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SleepHQ vs OSCAR: which should you use for your CPAP data?

SleepHQ and OSCAR are the two names that come up first when a CPAP user asks how to see more than the manufacturer's app shows. They take the same input, the SD card, and go in opposite directions with it. OSCAR is free, open source, desktop-only and shows everything. SleepHQ is a paid cloud service with a phone app, a community, and a gentler presentation. The right choice in SleepHQ vs OSCAR depends mostly on three things: whether you want your data on a phone, whether you are willing to pay, and how deep you want to go.

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SleepHQ vs OSCAR: two product cards with price, machines, phone app and key features

What each one is

OSCAR (Open Source CPAP Analysis Reporter) is a free desktop application for Windows, Mac and Linux, maintained by volunteers. You insert the SD card into a reader, import, and the data lives in a local database on that computer. It reads ResMed, Philips, Fisher & Paykel, Löwenstein and other brands. There is no phone app, no cloud and no built-in sharing. The interface is dense and the learning curve is steep, but the depth is unmatched: every channel the machine records, zoomable to the breath.

SleepHQ is a cloud platform. You upload the card through its web tool, or with the Magic Uploader Pro hardware accessory for ResMed machines (AU$399, requires Pro, listed as sold out at the time of writing), and the charts appear in the browser and the iOS app (4.7 stars, 609 ratings). It supports 57 machine models across 5 brands including ResMed, Philips, Löwenstein, Fisher & Paykel and BMC. It has a community forum, AI insights on Pro, and supports one oximeter: the SleepHQ-branded O2 Ring. Pro is US $14.90/month or $149/year. The free tier allows one device, one member and 30 days of history, with no Health sync and no community access.

Side-by-side comparison

Neither reads the ResMed AirMini, which has no SD card.

Feature	SleepHQ	OSCAR
Price	Pro: US $14.90/month or $149/year	Free
Free tier	1 device, 1 member, 30 days, no Health sync, no community	Everything is free
Machines supported	57 models, 5 brands incl. ResMed, Philips, Löwenstein, F&P, BMC	ResMed, Philips, F&P, Löwenstein and others
Phone app	iOS (4.7 stars, 609 ratings); Android	None; Windows, Mac, Linux desktop only
Apple Health	Not on Free; Pro	No
Oximeters	SleepHQ-branded O2 Ring only	Several models
Waveforms	Yes	Yes, every recorded channel, breath-level zoom
PDF report		Print or export of the current view
Sharing	Community forum; clinician sharing	None; screenshots or printouts
AI	AI insights, Pro only	None
Privacy model	Cloud, under SleepHQ's policy	Entirely local; nothing leaves your computer

Where OSCAR wins

Cost. Free, with no tiers and no account.

Depth. OSCAR's daily view can show flow rate, pressure, leak, flow limitation, snore, minute ventilation, tidal volume, respiratory rate, inspiration and expiration time, and more, each as a continuous trace. You can zoom to a 30-second window and watch individual breaths flatten before an event is flagged. SleepHQ presents a curated subset.

Privacy. No server, no upload. Your data is as private as the computer it is on.

Longevity. An open-source desktop tool does not depend on a company staying in business. Your local database is yours.

Where SleepHQ wins

Phone access. OSCAR has none. SleepHQ puts your nights in your pocket.

Presentation. SleepHQ's charts are built to be read by a person who has not studied the OSCAR wiki. For many users the difference between "I check it every morning" and "I imported once and never opened it again" is exactly this.

Community. SleepHQ has a forum inside the product where members share charts and ask questions. OSCAR users rely on external forums.

Hardware upload. The Magic Uploader Pro, when available, removes the computer from the loop for ResMed users on Pro.

AI insights. Pro-only, but present. OSCAR has nothing comparable.

Breadth. 57 models across 5 brands, with BMC among them.

Who should pick which

Pick OSCAR if:

You want zero cost.
You want zero cloud.
You want breath-level detail across every channel and are willing to learn the tool.
You are comfortable checking your data on one computer and sending your doctor a screenshot.

Pick SleepHQ if:

You want to see your data on your phone.
You want a community of other users.
You prefer curated charts and AI summaries to raw channels.
You use a BMC machine, or another brand OSCAR does not read.
You are happy to pay US $14.90/month or $149/year, or can live within the one-device, 30-day free tier.

Use both if: you want the daily phone view and the occasional deep dive. The card is the same; import it into OSCAR for detail and upload it to SleepHQ for the everyday view.

Things to check before you decide

Your machine. Both read ResMed and Philips. Check OSCAR's supported-machines list and SleepHQ's 57-model list for anything else.
Your computer. OSCAR needs a Windows, Mac or Linux desktop or laptop and a card reader. SleepHQ needs a browser and a card reader, or the Magic Uploader Pro.
Your budget. OSCAR is free. SleepHQ's free tier is deliberately limited to one device and 30 days.
Your doctor. Ask how they want to receive data. Some want a printout; some want a link. OSCAR gives you the first; SleepHQ's sharing options are worth confirming for the second.

A third option: Apnealytics

If you use a ResMed machine, there is a third platform worth a look. Apnealytics is a cloud CPAP data service with a free tier that does not expire (unlimited imports, nightly dashboard, last 30 nights of history, Apple Health / Health Connect sync, Ask your data with your own API key, family logins, data export) and a Pro tier at $8.99/month or $99.99/year that adds full history, per-night waveforms, oximetry overlays from any EDF/CSV oximeter, a doctor-ready PDF with a compliance autopilot, revocable read-only share links and a REST API. iOS and Android apps are live (App Store and Google Play).

Its limitation is the same one OSCAR and SleepHQ do not have: it reads fewer brands today: ResMed, Philips DreamStation 1 and 2 and Fisher & Paykel SleepStyle, with Löwenstein partial and BMC / React Health Luna G3 and Transcend on a waitlist. If you are on ResMed, Philips or Fisher & Paykel and weighing SleepHQ against OSCAR, the fair thing is to add Apnealytics to the shortlist. We compare it directly to each on Apnealytics vs SleepHQ and Apnealytics vs OSCAR.

FAQ

Questions people ask

Help center →

Is SleepHQ better than OSCAR?

Neither is better in general. OSCAR is free, reads more detail and keeps everything local, but is desktop-only with a steep learning curve. SleepHQ costs US $14.90/month or $149/year for Pro, runs on the web and iOS, has a community and AI insights, and reads 57 models across 5 brands. Choose by whether you want phone access and are willing to pay.

Is OSCAR really free?

Yes. OSCAR is free and open source, maintained by volunteers, for Windows, Mac and Linux. There is no paid tier. Your only costs are an SD card reader, if your computer lacks a slot, and your time learning the interface.

Can SleepHQ and OSCAR read the same SD card?

Yes. Both read the files a machine writes to its card, so you can import the card into OSCAR and also upload it to SleepHQ. Neither modifies the card. Many users do exactly this: SleepHQ for the daily phone view, OSCAR for a deep look at a specific night.

Does SleepHQ's free tier have enough to be useful?

It depends. The free tier covers one device, one member and 30 days of history, with no Health sync and no community. If you want a rolling 30-day window on one machine, it may be enough. Longer history, multiple machines, Health sync, AI insights and the community require Pro.

Which has a phone app, SleepHQ or OSCAR?

SleepHQ. Its iOS app holds a 4.7-star rating across 609 ratings. OSCAR has no phone app at all and runs only on Windows, Mac and Linux desktops. If phone access matters, OSCAR alone will not do it.