Bevel vs Cortisol+: which Apple Watch health app fits you?
Bevel is an all-in-one recovery, strain, sleep and stress platform. Cortisol+ focuses on one documented stress and recovery score. Compare inputs, scope and cost questions.
Published October 20, 2026 · By Cortisol+ Editorial
Should you use Bevel or Cortisol+?
Choose Bevel if you want one app for recovery, strain, sleep, stress, nutrition and strength. Choose Cortisol+ if you mainly want to understand stress and recovery through one score whose weights are published. Both read Apple Watch data through Apple Health. Neither measures cortisol.
Disclosure: Cortisol+ publishes this guide. We compared Bevel’s App Store listing and help-centre articles, checked October 20, 2026, with our own published methodology. This is not a hands-on or clinical accuracy test.
Two different scopes
Bevel is a broad health platform. Its listing and help centre describe Recovery, Sleep, Strain, Stress and Nutrition scores, plus an Energy Bank, biological age, strength training, lab-record import, glucose monitor support, cycle tracking and paid AI features. Bevel’s Recovery score is calculated each morning from sleep, HRV, resting heart rate, wrist temperature, respiratory rate and blood oxygen. Its Stress score uses heart rate and HRV together with movement and time of day.
Cortisol+ is narrower. It turns up to ten Apple Health inputs into a single 0–100 wellness score, with HRV, sleep and recovery views behind it. The methodology page publishes each input’s weight: HRV 20%, sleep 20%, resting heart rate 18%, then breathing rate, activity and smaller factors.
| Question | Bevel | Cortisol+ |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Recovery, strain, sleep, stress, nutrition, strength, labs and more | Stress and recovery wellness score with HRV and sleep views |
| Stress inputs | Heart rate, HRV, movement and time of day | HRV, sleep, resting heart rate, breathing rate, activity and other factors |
| Published weights | Inputs listed per score; weights not published | All input weights published |
| Other wearables | Integrates Garmin, Oura and Fitbit | Apple Health; the Android app reads Health Connect |
| Platforms | iPhone (iOS 18+) and Apple Watch | iPhone (iOS 17+), Apple Watch and Android |
| Measures cortisol? | No; Bevel says its stress score reflects physiological load | No |
Where Bevel is strong
Bevel covers a lot of ground. If you also want to track training strain, nutrition and lab results, one app can replace several. Its help centre is detailed and recently updated, and it lets you change calculation settings, such as which HRV measure to use. It is highly rated on the US App Store (4.8 from more than 17,000 ratings on October 20, 2026), supports Family Sharing, and connects to Garmin, Oura and Fitbit as well as Apple Watch.
Where Cortisol+ differs
Cortisol+ trades breadth for focus. If you don’t need nutrition logs or strength programmes, a smaller app makes it easier to see what’s driving one number. Because every weight is published, you can check whether a bad night of sleep or a drop in HRV pulled the score down.
Published weights let you inspect the score’s design. They don’t prove it’s more accurate than Bevel’s.
Cost questions to check
Both apps are free to download. Bevel’s deeper features need Bevel Pro, and its AI features use credit packs bought separately. Cortisol+ analysis requires a subscription or an eligible trial. Prices and trial terms vary by account, so compare the offers shown in each app before subscribing.
How to compare them yourself
- List the decisions you actually want help with. Is it workouts, sleep timing, or noticing stressful weeks?
- Run both apps for a week with the same Watch. Bevel needs about two full nights of sleep before its scores appear, and Cortisol+ builds its personal baseline over 28 readings.
- Check surprising values against the original Apple Health samples.
- Decide whether you’ll use the extra features you’d be paying for.
- Keep notes in the free stress and sleep journal.
Related comparisons
Compare five apps in the Apple Watch stress app comparison, or read StressWatch vs Cortisol+, Athlytic vs Cortisol+ and our list of Welltory alternatives.
Product screenshot with example readings. Your available inputs depend on Health permissions and recorded data.
View Cortisol+ on the App Store. Free to download; analysis requires a subscription or eligible trial.