“Free” on the App Store means free to download, which tells you almost nothing. Here is exactly where our line sits, with no vagueness, so you can decide before installing rather than after a setup flow.
What you get without paying, forever
- One active protected alarm. A real system alarm through AlarmKit, ringing through Silent mode and Focus.
- The Wake Check. The full scan-to-dismiss mission with a QR code or barcode you register. This is not a crippled version; it is the same mechanic Pro users get.
- The bedtime safety check.
- Your 7 most recent history entries.
- Emergency dismissal. Always available, never paywalled.
- No ads. The free tier is not ad-supported, because there are no ads anywhere in Mornio.
On the free tier the app shows the status “Alarm ready” rather than “Protected”. That wording is deliberate: we do not tell you that you are protected when the follow-up layers are not active.
What the 3 Protected Mornings unlock
Every new user gets three mornings with the complete Pro experience. No card, no account, no trial that quietly converts. When they are used, they are used, and the app drops back to the free tier rather than locking you out.
Three is deliberately small, and it is enough to answer the only question that matters: does the stay-awake check actually get you up?
What needs Mornio Pro
- The stay-awake check and automatic restart. The follow-up prompt after you dismiss the alarm, and the restart if you ignore it. This is the main reason to pay.
- Backup alarm protection. The second alarm four minutes after the primary.
- Unlimited protected alarms. Free covers one active alarm; Pro removes the limit.
- Full alarm history, beyond the most recent 7 entries.
Free versus Pro, side by side
| Free | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Active protected alarms | 1 | Unlimited |
| QR / barcode Wake Check | Yes | Yes |
| Rings through Silent and Focus | Yes | Yes |
| Stay-awake check | No | Yes |
| Automatic restart | No | Yes |
| Backup alarm | No | Yes |
| Alarm history | 7 most recent | Full |
| Emergency dismissal | Yes | Yes |
| Status shown | “Alarm ready” | “Protected” |
| Ads | None | None |
| Account required | No | No |
Things we do not do
- No card for the trial. The three Protected Mornings need no payment details, so nothing can auto-convert.
- No onboarding wall. You are not asked a page of questions before finding out there is a price.
- No ads, on any tier.
- No account, free or paid. Purchases attach to your Apple Account, which is how restoring works on a new phone.
For context on how that compares, our guide to alarm apps you can actually use without paying looks at where every app in this category draws the line, including one whose listing states a subscription is required to set alarms at all.
Is the free tier actually usable?
Honestly: yes, if your problem is getting out of bed, and no, if your problem is getting back into it. The free tier gives you a reliable alarm you cannot dismiss without scanning a code across the room, which for a lot of people is the whole fix. What it does not give you is the follow-up check, which is the part that catches the relapse.
So the three Protected Mornings are the real test. If the stay-awake check catches you going back to bed, you know what you are paying for. If it never fires because you were already up, the free tier may be all you need, and that is a fine outcome.