Drum Notes vs Partner
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Drum Notes
Create, share, and practice percussive music scores with an intuitive editor. Explore a global community of drummers and percussionists, access thousands of beats, and utilize practice tools. Ideal for musicians, teachers, and bands of all levels.
- Intuitive score editor for drum set and percussion
- Explore and learn from community-shared beats and rhythms
- Practice tools including metronome and rhythm trainer
- Organize rhythms, arrangements, and exercises
- Create and share drum exercises for students
- Export scores as audio or image formats
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* Grammy Academy awarded: app to support percussive music preservation. Write, share, and practice drum music like never before. Join over 200,000 drummers and percussionists in 180 countries who have already created 400,000+ scores with Drum Notes, a simple app to create and share drum beats, music scores, drum lessons, drum loops, drum tabs and rhythms. Ideal for beginners and pros alike. Drum Notes features an intuitive score creator, perfect for drumset and percussive genres like Samba, Marching Bands, Drumlines, Cuban percussion, and Drum grooves. Think of it as a more accessible version of Musescore, Flat or Finale, tailored for drummers. Like a drum machine or drum sequencer with real drum scores. FOR DRUMMERS - ALL LEVELS Intuitive Music Score Editor: Effortlessly create percussive sheet music with a user-friendly music writing editor, for drum set or any percussion instrument. Explore Beats: Learn drums by discovering thousands of beats, loops, and percussion samples from our drumming community. Practice Tools: Adjust your own pro metronome, customize grooves, and use the drum score editor as a rhythm trainer. Organize Your Notes: Keep rhythms, arrangements, recordings, and exercises neatly organized. FOR TEACHERS - ENHANCE YOUR INSTRUCTION Drum Exercises: Create, share, and manage exercises with ease. Student-Teacher Groups: Maintain shared spaces for class materials and track progress. Public Library: Access and share a wealth of exercises and materials. FOR BANDS - PERFECT FOR BATUCADAS Arrange and Share: Organize complex patterns and rhythms, and export them in audio or image formats. Private Groups: Create groups for sharing compositions and performance notes. Explore Percussion Rhythms: Discover diverse samples and beats to inspire and enhance your band’s sound. FOR CONTENT CREATORS - SHARE PROFESSIONAL CONTENT Export Options: Share drum grooves as high-quality audio or images. Perfect for showcasing your work on social media. Diverse Library: Use an extensive collection of beats and samples for creating stunning content. FOR MUSICIANS - EXPAND YOUR PLAYBACK OPTIONS Playback Tool: Use Drum Notes to playback loops and samples for various instruments. Versatile Use: Ideal for enhancing rhythm and practice sessions with authentic beats. ADDITIONAL FEATURES Diverse percussion instruments: Drum Set Electronic Drum Kit Cajon Rumba Instruments: Congas, Clave, Cowbell, Shaker, etc. Samba Instruments: Surdos, Repique, Caixa, Agogos, Rebolo, Pandeiro, etc. Samba Reggae Instruments: Timbal, Bacurinha, etc. Marching Band / Drumline Instruments: Quads, Snare Drums, Bass Drum, Cymbals. Capoeira Instruments: Berimbau Viola, Berimbau Berra Boi, Berimbau Medio, Agogo, Pandeiro, Atabaque And many more… Percussion Library: Rock, Jazz, Samba, Marching Band, Capoeira, and many more. Customizable Settings: Adjust metronome BPM, sound accents, and more. Global Community: Connect with percussionists and drummers worldwide. PREMIUM FEATURES Unlock unlimited compositions, percussive instruments per score, and private groups. Support our mission to improve musical knowledge. JOIN THE DRUM NOTES COMMUNITY Developed by a team dedicated to empowering drummers and percussionists. Drum Coach App: Explore our app for developing practice habits with exercises, scores, and audio instructions. We wish you great grooves! #drum, #drums, #drumline, #samba, #percussion * if you are looking for the app Drumap (drum app; drum map), this is it! Now we are called Drum Notes. upbeat.studio https://upbeat.studio/privacy-policy-drum-notes/ https://upbeat.studio/terms-and-conditions-drum-notes/
Partner
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Most drum apps hand you a pile of exercises and hope you stick with them. Partner works the other way round: it remembers what you actually played, and builds around you. At the heart of it is Riley, your practice partner. She remembers every session you log, the songs you're chasing, the tempos you've reached, the things that still feel hard, and she uses all of it to shape tomorrow's practice around what you did today rather than a plan pulled from thin air. — HOW IT WORKS — You start a session and just play. There's nothing to fill in before you begin, so you practise for as long as you've got and log things as you go: what you're working on, the tempo you reach, how it feels. When you finish, Riley reflects it all back in your own words, and after a few sessions she starts noticing