Comparison

Sound Temple vs plugdata

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

Head to head
About

Sound Temple

Immerse yourself in a unique acoustic space where ambient sounds blend into a harmonious landscape. Interact with your surroundings in real-time, shaping the soundscape through your own noises and voice. Record and share your sonic creations.

Highlights
  • Active listening immersion
  • Real-time sound interaction
  • Ambient soundscape blending
  • Record and share audio experiments
  • Export recordings for creative use
  • Headphone microphone switching
Read full description

The app draws the user into the process of active listening: put on your headphones, and you’ll find yourself inside the Sound Temple acoustic space. Here the sounds of the world around you blend into a landscape with a unified harmony. You can interact with them in real time: make noises, knock and bang on things, sing, and either allow the sounds to drain into the background, or follow the courses of the sounds around you and the ways they change. Sound Temple is an independent sound art project created by artists Katerina Shikhova and Dmitry Larionov in collaboration with programmer Kirill Gorshkov. The project is carried out in creative partnership with Alma Mater Foundation (amfoundation.ru) We have made the main part of the project available for free because we enjoy seeing people’s reactions. We appreciate their new interpretations and ways of using Sound Temple. To support our project, you could buy the “share” function. You can record your acoustic experiments, share them on social media, export the recordings into editing software and use them in your creative projects (under a Creative Commons license). WARNING 1. For maximum sound quality and immersive effect, we recommend using wired headphones. Bluetooth headphones create delay and negatively affect the sound quality. 2. Please be cautious when connecting the app to open sound sources (bluetooth/inline speakers, your car’s sound system, etc.): due to the feedback effect, this can lead to an unpleasant loud humming noise or loud and sharp side-sound effects. 3. The “mic input” button in the top right corner allows you to switch the headset microphone to your iphone or ipad microphone.

About

plugdata

This app provides a visual programming environment for audio experimentation, prototyping, and education. It allows users to create and run audio patches on their mobile devices, enabling creative sound design on the go.

Highlights
  • Visual programming environment
  • Audio experimentation
  • Prototyping
  • Educational tool
  • Standalone application
  • Audio plugins
Features
Read full description

plugdata is visual programming environment for audio experimentation, prototyping and education. With plugdata for iOS, you can bring your plugdata patches with you everywhere you go. This app ships with a standalone application and audio plugins.

Screenshots

Sound Temple1 screens
plugdata2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Sound Temple at 5.0 against plugdata's 4.3. Sound Temple also leads on review sentiment (87% vs 63%). plugdata's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 13 months) and ratings volume (20 vs 4). 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sound Temple holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: plugdata has 20 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Sound Temple's written reviews are positive against 63% of plugdata's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sound Temple ships an update every 13 months, plugdata every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Sound Temple versus plugdata: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSound Templeplugdata
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better4.3 (20 ratings)
Positive reviews86.7% of reviews — better63.2% of reviews
Number of ratings420 — better
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB147 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEkaterina ShikhovaTimothy Schoen

Customer experience

Sound Temple

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive86.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative13.3%

plugdata

All ratings17 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral5.9%
Negative11.8%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive63.2%
Neutral15.8%
Negative21.1%

In-app purchases

None

Sound Temple

No in-app purchases

None

plugdata

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sound Temple free?
Sound Temple is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is plugdata free?
plugdata is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sound Temple or plugdata?
Sound Temple is rated higher. Sound Temple averages 5.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while plugdata averages 4.3 from 20 ratings.
Do Sound Temple or plugdata have ads?
Neither Sound Temple nor plugdata shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sound Temple or plugdata?
Sound Temple ships an update every 13 months, and plugdata every 3 months. Most recently, Sound Temple was updated on October 13, 2026 and plugdata on October 22, 2026.

Other comparisons