Comparison

Drum Chart Builder vs PHASE Connect

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

Head to head
About

Drum Chart Builder

Create professional drum charts and setlists quickly for gigs, sessions, and practice. Organize your music with a searchable library and access a playable drum pattern library. Offers a free trial of premium features.

Highlights
  • Build one-page drum charts
  • Create and edit setlists
  • Playable drum pattern library
  • Export charts as PDFs
  • Organized dashboard
  • Metronome and tempo click
  • Dark and light modes
Features
Read full description

Build drum charts in minutes—not hours.
Create clean, simple drum charts for gigs, rehearsals, and sessions fast—no complex notation required. Drum Chart Builder helps drummers stay organized, show up prepared, and play with confidence every time they sit behind the kit. Drum Chart Builder helps you quickly map song form, grooves, and hits so you can walk into any rehearsal or gig prepared and confident. * Works on all devices. * All your drum charts and setlists stay perfectly in sync across every device. * Works online and offline no matter where you are. * Create your charts on your computer and take your iPad to your gig. This app was designed by professional drummer Liz Ficalora the author of How to Write a Fast and Easy Drum Chart. She took her book and made it into an app. * Build a full chart in under 20 minutes * Simple, one-page charting template * Quickly map out song sections and structure * Organize setlists for live gigs * Use ready-made drum patterns (or create your own) * No advanced drum notation needed * View charts one by one from your setlist. * Export clean, one-page charts pdf’s Made for Real-World Playing * Use charts during gigs and rehearsals * Stay locked in with your setlist * See what’s coming next in every song * Reduce stress and play with confidence Stay Organized * Keep all your drum charts in one place * Instantly search your song library * Manage setlists for performances * Access charts anytime on phone or tablet Powerful Drum Tools * Built-in drum pattern library * Create and save custom patterns * Insert figure library to add fills, hits, and cues * Export charts as PDFs * Share charts with your band Perfect For * Gigging drummers * Worship musicians * Session players * Music Educators * Pit musicians * Studio Players * Drum students PRICING Enjoy a 7-day free trial!
Try all premium features free for 7 days—no commitment required. What happens after the trial?
 Once your 7-day trial ends, you can choose what’s best for you: * Stay free: Continue using the app with limited features at no cost. * Go Standard or Professional: Unlock full access with a subscription plan. Your subscription will automatically begin unless canceled at least 24 hours before the trial ends. The payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at the selected subscription rate. * You can manage or cancel your subscription at any time in your App Store account settings. FREE PLAN - Includes a Sample Chart and Setlist
 You can Receive Shared Charts For Viewing Only STANDARD - Create & Edit Charts and Setlists. 
 You Can Receive Shared Charts and Edit $8.99 Per Month $49.99 Per Year PROFESSIONAL - Create & Edit Charts and Setlists. You Can Share and Receive Shared Charts and Edit $12.99 Per Month $69.99 Per Year SKILL LEVEL Beginner to Professional Drummers and Musicians If you can count out the measures in a song, this method is for you. Beginners, count out the song form so you can make a map of the song. Pro's, map out the song and add simple one and two bar patterns for the groove. Save time, keep organized and build a simple drum chart in 20 minutes. CONTACT https://drumchartbuilder.com/contact HOW TO VIDEOS Youtube https://www.youtube.com/drumchartbuilder Support Page https://new.drumchartbuilder.com/support/ CONNECT WITH US Website: https://drumchartbuilder.com
 Drum Chart Store: https://easydrumchart.com Follow for tips, updates, and tutorials:
 YouTube: https://youtube.com/@drumchartbuilder
 Instagram: https://instagram.com/drumchartbuilder
 Facebook: https://facebook.com/drumchartbuilder TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lizficalora Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Visit https://www.drumchartbuilder.com for more info.

