Best Moshi Alternatives for Kids in 2026: 7 Bedtime Options

What Moshi does, and why families look elsewhere

Moshi is a bedtime audio app set in the world of Moshi Monsters: stories, sleep sounds, white noise, lullabies, music, and guided meditations and breathing exercises for children aged 0 to 12. It is ad-free and paid by subscription. Moshi Families usually look for an alternative for one of these reasons:

• Your child wants pictures. Moshi is something to listen to. Some children settle better with a page to look at and a story they can see finishing.
• Your child has outgrown the characters. Every Moshi story lives in one world.
• You want no phone in the room. A dedicated player or a speaker can do the job.
• You would rather not pay for a subscription, or you already pay for Calm or Amazon Kids+.

Quick comparison

The 7 alternatives, by what you need

Storyboat

Best for: illustrated stories that end.

Storyboat is a library of original illustrated stories that unfold one illustration and one sentence at a time. In Play mode, a narrator reads each line while the words light up. In Read mode, you turn the pages and read in your own voice. Each story runs about 4 to 7 minutes of narration and ends on a The End page, where the background music plays on for a time you choose (off, or 5, 10, 20 or 30 minutes, 10 by default), fades out, and lets the screen sleep. Several stories are written to wind down: in The Wandering Yawn, one small yawn travels around the world and lands last of all on the listener. There are no third-party ads. It runs on the web, iOS and Android. Storyboat

Why choose it: your child settles with a picture to look at, and you want a story that clearly ends rather than audio that keeps going.

Worth knowing: it uses a screen, which some families keep out of the bedroom. It has no sleep sounds, white noise or meditations, and no offline download.

How you pay: some stories are free with an account, and a subscription unlocks the full library.

Calm

Best for: kids’ sleep stories with familiar characters.

Calm’s children’s content lives inside the main Calm app. Its help center describes Calm Kids Sleep Stories with familiar characters such as Peppa Pig, Minions and Winnie the Pooh, new kids’ stories two to three times a month, plus meditations and lullabies. Calm says it never shows ads. Calm

Why choose it: a parent already subscribes to Calm, or your child would follow a favourite character to sleep.

Worth knowing: Calm is mainly an adult app, so the children’s section is one part of it. The maker does not give an age range for Calm Kids.

How you pay: free to download, with some content free and the rest by subscription.

Headspace

Best for: short guided wind-downs by age.

Headspace offers meditations for children in three age groups, 3–5, 6–8 and 9–12, including Goodnight and Sleep Tight for bedtime, alongside series on calm, kindness and paying attention. They come with a Headspace subscription. Headspace

Why choose it: you want a short breathing or relaxation practice rather than a story.

Worth knowing: it is meditation, not storytelling, and the main app is built for adults.

How you pay: subscription.

Sleepiest

Best for: one sleep app for the whole family.

Sleepiest offers over 350 bedtime stories, 200 sleep meditations and 150 sleep sounds, which its listing says are designed for adults, kids and babies. A mixer lets you layer sounds such as rain and ocean, and the app includes sleep tracking for the account holder. Sleepiest

Why choose it: the adults in the house want a sleep app too, and one subscription can cover everyone.

Worth knowing: its listing does not describe a separate children’s section or parental controls.

How you pay: subscription with a free trial.

Yoto

Best for: a screen-free player in the bedroom.

Yoto is a set-up rather than an app: children slot a physical card into a Yoto Player or Yoto Mini to play stories, music and podcasts, from 1,000+ titles. The Player has a night light and sleep sounds, and parents set volume limits and day and night modes from the Yoto app. Yoto says its players suit ages 3 and up. Yoto

Why choose it: you want no phone in the room, and a child who can choose and start a story by themselves.

Worth knowing: you buy the player up front, and cards add to the cost. There are no pictures.

How you pay: buy a player, then cards. Some audio, such as Yoto Radio, is free through the app.

Amazon Kids+ Sleep Studio

Best for: bedtime audio on a smart speaker.

Sleep Studio, launched in June 2026, turns an Echo into a bedtime player with stories, guided meditations and calming sounds from Calm, Headspace and Moshi, including Moshi stories set in the Moshi Monsters world. Amazon says a 30-minute wind-down begins automatically at bedtime. It works on Echo Dot Kids, Echo Pop Kids and other compatible Echo devices with an Amazon Kids+ profile. Amazon

Why choose it: your child loves Moshi but you would rather use a speaker than a phone, or you already pay for Amazon Kids+.

