Comparison

Functional Ear Trainer vs Ear training

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

Ear training

Develop perfect pitch and recognize notes, chords, and melodies by ear. This app offers a series of exercises to train your aural skills, with explanations and hints to help you learn at your own pace. Improve your ability to play along with songs or guess melodies.

Highlights
  • Develop perfect pitch
  • Recognize notes and chords
  • Identify intervals and chord progressions
  • Learn major and minor scales
  • Instrument-specific practice
  • Hint function
Features
Read full description

Would you like to be able to guess melodies by hearing them or be able to play accompaniment to your favorite songs on the guitar or piano? Ear training is the perfect app for you! This app will help you develop perfect pitch, and train your ear to recognize notes and chords in any key. The app consists of a series of exercises, which will gradually introduce you to all the notes and chords in the major and minor scales. You can also practice identifying intervals and chord progressions. Each exercise is accompanied by a clear and concise explanation, so you can understand the theory behind it. And if you get stuck, the app includes a handy hint function. The exercises are tailored to help you improve your aural skills, so you can develop at your own pace. You can also choose to practice in a particular key, or with a particular instrument. So why wait? Start training your ear today!

Screenshots

Functional Ear Trainer4 screens
Ear training4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Functional Ear Trainer at 96% against Ear training's 33%. Functional Ear Trainer also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.9 vs 4.5). Ear training's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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

Both are free to download. Functional Ear Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Ear training asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Functional Ear Trainer holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Functional Ear Trainer has 3.7K ratings behind it against 243, 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 33% of Ear training's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Functional Ear Trainer ships an update every 7 months, Ear training every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Functional Ear Trainer versus Ear training: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFunctional Ear TrainerEar training
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (3.7K ratings) — better4.5 (243 ratings)
Positive reviews96.2% of reviews — better32.8% of reviews
Number of ratings3.7K — better243
Update frequencyEvery 7 months — betterEvery 9 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSerhii KorchanAlexey Ovod

Customer experience

Functional Ear Trainer

All ratings3,749 ratings
Positive98.1%
Neutral0.8%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews612 reviews
Positive96.2%
Neutral1.8%
Negative2.0%

Ear training

All ratings243 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral6.2%
Negative7.4%
Written reviews128 reviews
Positive32.8%
Neutral14.8%
Negative52.3%

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

Ear training

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

Ear training

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Functional Ear Trainer free?
Functional Ear Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ear training free?
Ear training is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Functional Ear Trainer or Ear training?
Functional Ear Trainer is rated higher. Functional Ear Trainer averages 4.9 out of 5 from 3.7K ratings, while Ear training averages 4.5 from 243 ratings.
Do Functional Ear Trainer or Ear training have ads?
Ear training shows ads; Functional Ear Trainer does not.
Which is updated more often, Functional Ear Trainer or Ear training?
Functional Ear Trainer ships an update every 7 months, and Ear training every 9 months. Most recently, Functional Ear Trainer was updated on September 22, 2026 and Ear training on September 21, 2026.

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