# Better Ears vs Play Orff

The clearest difference is price: Play Orff at Free against Better Ears's $4.99. Play Orff also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 71%) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.6). Better Ears's advantage is update cadence (every 5 months vs every 18 months) and ratings volume (79 vs 4). On rating, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Play Orff is free to download; Better Ears costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Better Ears against 4.5 for Play Orff. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Better Ears has 79 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Better Ears's written reviews are positive against 100% of Play Orff's.

Better Ears ships an update every 5 months, Play Orff every 18 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Better Ears | Play Orff |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.6 (79 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/better-ears-ear-trainer/id284444548/reviews)** | [4.5 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/play-orff/id1132137267/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **79** | 4 |
| Positive reviews | 70.8% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 months** | Every 18 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 86 MB | 103 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | **8.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [MAMP GmbH](https://appshunter.io/developer/1451068672) | [Schott Music](https://appshunter.io/developer/426016253) |

## What reviewers say

### Better Ears

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/better-ears-ear-trainer/id284444548)

Enhance your musical abilities with a comprehensive ear training application. It offers 13 diverse exercises, from interval recognition to chord progressions, suitable for all skill levels. Customize your learning path with user-defined levels and instruments.

**Highlights:** 13 ear training exercises, Customizable chords, scales, and progressions, 6 instrument sound options, Virtual keyboard and fretboard, Vocal or instrument input, Preset and custom training levels, Cross-device synchronization

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great app for ear training
- 🚀 Flexibility to customize exercises
- 💡 Helpful for music students and professionals
- 🎓 Improves aural skills and music theory knowledge

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and glitches on some devices
- 🔊 Poor sound quality of instrument samples
- 💰 Expensive for the limited features
- 🤔 Confusing chord and interval naming conventions

**Reported bugs**

- Note recognition issues on lower strings
- Inconsistent behavior when customizing lessons
- Dropbox sync feature not working as expected

**Requested features**

- Add chord inversions and progressions
- Include melodic and rhythmic dictation exercises
- Provide more instrument sound options
- Improve statistics tracking and personalization
- Add support for bass clef and multiple clefs


### Play Orff

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/play-orff/id1132137267)

Explore and interact with classic Orff Schulwerk pieces. Play along with individual instrumental parts, combine them freely, and save your own arrangements and compositions. This app serves as a digital companion to a book on the Orff Schulwerk method.

**Highlights:** Play along with classic pieces, Combine and customize instrumental parts, Save custom arrangements, Compose and save original voices, Load and modify music pieces

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Better Ears free?

Better Ears costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Play Orff free?

Play Orff is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Better Ears or Play Orff?

Better Ears is rated higher. Better Ears averages 4.6 out of 5 from 79 ratings, while Play Orff averages 4.5 from 4 ratings.

### Do Better Ears or Play Orff have ads?

Neither Better Ears nor Play Orff shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Better Ears or Play Orff?

Better Ears ships an update every 5 months, and Play Orff every 18 months. Most recently, Better Ears was updated on October 29, 2026 and Play Orff on October 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*