Comparison

EarMaster vs Basic Pitch

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

Basic Pitch

This app makes music education engaging for all skill levels. It offers a gamified approach to ear training and sight-singing, essential skills for musicians. Learn to identify pitches, intervals, scales, chords, and rhythms through interactive exercises.

Highlights
  • Gamified music education
  • Ear training exercises
  • Sight-singing practice
  • Learn music theory concepts
  • Identify pitches and intervals
  • Chord and rhythm recognition
Features
Read full description

Basic Pitch builds internal pitch awareness through simple, game-like listening, matching, and singing.

Screenshots

EarMaster4 screens
Basic Pitch4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: EarMaster at Free against Basic Pitch's $1.99. EarMaster also leads on ratings volume (423 vs 11) and review sentiment (81% vs 67%). Basic Pitch's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 22) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). On update cadence, 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

EarMaster is free to download; Basic Pitch costs $1.99 up front. EarMaster sells 22 one-off in-app purchases. Basic Pitch asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Basic Pitch holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EarMaster has 423 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 81% of EarMaster's written reviews are positive against 67% of Basic Pitch's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

EarMaster ships an update every 2 months, Basic Pitch every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
EarMaster versus Basic Pitch: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEarMasterBasic Pitch
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.6 (423 ratings)5.0 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.2% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings423 — better11
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size306 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEarMaster ApSCarlos DeSoto

Customer experience

EarMaster

All ratings423 ratings
Positive89.6%
Neutral3.3%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews255 reviews
Positive81.2%
Neutral4.7%
Negative14.1%

Basic Pitch

All ratings11 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

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

Basic Pitch

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

22 purchases

EarMaster

One-time22
  • Customized: Chord Progressions$0.99
  • Customized: Interval Singing$0.99
  • General Workshop: Scale Identification$0.99
Show 19 more
  • General Workshop: Interval Comparison$0.99
  • Customized Exercise: Scale Identification$0.99
  • General Workshop: Rhythmic Sight-Reading$1.99
  • General: Chord Identification$1.99
  • General: Interval Singing$1.99
  • General: Interval Identification$1.99
  • General: Chord Progressions$1.99
  • Jazz: Chord Identification$1.99
  • Customized Exercise: Melodic Dictation$1.99
  • Customized Exercise: Melodic Sight-Singing$1.99
  • Jazz Workshop: Chord Progressions$1.99
  • General Workshop: Melodic Sight-Singing$1.99
  • Beginner's Course: Modules 5 to 13$3.99
  • Beginner's Course bundle$7.99
  • Solfege Fundamentals$9.99
  • Customized Exercises bundle$14.99
  • General Workshops bundle$14.99
  • Jazz Workshops bundle$14.99
  • Vocal Trainer$14.99
None

Basic Pitch

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is EarMaster free?
EarMaster is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Basic Pitch free?
Basic Pitch costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, EarMaster or Basic Pitch?
Basic Pitch is rated higher. EarMaster averages 4.6 out of 5 from 423 ratings, while Basic Pitch averages 5.0 from 11 ratings.
Do EarMaster or Basic Pitch have ads?
Neither EarMaster nor Basic Pitch shows ads.
Which is updated more often, EarMaster or Basic Pitch?
EarMaster ships an update every 2 months, and Basic Pitch every 5 weeks. Most recently, EarMaster was updated on September 28, 2026 and Basic Pitch on September 29, 2026.

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