenue with the OG, Sleep Cycle, right behind it with $16M of net revenue, according to our estimates.

BetterSleep wasn't too far behind with $13M. All three grew when compared to 2022, but BetterSleep grew the most - 53% year over year - and Sleep Cycle the least at just 2%.

What's going on? I put all these apps side by side, but technically, they're a bit different. Sleep Cycle is more of a smart alarm clock while ShutEye offers more features and BetterSleep helps you fall asleep, which is why demand for them is growing at different rates.

If you're developing in this space, make sure to stay on top of what users need. That's the difference between double-digit growth and downloads dropping.