Comparison

Drum Trainer vs Drum Journal

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

Head to head
About

Drum Trainer

Learn, create, and play drum beats with this app. It offers tools to slow down or isolate parts of beats for easier learning, allows customization of drum kits, and features a community for sharing and discovering new rhythms. You can also adjust tempo, time signature, and velocity.

Highlights
  • Create custom drum beats
  • Community beat sharing
  • Adjust tempo and time signature
  • Customize drum kits
  • Slow down or solo beat parts
  • Pre-made beat library
Features
Read full description

Learn beats fast, create your own or try beats made by others in the community. By soloing out or slowing down parts of the beat, you can learn it step by step until it sticks! You change how you want to see the beat, then play after it in full screen. You can also upload and download beats with others from the community. Features in the app: - Create your own beats. - Download or upload beats to the community. - Change time signature. - Change velocity on each hit. - Increase and decrease tempo. - Learn new beats from a pre-made beat library. - Zoom and pan for better focus. - Customize your drum kit. - Change different views.

About

Drum Journal

This app provides real-time feedback on your drumming practice using your device's microphone. It allows you to slow down or loop sections of YouTube drum videos and automatically tracks your practice sessions to help you monitor progress.

Highlights
  • Microphone-based sticking feedback
  • YouTube video playback with speed control
  • Section looping for practice
  • Automatic practice session tracking
  • Community-shared exercises
  • Progress monitoring and streaks
Features
Read full description

Your exercises, your lessons, your rudiments: one list, ready to go. Drum Journal remembers where you left off, keeps the tempo, and gets out of your way. Press start, practice. YOUR ROUTINE, READY TO GO Open the app. The routine you built is queued, timed, and ready to run. Warm-up, rudiments, the YouTube lesson you're working on, laid out the way you want them. No deciding what to play tonight. REAL FEEDBACK ON YOUR TIMING The built-in sticking coach uses your device's microphone to hear you play on a practice pad. Real feedback on your timing, dynamics, and consistency, built into your routine, not a separate tool. PLAY TO A GROOVE, NOT JUST A CLICK Pick a mood and a backing track plays behind the metronome, automatically matched to your tempo. Rudiment practice stops feeling clinical and starts sounding like a room. LEARN ANY SONG AT YOUR OWN SPEED Drop any YouTube drum lesson into your routine. Slow it down, loop the hard bar, mark the section that's killing you. Drum Journal sits on your music stand and stays out of your way. SEE HOW YOU'RE GETTING BETTER Every session logs automatically. Streaks, time on each rudiment, whether your timing is tightening week over week. Show up daily and watch the data confirm what your hands already feel. EXERCISES FROM OTHER DRUMMERS Browse exercises shared by other drummers. Pick what fits your level, drop it into your routine. FREE TO PRACTICE. PRO TO SEE IF IT'S WORKING. Everything you need to build and run your routine is free: exercises, the sticking coach, YouTube practice, streaks, session logs, and background music in the Drift mood. Drum Journal Pro unlocks advanced analytics — see whether your timing is actually tightening, whether one hand plays inconsistent flams, whether your routine is moving the needle. Pro also unlocks the full background-music mood pack, per-exercise history, community sharing, and data export. The practice is simple. Showing up is hard. Drum Journal makes showing up the easy part. SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS Drum Journal Pro is available as a monthly, annual, or lifetime subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel subscriptions in your Apple ID account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial, if offered, is forfeited upon purchasing a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://drumjournal.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://drumjournal.com/terms

Screenshots

Drum Trainer4 screens
Drum Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

Drum Trainer and Drum Journal both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Drum Journal's written reviews are positive against 50% of Drum Trainer's. Drum Journal also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (8 vs 2). Drum Trainer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5). On price, rating, 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

Both are free to download. Drum Journal sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Drum Trainer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Drum Trainer against 5.0 for Drum Journal. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 8 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 50% of Drum Trainer's written reviews are positive against 100% of Drum Journal's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drum Trainer ships an update every 3 months, Drum Journal weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Drum Trainer versus Drum Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrum TrainerDrum Journal
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings28 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB105 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperErik AndresenPorath Consulting

Customer experience

Drum Trainer

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

Drum Journal

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Drum Trainer

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Drum Journal

Subscriptions4
  • Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Pro Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Pro Annual$34.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Pro Yearly7 Days trial$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro Lifetime$69.99

Questions

Is Drum Trainer free?
Drum Trainer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Drum Journal free?
Drum Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Drum Trainer or Drum Journal?
Drum Trainer and Drum Journal are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 8 ratings respectively.
Do Drum Trainer or Drum Journal have ads?
Neither Drum Trainer nor Drum Journal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drum Trainer or Drum Journal?
Drum Trainer ships an update every 3 months, and Drum Journal weekly. Most recently, Drum Trainer was updated on September 17, 2026 and Drum Journal on September 23, 2026.

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