Ragya vs Swarmandal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ragya
This music streaming service specializes in Indian classical music. It offers a curated listening experience based on the time of day, following the raga system. Users can also explore details about artists, ragas, and compositions.
- Indian classical music streaming
- Time-of-day curated playlists
- Raga system integration
- Artist and composition details
- Discovery of Indian classical music
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Ragya is the first-of-its-kind music streaming service dedicated to Indian classical music. Ragya's default mode makes enjoying and discovering Indian classical music simple for listeners as it curates and plays ICM based on the time of the day. This is based on the raga system in Indian classical music which is structured around the 8 time sections in the day. Further, listeners on Ragya can dive deeper and learn about the artiste, raga and the composition too.
Swarmandal
This app simulates the Indian swarmandal and tanpura instruments for Hindustani classical music. It allows users to play individual strings, set custom layouts, and explore thaats and raags with visual cues. Features like SmartPlay enable phrase generation and automatic deceleration.
- Swarmandal string simulation
- Tanpura drone accompaniment
- Thaat and Raag modes
- Customizable string layouts
- Shruti (microtone) support
- SmartPlay phrase generation
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Swarmandal is a Hindustani classical music instrument app that brings the swarmandal and tanpura to your iPhone and iPad. * Swarmandal - Pluck individual strings to play swars across one, two, or three octaves. Each string is sampled from a real swarmandal and pitch-shifted to your chosen Sa, so the instrument always sounds authentic, in any key. * Tanpura - Toggle a continuous tanpura (drone) loop as a harmonic foundation for practice or performance. Adjust the volume to blend it under your playing. * Thaat & Raag Modes - Choose from all 10 thaats of Hindustani music, or switch to Raag Mode to explore individual raags. In Raag Mode, strings are coloured to show which notes belong to the aaroh (ascending) and avroh (descending) of the raag. Play the pakad, aaroha, or avroha with a single swipe. * Design custom layouts - Create a completely customised string layout that supports split strings (same swar but different variant for aaroh vs. avroh). * Shruti support - Use microtones for raags and custom layouts. * SmartPlay - Swipe across the strings to play a phrase. SmartPlay detects your direction and velocity, then continues the sequence automatically, decelerating naturally as it reaches the end. * Choose Your Sa - Set Sa anywhere from G#2 to A#3 across multiple octaves. The app reloads all sounds for the new key instantly, and the tanpura follows automatically.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Ragya at 4.2 against Swarmandal's 1.0. Ragya also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (13 vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Swarmandal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Ragya asks for nothing beyond the download.
Ragya holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ragya has 13 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ragya | Swarmandal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (13 ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 13 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 53 MB | 117 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Aditya Dipankar | Prasanna Joshi |
In-app purchases
Ragya
No in-app purchases
Swarmandal
- Premium Mode$3.99







