Comparison

Drum Pad Machine vs Ableton Note

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Drum Pad Machine

Create professional-quality music and unique tracks with a variety of styles and sound packs. Utilize instruments, FX, and sequencing for creative sound design. Learn through beat school lessons and share your creations instantly.

Highlights
  • Multiple music styles (Hip-hop, Trap, House, etc.)
  • Professional sound packs
  • Drum and Piano instruments
  • Sequencing with tempo and EQ
  • Beat School lessons
  • Quick music sharing
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Make your own music like a pro. Create sick beats, perfect and perform unique tracks! Features: • Great variety of music styles: Hip-hop, Drum & Bass, Trap, Dubstep, House, and many others; • Unique sound packs. Get access to professional-quality audio samples created by professional musicians and DJs; • Instruments & FX. Use Drum & Piano for creative sound designs; • Sequencing. Get studio effects including Tempo Regulation and EQ; • Beat School. Try the lessons for each sound pack to improvise freely; • Quick sharing. Share your music with the world. Enjoy this powerful, yet easy-to-use tool to get the best music experience! Drum Pad Machine Premium Drum Pad Machine Premium Subscription allows you to unlock all the sound packs, get new releases, and remove ads. Choose from different subscription options. Payment will be charged to Apple ID Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by you and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to Apple ID Account Settings. For more information please visit the link https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202039. Unused portion of a free-trial period will be forfeited when a user decides to subscribe. EULA: https://easybrain.com/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://easybrain.com/policy.html

About

Ableton Note

Create musical ideas with curated sounds and effects. Build beats, melodies, and sample your surroundings. Seamlessly transfer your projects to Ableton Live for further development.

Highlights
  • Create beats and melodies
  • Sample sounds with phone microphone
  • MIDI Editor for sequencing
  • Transfer projects to Ableton Live
  • 76 Drum Sampler kits
  • 317 synth sounds
Read full description

Start new musical ideas with a curated selection of sounds and effects. Create beats and melodic parts, sample your world, and continue your tracks in Ableton Live. Note is a place to form ideas, explore new sounds and find direction. Get your ideas out or just experiment until inspiration hits, using a selection of Ableton Live’s drum kits, synths and melodic instruments. Create your own sound palette by sampling with your phone’s built-in microphone. And use Note’s built-in MIDI Editor to sequence notes, beats and chords or make tweaks as you listen back Follow your ideas wherever they lead by sending your projects to Live without leaving the app with the help of Ableton Cloud. Open projects from Live’s browser and keep working – you can edit all your MIDI notes, and all your samples and sounds from Note are exactly the same. Ableton Note users get a free license for Ableton Live Lite – simple, intuitive software used by musicians, producers and DJs around the world to write, record, and perform. For Ableton Move users, Note also offers the chance to keep working on a Set from your phone. Begin with a beat: • Choose from 76 Drum Sampler kits • Tap out a beat using the 16-pad grid, or sequence one with the MIDI Editor • Play each drum hit melodically using 16 Pitches mode • Quantize your beat or nudge notes to fix loose timing or mistakes • Add more layers of rhythm • Create beat repetitions with Note Repeat • Change parameters to shape your sound • Experiment with effects or apply swing for variations Start with a melody: • Choose from 317 synth sounds and 60 Melodic Sampler instruments • Play or program your melody or chord progression with the 25-pad grid, piano roll or MIDI Editor • Set a key and scale to get instantly harmonic results • Add more layers of harmony • Change parameters to shape your sound • Add effects to experiment with sound design Sample your environment: • Create your own kits by recording percussive sounds into Note’s Drum Sampler • Record tonal sounds to create your own Melodic Sampler instruments • Manipulate your samples by cutting, filtering or repitching them • Sequence samples into beats, melodies and chords using the MIDI Editor • Shape or transform your sounds with effects • Import your own samples or audio directly from videos Work with Audio • Add audio clips from the library • Warp tempo or adjust pitch of your clips • Record audio directly using your phone’s built-in microphone • Connect an audio interface to record external sources • Combine recorded and imported audio with your beats and melodies Capture improvisations: • Play something, then tap the Capture button to keep it • Play at a tempo that feels comfortable and Note will detect it • Note will recognize the length of the phrase and create a loop • Quantize it, add to it, or change the sound • Connect MIDI hardware to play keys and change the sound of your instruments Create variations: • Note features a grid-based Session View layout • Double your loops to create variation within clips • Duplicate your clips and create different versions of your ideas • Add, delete or adjust multiple notes at once with the MIDI Editor • Create eight tracks with up to eight clips on eight scenes • Try different clip combinations and song structures • Export your work as an audio file to listen and share