the shape of your practice, where you're growing and where you've levelled off. She never nags, never scores you and never guilt-trips you for a missed day, because she's on your side, not on your case. — WHAT RILEY REMEMBERS — • What you worked on, and how it actually felt • The tempos you've genuinely hit, never a made-up number • Your breakthroughs, and the bits that still feel hard • When you've sat at the same tempo for a couple of weeks • Everything, so tomorrow's session is built from today's — A PARTNER, NOT A COACH — Riley doesn't drill you or hand you a lesson plan. She sits beside you, remembers what you did and reflects it back, so you're the one who decides what comes next. A hard session isn't a failure here, it's just part of it, and turning up at all is worth something on its own. — BUILT BY A WORKING DRUM TEACHER — Hi, I'm Harry. After six years of teaching I kept seeing the same thing: my students didn't need more practice time, they needed something beside them between lessons. Partner is the practice partner I always wished they had. — WHO IT'S FOR — Any drummer who wants to keep track of their practice and actually get somewhere with it. Whether you're going in circles and can't tell if you're improving, you're self-taught and have never had much direction, you're fitting practice around a busy life, or you're working toward an exam and want every session to count, Riley keeps the thread. — TIERS — LITE (free): your practice journal, session logging and Riley every third session. PRO (£7.99/month, one month free): everything in Lite, plus Riley after every session and your full practice history. Pricing may vary by region. Terms: https://www.termsfeed.com/live/5c06b8e4-28bd-40e4-9a85-2a0bba58f250 Privacy: https://www.termsfeed.com/live/e467ec04-7277-41fa-9b5e-ccf0532c6e34
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Partner at none against Drum Notes's shown. Partner also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, in-app purchases, 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. Drum Notes sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Partner sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Drum Notes ships an update every 2 weeks, Partner every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Drum Notes | Partner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (207 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 56.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 207 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 133 MB | 47 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | UPBEAT STUDIO | Mentora AI Limited |
Bugs and requests
Drum Notes
Reported bugs
21 issues- App crashes constantly
- App crashes on iPad
- Accents don't work after saving
- Beta score writing features don't work
- App freezes on loading screen
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- App crashes when trying to access saved rhythms
- Previously created playlists don't show up
- Unable to listen to playlists
- App closes out several times a minute
- App deleted created content
- Sounds lag, creating flam type sounds
- Agogo bell sounds reversed
- Loss of content after account creation
- Loss of content after app name change
- Unexplained charges and card locking
- App not opening arrangements or showing instruments
- App crashes after 15 minutes
- Inability to share on iPad
- Inability to save as image on iPad
- Unresponsive beta features
- App crashes and closes unexpectedly
Requested features
19 requests- Add whole note bass drum roll
- Increase save space
- Add MIDI export
- Add feature to play individual instruments by tapping
- Improve marching percussion sounds
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- Add dark mode
- Add 8th note/1 time division option
- Allow export of sheet to image on free version
- Fix accent bug
- Make accented beats easier to create
- Add BPM configuration
- Improve sound quality of marching percussion
- Add feature to play different instruments instead of editing
- Make score layout better for longer scores
- Fix iPad specific sharing issues
- Fix beta score writing features
- Offer a one-time purchase option
- Fix issues with previously created playlists not showing up
- Fix issues with not being able to listen to playlists
Partner
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Drum Notes
- Premium Monthly Subscription$5.991 Month
- Premium Monthly Subscription$7.991 Month
- Premium Yearly Subscription$42.991 Year
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- Premium Yearly Subscription1 Year trial$42.991 Year
- Premium Monthly Subscription$44.996 Months
- Premium yearly Subscription$49.991 Year
- Premium yearly subscription14 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Drumap PRO Yearly Offer1 Year trial$49.991 Year
- Samba on Drum set workshop$5.99
- Music Capoeria Workshop$6.99
Partner
- Pro Monthly1 Month trial$7.991 Month
- Pro Annual1 Month trial$59.991 Year
Questions
Is Drum Notes free?
Is Partner free?
Do Drum Notes or Partner have ads?
Which is updated more often, Drum Notes or Partner?
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