A Free Alternative to Endel for Sleep and Focus Sounds
If you typed "Endel alternative" into a search box, you already know what you want: a sound app that runs quietly in the background, fits the moment you are in, and does not nag. Mindael is built for exactly that use, and it is free on the App Store. This page lists what a background-sound app has to get right, and shows how Mindael handles each point.
Mindael is a free iPhone app with more than 100 sounds made in our own studio: noise colors, rain and ocean, binaural beats from delta to gamma, and the nine solfeggio tones. It has Sleep, Focus, Relax and Move modes, a mixer, a timer and a breathing guide, and it works with no internet connection. If you want a background-sound app without a subscription to start, it is the one to try first.
What to look for, and how Mindael covers it
| What you need | In Mindael |
|---|---|
| Sounds for sleep, focus, relaxation and movement | Four modes: Sleep, Focus, Relax and Move, each with its own set of sounds and mixes |
| Real noise colors, not a single "white noise" | White, pink, brown and green noise, each measured to its spectrum |
| Binaural beats that are actually binaural | Delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma beats with a clean carrier tone, built for earbuds |
| Nature sounds that do not loop obviously | Long studio recordings of rain, ocean, wind, fire and forest |
| Layering | A mixer to combine sounds, for example brown noise under a delta beat |
| A timer that fades out | Sleep timer with a fade, so the sound ends without waking you |
| Works offline | Every sound is on the phone, so it plays on a flight or in a basement |
| Price | Free to download and use on the App Store |
What a background-sound app has to get right
The job of a background-sound app is to disappear. It should start fast, play something that fits the moment, and never pull you out of what you are doing. In practice that comes down to eight things, which is why the checklist above has eight rows. The sounds have to be good, the noise colors have to be real, the binaural beats have to be true two-channel beats rather than a pulsing tone, the nature recordings have to be long enough that you never hear the loop, and the app has to work with the phone in airplane mode.
How Mindael handles the sound itself
Our sounds are made in our own studio and measured. Brown noise is rendered with a 6 dB per octave slope, pink with 3 dB per octave, and we check the spectrum rather than trusting a preset. Binaural beats are generated as two carrier tones with the exact difference we state, so a 2 Hz delta beat is really 2 Hz. The nature recordings run for many minutes before they repeat. This matters because a 2017 sleep-lab study found that broadband sound cut the time to fall asleep by about 38 percent in people with transient insomnia, and that result depends on the sound being steady and full-spectrum.
Modes instead of guesswork
Mindael gives you four modes. Sleep has the noise colors, rain and ocean, and the delta and theta beats. Focus has brown noise, the beta and gamma beats and quieter ambient layers. Relax has the solfeggio tones, soft nature sounds and the breathing guide. Move has brighter, rhythmic sounds for a workout. You pick the mode, then one or two sounds, then the timer. Nothing changes under you while you are listening.
Who this is not for
If you want spoken sleep stories or a narrator guiding a meditation, Mindael is not that app. It is a sound app: noise, nature, beats and tones, with a breathing guide and nothing that talks over them.
How to switch in five minutes
- Download MindaelIt is free on the App Store, with no account needed to start listening.
- Pick a modeSleep for tonight, Focus for the next work block, Relax for the evening, Move for a workout.
- Choose one soundStart with brown noise or rain. Add a second layer only if the first one is not enough.
- Set the timerForty-five minutes for sleep, twenty-five or fifty for work.
- Keep the same mix for a weekThe effect of a background sound grows with habit. Decide, then stop changing it.
Try the free one first.
Before you pay for any background-sound app, see whether a free one already does the job. Mindael has more than 100 studio-made sounds, real binaural beats, a mixer and a sleep timer, and it works offline. If it covers your night and your work day, you are done.
- 100+ sounds made in our studio
- Sleep, Focus, Relax and Move modes
- Mixer, timer and breathing guide, works offline
Free · No account needed · Works offline Frequently asked questions
Is Mindael really free?
Yes. Mindael is free to download on the App Store and you can listen right away, with no account.
Does Mindael adapt the sound to the time of day?
You choose the mode, Sleep, Focus, Relax or Move, and the app offers the sounds and mixes that fit it. We prefer giving you the choice to guessing for you.
Can I use Mindael for sleep and for work with the same app?
Yes. Sleep mode has noise colors, nature sounds and delta beats; Focus mode has brown noise, beta and gamma beats and ambient layers.
Do the sounds work without internet?
Yes. Every sound ships inside the app, so it plays on a flight, in a basement or with mobile data off.
Is there an Android version?
Mindael is an iPhone app today.
Sources
- Messineo L, et al. Broadband sound administration improves sleep onset latency in healthy subjects in a model of transient insomnia. Frontiers in Neurology, 2017.
- Lane JD, Kasian SJ, Owens JE, Marsh GR. Binaural auditory beats affect vigilance performance and mood. Physiology & Behavior, 1998.
- Garcia-Argibay M, Santed MA, Reales JM. Efficacy of binaural auditory beats in cognition, anxiety, and pain perception: a meta-analysis. Psychological Research, 2019.