Best bedtime story apps for kids: six options compared

The five criteria

Format comes first: audio narration the child listens to, or a text an adult reads aloud. Then personalization, such as the child's name or interests, and continuity, meaning a story that picks up from the night before rather than stand-alone stories. The last two are the entry price, with what it covers, and the device. All of these run on a phone, tablet or browser.

The information comes from each service's official site or App Store listing (US store). When a point isn't stated there, we write "not disclosed" rather than guess. Prices change often and can differ by country, so check the store before you subscribe.

Apps that read the story for you

Moshi offers sleep stories, meditations, sounds and music, more than 400 tracks in all, for $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year in the US after a 7-day free trial. Calm includes Sleep Stories for kids, some with characters like Peppa Pig and Winnie the Pooh, in Calm Premium, listed at $79.99 a year after a 7-day trial on Calm's US plans page.

Epic is a digital library for children 12 and under, with more than 40,000 books, audiobooks and videos, including Read-To-Me books. Its plans page doesn't show a price; the US App Store lists several monthly plans between $7.99 and $13.99. Audible ($8.99 a month for Standard in the US, £5.99 in the UK) is not a children's app, but its kids' audiobooks are an option for longer stories.

Apps that personalize the story

Oscar Stories uses AI to write a story where your child is the hero, with characters and professions you pick. You can read it, turn it into an AI-voiced audiobook or watch a video version.

The US App Store lists Premium at $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year, and coin packs for creating stories. The listing doesn't say whether one story continues the next night.

An app where you do the reading

Readmio is the closest to Lulio: you read the story aloud, and the app listens on the device and adds sounds and music at the right words. It has more than 500 stories and a few free ones to try.

The US App Store lists subscriptions including $5.99 a month and $39.99 a year. Readmio's site doesn't mention putting your child's name in the story.

Where Lulio fits

Lulio has no audio narration: the text is written to be read aloud by a parent, in 5, 10 or 15 minutes, and your child has no screen to watch. Each evening brings a new episode of a 3 to 7 episode saga starring your child as the hero, where siblings, pets and comfort toys can play a part. A child who has to fall asleep without an adult is better served by an app with audio narration.

Lulio costs €12.99 a month with VAT included, or €19.99 for the Family plan, billed in euros. That is more than Moshi, Readmio or Oscar Stories. The first episode is free, no credit card needed, and you can cancel at any time. Lulio is a website, with a free Android app that sends a notification when the episode is ready; on iPhone, it runs in the browser.

How to choose

If your child needs to listen without you, pick Moshi, Calm or an audiobook service, and use the free trial first. If you want to read together, Readmio adds sound to stories from its library, and Lulio writes a saga around your child with characters who come back. Either way, check the billing period of the price before you subscribe.