Comparison

Better Ears Beginner vs EarForge

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

Head to head
About

Better Ears Beginner

Enhance your musical skills and hearing with this comprehensive ear training app. It offers 13 diverse exercises, from interval recognition to chord progressions, with customizable training routines and instrument options. Track your progress and sync across devices for a seamless learning experience.

Highlights
  • 13 music theory and ear training exercises
  • Customizable training routines
  • User-created chords, scales, and progressions
  • Six instrument sound options
  • Pitch detection for vocal or instrument answers
  • Virtual keyboard and guitar fretboard
  • Cross-device synchronization
Features
Read full description

Better Ears is the complete ear training and sight‑reading workout for musicians, students and teachers. Train your musical ear and master music theory — from interval recognition all the way to chord progressions and rhythm training. 15 exercises take you from absolute beginner to pro, at your own pace, with no rules and no pressure. NEW: RHYTHM TRAINING Sharpen your sense of timing with two brand‑new exercises. Hear a rhythm and clap or tap it back, or read rhythmic notation and perform it in time — with count‑in, metronome, triplets and time signatures like 3/4, 4/4 and 5/4. Clap straight into your device's microphone and Better Ears listens. YOU DECIDE HOW TO TRAIN There are no rules to follow. You decide when to start, what to practice and how often. 15 EXERCISES INCLUDED • Interval recognition • Scale recognition • Chord recognition • Chord progressions • Pitch recognition • Melodic dictation • Tempo recognition • Key signature recognition • Music reading • Interval music reading • Scale music reading • Chord music reading • Melody music reading • Rhythm recognition (new) • Rhythm reading (new) ANSWER WITH YOUR VOICE OR A REAL INSTRUMENT Built‑in pitch detection lets you answer by singing or by playing a real instrument (e.g. piano or guitar). Just sing or play the notes when the microphone button lights up red. CUSTOM CHORDS, SCALES & CHORD PROGRESSIONS The built‑in editor lets you add your own chords, scales and chord progressions. FOUR PRESET LEVELS + UNLIMITED CUSTOM LEVELS Start at Beginner, Easy, Normal or Professional — then build your own levels to focus exactly where you need to: church modes, those two pesky intervals, custom rhythms, whatever you like. 6 INSTRUMENTS & CUSTOM SOUNDFONTS Train with Acoustic Grand, Bright Acoustic Piano, Electric Grand, Drawbar Organ, Nylon and Steel Acoustic Guitar — or extend Better Ears with your own sounds via SoundFonts (.sf2). KEYBOARD & FRETBOARD Answer on a virtual piano keyboard or a virtual guitar fretboard. MIDI SUPPORT Route sound through an external MIDI device and even control Better Ears with a connected master keyboard. SYNC ALL OF YOUR DEVICES Keep your Mac, iPhone and iPad in sync via Dropbox. You choose what to sync: your own levels, your statistics, your settings — or all of it. STATISTICS Better Ears tracks your progress for every exercise and every question — right and wrong answers at a glance. WIKIPEDIA INTEGRATION The matching Wikipedia article is shown for each exercise, so the theory is always one tap away. REFRESHED DESIGN A modern, fully redesigned interface on iPhone, iPad and Mac — with full Dark Mode and crystal‑clear music notation.

About

EarForge

This app offers a structured ear training program designed to improve your sense of pitch and ability to recognize musical notes and chords. It features progressive lessons, personalized quizzes, and detailed progress tracking. Advanced users can create custom training sessions for specific musical elements.

