Comparison

Drum Notation by Beat Note vs Setronome

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

Head to head
About

Drum Notation by Beat Note

Quickly create, hear, and share drum notation. Ideal for drummers, teachers, and content creators, it transforms ideas into professional scores and shareable videos. Organize your beats with tags and discover new exercises.

Highlights
  • Real-time notation generation
  • Audio playback at any tempo
  • Export to PDF, MP4, PNG, WAV
  • Organize beats with tags
  • Create animated notation videos
  • In-ear metronome functionality
Features
Read full description

Beat Note — Drum Notation for Drummers, Teachers, and Content Creators The fastest way to write, hear, practice, and share drum notation. Built by a drummer, for drummers. FOR DRUMMERS — FROM YOUR HEAD TO THE PAGE IN SECONDS You have a groove idea. Beat Note gets it down before you lose it. Tap the sequencer grid to build beats. Watch them turn into clean, professional drum notation in real time. Hit play and hear exactly what you wrote — at any tempo, with a click track, on loop. - Transcribe songs to check your ear and lock in what you hear - Compose your own grooves, fills, and exercises from scratch - Count in with a visual on-screen "1, 2, 3, 4" so your eyes and ears are ready together - Use Beat Note as your in-ear metronome during rehearsals — your beats, not just clicks "Been waiting a long time for an app like this. Clearly built by a drummer." — App Store review FOR TEACHERS — WRITE IT, PLAY IT, SEND IT What used to take 30 minutes in a desktop notation program now takes 2 minutes on your phone or iPad. Write exercises on the fly — during the lesson, not after it. Play back the notation so students hear exactly how it should sound. Share a link so they can listen at home. Export a PDF they can print and bring to the kit. - Use the sequencer as a live music whiteboard, in person or online - Build a library of exercises organized by tag, ready for any student - Send a shareable link or export a high-quality PDF in one tap "What would normally take 30 minutes on a computer has become 2 minutes from my mobile device. My students love it." — App Store review FOR CONTENT CREATORS — PROFESSIONAL NOTATION VIDEOS, IN MINUTES Export your beat as an animated MP4 — portrait for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, or landscape for YouTube and Vimeo. Choose 720p, 1080p, or 4K. Pick a color theme. Preview before you export. PDF, PNG, WAV or AAC audio, shareable link, and animated MP4 — all from one app. NOTATION THAT LOOKS RIGHT Professional drum notation, consistent across every format you export. What you see on screen is what your students get in the PDF, what your followers see in the video, and what you hear in playback. - All standard drums, cymbals, and articulations - Subdivisions from 8th notes to 32nd notes, plus triplets, quintuplets (5s), and septuplets (7s) - Common and compound time signatures, including 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8 - Linear, split hands/feet, or split drums/cymbals voicing - Sticking annotations (R, L) - Single-measure repeat symbol (%) — renders automatically when measures repeat ORGANIZE AND DISCOVER - Tags, search, and sort to manage your beat library - Discover tab: curated educational beats for all skill levels - Beat templates to get started fast - Customize tempo, click track, count-in, and timer MADE BY A DRUMMER, SHAPED BY THE COMMUNITY Beat Note was built by me — an independent developer with 35+ years behind the kit. But the direction comes from the community. Every major feature on the roadmap has been voted on, requested, and refined by drummers, teachers, and creators just like you. Join the conversation at roadmap.beat-note.app — vote on upcoming features, share ideas, and see what's coming next. I'm here to make sure it all comes together into something that actually works. Premium subscription required for full access. Educator and Creator tiers available. Free trial included. Payment is charged through your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription auto-renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period via iTunes Account Settings. Terms and Privacy Policy: https://www.beat-note.app/privacy-and-terms

