Comparison

Shruti Laya vs Shruthi Box

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

Head to head
About

Shruti Laya

This app provides a practice companion for Carnatic music, offering a tanpura drone, Mrudanga, and Manjira instruments. Users can customize pitch, tempo, and select from various talas and jaatis for an immersive practice experience.

Highlights
  • Customizable tanpura drone
  • Realistic Mrudanga and Manjira rhythms
  • Support for multiple talas and jaatis
  • Adjustable tempo and pitch
  • On-screen performance display
  • Integrated tuner
  • Lock screen controls
Features
Read full description

Shruti Laya is a practice companion for Carnatic music. It gives you a tanpura drone, a Mrudanga and a Manjira that play together, locked to one beat, in the tala you choose. Turn on any of them, set your shruti and tempo, and practise. TANPURA • Set the shruti (Sa) to any standard pitch, or to a custom pitch. • Choose the first string: Pa, Ma, Ni or upper Sa. • Slow, Normal or Fast plucking. • Keeps playing when the screen locks. MRUDANGA • Plays a theka in Adi tala, built from real recorded strokes and traditional nadai patterns. • Tuned to your shruti automatically, so it always sits with the tanpura. • Accents on sam and on each anga, with a natural, human feel. • Other talas are kept with the Manjira and the tanpura. • Optional variation: the Mrudanga brings in variations of the theka across cycles instead of repeating one fixed phrase. MANJIRA • Strikes on every beat, on claps only, or on sam only. • In Misra Chapu and Khanda Chapu, a soft tick marks the beats between the claps. Switch it off in Settings to hear only the claps. TALA • All seven Suladi Sapta talas: Dhruva, Matya, Rupaka, Jhampa, Triputa (Adi), Ata and Eka. • Misra Chapu and Khanda Chapu. • Jaati: Tisra, Chatusra, Khanda, Misra, Sankeerna. • Gati (nadai): Tisra, Chatusra, Khanda, Misra, Sankeerna. • Kalai: 1x or 2x. • Tempo from 40 to 150 BPM. Set it with the slider, or tap the beat with Tap Tempo. • Each tala remembers its own tempo. • A four-click count-in before the rhythm starts, always at sam, with a big 4, 3, 2, 1 on screen. ON STAGE A full-screen performance display shows the beat count, tala and tempo in large type, readable from across the room. It opens on its own a few seconds after the rhythm starts. MUKTHAYA • In Adi tala, tap Mukthaya on the performance display and the Mrudanga plays a mukthaya that fills the rest of the cycle and lands on sam, then goes back to the theka. • Tap End to finish the same way: the mukthaya lands on sam with Dhin and Thom, and the rhythm stops. • The mukthaya fits whatever is left of the cycle, from 2 to 8 beats, drawn from traditional lesson patterns. TUNER Check your voice or instrument against your shruti. The tuner shows the swara you're on and how many cents sharp or flat you are. ALSO • Five colour themes. • Play and pause from the Lock Screen and Control Center. It never starts on its own when you connect to a car or headset. • Works on iPhone and iPad, with a layout made for the larger iPad screen. PRIVATE The microphone is used only by the Tuner, and only while it's on. Sound is analysed on your device. Nothing is recorded, stored or sent anywhere. No accounts, no ads, no tracking.

About

Shruthi Box

Features
Read full description

Shruthi Box is a digital shruti box for Indian classical music practice, featuring just intonation intervals.

Screenshots

Shruti Laya4 screens
Shruthi Box4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shruti Laya at none against Shruthi Box's 1. Shruti Laya also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 4 months). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Shruthi Box sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Shruti Laya asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shruti Laya ships an update every 3 days, Shruthi Box every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Shruti Laya versus Shruthi Box: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShruti LayaShruthi Box
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews16.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRamachandra MallappaSHREYAS MURALIDHARAN

In-app purchases

None

Shruti Laya

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Shruthi Box

One-time1
  • Shruthi Box Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Shruti Laya free?
Shruti Laya is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shruthi Box free?
Shruthi Box is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Shruti Laya or Shruthi Box have ads?
Neither Shruti Laya nor Shruthi Box shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shruti Laya or Shruthi Box?
Shruti Laya ships an update every 3 days, and Shruthi Box every 4 months. Most recently, Shruti Laya was updated on November 3, 2026 and Shruthi Box on November 5, 2026.

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