Highlights
  • 30-level note recognition program
  • Chord identification lessons
  • Customizable note and chord training
  • Progress tracking with profile statistics
  • Ad-free experience (PRO)
  • Exclusive themes (PRO)
Features
Read full description

— Featured in App of the Day and one of Apple's "Apps We Love", "Our latest Favourites" and "Turn Learning Into a Game" more than 100 countries including United States, United Kingdom and China! — EarForge is an app that can help you achieve the perfect ears and improve your sense of pitch with our well-designed training program. FEATURES - Lessons NOTES Enjoy our 30-level well-designed program. Develop your skill to recognize different notes. Great for beginners and any musicians. - Lessons CHORDS Given a single chord. Your goal is to identify the chord that you heard. - Quiz Unlock the quiz to challenge yourself in the next level. - Profile You can find your stat here. Check out your note accuracy, what you’re good at and what to improve. And track your progress with Facebook login, Google login or sign in with apple. EarForge PRO — a paid subscription feature * - Training NOTES You can program your own specific notes, sounds and octaves. This training mode will help you focus on the notes you want to learn and practice. - Training CHORDS You can program on specific chord keys, chord types and octaves. Listen to the chord and try to guess the correct answers. - Custom NOTES LESSON Keep practicing and create your own notes lesson. Select at least 3 notes you want to learn. This lesson will collect stats but not collect stars. - Custom CHORDS LESSON Keep practicing and create your own chords lesson. Select chord keys and select at least 3 chord types. This lesson will collect stats but not collect stars. - Exclusive themes It's beautiful and more delightful to use. - No ads Ad-free, no interruptions. * EarForge PRO subscription price is $2.99/month or $19.99/year. (Pricing may be converted to your local currency.) Payment will be charged to your iTunes account. Your subscription will auto-renew within 24 hours before the end of the current period and you can turn off auto-renewal at any time in the account settings. See our Privacy Policy at https://earforge.blog/privacy-policy/ and Terms of Service at https://earforge.blog/terms-of-service/ Feedback is always welcome, please let we know in the comment.  Start forging your ears now! Learn Perfect pitch / Relative pitch / Absolute pitch / Ear training

Screenshots

Better Ears Beginner4 screens
EarForge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: EarForge at every 5 weeks against Better Ears Beginner's every 6 months. EarForge also leads on ratings volume (292 vs 35) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Better Ears Beginner sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and EarForge sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Better Ears Beginner against 4.6 for EarForge. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EarForge has 292 ratings behind it against 35, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of Better Ears Beginner's written reviews are positive against 63% of EarForge's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Better Ears Beginner ships an update every 6 months, EarForge every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Better Ears Beginner versus EarForge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBetter Ears BeginnerEarForge
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (35 ratings)4.6 (292 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.8% of reviews — better62.7% of reviews
Number of ratings35292 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB93 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMAMP GmbHPatcharapon Phasukdee

Customer experience

Better Ears Beginner

All ratings35 ratings
Positive88.6%
Neutral5.7%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews217 reviews
Positive66.8%
Neutral8.3%
Negative24.9%

EarForge

All ratings292 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral5.5%
Negative6.2%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive62.7%
Neutral11.9%
Negative25.4%

Bugs and requests

Better Ears Beginner

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Reverts to beginner version after phone update
  • Audio stops working after some time
  • Keyboard unresponsive on iPad
  • Chord spellings are incorrect

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more instruments
  • Include rhythm training
  • Provide more customization options
  • Implement a game-like format
  • Add support for reading sheet music

EarForge

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Better Ears Beginner

One-time1
  • Unlock all functions$4.99
2 purchases

EarForge

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$3.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Better Ears Beginner free?
Better Ears Beginner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is EarForge free?
EarForge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Better Ears Beginner or EarForge?
EarForge is rated higher. Better Ears Beginner averages 4.5 out of 5 from 35 ratings, while EarForge averages 4.6 from 292 ratings.
Do Better Ears Beginner or EarForge have ads?
Neither Better Ears Beginner nor EarForge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Better Ears Beginner or EarForge?
Better Ears Beginner ships an update every 6 months, and EarForge every 5 weeks. Most recently, Better Ears Beginner was updated on September 14, 2026 and EarForge on September 8, 2026.

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