CPAPdata vs OSCAR
free open-source desktop software
OSCAR is the reference. It is free, open source, has been refined for over a decade, reads more machines than anything else, and shows you everything your device recorded. It is also desktop software you have to install, and its main screen is fourteen graphs stacked on one time axis. Those two facts explain most of the difference between it and us.
Which one should you use
Pick OSCAR if
You want everything, you are comfortable installing desktop software, and you are willing to learn to read the graphs. Nothing we ship will beat OSCAR on raw completeness for a long time. If you already know what flow limitation looks like on a waveform, OSCAR is your tool and we would rather tell you that than pretend otherwise.
Pick CPAPdata if
You want to know how last night went without installing anything, or you want the numbers explained rather than plotted. Also if you do not read English comfortably, since we are built in four languages from the start, or if you want to open your data on a phone.
| Criterion | OSCAR | CPAPdata |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, open source (GPL-3.0) | Access with a verified account, pricing announced at launch |
| Where it runs | Installed on Windows, macOS or Linux | In your browser, nothing installed |
| Machines supported | ResMed, Philips, Löwenstein, Fisher & Paykel and more | ResMed today, Löwenstein and Philips next |
| Depth of data | Everything on the card, breath by breath | Summary and trends today, breath by breath in the app |
| Plain-language explanation | None, it shows you the curves | Yes, that is the point of the product |
| Languages | Many, community translated | English, French, Dutch, German |
| On a phone | No | Yes |
| Sharing with your doctor | Export or screenshots | A consultation card, and a PDF report coming |
What OSCAR does that we do not
OSCAR reads far more devices than we do. Our parser handles ResMed today, with Löwenstein and Philips next, while OSCAR has years of accumulated work on formats we have not touched yet. If you have anything other than a ResMed, OSCAR is currently your only serious option.
It also shows you everything, down to the individual breath, with the flexibility to zoom, overlay and measure. That level of control is genuinely useful once you know what you are looking for, and it is why clinicians and experienced patients keep going back to it.
What we do that OSCAR does not
OSCAR shows you a leak curve. It does not tell you that the leak went over the threshold for forty minutes and that your AHI for that night is therefore unreliable. Turning the curves into sentences is the whole product for us, and it is deliberately outside OSCAR's scope.
There is also nothing to install. Drop the card contents into the browser and you have an answer, which matters when you are trying to check something at 7 am before an appointment, or when you are on a machine you are not allowed to install software on.
Our parser is written from the spec, not copied
OSCAR is licensed under the GPL-3.0. We read it to understand how ResMed structures its files, and then wrote our own implementation from the EDF specification. No OSCAR code is in our product, which is both a licence obligation and a matter of basic respect for a project that has been maintained by volunteers for over ten years.
That is also why we credit it here rather than quietly competing with it. OSCAR made this whole category possible.
Common questions
Is CPAPdata an OSCAR replacement?
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Not for an experienced OSCAR user, and not yet on device coverage. It is a replacement for the step before OSCAR: understanding your therapy without first learning to read a fourteen-graph screen. Plenty of people will use both.
Can I use CPAPdata without installing anything?
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Yes. CPAPdata runs entirely in your browser, so there is nothing to install. Your card is read on your computer, and only the nights you choose to save go to your account, hosted in the European Union.
All comparisons
Be among the first to read your own card
Your card is read in your browser, and only the nights you choose to save go to your account, hosted in the European Union. Accounts are verified at sign-up and not open yet: leave your email for early access, and you will see whether it suits you better than what you use today.
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