Comparison

DroneLab vs WaveCloud

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

Head to head
About

DroneLab

Generate evolving ambient music with three parallel audio sources and unique sound effects. Save and export your creations for use in music or video projects, or use it for improvisation and practice.

Highlights
  • Three parallel continuous audio sources
  • Custom sound effects
  • Preset selection and customization
  • Stereo audio export up to 96KHz
  • Real-time recording
  • Improvisation and experimentation tool
Features
Read full description

DroneLab creates slowly shifting musical soundscapes. Control three continuous audio sources running in parallel, each with its own rate of shifting intensity. Expand the soundscape with unusual sound effects crafted specifically for DroneLab. Get going quickly by selecting one of the included presets. Go further by selecting and customizing the sound sources, and save your own presets to the list. Create soundscapes for your music and video projects: - Export a stereo audio file with your current settings, at sample rates up to 96KHz. On newer devices, exports occur faster than real time. - Or, you can record in real time, capturing all the changes you make to the sounds as you go. DroneLab is great for improvisation and experimentation: - Explore the melodic side of your instrument in a fun, relaxing setting. - Warm up before practicing more difficult material. - Explore sounds and articulations that aren't part of your usual repertoire. Please visit us at dronelab.app for videos, more information and support.

About

WaveCloud

This app offers advanced tools for manipulating audio samples into unique sounds. It allows for precise control over tiny audio fragments, enabling the creation of diverse textures, effects, and soundscapes. Features include a morphing oscillator, LFOs, filters, and unique movement modules.

Highlights
  • Granular synthesis engine
  • Morphing oscillator
  • Orbit and WaveGlide modules
  • MPE support
  • Built-in effects suite
  • Audio editor and managers
  • 200+ presets
Features
Read full description

WaveCloud is an innovative granular synthesizer that offers powerful tools for manipulating and playing sounds. Granular synthesis divides an audio sample into tiny fragments, called grains, each typically a few milliseconds in length. These grains are then manipulated independently in terms of pitch, duration, position in time, and amplitude. Unlike traditional synthesis, the capability to manipulate tiny grains of audio offers enormous precision of sound control, transformation, and compositional possibilities. WaveCloud offers a wide range of tools for experimentation – oscillator, LFOs, filters, envelopes, routing matrix, innovative WaveGlide and Orbit modules for grain movement, effects, MPE support, extensive waveform editing, customizable themes, MIDI CC control, aftertouch, audio pool manager, and 200+ presets to get you started. Granular synthesis is extremely versatile and can produce a vast range of sounds and textures, from subtle, atmospheric sounds to complex, dynamic ones. WaveCloud offers dozens of parameters, enabling you to sculpt the sound grains in any way you wish – textural pads and atmospheres, time-stretched effects, glitchy and stutter effects, vocal and instrumental manipulations, granular synthesis percussive sounds, experimental effects, as well as microtonal and harmonic soundscapes. WaveCloud features a drag and drop system for importing and exporting of audio files and presets. It has its own built-in Preset and Audio Managers to help keep everything in order. WaveCloud even features a fully-fledged zoomable audio editor along with a suite of tools to crop, fade, cut, copy, paste, and normalise your samples. We include a morphing 3-state Oscillator to support the granular engine. The granular engine allows up to 50 grains per second per note, with grain lengths up to a second in length. Grains can be sculpted with our morphing envelope generator, manipulated with our LFOs, FEGs and VCFs, and passed through lots of randomisation to keep things continually evolving. WaveCloud also features two unique features for adding movement to audio grains. Orbit mode allows you to play sweeping patterns tied to the physical host tempo of your DAW, and WaveGlide is a sequencer with glides and fades from one location to another. To top it all off, we include 7 built-in effects, delay, reverb, chorus, overdrive, phaser, resonator, and 8-band EQ. The resonator controls per-note feedback and dispersion for amazing MPE effects. WaveCloud is not only a deep and powerful granular synth but also a fun way to create many incredible sounds. Features • Over 200 presets • 3-state morphing oscillator (sine, square, saw) • Morphing grain shapes • 2 low-frequency morphing oscillators • 4 multistep envelope generators • 2 visual filters (series and parallel modes) • Per-channel feedback resonators with dispersion • MPE Support (per-channel pitch bend, aftertouch, and CC74) • Orbit mode • WaveGlide sequencing • Fully Featured Mod-Matrix • Direct record and playback of samples • Built-in sample editor with editing tools • 7 built-in effects • Built-in Audio Manager with drag and drop support • Preset Manager with easy import/export, drag and drop • Colour scheme editor

Screenshots

DroneLab4 screens
WaveCloud4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: DroneLab at $1.99 against WaveCloud's $14.99. WaveCloud's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.4) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months). On review sentiment, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

DroneLab costs $1.99 and WaveCloud $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

WaveCloud holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 20 and 26 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 74% of DroneLab's written reviews are positive against 69% of WaveCloud's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DroneLab ships an update every 4 months, WaveCloud every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
DroneLab versus WaveCloud: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDroneLabWaveCloud
Price$1.99 — better$14.99
Rating4.4 (20 ratings)4.9 (26 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.7% of reviews — better69.2% of reviews
Number of ratings2026 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB286 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJon Lukas4Pockets.com

Customer experience

DroneLab

All ratings20 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative15.0%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive73.7%
Neutral15.8%
Negative10.5%

WaveCloud

All ratings26 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral3.8%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive69.2%
Neutral15.4%
Negative15.4%

In-app purchases

None

DroneLab

No in-app purchases

None

WaveCloud

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is DroneLab free?
DroneLab costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is WaveCloud free?
WaveCloud costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, DroneLab or WaveCloud?
WaveCloud is rated higher. DroneLab averages 4.4 out of 5 from 20 ratings, while WaveCloud averages 4.9 from 26 ratings.
Do DroneLab or WaveCloud have ads?
Neither DroneLab nor WaveCloud shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DroneLab or WaveCloud?
DroneLab ships an update every 4 months, and WaveCloud every 3 weeks. Most recently, DroneLab was updated on September 21, 2026 and WaveCloud on September 19, 2026.

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