Comparison

Keylimba vs Joo Kalimba

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

Head to head
About

Keylimba

Experience the soothing sounds of a kalimba on your device. This app offers a cute and customizable interface with adjustable key ranges and a built-in looper for recording and playback. Personalize your musical experience with custom key markings and backgrounds.

Highlights
  • Cute and lightweight interface
  • Adjustable 9-21 key range
  • Built-in looper for recording and playback
  • Customizable key markings
  • Customizable background colors
  • Ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

Keylimba is a cute and customizable app version of the kalimba instrument! - cute & lightweight interface - adjustable 9-21 key range - built-in looper to record and playback sound - customizable key markings and background colors - absolutely NO ADS!

About

Joo Kalimba

Learn to play the Kalimba with a virtual instrument app. It offers a vast library of songs, interactive lessons, and music games for all ages. Connect to a real Kalimba for note recognition and record your performances.

Highlights
  • Virtual Kalimba with 17 and 21 keys
  • Access to over 650,000 songs
  • Real Kalimba note recognition
  • Audio recording functionality
  • Interactive lessons mode
  • Music games for practice
  • Magic Kalimba mode
Features
Read full description

Joo Kalimba tutor is one of the best virtual Kalimba for mobile & tablet. The app offers tons of songs with easy lessons, and we add new tabs every week! Don't waste more time, start playing now!... Joo Kalimba is developed by Sensor Notes and music educators. Simply are experts in creating educational and fun music apps for learning piano quickly and easily. Perfect for children and adults, this is the Kalimba academy you’ve been waiting for. Joolee Kalimba has many features to support learning and playing the Kalimba. Here are some great features: - Full string Kalimba with 17 keys and 21 keys - Play with 650,000+ song from music songbooks - Connect with real Kalimba with notes recognition mode - Be able to record audio while playing - Lessons mode for easy learning - Music games to practice - Magic Kalimba mode added Set off on the most exciting and fun musical journey with Joo Kalimba

Screenshots

Keylimba3 screens
Joo Kalimba4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Keylimba at 94% against Joo Kalimba's 0%. Keylimba also leads on price (Free vs $2.99) and rating (4.8 vs 1.0). Joo Kalimba's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13.0). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Keylimba is free to download; Joo Kalimba costs $2.99 up front. Keylimba sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Joo Kalimba asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Keylimba holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Keylimba has 3.2K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of Keylimba's written reviews are positive against 0% of Joo Kalimba's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 12, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Keylimba versus Joo Kalimba: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKeylimbaJoo Kalimba
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.8 (3.2K ratings) — better1.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews94.1% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings3.2K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size65 MB127 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDavid FuSENSOR NOTES JOINT STOCK COMPANY

Customer experience

Keylimba

All ratings3,133 ratings
Positive95.4%
Neutral1.5%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews1,240 reviews
Positive94.1%
Neutral3.1%
Negative2.8%

Joo Kalimba

All ratings2 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Keylimba

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional app crashes
  • Delayed note response on some devices

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add more pride flag options
  • Allow custom color selection
  • Implement a built-in tuner
  • Add ability to save/load recordings
  • Provide song tutorials or sheet music
Show 1 more
  • Enable picture-in-picture mode

Joo Kalimba

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Keylimba

One-time1
  • Keylimba Plus$1.99
None

Joo Kalimba

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Keylimba free?
Keylimba is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Joo Kalimba free?
Joo Kalimba costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Keylimba or Joo Kalimba?
Keylimba is rated higher. Keylimba averages 4.8 out of 5 from 3.2K ratings, while Joo Kalimba averages 1.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Keylimba or Joo Kalimba have ads?
Neither Keylimba nor Joo Kalimba shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Keylimba or Joo Kalimba?
Keylimba ships an update every 3 weeks, and Joo Kalimba every 3 weeks. Most recently, Keylimba was updated on November 12, 2026 and Joo Kalimba on November 12, 2026.

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