Comparison

PolyNome Pro vs Drum Notes

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

Head to head
About

PolyNome Pro

This app is a powerful metronome and practice tool for musicians. It allows users to map songs, automate practice routines, build setlists, and track progress with detailed logs and reports. Features include advanced rhythm sequencing, a built-in tuner, and hands-free control options.

Highlights
  • Accurate metronome with multiple time signatures
  • 2 rhythm sequencers for complex rhythms
  • Song mapping with section markers
  • Automated practice routines and playlists
  • Progress tracking and practice logs
  • Hands-free control via Siri or MIDI
  • Built-in tuner
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

LEARN — Loop and slow down songs, program rudiments and difficult rhythms, and add counting. PRACTICE — Test your speed, automate tempo changes, chart live tempo, and track progress. PERFORM — Create Setlists with count-offs, performance notes, and PDF charts. PolyNome Pro is a one-time purchase. Every feature available when you buy is unlocked immediately—nothing is locked and no subscription is needed. Premium features released in your first year are also included; later features may require Premium. Premium supports ongoing development, bringing new features and regular improvements. Designed by a musician, for musicians. Used by Vinnie Colaiuta, Peter Erskine, Virgil Donati, Dennis Chambers & more. ◆ THE BASICS ▶ Sample-accurate metronome for any time signature, with automatic or randomised tempo changes, subdivision faders, tap tempo, Big Numbers, and a pendulum. ▶ Choose from hundreds of sounds, including voice counting, or import and record your own samples. ▶ Use the repeat counter and timer to track your work or stop automatically at your target. ▶ Build clicks and rhythms fast in Simple Mode, with accents, subdivisions, and swing. ▶ Layer two independent rhythms or time signatures. ▶ Built-in tuner, plus hands-free Siri or Bluetooth/MIDI control. ◆ LEARN › Learn songs faster with Media Tracks ▶ Works with Apple Music, YouTube, or your own audio and video files. ▶ Add bar and section markers, then jump anywhere with a tap—no scrubbing. ▶ Loop and slow down passages, add chords, and print a Lead Sheet with just the information you need to get through the track. ▶ Transpose local recordings without changing speed. › Learn with interactive resources ▶ Explore interactive rhythms, videos, scores, and notes, or create your own resources. › Hear, see, and understand complex rhythms ▶ Program virtually any rhythm—even irrational meters such as 4/5—with precise accents, flams, drags, rolls, and ties. ▶ Add spoken and written counting and rudiment Stroke Guides. Print notation or export editable MusicXML scores. ▶ Explore two- and three-way polyrhythms with animated visualisations. ◆ PRACTICE › Plan ahead. Then just play ▶ Use Goals to choose what to work on, when, and for how long—with targets that tell you when to move on. ▶ Build routines with Playlists, automations, repeats, and voice cues. Keep timers, charts, scores, videos, and notes one tap away. ▶ Chart live BPM on a tempo graph, record rehearsals, or analyse an audio file. Review tempo changes and turn recordings into Media Tracks. ▶ Speed Test counts strokes on your practice pad. Save personal bests and share results. Explore pace, spacing and dynamics charts, custom exercises, and Challenges. › See the work add up ▶ Automatically log every exercise, tempo, duration, and date. Follow streaks, spot neglected tempos, and compare practice periods. ▶ Add event notes and see how much practice led to each milestone. ▶ Print PDF reports or export CSV. Teachers can review what students practised and read notes made while difficulties were fresh. ◆ PERFORM — Everything you need to organise and play a gig. ▶ Build a Setlist with clicks, Cue Tracks, and Media Tracks. Attach text notes, PDF charts, or forScore links so the right information appears with each track. ▶ Build Cue Tracks with sections, changing tempos and meters, count-ins, and spoken cues. Follow each bar on stage or export the click as audio. ▶ Print a professional Setlist in a couple of taps. ▶ Use Tap To Start to join at another player’s tempo, or haptics for a silent click. ◆ ORGANIZE, DISCOVER & SHARE ▶ Organise Rhythms, Clicks, Media, Playlists, Setlists, and Shortcuts with search, labels, sorting, and filtering. ▶ Discover examples from Home, explore the free Public Library, or join the Practice Room for live Q&As, support, and courses. ▶ Share with PolyNome users or export MIDI and audio files. ▶ Supports VoiceOver. ▶ Send audio to other apps with Audiobus or Inter-App Audio.

About

Drum Notes

Create, share, and practice percussive music scores with an intuitive editor. Explore a global community of drummers and percussionists, access thousands of beats, and utilize practice tools. Ideal for musicians, teachers, and bands of all levels.

