# Better Ears vs Tenuto

The clearest difference is monetization model: Better Ears at free against Tenuto's paid. Tenuto's advantage is review sentiment (94% vs 71%) and chart position (#7 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Better Ears costs $4.99 and Tenuto $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Tenuto holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tenuto has 667 ratings behind it against 79, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Better Ears's written reviews are positive against 94% of Tenuto's.

Better Ears ships an update every 5 months, Tenuto every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 26, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Better Ears | Tenuto |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | $4.99 |
| Rating | [4.6 (79 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/better-ears-ear-trainer/id284444548/reviews) | **[4.7 (667 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tenuto/id459313476/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 79 | **667** |
| Positive reviews | 70.8% of reviews | **94.1% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | **Every 3 months** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | **#7** |
| Size | 86 MB | 11 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.6** | 15.8 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [MAMP GmbH](https://appshunter.io/developer/1451068672) | [musictheory.net](https://appshunter.io/developer/459313479) |

## 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


### Tenuto

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tenuto/id459313476)

**Currently charting:** #7 Top Paid · Music, #50 Top Paid (US App Store)

Enhance your musicality with a comprehensive suite of 24 customizable theory exercises and six essential musical calculators. Practice note and chord identification, ear training, and construct musical elements. Tools include accidentals, intervals, scales, chords, analysis symbols, and twelve-tone matrices.

**Highlights:** 24 customizable theory exercises, Note and chord identification, Ear training for intervals and scales, Musical construction exercises, Accidental calculator, Interval calculator, Chord calculator

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Essential for musicians
- 👍 Great app
- 👍 Perfect app
- 👍 Wonderful app
- 👍 Highly recommend

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Wrong billing
- 🐛 Piano tone is so bad
- 🐛 Not good
- 🐛 Great but buggy
- 🐛 All sounds stopped working

**Reported bugs**

- Sound cuts out
- Unresponsive at times
- Freezes up
- Doesn't work well for guitar
- Incorrect chord/key associations

**Requested features**

- Cadences and inversions for ear training
- Chord progressions for ear training
- Melodic and harmonic minor modes for scale recognition
- 6th, 9th, 11th and 13th chord extensions for chord recognition
- Melodic dictation


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Better Ears free?

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

### Is Tenuto free?

Tenuto costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Better Ears or Tenuto?

Tenuto is rated higher. Better Ears averages 4.6 out of 5 from 79 ratings, while Tenuto averages 4.7 from 667 ratings.

### Do Better Ears or Tenuto have ads?

Neither Better Ears nor Tenuto shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Better Ears or Tenuto?

Better Ears ships an update every 5 months, and Tenuto every 3 months. Most recently, Better Ears was updated on October 26, 2026 and Tenuto on October 26, 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.*