NOOPAn honest comparison
Same signals.
A very different deal.
NOOP reads the same band you already own and answers the same questions the subscription apps do. The difference is the deal around it: no price, no account, no cloud, and data that stays yours. Here is the whole picture, the wins and the honest limits, side by side.
Where we win plainly
Three things you can check yourself.
These are not opinions or benchmarks. They are facts about how each app is built, and they hold whichever band you wear.
Free, forever
No subscription, no trial, no locked screen, no “pro” tier. Every feature is included from the first launch. The subscription apps put their scores behind a recurring monthly fee.
Private by design
NOOP reads your strap over Bluetooth and does all the maths on your device. No account to create, nothing uploaded. There is no server to breach because there is no server.
Your data, owned
Everything lives in a plain SQLite file on your own device. Import your existing WHOOP CSV and Apple Health history, and export your data back out whenever you like. It is yours to keep.
NOOP is an independent project and is not affiliated with WHOOP or Oura.
The same answers, on your screen
This is what you get for nothing.
Charge, Effort and Rest, read straight from your own band and computed on your device. The same daily picture the subscription apps charge for, with every number a tap away from its own explanation.
- Recovery, strain and sleep at a glance
- HRV, resting heart rate, stress and fitness age
- No subscription, no account, no upload
Line by line
The whole picture, nothing hidden.
Compared against the official WHOOP and Oura phone apps. Where a row is about the deal, NOOP leads. Where it is about proprietary scoring, we say so plainly.
| NOOP | WHOOP app | Oura app | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The deal | |||
| Price | Free, forever | Monthly subscription | Monthly subscription |
| Subscription required | No | Yes | Yes |
| Account required | No | Yes | Yes |
| Keeps working if you stop paying | Always | No, scores lock | No, scores lock |
| Your privacy | |||
| Sends data to a cloud | Never | Yes | Yes |
| Your data leaves your device | Never | Yes | Yes |
| Works fully offline | Yes, end to end | No | No |
| You own and export your data | Yes, plain SQLite | Limited | Limited |
| Reach and openness | |||
| One app, multiple bands | WHOOP + Oura | WHOOP only | Oura only |
| Source available | Yes, read it yourself | No | No |
| The scores | |||
| Recovery, strain and sleep scoring | Independent, open methods | Proprietary algorithm | Proprietary algorithm |
| Every score explained | Tap to see the maths | Black box | Black box |
Swipe the table to compare →
We compare on price, privacy, ownership and openness, where the difference is plain and provable. We do not claim to match either app number for number on their proprietary scores, and we never will pretend to. NOOP is not affiliated with WHOOP or Oura.
Not a stripped-back free app
A whole app, included from launch.
Nothing is held back behind a tier. Coach, workouts, score breakdowns and settings all ship in the one free download. Here are a few of the real screens.
Every score is tap-to-explain, and the methods behind them are open to read.
The same questions. Answered without a subscription.
How recovered are you, how hard did you go, how well did you sleep. NOOP answers all three from your own heart rate and HRV, computed on your device, and shows you exactly how. No account, no cloud, no monthly fee.
Where we are honest
The limits, up front.
- We do not have their algorithms. WHOOP and Oura score your data with private, in-house models. NOOP does not have those and does not pretend to. We built our own, from open science, in the open.
- Our scores are independent approximations. NOOP's Charge, Effort and Rest trace to published, peer-reviewed methods you can read and check. They aim at the same questions, so they track in direction, but they will not match either app number for number. That is honest, not a flaw.
- WHOOP 5.0 and Oura support is still building. WHOOP 4.0 is the fully tested path. WHOOP 5.0 and MG give live heart rate today with deeper metrics in progress, and Oura Ring 3, 4 and 5 read locally over Bluetooth in beta. We label each one plainly.
- Not a medical device. Nothing in NOOP is medical advice or a diagnosis. Derived metrics are approximations, not clinical data.
- Not affiliated. NOOP is an independent, unofficial interoperability project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to WHOOP or Oura. Those names are used only to identify the hardware NOOP talks to.
The other cost
A subscription can turn your band into e-waste.
The day you stop paying, a subscription app stops scoring, and a perfectly good strap can end up in a drawer or a bin. We already throw away electronics faster than we can recycle them. Keeping a device you own working is the most sustainable thing you can do with it.
Sources: UN / ITU / UNITAR Global E-waste Monitor 2024 (ewastemonitor.info); abandonment estimate via Gartner. Wearables are typically obsolete in two to three years, glued shut and hard to repair.
The sustainable choice
The most sustainable wearable is the one you already own.
- No subscription that can brick it. NOOP keeps the strap you bought useful for years. There is no monthly fee to lapse, no “pro” tier to expire, and no forced upgrade. Stop here whenever you like and nothing locks.
- On‑device means no data‑centre energy. Every reading is decoded and scored on your own device. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no server burning power per night's sleep, and nothing for a company to switch off.
- Open and local can outlive any one company. Because the methods are open and the data stays on your device in a plain SQLite file you can export, NOOP does not depend on any company staying in business, or staying interested, to keep your band alive.
Honest framing: NOOP cannot stop hardware ageing, and we make no environmental certification. The point is simpler. A band you keep using is a band that is not yet waste.
No black box
See the working behind every number.
Because our methods are open, you can read exactly how each score is built, cite for cite, and check it for yourself. The subscription apps cannot offer that. We think the honest answer is the better one.
Make the switch
Keep your band. Drop the subscription.
Mac, Android and iPhone. No store account, no card, no catch.