Highlights
  • Intuitive score editor for drum set and percussion
  • Explore and learn from community-shared beats and rhythms
  • Practice tools including metronome and rhythm trainer
  • Organize rhythms, arrangements, and exercises
  • Create and share drum exercises for students
  • Export scores as audio or image formats
Features
Read full description

* Grammy Academy awarded: app to support percussive music preservation. Write, share, and practice drum music like never before. Join over 200,000 drummers and percussionists in 180 countries who have already created 400,000+ scores with Drum Notes, a simple app to create and share drum beats, music scores, drum lessons, drum loops, drum tabs and rhythms. Ideal for beginners and pros alike. Drum Notes features an intuitive score creator, perfect for drumset and percussive genres like Samba, Marching Bands, Drumlines, Cuban percussion, and Drum grooves. Think of it as a more accessible version of Musescore, Flat or Finale, tailored for drummers. Like a drum machine or drum sequencer with real drum scores. FOR DRUMMERS - ALL LEVELS Intuitive Music Score Editor: Effortlessly create percussive sheet music with a user-friendly music writing editor, for drum set or any percussion instrument. Explore Beats: Learn drums by discovering thousands of beats, loops, and percussion samples from our drumming community. Practice Tools: Adjust your own pro metronome, customize grooves, and use the drum score editor as a rhythm trainer. Organize Your Notes: Keep rhythms, arrangements, recordings, and exercises neatly organized. FOR TEACHERS - ENHANCE YOUR INSTRUCTION Drum Exercises: Create, share, and manage exercises with ease. Student-Teacher Groups: Maintain shared spaces for class materials and track progress. Public Library: Access and share a wealth of exercises and materials. FOR BANDS - PERFECT FOR BATUCADAS Arrange and Share: Organize complex patterns and rhythms, and export them in audio or image formats. Private Groups: Create groups for sharing compositions and performance notes. Explore Percussion Rhythms: Discover diverse samples and beats to inspire and enhance your band’s sound. FOR CONTENT CREATORS - SHARE PROFESSIONAL CONTENT Export Options: Share drum grooves as high-quality audio or images. Perfect for showcasing your work on social media. Diverse Library: Use an extensive collection of beats and samples for creating stunning content. FOR MUSICIANS - EXPAND YOUR PLAYBACK OPTIONS Playback Tool: Use Drum Notes to playback loops and samples for various instruments. Versatile Use: Ideal for enhancing rhythm and practice sessions with authentic beats. ADDITIONAL FEATURES Diverse percussion instruments: Drum Set Electronic Drum Kit Cajon Rumba Instruments: Congas, Clave, Cowbell, Shaker, etc. Samba Instruments: Surdos, Repique, Caixa, Agogos, Rebolo, Pandeiro, etc. Samba Reggae Instruments: Timbal, Bacurinha, etc. Marching Band / Drumline Instruments: Quads, Snare Drums, Bass Drum, Cymbals. Capoeira Instruments: Berimbau Viola, Berimbau Berra Boi, Berimbau Medio, Agogo, Pandeiro, Atabaque And many more… Percussion Library: Rock, Jazz, Samba, Marching Band, Capoeira, and many more. Customizable Settings: Adjust metronome BPM, sound accents, and more. Global Community: Connect with percussionists and drummers worldwide. PREMIUM FEATURES Unlock unlimited compositions, percussive instruments per score, and private groups. Support our mission to improve musical knowledge. JOIN THE DRUM NOTES COMMUNITY Developed by a team dedicated to empowering drummers and percussionists. Drum Coach App: Explore our app for developing practice habits with exercises, scores, and audio instructions. We wish you great grooves! #drum, #drums, #drumline, #samba, #percussion * if you are looking for the app Drumap (drum app; drum map), this is it! Now we are called Drum Notes. upbeat.studio https://upbeat.studio/privacy-policy-drum-notes/ https://upbeat.studio/terms-and-conditions-drum-notes/

Screenshots

PolyNome Pro4 screens
Drum Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Drum Notes at Free against PolyNome Pro's $59.99. Drum Notes also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.5). PolyNome Pro's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (89% vs 56%). On rating, ratings volume, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Drum Notes is free to download; PolyNome Pro costs $59.99 up front. PolyNome Pro sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Drum Notes sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for PolyNome Pro against 4.6 for Drum Notes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 329 and 209 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 89% of PolyNome Pro's written reviews are positive against 56% of Drum Notes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PolyNome Pro ships an update weekly, Drum Notes every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
PolyNome Pro versus Drum Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPolyNome ProDrum Notes
Price$59.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (329 ratings) — better4.6 (209 ratings)
Positive reviews89.4% of reviews — better56.3% of reviews
Number of ratings329 — better209
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#169 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.515.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size214 MB133 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPolyNome LtdUPBEAT STUDIO

