Sleep debt · Energy · Shift-aware recovery
Looking for a
RISE alternative for shift work?
RISE is one of the most popular sleep apps on the App Store, and for people who sleep at roughly the same time each night its sleep-debt and energy forecasts are useful. It has a harder time with shift work, and RISE says so itself. AfterShift starts from your roster: it measures the sleep between shifts, counts daytime sleep and naps, and times your caffeine cut-off to your next start.
How does AfterShift compare to RISE?
RISE is a general sleep and energy app; AfterShift is a narrow tool for one kind of schedule.
What a day looks like to the app
AfterShift: The unit is the window between the end of one shift and the start of the next, whatever the clock says. Seven hours of daytime sleep before a night shift counts the same as seven at night.
RISE: Built around a regular sleep rhythm. Its Melatonin Window and energy schedule assume your body clock has settled into a pattern.
RISE: Built around a regular sleep rhythm. Its Melatonin Window and energy schedule assume your body clock has settled into a pattern.
Daytime sleep and naps
AfterShift: Reads daytime sleep from Apple Health like any other sleep, and naps count toward the sleep between your shifts. A 25-minute nap timer on the Lock Screen logs the nap when you end it.
RISE: Its help centre says it doesn't record daytime sleep automatically, so you may see gaps; the fix is logging naps by hand from the Home tab.
RISE: Its help centre says it doesn't record daytime sleep automatically, so you may see gaps; the fix is logging naps by hand from the Home tab.
Sleep debt and energy
AfterShift: A free sleep-debt trend per shift cycle, labelled Building, Stable, or Recovering. Premium adds Readiness, a Low, OK, or Good rating for your next shift. There is no energy forecast.
RISE: Its best-known features are sleep debt against a sleep need it estimates for you, and an energy schedule predicting your daily peaks and dips. RISE says sleep debt tracking works on any schedule.
RISE: Its best-known features are sleep debt against a sleep need it estimates for you, and an energy schedule predicting your daily peaks and dips. RISE says sleep debt tracking works on any schedule.
Caffeine
AfterShift: A cut-off reminder timed to your next shift that adapts to the dose you drink and your caffeine sensitivity.
RISE: A caffeine cut-off among its habit reminders, timed to your circadian rhythm as RISE estimates it, the same estimate behind the Melatonin Window.
RISE: A caffeine cut-off among its habit reminders, timed to your circadian rhythm as RISE estimates it, the same estimate behind the Melatonin Window.
Platforms and devices
AfterShift: iPhone only, with widgets and a Live Activity. No Watch app; reads sleep from any source in Apple Health.
RISE: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Android. Can estimate sleep from your phone alone, or read Apple Health, Fitbit, Oura and others.
RISE: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Android. Can estimate sleep from your phone alone, or read Apple Health, Fitbit, Oura and others.
Privacy and price
AfterShift: No account and no third-party SDKs; data stays on your iPhone. Free to use; Premium $3.99/month, $24.99/year, or $39.99 lifetime.
RISE: $69.99/year after a 7-day trial; a subscription or trial is needed to use the app. Privacy label lists identifiers as data used to track you.
RISE: $69.99/year after a 7-day trial; a subscription or trial is needed to use the app. Privacy label lists identifiers as data used to track you.
AfterShift vs RISE, feature by feature
As listed on the U.S. App Store and each developer's site in October 2026.
