Comparison

Alien Box vs Recursion by folina

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

Head to head
About

Alien Box

This audio effect plugin creates a unique sound with increased sustain and gentle, LFO-modulated vibes. It functions as an AUv3 effect for hosts like GarageBand or as a standalone app for real-time audio input processing.

Highlights
  • Unique sound enrichment
  • LFO modulated vibes
  • Complex resonator system
  • AUv3 plugin for hosts
  • Standalone app mode
  • Gain, Vibe, Depth, Reverb controls
Features
Read full description

Alien Box is a completely new kind of audio effect that you have never heard before. It makes the sound big and slightly increases the sustain while adding gentle vibes to it. The vibes are LFO modulated and the effect is using very complex resonator system inside. It is modulation effect and you can compare it to flanger, phaser or chorus but it is not like any of them… The app is an Audio Unit Effect AUV3 and can be used inside GarageBand or other AU host apps as an effect plug-in. Alien Box can also run as a stand alone app adding effect to the audio input so you can play your guitar, bass or synth directly three the app if you have the connector to do so. Alien Box controls: - Gain - you can use it increase the gain and sustain - Vibe - main tone and background vibes balance - Depth - controls the modulations depth - Reverb - adds reverb to the background vibes

About

Recursion by folina

This app creates evolving echoes and feedback effects by mutating sound over generations. It offers unique control over timing, memory, and signal degradation for creative sound design. Explore subtle echoes to unstable ambient spaces.

Highlights
  • Self-mutating recursive delay
  • Generational sound evolution
  • Independent control over recursion depth
  • Continuous drift and instability
  • Smearing for evolving washes
  • Tear events for abrupt mutations
Features
Read full description

Recursion is a delay and feedback effect built around inherited mutation. In a conventional delay, a sound repeats. In Recursion, it evolves. Each generation passes through a changing recursive system before becoming the source for the next. Timing drifts. Memories smear together. Sudden tears disturb the signal. Those disturbances are then inherited by everything that follows. The result can move from subtle animated echoes and strange doubling to deteriorating rhythmic patterns, unstable ambient spaces, and dense halls of increasingly distant memories. Seven controls keep the process immediate. Memory determines the spacing between generations. Recursion determines how deep the family tree grows. Decay determines how long those generations survive. Smear, Drift, and Tear determine how faithfully—or badly—the signal remembers its past. Recursion isn't designed to be a perfectly behaved delay. It's designed to remember. Incorrectly. Features: Self-mutating recursive delay and feedback processing Each generation inherits changes from the generation before it Independent control over recursive depth, memory spacing, and decay time Continuous bounded drift and instability Smearing that transforms distinct echoes into evolving washes Tear events introduce abrupt mutations into the recursive history From subtle animated echoes to deeply unstable feedback structures Designed for drums, synths, guitars, vocals, sound design, and ambient processing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Behavior Note: Recursion is intentionally less predictable than a conventional delay. At high Mix settings, more of the immediate dry attack is replaced by the delayed recursive signal. Short sounds may therefore seem quieter as Mix approaches fully wet. Around 50% Mix is recommended when you want to preserve the original attack. Recursive processing can also produce occasional abrupt transient or crackle-like textures as generations mutate and interact, particularly with sustained material, aggressive settings, or parameter movement. These behaviors are part of Recursion's unstable character.

Screenshots

Alien Box2 screens
Recursion by folina1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Recursion by folina at 5.0 against Alien Box's 1.3. Alien Box's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, 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

Alien Box costs $2.99 and Recursion by folina $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Recursion by folina holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Alien Box versus Recursion by folina: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAlien BoxRecursion by folina
Price$2.99$2.99
Rating1.3 (3 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 38 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAleksandar MlazevJeremy Phillips

In-app purchases

None

Alien Box

No in-app purchases

None

Recursion by folina

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Alien Box free?
Alien Box costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Recursion by folina free?
Recursion by folina costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Alien Box or Recursion by folina?
Recursion by folina is rated higher. Alien Box averages 1.3 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Recursion by folina averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Alien Box or Recursion by folina have ads?
Neither Alien Box nor Recursion by folina shows ads.

Other comparisons