Comparison

SDR Receiver vs HAM

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

Head to head
About

SDR Receiver

This app demodulates and plays AM and FM radio signals received by compatible SDR hardware. It allows users to listen to various broadcasts, manage station lists, and adjust audio settings. Requires a separate radio and host computer for operation.

Highlights
  • Demodulate AM and FM signals
  • Manage station lists (import/export)
  • Adjustable squelch and LNA gain
  • Adjustable audio filters
  • Signal strength indicator
  • AirPlay audio streaming
  • Lock Screen controls
Features
Read full description

Demodulate and play AM and FM signals received by an RTL-SDR, Airspy HF+ or SDRplay radio. Requires a radio and a host computer which are not provided with SDR Receiver and must be separately installed and configured. Streams data from an rtl_tcp, hfp_tcp or rsp_tcp server application which are free and open source applications. The appropriate server application must be installed on the host computer and configured for the attached radio. SDR Receiver is a Software Defined Radio (SDR) that processes, demodulates and plays AM, narrowband FM and wideband FM signals. Listen to communications from aircraft (AM), amateur repeaters and VHF handhelds, police and fire, NOAA weather reports (narrowband FM) and commercial broadcasts (wideband FM). • Easily entered and managed lists of stations simplify station selection. • Export and import lists of stations in CSV or TSV format. • Adjustable squelch that works for both AM and FM signals. • Adjustable LNA gain (for RTL-SDR and SDRplay radios). • Adjustable audio high pass and low pass filters. • Audio AGC for AM, optimized for aircraft communications. • Selectable IQ Offset eliminates DC errors. • DC Blocker option reduces spurious errors. • Signal strength indicator that shows power level in the signal passband. • Multiple sampling rates to accommodate different network bandwidths. • Selectable 8-bit or 16-bit sample size streaming from Airspy HF+ and SDRplay radios. • Option to play audio over AirPlay to a HomePod, HomePod mini or any AirPlay compatible device. • Stream synchronized audio to multiple AirPlay 2 compatible devices. • Lock Screen shows controls and streaming station information. • Custom URLs enable another application on the same device to set the station and start streaming. • Supports VoiceOver. SDR Receiver processes signals that are streamed over the network from a host computer (Mac, PC or Raspberry Pi) that is attached by USB bus to an RTL-SDR, Airspy HF+ or SDRplay radio. An rtl_tcp server or equivalent application running on the host computer receives baseband IQ data from the radio and streams the sampled signals over the network to the iPhone or iPad running SDR Receiver. Requires an RTL-SDR, Airspy HF+ or SDRplay radio and a host computer which are not provided with the application. Support for 192 ksps and 384 ksps Airspy HF+ sampling rates requires Airspy HF+ firmware version R3.0.7 or later, and hfp_tcp version v.1.2.117 or later.

About

HAM

This utility app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for amateur radio operators, including band conditions, DX-Cluster monitoring, and a logbook. It features direct radio integration for tuning and automatic logging, along with various calculations and resource information.

Highlights
  • DX-Cluster and PSK-Reporter activity monitoring
  • Bandplan, Glossar, and AWG resource information
  • Built-in radio integration for direct tuning
  • Fully featured logbook with QSO editing
  • LOTW and QRZ.com log submission
  • Calculations for Ohm's law, VSWR, and antennas
  • CW Encoder and Decoder
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

The ultimate utility App for every HAM-Radio Operator HAM-Toolbox provides a variety of useful Tools to help you operating your HAM-Radio. The Tools are ranging from activity monitoring Tools like DX-Cluster and PSK-Reporter, to Tools helping you with resource information like Bandplan, Glossar, AWG and many more Tools. HAM-Toolbox also has a built-in radio integration, so that you can directly tune to spots from the DX-Cluster and other tools. During logging, the appropriate fields for the frequency and mode will be automatically filled. With a one-time purchase you gain access to all of the following Tools on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. · TOOLS: + Band Conditions + POTA + DX-Cluster + PSK-Reporter + Reverse Beacon Network + Call-Lookup + Locator + Beacons (especially NCDXF) + Repeater + DTMF Generator + CW Encoder and Decoder + Frequency List + QSL Card Designer (design, preview, print and export your own QSL cards) · LOGBOOK: HAM-Toolbox comes with a fully featured Logbook. + Inspect and edit your existing QSOs + Easy-to-use logging interface + Maintenance (Data completion from QRZ.com, Duplicates finder, Mass change) + LOTW and QRZ.com log submission + Integrated Call-Lookup with possibility to update QSO + Worked/Needed statistics for CQ-Zones, ITU-Zones and DXCCs + Map with worked grid locators representation + iCloud-Sync with multiple devices (compatible with SDR-Control and SmartSDR) · Radio-Integration: + Frequency and Mode + Logbook integration + Direct tuning from various Tools like DXCluster, POTA, Frequency List + Supports all major Brands and Radios via Network or USB + YAESU: FT-710, FT-991, FT-DX10, FT-DX100 + Icom: IC-705, IC-7300mk2, IC-7300, IC-7610, IC-7760, IC-9700, IC-R8600, + Kenwood: TS-890, TS-990 + Elecraft: K4 + HamLib · CALCULATIONS: + Ohm's law + VSWR + Dipole-Antenna + Groundplane-Antenna + HB9CV-Antenna + Helix-Antenna + dB Conversion + Wavelength · RESOURCES: + Bandplan + Glossar + Morse + AWG + CTCSS-Codes + Formulas + Q-Codes + Abbreviations + Constants Find out more here: https://ham-toolbox.com Read the Manual: https://go-to.me/hamtoolbox-manual

Screenshots

SDR Receiver4 screens
HAM4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SDR Receiver at $9.99 against HAM's $14.99. HAM's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months) and chart position (#177 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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

SDR Receiver costs $9.99 and HAM $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for SDR Receiver against 4.0 for HAM. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 7 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 72% of SDR Receiver's written reviews are positive against 69% of HAM's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SDR Receiver ships an update every 4 months, HAM monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
SDR Receiver versus HAM: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSDR ReceiverHAM
Price$9.99 — better$14.99
Rating4.1 (15 ratings) — better4.0 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews72.0% of reviews — better69.2% of reviews
Number of ratings15 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#177 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB83 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTransition Technology Ventures, LLCMarcus Roskosch

Customer experience

SDR Receiver

All ratings15 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive72.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative20.0%

HAM

All ratings7 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative28.6%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive69.2%
Neutral7.7%
Negative23.1%

In-app purchases

None

SDR Receiver

No in-app purchases

None

HAM

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SDR Receiver free?
SDR Receiver costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is HAM free?
HAM costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SDR Receiver or HAM?
SDR Receiver is rated higher. SDR Receiver averages 4.1 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while HAM averages 4.0 from 7 ratings.
Do SDR Receiver or HAM have ads?
Neither SDR Receiver nor HAM shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SDR Receiver or HAM?
SDR Receiver ships an update every 4 months, and HAM monthly. Most recently, SDR Receiver was updated on September 18, 2026 and HAM on September 8, 2026.

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