Comparison

421Grid vs Setronome

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

Head to head
About

421Grid

Features
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Turn Practice into Progress. Inspiration into Execution. Whether you’re a drumline veteran, music educator, or aspiring percussionist, this app is your personal drumming labβ€”designed to help you experiment, customize, and level up your chops with precision. Built for Rudimental Drummers Who Want More Forget flipping through old notebooks or searching YouTube for exercises you can’t customize. With this app, you can build your own practice grids, apply the legendary 4-2-1 structure, and modify exercises using accents, subdivisions (triplets, fivelets, sixteenths), or even alternate stickingsβ€”all with just a few taps. Customize Everything Shift the beat. Change the direction. Reverse your sticking. Or layer complexity to push your brain and hands to the limit. Every exercise becomes your own. Designed for Students and Educators Music teachers: Quickly generate custom warmups or technique builders for your drumline. Students: Practice smarter, not just harderβ€”with structured routines and unlimited variations. Why Drummers Are Calling This a Game-Changer: β€’ Reinforces fundamentals through creative repetition β€’ Encourages daily practice through customization and challenge β€’ Perfect for drumline auditions, solo prep, or just sharpening your hands β€’ No internet? No problem. Train anywhere you take your sticks. Ready to Break Through Your Plateaus? This isn’t just another drumming app. It’s your creative practice engine, your daily workout, and your edge over the competition. Download now and redefine your rudimental journey.

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

421Grid4 screens
Setronome4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: 421Grid at $1.99 against Setronome's $12.99. Setronome's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

421Grid costs $1.99 and Setronome $12.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

421Grid ships an update every 3 months, Setronome every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 3 level
421Grid versus Setronome: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter421GridSetronome
Price$1.99 β€” better$12.99
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 days β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” better
Requires iOS18.015.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size4 MB45 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperN. WheelerIgor Lier

In-app purchases

None

421Grid

No in-app purchases

None

Setronome

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is 421Grid free?
421Grid costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Setronome free?
Setronome costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do 421Grid or Setronome have ads?
Neither 421Grid nor Setronome shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 421Grid or Setronome?
421Grid ships an update every 3 months, and Setronome every 3 days. Most recently, 421Grid was updated on November 11, 2026 and Setronome on November 12, 2026.

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