Customer experience

PolyNome Pro

All ratings329 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral1.8%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews170 reviews
Positive89.4%
Neutral2.4%
Negative8.2%

Drum Notes

All ratings207 ratings
Positive92.3%
Neutral3.4%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews48 reviews
Positive56.3%
Neutral18.8%
Negative25.0%

User reviews

PolyNome Pro

From 329 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent practice tool
  • 👍 Highly customizable
  • 🚀 Powerful metronome features
  • 👍 Great for drummers and musicians
  • 👍 Comprehensive practice logging

Room to improve

  • 🤔 Steep learning curve
  • 🤔 Complicated interface
  • 🤔 Subscription model changes

Drum Notes

From 209 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for writing ideas
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 👍 Good for exercises
  • 👍 Useful for drummers
  • 👍 Good for students

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • 🐛 Unstable on iPad
  • 🐛 Accents not working
  • 🐛 Subscription cost too high
  • 🐛 Limited free version

Bugs and requests

PolyNome Pro

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Bluetooth audio latency issues
  • Trouble accessing public library

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add mid-measure rhythm changes
  • Improve visual cues and pause button
  • Add translations to other languages
  • Integrate with Apple Watch

Drum Notes

Reported bugs

21 issues
  • App crashes constantly
  • App crashes on iPad
  • Accents don't work after saving
  • Beta score writing features don't work
  • App freezes on loading screen
Show 16 more
  • App crashes when trying to access saved rhythms
  • Previously created playlists don't show up
  • Unable to listen to playlists
  • App closes out several times a minute
  • App deleted created content
  • Sounds lag, creating flam type sounds
  • Agogo bell sounds reversed
  • Loss of content after account creation
  • Loss of content after app name change
  • Unexplained charges and card locking
  • App not opening arrangements or showing instruments
  • App crashes after 15 minutes
  • Inability to share on iPad
  • Inability to save as image on iPad
  • Unresponsive beta features
  • App crashes and closes unexpectedly

Requested features

19 requests
  • Add whole note bass drum roll
  • Increase save space
  • Add MIDI export
  • Add feature to play individual instruments by tapping
  • Improve marching percussion sounds
Show 14 more
  • Add dark mode
  • Add 8th note/1 time division option
  • Allow export of sheet to image on free version
  • Fix accent bug
  • Make accented beats easier to create
  • Add BPM configuration
  • Improve sound quality of marching percussion
  • Add feature to play different instruments instead of editing
  • Make score layout better for longer scores
  • Fix iPad specific sharing issues
  • Fix beta score writing features
  • Offer a one-time purchase option
  • Fix issues with previously created playlists not showing up
  • Fix issues with not being able to listen to playlists

In-app purchases

4 purchases

PolyNome Pro

Subscriptions3
  • Premium - 1 Month1 Month trial$7.991 Month
  • Premium - 1 Year7 Days trial$32.001 Year
  • Premium - 1 Year1 Month trial$32.001 Year
One-time1
  • Premium$99.99
10 purchases

Drum Notes

Subscriptions8
  • Premium Monthly Subscription$5.991 Month
  • Premium Monthly Subscription$7.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly Subscription$42.991 Year
Show 5 more
  • Premium Yearly Subscription1 Year trial$42.991 Year
  • Premium Monthly Subscription$44.996 Months
  • Premium yearly Subscription$49.991 Year
  • Premium yearly subscription14 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Drumap PRO Yearly Offer1 Year trial$49.991 Year
One-time2
  • Samba on Drum set workshop$5.99
  • Music Capoeria Workshop$6.99

Questions

Is PolyNome Pro free?
PolyNome Pro costs $59.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Drum Notes free?
Drum Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PolyNome Pro or Drum Notes?
PolyNome Pro is rated higher. PolyNome Pro averages 4.8 out of 5 from 329 ratings, while Drum Notes averages 4.6 from 209 ratings.
Do PolyNome Pro or Drum Notes have ads?
Drum Notes shows ads; PolyNome Pro does not.
Which is updated more often, PolyNome Pro or Drum Notes?
PolyNome Pro ships an update weekly, and Drum Notes every 2 weeks. Most recently, PolyNome Pro was updated on October 24, 2026 and Drum Notes on October 29, 2026.

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