About

PHASE Connect

Features
Read full description

PHASE Connect is the phone companion to PHASE, the TrevBeats Multimedia DAW for Mac - and a full pocket studio on its own. Run your Mac session from across the room, or make a whole beat on the phone and send it to PHASE when you get home. THE STUDIO - ONE SCREEN The recorder and the instruments are the same screen. One counter and one transport across the top - REC, PLAY, STOP, back to the top, and the click - then a single switch: TRACKS for the timeline, PLAY for the instrument. The lane you pick is the lane the keyboard plays, so you pick it once. Everything that isn't "make a sound" or "capture it" sits in two bars along the bottom, and each one reads out where you stand before you ever tap it - TRACK for the instrument, input, FX, quantize and pocket; SESSION for tempo, count-in, record mode and the mix. 8 audio + 8 MIDI tracks, growing to 16 + 16, no Mac required. ARM and REC with a count-in, overdub or replace, quantize with TIGHT or SOFT feel, and the POCKET - push or drag a track off the grid so the beat breathes. THE INSTRUMENTS THUMP bass, FINGAZ keys, TWANG guitars, TRAPS drums and FLIP the sampler, across eight MIDI tracks. Ember-lit pads on a charcoal deck that compress and glow on the hit, with the closed hat choking the open hat like real hardware - or a keyboard that got bigger when the duplicate controls went away. Play the pads, the keys, or any Bluetooth / USB-C MIDI controller. THE TREVBEATS KIT The stock kit is the TREVBEATS KIT - 16 signature drum sounds on the pads - plus three more built in: PHASE 808, PHASE LOFI and PHASE ACOUSTIC. Step through kits from the kit bar, trim any pad, save your own. SET TEMPO FROM THIS TAKE A performance is almost never at a whole number. Tell PHASE Connect how many bars your take is and it sets the session tempo to the take's own tempo, to the hundredth of a BPM - so the click lands on the groove instead of walking off it a little more every bar. Tempo nudges in hundredths too. MIX - THE DESK IN YOUR POCKET Tap the AUDIO and MIDI bank chips to pull up every strip - faders, pan, mute/solo, three FX slots (comp, reverb, tempo-synced delay), live meters, and a MASTER with a safety limiter. STEMMINGWAY LITE exports a MIXDOWN or full STEMS in 24-bit/48k WAV, and SEND TO PHASE packs the whole session for the Mac. CONSOLE - RUN PHASE FROM YOUR PHONE Pair once with a six-digit code (Wi-Fi, or USB-C hotspot when Wi-Fi is flaky). Tape-style transport, bars/timecode, loop, click, count-in, tap tempo, undo/redo, save - plus banks of mixer strips with faders, pan, mute, solo, arm, and live meters. MIC THE KIT Turn the phone into a drum mic rig - room, overhead, kick - and fly real drums into the session. Everything lands where you can see it, and everything travels to PHASE untouched. Made by TrevBeats Multimedia. PHASE CHART MAKR The band's charts, on your phone. Seven charts off one arrangement, drawn by the same engraver PHASE uses on the Mac: - ROAD MAP: the form, bar counts and cues. Free. - CHORD CHART: chord symbols over rhythm slashes. - NASHVILLE NUMBERS: the same chart in numbers, so it transposes to any key. - DRUM CHART: the groove written once, then only what changes. - BASS PART: real notation, because an 808 line is composed. - SAMPLE CHOP CHART: for plugins where one key fires a whole phrase. The sample name sits where a chord symbol would. - MD CHART: every part braced on one page, barlines running through the band. Two ways in. Link to PHASE and GET FROM PHASE hands you the chart for the session that's open. Or PLAY IN: pick DRUMS, BASS, KEYS or GUITAR, set a count-in, tap REC and play the part on the phone against the click, then BUILD CHART turns what you played into the chart. No Mac needed. Charts stay on the phone, so they work at rehearsal with the Mac switched off. The ROAD MAP is free; the six notated charts and PLAY IN are a single in-app purchase, no subscription.

Screenshots

Drum Chart Builder4 screens
PHASE Connect4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: PHASE Connect at every 4 days against Drum Chart Builder's fortnightly. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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 Chart Builder sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month and PHASE Connect sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drum Chart Builder ships an update fortnightly, PHASE Connect every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Drum Chart Builder versus PHASE Connect: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrum Chart BuilderPHASE Connect
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (7 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings7 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB98 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperElizabeth FicaloraTrevor Lawrence

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Drum Chart Builder

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly Std7 Days trial$8.991 Month
  • Monthly Pro7 Days trial$12.991 Month
  • Yearly Std7 Days trial$49.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Yearly Pro7 Days trial$69.991 Year
1 purchases

PHASE Connect

One-time1
  • PHASE CHART MAKR$9.99

Questions

Is Drum Chart Builder free?
Drum Chart Builder is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PHASE Connect free?
PHASE Connect is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Drum Chart Builder or PHASE Connect have ads?
Neither Drum Chart Builder nor PHASE Connect shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drum Chart Builder or PHASE Connect?
Drum Chart Builder ships an update fortnightly, and PHASE Connect every 4 days. Most recently, Drum Chart Builder was updated on October 6, 2026 and PHASE Connect on September 29, 2026.

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