Screenshots

Drum Pad Machine4 screens
Ableton Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Drum Pad Machine at Free against Ableton Note's $6.99. Drum Pad Machine also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (674K vs 676). Ableton Note's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#8 vs #208). On in-app purchases, monetization model, device support and iOS requirement 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Drum Pad Machine is free to download; Ableton Note costs $6.99 up front. Drum Pad Machine sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per 7 days and Ableton Note sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Drum Pad Machine holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drum Pad Machine has 674K ratings behind it against 676, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 63% of Drum Pad Machine's written reviews are positive against 73% of Ableton Note's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drum Pad Machine ships an update every 3 months, Ableton Note monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Drum Pad Machine versus Ableton Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrum Pad MachineAbleton Note
PriceFree — better$6.99
Rating4.6 (674K ratings) — better4.2 (676 ratings)
Positive reviews63.3% of reviews72.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings674K — better676
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#208#8 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size230 MB1007 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEasybrain LtdAbleton AG

Customer experience

Drum Pad Machine

All ratings674,050 ratings
Positive90.3%
Neutral4.7%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews2,284 reviews
Positive63.3%
Neutral8.5%
Negative28.3%

Ableton Note

All ratings676 ratings
Positive78.4%
Neutral10.8%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews473 reviews
Positive72.5%
Neutral13.7%
Negative13.7%

User reviews

Drum Pad Machine

From 674K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤩 Incredible music-making experience
  • 👍 Easy to learn and use
  • 🎶 Wide variety of music genres and beats
  • 🎓 Helpful tutorials and lessons
  • 🎧 High-quality sound samples

Room to improve

  • 🤬 Excessive and repetitive ads
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🐛 Occasional glitches and crashes
  • 🤔 Limited customization options
  • ⏱️ Lessons and tutorials move too fast

Ableton Note

From 676 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Intuitive workflow
  • 🎨 Great sound quality
  • 🤝 Seamless Ableton Live integration
  • 💰 Affordable price
  • 🔥 Inspiring for creativity

Room to improve

  • 🔇 No audio track support
  • 🎹 Limited note editing capabilities
  • ⏱️ Bluetooth latency issues
  • 🔢 Restricted to 4/4 time signature
  • 🔧 Lacking some advanced features

Bugs and requests

Drum Pad Machine

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Recordings sometimes stop unexpectedly
  • Difficulty registering multiple button presses simultaneously
  • Compatibility issues on older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add a search function to find specific beats
  • Allow users to create and share their own custom beats
  • Implement a pause/resume feature for recordings
  • Provide more granular control over tempo and timing

Ableton Note

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional loss of unsaved work
  • Freezing issues when editing clips

Requested features

6 requests
  • Audio track support
  • Expanded note editing tools
  • Midi controller support
  • More effects and synth options
  • Time signature flexibility
Show 1 more
  • Ability to import samples from Ableton Live

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Drum Pad Machine

Subscriptions5
  • Drum Pad Machine Pro - Weekly3 Days trial$7.997 Days
  • Music Beat Maker Premium7 Days trial$7.997 Days
  • Drum Pad Machine Pro - Monthly$14.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Beatmaker Premium7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Drum Pad Machine Pro - Annual$46.991 Year
1 purchases

Ableton Note

One-time1
  • Drift In-App Purchase$3.99

Questions

Is Drum Pad Machine free?
Drum Pad Machine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ableton Note free?
Ableton Note costs $6.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Drum Pad Machine or Ableton Note?
Drum Pad Machine is rated higher. Drum Pad Machine averages 4.6 out of 5 from 674K ratings, while Ableton Note averages 4.2 from 676 ratings.
Do Drum Pad Machine or Ableton Note have ads?
Drum Pad Machine shows ads; Ableton Note does not.
Which is updated more often, Drum Pad Machine or Ableton Note?
Drum Pad Machine ships an update every 3 months, and Ableton Note monthly. Most recently, Drum Pad Machine was updated on September 24, 2026 and Ableton Note on September 22, 2026.
Which is more popular, Drum Pad Machine or Ableton Note?
Drum Pad Machine currently peaks at #208 in the App Store charts, and Ableton Note at #8. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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