Comparison

Functional Ear Trainer vs Hearing PRO

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

Head to head
About

Functional Ear Trainer

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
Read full description

Have you (or maybe one of your friends) ever wanted to learn to transcribe or play music by ear? It is so important for a musician to know what you are hearing. A good musical ear helps when you are composing, improvising, transcribing melodies, or playing with others. Most likely you have already tried different programs to learn to recognize intervals or even to acquire perfect pitch. However, although such programs develop your ear, but can you actually play any melody you hear as soon as you listen to it? Imagine you could understand music... It is like when somebody is talking to you, you not only hear pleasant sounds, but you recognize words and their meaning. One day I came across Alain Benbassat's program called "Functional Ear Trainer" and have been using it ever since. It is based on Alain's method to learn to recognize tones. The main difference between the Functional Ear Trainer and other methods is that it teaches you to distinguish between tones in the context of a particular musical key. You begin to recognize the role (or function) of each tone in this key, which is incredibly similar to its role in other keys of the same scale. And it is *guaranteed* anyone can gradually develop this skill. It does not matter: - who you are - an absolute beginner in music or a virtuoso professional musician; - how old you are - a 3 yo kid or a 90+ adult; - what musical instrument you play (you don't even have to play one). The only requirement is to practice for 10 minutes a day. I was so excited about this ear trainer that I have developed a mobile app based on the Alain Benbassat method. I hope you will find it useful.

About

Hearing PRO

Develop your musical ear with a variety of exercises. Practice melodic dictations, learn to read music notes, and train your vocal pitch. Supports multiple instruments and musical notation systems.

Highlights
  • Melodic dictation practice
  • Music note reading training
  • Vocal pitch training
  • Supports multiple instruments
  • Multiple musical notation systems
Features
Read full description

Hearing PRO - Do ear training exercises. A well-developed relative or absolute pitch is necessary for every musician. Practice melodic dictations. Train to read music notes. Learn to sing according to notes. Develop musical hearing with us. You can practice musical ear using following instruments: - vocals - piano - guitar - bass-guitar - violin - cello - double bass Types of musical notations: - C D E F G A B - C D E F G A H - Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si - До Ре Ми Фа Соль Ля Си - Ντο Ρε Μι Φα Σολ Λα Σι - ハ ニ ホ ヘ ト イ ロ - 다 라 마 바 사 가 나 - स रे ग म प ध नि - ด ร ม ฟ ซ ล ท

Screenshots

Functional Ear Trainer4 screens
Hearing PRO4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Functional Ear Trainer at 96% against Hearing PRO's 21%. Functional Ear Trainer also leads on price (Free vs $1.99) and rating (4.9 vs 3.9). Hearing PRO's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Functional Ear Trainer is free to download; Hearing PRO costs $1.99 up front. Functional Ear Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Hearing PRO asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Functional Ear Trainer holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Functional Ear Trainer has 3.7K ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 96% of Functional Ear Trainer's written reviews are positive against 21% of Hearing PRO's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Functional Ear Trainer ships an update every 7 months, Hearing PRO every 32 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Functional Ear Trainer versus Hearing PRO: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFunctional Ear TrainerHearing PRO
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.9 (3.7K ratings) — better3.9 (21 ratings)
Positive reviews96.1% of reviews — better20.5% of reviews
Number of ratings3.7K — better21
Update frequencyEvery 7 months — betterEvery 32 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB68 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSerhii KorchanDmitry Zaika

Customer experience

Functional Ear Trainer

All ratings3,749 ratings
Positive98.1%
Neutral0.8%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews623 reviews
Positive96.1%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.9%

Hearing PRO

All ratings21 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral14.3%
Negative19.0%
Written reviews39 reviews
Positive20.5%
Neutral17.9%
Negative61.5%

Bugs and requests

Functional Ear Trainer

Reported bugs

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

Requested features

5 requests
  • 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

Hearing PRO

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Functional Ear Trainer

One-time1
  • Functional Ear Trainer Plus$19.99
None

Hearing PRO

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Functional Ear Trainer free?
Functional Ear Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hearing PRO free?
Hearing PRO costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Functional Ear Trainer or Hearing PRO?
Functional Ear Trainer is rated higher. Functional Ear Trainer averages 4.9 out of 5 from 3.7K ratings, while Hearing PRO averages 3.9 from 21 ratings.
Do Functional Ear Trainer or Hearing PRO have ads?
Neither Functional Ear Trainer nor Hearing PRO shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Functional Ear Trainer or Hearing PRO?
Functional Ear Trainer ships an update every 7 months, and Hearing PRO every 32 months. Most recently, Functional Ear Trainer was updated on October 14, 2026 and Hearing PRO on October 5, 2026.

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