ROMP Fest vs Strum Machine
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ROMP Fest
Enhance your festival experience with real-time updates on schedules and vendor information. Discover everything happening at the event to make the most of your visit.
- Stage schedules
- Vendor listings
- Up-to-date event info
- Maximize festival experience
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The ROMP Fest app is designed for all festival-goers to maximize the ROMP experience. From stage schedules, vendor listings with menus, the ROMP Fest app provides up-to-date info on the happenings during ROMP.
Strum Machine
Generate realistic backing tracks for practice with real instrument audio. Customize chord progressions, keys, and tempo. Features a large song library, song editor, and band customization options. Works offline and syncs across devices.
- Realistic instrument audio backing tracks
- Customizable chord progressions, keys, and tempo
- Extensive song library
- Simple song editor
- Band and instrument customization
- Cross-platform syncing and offline mode
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Elevate your music practice with customizable backing tracks generated with audio from real instruments (guitar, mandolin, and standup bass). Strum Machine can play any chord progression, in any key, at any speed. It's the only backing-track app built specifically for players of bluegrass, old-time, fiddle tunes, and other such genres. (Although it works pretty good for some jazz/swing now, too!) Why musicians of all levels love Strum Machine: • Realistic Sound: Backing tracks are assembled in real time from studio-quality instrument recordings. • Quick Adjustments: Instantly adjust the speed/tempo, change the key, loop part of a song, etc. • Auto-Speedup: Gradually increase the BPM at the end of every repetition for training purposes. • Chord Reference: Clean, beautiful chord charts, which can be displayed in letters or numbers (i.e. "1-4-5"). • Extensive Library: Over 1,300 songs (mostly from bluegrass and old-time) ready to go, with thousands more posted on the community forum. • Simple Song Editor: Add your own songs (or edit existing ones) in minutes. Almost every chord you can play on a guitar is available for use. • Customize the Band: Choose from a variety of built-in band styles, then optionally customize each instrument individually – adjust the strumming pattern, add automatic bass runs, and more. • Organize & Share: Create song lists for practicing or even performing, and share them with your friends or on the community forum. • Cross-Platform: Sync your custom songs, lists, and preferences with any device you use Strum Machine on: phone, tablet, or computer. (It works offline, too!) • Responsive Support: If you run into any problems or have questions, write us an email or post a message on the forum and someone will get back to you within a few days! Strum Machine is under active development and we're always working on ways to make the app even more useful to our users... while keeping it uncluttered and intuitive first and foremost. Discover how Strum Machine can improve your music practice today! Download Strum Machine and play a handful of demo songs instantly, without signing up. For the full experience, including access to all built-in songs and the ability to create your own, start a free trial. Terms of Use: https://strummachine.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://strummachine.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Strum Machine at 89% against ROMP Fest's 33%. Strum Machine also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.1) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 12 months). ROMP Fest's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Strum Machine sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month. ROMP Fest asks for nothing beyond the download.
Strum Machine holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Strum Machine has 120 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of ROMP Fest's written reviews are positive against 89% of Strum Machine's.
ROMP Fest ships an update every 12 months, Strum Machine fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ROMP Fest | Strum Machine |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (14 ratings) | 4.7 (120 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 88.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14 | 120 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #156 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 77 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | International Bluegrass Music Museum Inc | Luke Abbott LLC |
Customer experience
ROMP Fest
Strum Machine
In-app purchases
ROMP Fest
No in-app purchases
Strum Machine
- Monthly Subscription14 Days trial$4.991 Month
Questions
Is ROMP Fest free?
Is Strum Machine free?
Which has better reviews, ROMP Fest or Strum Machine?
Do ROMP Fest or Strum Machine have ads?
Which is updated more often, ROMP Fest or Strum Machine?
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