The best free white noise apps for ADHD homework, compared

Some children with ADHD swear they work better with a fan humming or a noise playing in their headphones. Their brothers and sisters often say the opposite. A 2024 review suggests both can be right. This guide covers what that research found, how to test it at home in two evenings, and the free and paid apps that play steady background noise, with what each one actually costs. We checked every app's own website on 30 October 2026.

What the research says

In 2024, a team led by Joel Nigg pooled the experiments that had tested white or pink noise (steady, hissing or rushing sounds) while people did a task. Across 13 studies of children and young adults with ADHD or high levels of attention problems, noise gave a small but real improvement in task performance. Across 11 studies of people without ADHD, the same noise made performance slightly worse. The reviewers rated their confidence in the result as moderate, and they found no studies of brown noise (a deeper rumble) at all.

So noise isn't a treatment, and it won't suit every child. But "turn that off and concentrate" may be the wrong rule for some kids with ADHD, and the right one for their siblings.

How to test it at home

• Two similar evenings. One with steady noise at a low volume, one in quiet. Same kind of homework, same time of day.
• Count, don't ask. How many questions got done, and how many were right? How it felt is useful, but children often prefer whatever is more fun.
• Keep it quiet enough to talk over. The studies used noise in the background, not loud music.
• Try headphones if there's a sibling. The same sound that helps one child can bother the other.

The apps, compared

iPhone Background Sounds

Already on your iPhone, nothing to download. Apple's support page says you can start it from Control Center, and it plays sounds including ocean, rain and bright noise. The settings live under Settings, Accessibility, Audio & Visual, Background Sounds, where you can also set a timer.

Best for: trying noise tonight with no new app and no account.

myNoise

A website and app built around noise. Its home page offers white, pink, brown and even grey noise, and says a selection of its library is free. It runs on donations: the site lists a $5 a month patron option and one-off gifts. The iOS and Android app is a free download with a selection of free soundscapes.

Best for: parents who want to try the exact kinds of noise the studies used, and to fine-tune the sound.

Noisli

Noisli's free plan is $0 and includes 16 sounds with up to 1.5 hours of streaming a day. Its sounds include white, pink and brown noise. Pro costs $10 a month, billed yearly (USD). It works on the web, as a Chrome extension and on iOS and Android. The home page plays a short preview and then asks you to create a free account.

Best for: a homework session of up to an hour and a half, mixing noise with rain or a café sound.

Calm

Calm is known for meditation, but its blog links to white noise and brown noise tracks. It advertises 14 days free. We couldn't load its pricing page, so we can't tell you today's price.

Best for: a family that already pays for Calm.

Brain.fm

A paid app of music made for focus, on the web, iOS, Android and desktop. Its pricing page lists $14.99 billed monthly or $99.99 billed annually, with a free trial. It doesn't list white, pink or brown noise, and the noise studies above didn't test it.

Best for: an older student who works better with music than with noise.

Endel

A paid app of generated soundscapes for focus and sleep, on phones, computers, smart speakers and TVs. We couldn't confirm its current prices from its own site, and its page doesn't name white, pink or brown noise.

Best for: hard to recommend for this purpose over the free options.

Versed Study sounds

Our own. Versed Study makes brown noise and rain in your browser, with a volume slider, no account and nothing streamed. Brown noise is deeper than the white and pink noise in the studies, and it hasn't been tested for ADHD, so treat it as something to try rather than something proven. You can also play it inside a study room, where other students work quietly alongside you on a shared timer.

Best for: a free sound and a body double in one tab, on a school laptop where you can't install apps.

Which one should you start with?

If your child has an iPhone, start with Background Sounds tonight. On a laptop, try myNoise's free white or pink noise, or Versed Study's brown noise. If neither changes how much homework gets done after a fair test, quiet may simply suit your child better, and that's useful to know too. If you're weighing other focus tools, our guide to free focus timers for ADHD and the one on body doubling pair well with this.

References

• Nigg, J. T., Bruton, A., Kozlowski, M. B., Johnstone, J. M., & Karalunas, S. L. (2024). Systematic review and meta-analysis: Do white noise or pink noise help with task performance in youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or with elevated attention problems? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 63(8), 778-788.
• Apple Support, Use Background Sounds on iPhone (support.apple.com/en-us/109346); mynoise.net; noisli.com/pricing; calm.com blog; brain.fm/pricing; endel.io. All read 30 October 2026.