About

Setronome

Features
Read full description

The metronome built for the stage, not the practice room. Manage your repertoire, build setlists, run your show. The click keeps running even when you switch apps. Count-ins, transitions and guide tracks: everything you need to keep a band tight on stage. REPERTOIRE, SETLIST, SHOW Every song carries its own tempo, time signature and notes. The setlist puts them in order for the night. Show mode plays them and moves on to the next song by itself after the bar count you set, either immediately or at the end of the bar. On stage you stop tapping anything. GUIDE TRACK The guide track editor lays out the arrangement bar by bar: section markers, time signature changes, tempo jumps, tempo ramps across a whole passage, and tempo bands for breathing between two values. Twelve sections are spoken into your ear: intro, verse, prechorus, chorus, post-chorus, bridge, solo, instrumental, interlude, rap, vamp, outro. The editor itself runs on iPad only, because of the screen it needs. Finished guide tracks play on iPhone just the same. MEDLEYS Several parts, one continuous click. Tempo and time signature change sample accurately at the transition, with a count-in or a spoken transition cue if you want one. A part can stay open and loop until you move on. CLICK TRACK AS WAV For the DAW: click alone, cues alone, or both as a stereo mix with click left and voice right. 48 kHz at 24 bit or 44.1 kHz at 16 bit. Calculated rather than recorded, so there is no drift and the file is ready in seconds. IN-EAR Click and voice can go out on separate channels, click left and every cue right. At the desk that becomes two mono sends, and everyone sets their own ear. SCAN A SETLIST Your setlist as a PDF, as a photo, or straight from the camera. Titles, tempos and artists arrive as songs in the archive. Text recognition uses Apple's own components and runs entirely on the device. HEAR THE TEMPO Hold the device towards the music and Setronome names the tempo. Half time and double time sit next to it as equals, because either one can be the right answer. SONG DIRECTORY A directory of 5.3 million recordings from 1970 to 2026 with their tempos can be downloaded once and is then fully searchable offline. Optional, the app works without it. TIME SIGNATURES 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 7/4 as well as 6/8, 5/8 and 7/8 with their own grouping. Subdivision in eighths, triplets or sixteenths. Individual bars may step out of line inside a guide track. FOOTSWITCH Ordinary Bluetooth pedals that identify as a keyboard control start, stop and song changes. Key assignment is yours to choose, and a key test shows what actually arrives. TIMING The click runs on a dedicated audio engine rather than a timer, with sample accurate scheduling. The technical page in settings shows the measured output latency of your device, so you know where you stand. NO ACCOUNT No login, no sign-up, no ads, no analytics, no tracking. Your songs, setlists and guide tracks stay on the device. The app works without a signal, because it has to work on stage. On first launch you will find example songs, an example medley and an example setlist. A guided tour explains the seven areas, if you want it.

Screenshots

Drum Notation by Beat Note4 screens
Setronome4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Drum Notation by Beat Note at Free against Setronome's $17.99. Setronome's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5). On update cadence, 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

Drum Notation by Beat Note is free to download; Setronome costs $17.99 up front. Drum Notation by Beat Note sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $6.69 per month. Setronome asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drum Notation by Beat Note ships an update every 6 days, Setronome every 3 days. Both last shipped on November 13, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Drum Notation by Beat Note versus Setronome: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrum Notation by Beat NoteSetronome
PriceFree — better$17.99
Rating4.6 (88 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews83.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings88 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB45 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKick Snare Hat Apps, LLCIgor Lier

Bugs and requests

Drum Notation by Beat Note

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Preview rarely matches notes on staff
  • Sometimes doesn't play any notes
  • Sounds not always appropriate for instrument voicing
  • Editing measures is inconvenient
  • Free trial charged immediately
Show 3 more
  • iCloud data sync issues for subscription confirmation
  • Not stable in loopings, slow delay on first note
  • Measure lines on PDFs too thick and close

Requested features

27 requests
  • 7/8 time signature support
  • Syncing between devices
  • Web version
  • Native Mac/Windows apps
  • Add text or notes to notations
Show 22 more
  • Cowbell instrument
  • More drum samples and pitch control
  • Ability to work on spaces longer than a measure
  • Add 32nd notes
  • Duplicate multiple bars at once
  • Copy/paste large sections
  • Option to drag duplicated bars to the end
  • Add melody track
  • More instrument options
  • Ability to manage volumes of different instruments
  • Add quintuplets and sextuplets to a bar
  • Add repetition options for measures
  • Add text to music sheets
  • Improve loop stability and reduce delay
  • Allow monthly subscription option
  • More free beats/unlimited free version
  • Add sticking for grace notes
  • More advanced editing options for multiple bars
  • Improve PDF export readability
  • Add virtual drum kit for accessibility
  • AI-powered automatic notation
  • Auto-sync to track

Setronome

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Drum Notation by Beat Note

Subscriptions5
  • Educator Tier Monthly (No Trial)$6.691 Month
  • Creator Tier Monthly (No Trial)$13.491 Month
  • Educator Tier Annual (No Trial)$59.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Educator Tier Annual + Free Trial7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Creator Tier Annual + Free Trial7 Days trial$119.991 Year
None

Setronome

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drum Notation by Beat Note free?
Drum Notation by Beat Note is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Setronome free?
Setronome costs $17.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Drum Notation by Beat Note or Setronome have ads?
Neither Drum Notation by Beat Note nor Setronome shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drum Notation by Beat Note or Setronome?
Drum Notation by Beat Note ships an update every 6 days, and Setronome every 3 days. Most recently, Drum Notation by Beat Note was updated on November 13, 2026 and Setronome on November 13, 2026.

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