A Soft Murmur vs myNoise

A Soft Murmur

• Masking noise in a library, coffee shop or shared office
• People who want ambient sound in a browser tab at no cost
• Falling asleep to rain or waves with a fade-out timer

myNoise

• People masking office chatter or household noise while they work
• Listeners who want to tune each layer of a soundscape themselves
• Sleep, tinnitus relief and meditation as well as focus
• Anyone who prefers a one-time payment to a subscription

A Soft Murmur

• The free web app has 10 sounds; the other 15 in its list need Pro at $14.99 a year.
• The mobile apps include four sounds free, and the rest are in-app purchases.
• The site's upgrade screen says Pro's extra sounds work on the web and Android only; the iOS release notes say Pro accounts get its added sounds, and others buy packs.
• There is no desktop app. The App Store's latest version is dated 10/13/2023 and Google Play shows the Android app as updated on Aug 23, 2023.

myNoise

• Free visitors see only a curated selection of generators; the full index needs a donation.
• A website donation does not unlock the mobile apps, which are sold separately through the app stores.
• App pricing is not on the website: the US App Store lists unlocks at $14.99 and $19.99, and Google Play lists in-app items from $0.99 to $24.99.
• The sounds are for personal use only; commercial or public use needs a license from myNoise.

A Soft Murmur

Sound mixer

Each sound has its own volume slider. The free web app carries rain, thunder, waves, wind, fire, birds, crickets, a coffee shop, a singing bowl and white noise, and up to 10 sounds can be active at once.

Meander

With Meander switched on, the volume of every active sound drifts up and down at random, so the mix keeps changing instead of looping at fixed levels.

Timers

A timer can stop the sounds after a set period, start them after a delay, or fade them out gradually, which the site suggests for falling asleep.

Saved and shared mixes

Mixes can be named, saved and switched between. A mix can be shared as a link, and the web app has share buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and Tumblr.

Extra sounds with Pro

The web app lists 15 Pro sounds, among them brown and pink noise, two fan speeds, air conditioning, a city, a stream, a waterfall, three more rain recordings, cicadas and frogs.

Offline mobile apps

The iPhone, iPad and Android apps store their sounds on the device, play without a connection and keep running in the background alongside music or podcasts.

myNoise

Adjustable sound generators

Each soundscape has its own sliders, so you set the level of every layer, such as waves, wind and rain, instead of playing a fixed recording.

Noise colors and speech masking

White Noise & Co plays white, pink, brown and gray noise, and the Speech Blocker generator is set to the average speech spectrum to cover background chatter.

Generators grouped by purpose

The index sorts sounds by use, including focus, sleep, tinnitus relief, ADHD, open-plan offices, baby sleep, relaxing music and binaural beats.

Animation and advanced controls

Patrons get Animation Control, which moves the sliders over time, plus slider randomization and tape speed control on every generator.

Community sound combinations

Patrons can browse thousands of user-made combinations on the Community page, and post, vote and comment on them.

Mobile apps with offline listening

The app's store listing describes 300+ soundscapes, a Creation Mode that combines up to 10 sliders from any soundscape, a meditation bell and offline listening.

A Soft Murmur

• Free$0

  Ten sounds on the website with the mixer, Meander, timers and saved mixes; four sounds in the iPhone and Android apps.

• iOS sound packs$1.99 to $3.99

  per pack, US App Store in-app purchase

  Unlock all default sounds is $3.99, described as a one-off purchase, and adds the six sounds beyond the free four. Six themed packs cost $1.99 to $3.99 each.

• Android in-app purchases$2.49 to $14.99

  per item on Google Play (US); the basis is not shown

  The listing says a single in-app purchase unlocks six of the app's ten sounds, and shows only a price range for its in-app items.

• A Soft Murmur Pro$14.99

  per year, or local currency equivalent

  A yearly license bought on the website through Paddle: the 15 extra sounds in the web app's list, plus any web sounds released later.

myNoise

• Free$0

  The ad-free website with a curated selection of sound generators, and the mobile apps with a selection of free soundscapes.

• Patron (recurring)$5

  per month, donation; cancel anytime

  Lifetime privileged access to the website, kept after canceling, plus the private Slack discussion board for monthly donors.

• Patron (one time)$10 to $30

  one-time donation

  Lifetime website access: all generators, advanced controls, favorites, cloud sync of settings, and MP3 downloads that scale with the donation.

• Mobile app unlock$14.99 or $19.99

  one-time purchase, US App Store

  Unlocks the whole catalog in the iOS app for life. The listing shows All You Can Hear at $14.99 and Full Access at $19.99 without explaining the difference.

A Soft Murmur

No public discounts listed.

myNoise

• Lifetime license

  Any donation gives lifetime website access

  A one-time donation of $10 to $30, or a $5 monthly contribution that can be canceled at any time, gives lifetime privileged access to myNoise.net.