# Complete Ear Trainer vs Functional Ear Trainer

The clearest difference is update cadence: Complete Ear Trainer at fortnightly against Functional Ear Trainer's every 7 months. Functional Ear Trainer's advantage is ratings volume (3.7K vs 195) and rating (4.9 vs 4.7). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Complete Ear Trainer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Functional Ear Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Functional Ear Trainer holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Functional Ear Trainer has 3.7K ratings behind it against 195, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Complete Ear Trainer's written reviews are positive against 96% of Functional Ear Trainer's.

Complete Ear Trainer ships an update fortnightly, Functional Ear Trainer every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Complete Ear Trainer | Functional Ear Trainer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (195 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/complete-ear-trainer/id1012455471/reviews) | **[4.9 (3.7K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/functional-ear-trainer/id1088761926/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 195 | **3.7K** |
| Positive reviews | 85.1% of reviews | **96.2% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Fortnightly** | Every 7 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 59 MB | 41 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Binary Guilt](https://appshunter.io/developer/1012455470) | [Serhii Korchan](https://appshunter.io/developer/1088761925) |

## What reviewers say

### Complete Ear Trainer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/complete-ear-trainer/id1012455471)

Develop your musical ear and music theory knowledge with this comprehensive training app. It offers progressive drills, various sound options, and a gamified learning experience to improve improvisation, composition, and performance skills.

**Highlights:** 150+ progressive drills, 11 drill types, 24 intervals, 36 chord types, Melodic dictations and chord progressions, Gamified learning with star system, Custom drill and program creation, Cloud sync across devices

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cloud Sync and Web access | $0.99 | per month |
| Cloud Sync and Web access | $9.99 | per year |
| Full Version | $6.99 | one-time |


### Functional Ear Trainer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/functional-ear-trainer/id1088761926)

Develop your musical ear by learning to recognize tones within the context of a specific musical key. This app helps you understand the function of each note, improving your ability to transcribe, improvise, and play music by ear. Suitable for all ages and skill levels, with just 10 minutes of daily practice.

**Highlights:** Recognize tones in musical key context, Understand note function, Improve transcription skills, Enhance improvisation, Develop perfect pitch, Daily 10-minute practice

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Functional Ear Trainer Plus | $19.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Effective ear training
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- 💡 Customizable exercises
- 🎉 Noticeable improvement with regular practice
- 🎨 Visually appealing design

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional audio glitches
- 💡 Lack of support for other instruments besides piano
- 💡 Desire for more advanced features (e.g. chord recognition)

**Reported bugs**

- Keyboard display issues when selecting all chromatic notes
- Inconsistent note resolutions in some exercises

**Requested features**

- Add support for multiple notes/chords at once
- Implement a mode for training key recognition
- Provide more customization options for exercises
- Include voice input to play the notes
- Add support for German/Norwegian key names


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Complete Ear Trainer free?

Complete Ear Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Functional Ear Trainer free?

Functional Ear Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Complete Ear Trainer or Functional Ear Trainer?

Functional Ear Trainer is rated higher. Complete Ear Trainer averages 4.7 out of 5 from 195 ratings, while Functional Ear Trainer averages 4.9 from 3.7K ratings.

### Do Complete Ear Trainer or Functional Ear Trainer have ads?

Neither Complete Ear Trainer nor Functional Ear Trainer shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Complete Ear Trainer or Functional Ear Trainer?

Complete Ear Trainer ships an update fortnightly, and Functional Ear Trainer every 7 months. Most recently, Complete Ear Trainer was updated on September 26, 2026 and Functional Ear Trainer on September 28, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*