Functional Ear Trainer vs Trill
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Recognize tones in musical key context
- Understand note function
- Improve transcription skills
- Enhance improvisation
- Develop perfect pitch
- Daily 10-minute practice
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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.
Trill
Develop your musical ear with daily, focused exercises. This app transforms ear training into an engaging game with challenges and rewards, helping you learn to recognize tones, chords, and keys naturally. It also includes tools like a tuner and metronome.
- Daily ear training exercises
- Chord, interval, and scale visualizers
- Tuner and metronome
- Gamified learning with challenges and badges
- Focus Lock to block distractions
- Progress tracking and achievements
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Learn to hear music. Not guess it. Have you ever wanted to play music by ear, recognize chords instantly, or identify the key of a melody? A trained musical ear changes everything. It helps you improvise, compose, transcribe melodies, sing in tune, and play with others confidently. Your musical ear is like a muscle. If you don’t train it, it stays weak. If you train it a little every day, it becomes instinct. Just 10 minutes of daily ear training is enough to build powerful musical hearing over time. Short, focused sessions train your brain to recognize tones, chords, and keys naturally — the same way athletes build strength with consistent workouts. And if you struggle with consistency, Trill makes you serious about it. With Focus Lock enabled, distracting apps are blocked until you complete your daily ear training. No scrolling first. No excuses. You train your ear — then you unlock your screen time. Train first. Scroll later. Funny part is, that Trill turns ear training into a game you actually want to come back to. Daily challenges, streaks, levels, and collectible badges transform serious ear training into a motivating system. Many users describe Trill as “Duolingo for ear training” — short sessions, clear progress, and constant small wins that keep you practicing. I originally built Trill for myself. I wanted to improvise more freely, hear the key of a song instantly, and recognize chords during jam sessions without guessing. What started as a personal tool became a complete daily training system for everyone who want real musical hearing. Free and Pro Features Free access includes an essential musician toolkit such as a tuner, metronome, and chord, interval, and scale visualizers. A free trial provides limited access to ear training and vocal training. Trill Pro unlocks unlimited training, advanced exercises, progress tracking, achievements, and Focus Lock. By downloading or using Trill, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Privacy Policy: https://trill.studio/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://trill.studio/terms-of-service
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Functional Ear Trainer at 96% against Trill's 20%. Functional Ear Trainer also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.6). Trill's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 7 months) and chart position (#138 vs unranked). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Functional Ear Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Trill sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Functional Ear Trainer holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.8K and 1.8K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 96% of Functional Ear Trainer's written reviews are positive against 20% of Trill's.
Functional Ear Trainer ships an update every 7 months, Trill fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Functional Ear Trainer | Trill |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (3.8K ratings) — better | 4.6 (1.8K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 96.2% of reviews — better | 19.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3.8K — better | 1.8K |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | — | #138 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 92 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Serhii Korchan | gmol6.studio s.r.o.o |
Customer experience
Functional Ear Trainer
Trill
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
Trill
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Functional Ear Trainer
- Functional Ear Trainer Plus$19.99
Trill
- Monthly Access – Trill Pro$4.991 Month
- Monthly Access - Trill Pro$9.991 Month
- Weekly Access - Trill Pro$9.997 Days
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- Monthly Access - Trill Pro$12.991 Month
- Annual Special – Trill Pro$14.991 Year
- Annual Deal – Trill Pro3 Days trial$14.991 Year
- Yearly Access - Trill Pro7 Days trial$24.991 Year
- Yearly Access - Trill Pro7 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Yearly Access - Trill Pro7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Yearly Access - Trill Pro7 Days trial$59.991 Year








