Free vs Premium Fitbit App for Calculating Sleep Score
Who needs a Sleep Tracker?
The Fitbit app is one of the best apps for those who have a sleeping disorder such as insomnia or sleep apnea.
It’s an easy way to track your sleep score and get advice on how to improve it.
By understanding their sleep habits, those who have sleeping disorders can try to improve them by using the app in conjunction with other tools such as meditation or changing their diet.
The Fitbit App
There are many apps out there that can help you track your sleep. One of the most popular is the free Fitbit app. This app is available for both iOS and Android devices and it will help you track your sleep score.
The Free Fitbit App
The free Fitbit app allows you to create a sleep score based on how many hours of sleep you get in a night.
You can input data from the last week or month so that you will have a better idea of how much time you need to spend sleeping in order to reach certain milestones such as losing weight or improving your health.
The Fitbit Premium
The Fitbit Premium is the most advanced version of the device. It comes with a heart rate monitor and can track your health in detail.
It can help you to get a better sleep score by tracking your sleep patterns and waking up at the optimal time for you.
However, it will cost you more than the regular Fitbit.
Is the Fitbit Premium worth the money?
The premium version is worth the extra money if you want to overcome your sleep disorder or looking for better quality and more thorough sleep analysis.
The information given below is taken from the Fitbit Community page.
“All Fitbit users will continue to have access to their time asleep, sleep schedule, sleep quality details, as well as weekly hours slept compared to their sleep schedule.
“Additionally, all Fitbit users with a device capable of heart-rate tracking will also see their sleep stages and sleep score”.
“Premium members will see all of the above, and also receive a deeper analysis of how their sleep score is calculated”.
“This deeper analysis includes visibility into sub-scores for time asleep, deep and REM sleep stages, and restoration details, which provides analysis of your sleeping heart rate and time spent tossing and turning”.
Check the graph below to see what’s included in the Premium subscription and the information that’s free in the app:
| Premium subscription | Free in the Fitbit app | |
| Sleep schedule | ✓ | ✓ |
| Quality: Deep & REM sleep stages | ✓ | ✓ |
| Analysis of sleep stages | ✓ | ✓ |
| Duration: Time asleep and awake | ✓ | ✓ |
| Analysis of sleep duration | ✓ | |
| Restoration: Sleeping heart rate & restlessness | ✓ | |
| Analysis of sleeping heart rate & restlessness | ✓ |
I’m certain that the information provided here will be helpful for you to choose the free app or premium based on your need.
However, if you choose to go for a premium, it is advisable to use the free version and see some progress and then upgrade to a premium, so that the extra money you spend will be worth it.
The premium subscription costs $9.99/month or $79.99/year (in January 2022)
It is also helpful to know the additional features in the free and premium apps (apart from sleep score) so you can make an informed decision.
There are other features like ‘Stress Management Score Breakdown’, ‘Health Metrics’, and ‘Wellness Report’ in the premium version that can help you better understand how you sleep and whether or not you need to change something in order to get better rest.
Relevant Article:
Fitbit Free vs. Fitbit Premium for healthy living