| Feature | AfterShift | RISE: Sleep Tracker |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Night, rotating and on-call schedules | Regular sleepers; usable on shifts with limits |
| Main score | Sleep debt and Readiness measured between shifts; Shift Recovery Score per sleep (Premium) | Sleep debt and energy |
| Daytime sleep | Counted like night sleep | Not recorded automatically |
| Naps | Included in the sleep between shifts | Logged by hand |
| Shift schedule | Rotation presets or your own 1 to 28 day cycle, calendar import, on-call shifts | Calendar integration; no shift-schedule features listed |
| Caffeine timing | Cut-off tied to your next shift | Cut-off reminder timed to your estimated circadian rhythm |
| Sleep stages | Used when your tracker records them | Deliberately not tracked |
| Platforms | iPhone only | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Android |
| Needed to start | Nothing: free tier, no account | A subscription or free trial |
| Tracking | None | Identifiers, per its privacy label |
| Pricing | Free; Premium $3.99/mo, $24.99/yr, $39.99 lifetime | 7-day trial, then $69.99/yr |
| Best for | Shift workers who want recovery measured shift to shift | Regular schedules, energy planning, Android or Watch users |
Who should pick AfterShift vs RISE?
Pick AfterShift if…
- You work nights, rotations or on-call, and your main sleep often happens in daylight
- You nap around your shifts and want those naps counted in the sleep between them
- You want a caffeine cut-off tied to your next shift
- You want a free tier, no account and no tracking
Stick with RISE if…
- You keep fairly regular hours and like planning your day around energy peaks and dips
- You want to track sleep with no wearable at all, using your phone
- You use Android, an iPad or the Apple Watch app
- You already have months of RISE history and its sleep-debt number works for you
About AfterShift
Questions
FAQ
What is the best alternative to RISE for shift workers?
If your sleep keeps moving because of night, rotating, or on-call shifts, AfterShift is built for that case. It measures each window between your shifts, whenever it falls, counts daytime sleep and naps toward the sleep in that window, and times the caffeine cut-off to your next shift. Premium adds a Shift Recovery Score for each sleep and a Readiness rating for your next shift. If you keep regular hours and want a sleep-debt and energy forecast, RISE is the more complete app.
Does RISE work for night shifts?
Partly, by its own account. RISE's help centre says it can still help on overnight or changing schedules and that sleep debt tracking, the Smart Alarm and its relaxation tools work on any schedule. It also says the Melatonin Window may not be a reliable bedtime guide if your schedule rotates, and that RISE doesn't record daytime sleep automatically, so you may need to log naps by hand.
How is AfterShift different from RISE?
RISE predicts your energy peaks and dips from your circadian rhythm and tracks sleep debt against a sleep need it estimates for you. AfterShift starts from your roster: it measures the window between the end of one shift and the start of the next, naps included, tracks sleep debt cycle by cycle, and plans the next sleep window and caffeine cut-off around the shift ahead. With Premium, each sleep gets a Shift Recovery Score built from duration, continuity, and stages, and Readiness rates whether the sleep in the window is enough for your next shift.
How much do RISE and AfterShift cost?
RISE Premium is $69.99 a year on the U.S. App Store after a 7-day free trial, and its listing says a subscription or trial is required to access app content. AfterShift is free to download and use, with Apple Health sleep import, the rotation builder, calendar import from one calendar, and shift-timed reminders including the caffeine cut-off. Premium is $3.99 a month, $24.99 a year, or $39.99 once for lifetime, and Family Sharing is on for every plan.
Do I need an Apple Watch for either app?
No. RISE can estimate sleep from your phone and also reads Apple Health, Apple Watch, Fitbit, Oura, and other trackers, and it has its own Apple Watch app. AfterShift has no Watch app, and an iPhone records no sleep on its own, so AfterShift imports sleep that an Apple Watch or any sleep app saves to Apple Health. You can also log naps in the app. A tracker that records sleep stages adds the Sleep Stages breakdown; without stage data, the scores use neutral values for that part.
What about privacy?
AfterShift has no account, no analytics, no third-party SDKs, and no cloud sync; your data stays on your iPhone and is never sent to a server. RISE's App Store privacy label lists identifiers as data used to track you, and health and fitness, contact info, identifiers, usage data, and diagnostics as data linked to you.
Try it
Open AfterShift.
AfterShift measures recovery between your shifts and counts daytime sleep and naps. It needs no account and keeps your data on your iPhone.
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