Worth knowing: it needs an Echo and an Amazon Kids+ subscription. Amazon’s announcement does not give an age range.

How you pay: included with Amazon Kids+ at no extra cost; Echo Kids devices come with 6 or 12 months of it.

Storynory

Best for: free audio stories.

Storynory has published free audio stories for children since 2005: original stories, fairy tales, classic authors, myths and poems, read aloud by its narrators. You can listen on its website or as a podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Storynory

Why choose it: you want a deep, free archive of stories to listen to.

Worth knowing: the archive runs from fairy tales to classical myths, and the site does not give ages, so preview a story before bedtime with a younger child. There are no sleep sounds or meditations.

How you pay: free.

Which alternative should you choose?

• If your child settles with pictures and a clear ending, choose Storyboat.
• If a favourite character would help, choose Calm.
• If you want breathing and relaxation rather than a story, choose Headspace.
• If the whole family wants a sleep app, choose Sleepiest.
• If you want no screen in the bedroom, choose Yoto, or Sleep Studio on an Echo.
• If you want free, choose Storynory.

If you are mainly after the stories themselves, our guide to calm bedtime stories explains what makes a story wind down rather than wind up.

How we compared these alternatives

We read each product’s official website, help center or App Store listing in October 2026, and recorded what the maker says about format, ads, ages and how you pay. Calm’s website did not load for us, so its children’s content is described from its help center as indexed by search, and its pricing from its App Store listing. Where a maker does not say something, the table says so. The “best for” labels are our editorial judgment of what each product is designed to do, not scores. We describe Storyboat from its live story library and the app itself.

We did not test the apps over weeks or measure any effect on sleep. Prices are left out because they vary by country and change often. For a wider comparison, see the best bedtime story apps, and for a checklist you can use on any app, how to choose a bedtime story app.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good alternative to Moshi?

It depends on what you want bedtime to look and sound like. For illustrated stories that end, narrated or read by you, choose Storyboat. For kids' sleep stories with familiar characters, Calm. For short guided wind-downs by age, Headspace. For one sleep app for the whole family, Sleepiest. For a screen-free player in the bedroom, Yoto. For Moshi, Calm and Headspace audio on an Echo, Amazon Kids+ Sleep Studio. For free audio stories, Storynory.

Is there a free alternative to Moshi?

Storynory has offered free audio stories for children since 2005, on its website and as a podcast. Calm is free to download, with some content free and the rest by subscription. Storyboat has some stories free with an account. Storynory · Calm

Is there a bedtime story app with pictures, not just audio?

Storyboat shows an illustration with every sentence, with narration in Play mode or your own voice in Read mode. Vooks animates picture books. Moshi, Calm, Headspace, Sleepiest, Yoto and Storynory are listening experiences. Our Vooks alternatives guide covers more picture-led options.

Does Amazon Kids+ include Moshi?

Yes. Amazon Kids+ Sleep Studio, launched in June 2026, brings stories, meditations and calming sounds from Moshi, Calm and Headspace to Echo devices with an Amazon Kids+ profile, at no extra cost to the subscription. Amazon

References

1. Mind Candy. Moshi Kids: Sleep, Relax, Play on the App Store. Consulted October 2026.
2. Storyboat. Story library and The Wandering Yawn. Live public catalog (English stories, ages 3–8, narration about 4–7 minutes) and web/mobile player, including the end page’s music timer, checked October 2026. First-party description.
3. Calm. Calm Kids, Calm Help Center (search-indexed text consulted; the page did not load directly), and Calm on the App Store. Consulted October 2026.
4. Headspace. Headspace for Kids. Consulted October 2026.
5. Happiest Ltd. Sleepiest Meditation for Sleep on the App Store. Consulted October 2026.
6. Yoto. Yoto and Yoto: Music, Stories, Sleep on the App Store. Consulted October 2026.
7. Amazon. Echo Kids devices are the ultimate bedtime companion: Amazon Kids launches Sleep Studio. Press release, June 9, 2026. Consulted October 2026.
8. Storynory. Free Audio Stories for Kids. Consulted October 2026.