Comparison

EarMaster vs UltimateScale

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

Head to head
About

EarMaster

Enhance your musical abilities with comprehensive ear training, sight-singing, and rhythm exercises. This app offers thousands of lessons for all skill levels, from beginners to advanced musicians, and is used by top music schools.

Highlights
  • Ear training exercises
  • Sight-singing practice
  • Rhythm training
  • Vocal training
  • Beginner's course
  • Customizable exercises
  • Detailed progress stats
Features
Read full description

Music theory made easy and fun: EarMaster is the ultimate app for your ear training, sight-singing practice, rhythmic workout and vocal training at all skill levels! Thousands of exercises will help you build up your musical skills and become a better musician. Try it, it's not just fun to use but also very efficient: some of the best music schools use EarMaster! "The exercises are so well thought out, and have so much to offer both the complete beginner and the most world class musicians alike. Being an instructor at Nashville Music Academy, I can say this app has developed my ear and my students ear to a level that would have taken many more years to develop, if at all, without it." - User review by Chiddychat AWARDS “Best App of the Month” (App Store, Jan 2020) NAMM TEC AWARDS nominee Music Teacher Awards for Excellence nominee INCLUDED IN FREE VERSION: - Interval Identification (Customized Exercise) - Chord Identification (Customized Exercise) - 'Carmen – Habanera' (based on the iconic opera by Bizet) - 'Call of the Notes' (call-response ear training course) - 'Greensleeves' thematic course - First 20+ lessons of Beginners Course *Highlights* BEGINNER'S COURSE - Acquire all the core music theory skills with hundreds of progressive exercises on rhythm, notation, pitch, chords, scales, and more. COMPLETE EAR TRAINING - Train with intervals, chords, chord inversions, scales, harmonic progressions, melodies, rhythm, and more. LEARN TO SIGHT-SING - Sing on-screen scores into the microphone of your iPad or iPhone and get immediate feedback on your pitch and time accuracy. RHYTHM TRAINING - Tap! tap! tap! Sight-read, dictate and tap back rhythms, and get instant feedback on your performance. VOCAL TRAINER - Become a better singer with progressive vocal exercises on vocalizes, scale singing, rhythmic precision, interval singing, and more. SOLFEGE FUNDAMENTALS - Learn to use movable-do solfege, as easy as Do-Re-Mi! MELODIA - Become a true sight-singing master with EarMaster's take on the classic sight-singing book method AURAL TRAINER FOR UK GRADES - Prepare for ABRSM* Aural Tests 1-5 and similar exams RCM VOICE* - Prepare for your RCM Voice exams from Preparatory level to Level 8. CARMEN – HABANERA (free) - Explore the world of opera with this course based on the iconic opera by Bizet CALL OF THE NOTES (free) - A fun and challenging course in call-response ear training GREENSLEEVES (free) - Learn the English folk ballad Greensleeves with a series of fun exercises CUSTOMIZE EVERYTHING - Take control of the app and configure your own exercises: voicing, key, pitch range, cadences, time limits, etc. JAZZ WORKSHOPS - Exercises for advanced users with jazz chords and progressions, swing rhythms, jazz sight-singing and sing-back exercises based on jazz classics such as "After You've Gone", "Ja-Da", "St. Louis Blues", and many more. DETAILED STATS - Follow your progress day by day to spot your strengths and weaknesses. AND MUCH, MUCH MORE – Learn to sing and transcribe music by ear. Learn to use solfege. Plug a microphone or a MIDI controller to answer the exercises. And even more to explore on your own in the app :) WORKS WITH EARMASTER CLOUD - If your school or choir is using EarMaster Cloud, you can connect the app with your account and complete your home assignments with the app. *Not affiliated with ABRSM or RCM LOVE EARMASTER? LET'S STAY CONNECTED Drop us a line on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, Mastodon, or X!

About

UltimateScale

Features
Read full description

UtimateScale is a music scale learning assistant. Are you confused and tired of difficult terms and complex scale structures such as Mixolydian and Locrian? With UltimateScale, you can learn by looking at a composition in staff score, directly touching a synth keyboard key on the app, listening by ear, and moving freely in key. In addition, you can learn the scale efficiently through a quiz using the Leitner System, which is famous for learning by memorization. In addition, you can upload and share comments of various scales and your own learning know-how through the Internet Archive. - Learn the scale by looking at the sheet music and listening to the sound. - The built-in touch synth keyboard allows you to learn while directly pressing the keys. - This app does not support only C key. You can transpose from C to B and see how it performs in different situations. - You can adjust the speed and octave during playback, and you can set the playback instrument as you like. - In the quiz menu, learn various scales by solving problems and using flashcards. - For quiz questions, effective learning is possible using the famous Leitner system as a memorization method. - You can share and download new scales that have not yet been discovered through the Internet Archive, scales with comments containing your own learning know-how, etc. This app is also - Support dark mode. - Compatible with both iPad and iPhone devices. - Press scales using a hardware MIDI keyboard connected via Bluetooth or USB. - MIDI keyboard is also supported in quiz mode.

Screenshots

EarMaster4 screens
UltimateScale4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: EarMaster at none against UltimateScale's shown. EarMaster also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). On price, in-app purchases, 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. EarMaster sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and UltimateScale sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

EarMaster ships an update every 2 months, UltimateScale every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
EarMaster versus UltimateScale: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEarMasterUltimateScale
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (429 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews80.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings429 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size306 MB60 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEarMaster ApSBum Tae Yoon

Bugs and requests

EarMaster

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes and errors when loading certain exercises
  • Inconsistent behavior with metronome and rhythm playback
  • Issues with saving progress and restoring purchased content

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow users to specify their vocal range
  • Add more chord and chord progression options
  • Implement a jazz-focused curriculum
  • Improve feedback and error analysis for users
  • Add support for different tuning systems

UltimateScale

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

EarMaster

One-time10
  • General: Interval Singing$1.99
  • General: Interval Identification$1.99
  • General: Chord Progressions$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Jazz: Chord Identification$1.99
  • Beginner's Course: Modules 5 to 13$3.99
  • Beginner's Course bundle$7.99
  • Customized Exercises bundle$14.99
  • General Workshops bundle$14.99
  • Jazz Workshops bundle$14.99
  • Vocal Trainer$14.99
1 purchases

UltimateScale

One-time1
  • 1: Remove all ads$4.99

Questions

Is EarMaster free?
EarMaster is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is UltimateScale free?
UltimateScale is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do EarMaster or UltimateScale have ads?
UltimateScale shows ads; EarMaster does not.
Which is updated more often, EarMaster or UltimateScale?
EarMaster ships an update every 2 months, and UltimateScale every 5 months. Most recently, EarMaster was updated on November 2, 2026 and UltimateScale on November 3, 2026.

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