Comparison

Groovebox vs CR

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

Head to head
About

Groovebox

Create electronic music with this mobile studio app. Features inspiring synths, drum machines, and world-class instruments. Easily build beats, melodies, and arrange tracks for production.

Highlights
  • Beat and synth music studio
  • Touchable instruments for melodies and beats
  • Five powerful instruments: Drumbox, Horizon, MiniMon, RetroBass, Poly-8
  • Arrange tracks with sections
  • Record synth parameters as automation
  • Ableton Link and Ableton Export for collaboration
  • Expandable instruments and sound packs
Features
Read full description

If you love making electronic music, you’ll love Groovebox. Enter an inspiring world of music production on your iPhone & iPad. Groovebox is a free, beautifully designed music studio app packed with inspiring synths and drum machines. In minutes you’ll be making beats, melodies, and playing with world-class instruments. Expand your own collection with more sounds and instruments available in the store. From the creators of Launchpad, Groovebox helps you produce music on iPhone & iPad. • A BEATS & SYNTH MUSIC STUDIO Play with touchable instruments to quickly create your own beats and melodies, or draw in notes. Need inspiration? Groovebox has hundreds of patterns and sounds to get you started. Four powerful synthesisers, designed in partnership with Novation, deliver deep retro basslines and analogue harmonic melodies. The modern drum machine, with expanding drumkit library, will turn Groovebox into your go-to beat production studio. • SYNTHS DESIGNED WITH NOVATION Designed in partnership with Novation, legendary synth pioneers, Groovebox packs a world-class sound. Each instrument uses a new powerful synth engine capable of recreating classic warm analogue sounds and rich modern harmonics. • EASY TO START, DEEP ENOUGH TO MASTER Groovebox is designed to kick-start ideas, but it has serious features for artists and producers too. The advanced synth parameters* let you sculpt your own sounds. Automate the parameters over time to create a vibrant dynamics. Control your sound with the multi-channel mixer (iPad only), note sequencer, key and scale modes. Build your arrangements into songs with sections. Export your sounds easily to a laptop for further production. Sync to other apps or a laptop with Ableton Link. Connect using Audiobus, Inter-App Audio and even Export to Ableton Live seamlessly.   FEATURES • Discover and build ideas - Quickly explore sounds with hundreds of melody and rhythm patterns • Play touchable instruments - Create your own melodies and beats • Five powerful instruments - Drumbox, Horizon, MiniMon, RetroBass and Poly-8 • Build beats - Play drum pads or keys, sequence notes or use patterns • Arrange your tracks - Simple song-building using sections • Create dynamic changes - Record synth parameters as automation • Sound innovation - Instruments developed in partnership with synth pioneers Novation • Expand your sounds - Regular, fresh-content drumpacks, presets and patterns* • Production-ready sounds - Crafted by world-class sound designers and artists • Extendable Instruments - Expose more tweakable synth controls • Sequence your music - Draw notes and build patterns instead of playing them • Stay in time and key - Choose from any tempo, key or musical scale • Share your music - Easily create a mix of your music to share with others *Requires In-App Purchase ADVANCED FEATURES • Jam with others - Audiobus, Inter-App Audio, Ableton Link and Ableton Export • Swing - Instantly add swing to your session. • Ableton Export - Easily send your project to Ableton Live • Full scale support - All keys and major, minor and modes supported • Project management - Rename, duplicate and delete • iPad Pro support - Optimised to use the entire iPad Pro screen • Send your ideas to a laptop - Batch export your pads as a .zip file, or use Ableton Export • Bluetooth speaker supported

About

CR

This app transforms your device into a pocket beat-making companion, inspired by the simplicity and raw heritage of eighties analog drum machines. It offers a pure interface with high-quality samples, combinable patterns, and various arranger variations for creating rhythms.

Highlights
  • 12 Original high quality double-samples
  • 24 Combinable preset patterns
  • 8 Preset fill-ins
  • 7 Arranger variations
  • Shuffle mode (3/4 signature)
  • Background audio playback
  • Audiobus V3 and InterApp audio support
Features
Read full description

Holding the simplicity of eighties instruments and carrying their raw heritage to you, it turns your device into a pocket beat making companion. I believe that designing a pure interface, simply displaying your machine without any distraction, was the best way to reflect the spirit of the period it was born. Main characteristics : - 12 Original high quality double-samples - 24 Combinable preset patterns - 8 Preset fill-ins - 7 Arranger variations - 2 Rhythm memory registers - Shuffle mode (3/4 signature) - Separated voice section volumes - Adjustable instruments accentuation - Full machine state auto-save - Background audio playback enabled - Audiobus V3 - InterApp audio - AudioUnit - Midi - Bluetooth LE Bonuses accessible in your device settings : - Alter the way the patterns are played simultaneously - Alternative « Rock » drum kit with integrated effects - Built-in instruments effects : « Stereo pan » and « Jungle tune » - Built-in audio effects : « Equalizer » and « Distortion » - Built-in global effects : « Delay » and « Reverb » - Mute any instrument - Prevent any instrument from being affected by accents - 3 Synchronized register auto-switching modes I hope you will enjoy it as much as I love it ;-)

Screenshots

Groovebox4 screens
CR4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Groovebox at Free against CR's $1.99. Groovebox also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 8 months) and ratings volume (4.8K vs 10). CR's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10). On rating, review sentiment, 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

Groovebox is free to download; CR costs $1.99 up front. Groovebox sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. CR asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CR holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Groovebox has 4.8K ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 79% of Groovebox's written reviews are positive against 75% of CR's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Groovebox ships an update every 6 weeks, CR every 8 months. Both last shipped on November 11, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Groovebox versus CR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrooveboxCR
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.7 (4.8K ratings)4.9 (10 ratings) — better
Positive reviews79.2% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4.8K — better10
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 8 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFocusrite Audio EngineeringDavid Rochaix

Customer experience

Groovebox

All ratings4,735 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral3.3%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews654 reviews
Positive79.2%
Neutral10.4%
Negative10.4%

CR

All ratings10 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative12.5%

Bugs and requests

Groovebox

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when exporting projects
  • Playback issues with certain patterns
  • Disappearing UI elements when scrolling
  • Inconsistent behavior when changing sections

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add song mode and ability to chain sections
  • Improve piano roll and note editing
  • Implement MIDI support and mapping
  • Add more export options like MIDI and multi-track
  • Implement iCloud sync and cloud backup
Show 1 more
  • Add panning and more advanced mixing features

CR

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Groovebox

One-time10
  • Trap BassFree
  • Sequential ArpsFree
  • Ambient Hip HopFree
Show 7 more
  • Dirty 909Free
  • Hip Hop OrbitFree
  • Hypnotic BassFree
  • Golden Era Bass$0.99
  • Neuro Leads$0.99
  • Composed Melodics$0.99
  • Drum Booster$1.99
None

CR

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Groovebox free?
Groovebox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CR free?
CR costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Groovebox or CR?
CR is rated higher. Groovebox averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.8K ratings, while CR averages 4.9 from 10 ratings.
Do Groovebox or CR have ads?
Neither Groovebox nor CR shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Groovebox or CR?
Groovebox ships an update every 6 weeks, and CR every 8 months. Most recently, Groovebox was updated on November 11, 2026 and CR on November 11, 2026.

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