Drum Session vs EG Pulse
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Drum Session
Create complete drum tracks quickly with a vast library of editable patterns and loops. Easily arrange beats on a timeline, record your own rhythms, and export your creations in various formats. Supports integration with other music apps and hardware.
- 3600 preset patterns
- 36 acoustic drum sample sets
- Record custom beats
- Piano roll editing
- MIDI in/out
- Export MIDI or audio
Read full descriptionHide full description
We are currently supporting this app with bug fix updates only. We are not planning to add new features or make major modifications to support new hardware or new operating system features. With a library of 3600 editable patterns, loops, and fills, Drum Session is a very fast, simple way to put together a complete drum track. Workflow 1. Select a pattern 2. Drag it onto the timeline 3. Press play Features: - 3600 preset patterns - 36 complete sets of acoustic drum samples - Record your own beats - Piano roll style editing - MIDI in / out - Inter-app-audio (IAA) - Audiobus - Ableton Link - AudioCopy - Export beats as MIDI or audio files - Connect to external drum kits or keyboards by MIDI
EG Pulse
Create intricate rhythms and beats with a powerful drum machine and sampler. Import your own sounds, edit samples, and apply effects. Use it standalone or as an AudioUnit within other music production apps.
- Standalone and AU3 AudioUnit support
- Import and edit custom drum samples
- Individual pad effects (reverb, delay, EQ)
- Pattern automation and probability mode
- Over 40 included drumkits and 180 grooves
- Ableton Link and MIDI support
Read full descriptionHide full description
EG Pulse is the ultimate Drum Machine / Sampler for iOS. It can be used both in standalone or hosted as AudioUnit AU3 inside apps like GarageBand, AUM, BeatMaker3, NanoStudio2, n-Track9 and others. The solid ElliottGarage sequencing engine has been updated and expanded, and you can now create ultra precise trap rhythms, hip hop grooves, electronic beats, rock and acoustic drum tracks and more. EG Pulse comes with more than 40 drumkits and more than 180 grooves already included to cover many different genres from EDM, House, Trap, Hip Hop and Electronic Music to Rock, Metal, Reggae or Jazz; moreover, you can create your custom drumkit importing samples with simple drag & drop or combining the builtin kits, and you can modify them inside the app with the sample editor (sample start, attack time, release time and sample length). Each of the 16 pads can be also pitched and panned in the mixer section of the app and also reverb, delay, bitcrusher and eq can be set individually. Each pattern can be automated to obtain dynamic changes and with the probability mode you can create always new grooves adding randomization and human feel to them. EG Pulse contains drumkits and presets created by some of the best iOS Beat Makers and Producers like SoundOfIzrael, Soundtrack Loops, the Beat Community and more. Full feature list: - Standalone & AU3 Audio Unit - Pads View, Grid View, Mixer, Automation View, FX View & Song View - Chromatic Pads - Play melodic line like on a keyboard - 64 step audio engine - 1/8, 1/12, 1/16, 1/32 & 1/64 quantization - Samples Drag & drop from File App (supports multiple files import) - Import of Wave, AIFF, M4a, MP3 audio files or MOV and MP4 video screen recording (audio will be extracted) - Kit sharing (left swipe on a kit to access additional menu) - Fill & Autofill (every 2, 4, 8, 16 bars) - Custom drumkit & user banks save - Song view - Pad Roll (with 1/8, 1/12, 1/16, 1/32 & 1/64 quantization) - Ableton Link - Step recording into grid view - Polyrhythms - Choke groups - Mixer with Solo, Mute, Volume, Gain, Pan, Pitch - Automation of Pitch, Volume and Pan for each pad and pattern dependant - Probability to create unpredictable and random patterns - Samples editor (Start offset, attack time, release time, length) - AU Fx - put EG Pulse in the FX slot of your daw and record any incoming audio - Time stretching - Loop bpm detection and automatic sync to tempo (works with 4 bar loops) - Transient detection and audio slice - Pitch detection and pitch shifting - Bank import/export - Midi In with MIDI learn to control pads - MIDI out to host (AU3 version) - Midi Program Change to switch patterns - FX (Reverb, Delay, Bitcrusher and EQ) for each pad - Tap tempo & Swing - More than 40 drumkits and 180 grooves created by iOS Producers and Beat Makers - Bank presets covering several genres - Ableton Live Set Export support for patterns - Multi stems export of patterns - AU3 Multi output - Route up to 16 separate stems to any daw supporting multi-output AU EG Pulse will give you a free Ableton Live Lite license - follow the instructions inside the app to get it
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: EG Pulse at 4.4 against Drum Session's 3.3. EG Pulse also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (147 vs 15). Drum Session's advantage is price ($9.99 vs $14.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Drum Session costs $9.99 and EG Pulse $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
EG Pulse holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EG Pulse has 147 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of Drum Session's written reviews are positive against 67% of EG Pulse's.
Drum Session ships an update every 2 months, EG Pulse every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Drum Session | EG Pulse |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 3.3 (15 ratings) | 4.4 (147 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 58.0% of reviews | 67.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 15 | 147 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.3 — better | 11.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 210 MB | 268 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ngo Minh Ngoc | Elliott Garage |
Customer experience
Drum Session
EG Pulse
In-app purchases
Drum Session
No in-app purchases
EG Pulse
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Drum Session free?
Is EG Pulse free?
Which has better reviews, Drum Session or EG Pulse?
Do Drum Session or EG Pulse have ads?
Which is updated more often, Drum Session or EG Pulse?
Other comparisons















