Comparison

Better Ears Beginner vs Active Ear

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

Active Ear

Develop your musical ear with a comprehensive ear training app. It offers various exercises to help musicians identify pitches, intervals, chords, and progressions. Customize your learning with practice modes and test your knowledge with quizzes.

Highlights
  • Pitch Recognition
  • Interval Training
  • Chord Quality Identification
  • Bassline Training
  • Progression Training
  • Chord Inversions
  • Customizable Practice Mode
  • Quiz Mode
Features
Read full description

Active Ear is for musicians of all skill levels and instrument types. With dozens of exercises ranging from beginner to advanced, Active Ear focuses on teaching you to identify pitches, intervals, chords, and progressions using only your Ear. The Practice Mode of the app allows you to customize the challenges to focus only on areas you're interested in improving. Once you're confident with the Practice Mode, you test yourself in the Quiz Mode of the app to see how well you understand the concepts. Active Ear Comes with six Ear Training Programs: -
Pitch Recognition -
Interval Training -
Chord Quality -
Bassline Training
 -
Progression Training
 - Chord Inversions

Screenshots

Better Ears Beginner4 screens
Active Ear4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Active Ear at none against Better Ears Beginner's 1. Active Ear also leads on review sentiment (94% vs 67%) and update cadence (monthly vs every 6 months). On price, ratings volume, ads 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. Better Ears Beginner sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Active Ear asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Active Ear holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 35 and 50 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Better Ears Beginner's written reviews are positive against 94% of Active Ear's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Better Ears Beginner ships an update every 6 months, Active Ear monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and June 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Better Ears Beginner versus Active Ear: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBetter Ears BeginnerActive Ear
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (35 ratings)4.7 (50 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.8% of reviews93.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3550 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMAMP GmbHMCPHERSON'S MUSIC LLC

Customer experience

Better Ears Beginner

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

Active Ear

All ratings50 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews32 reviews
Positive93.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.3%

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

Active Ear

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Better Ears Beginner

One-time1
  • Unlock all functions$4.99
None

Active Ear

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Better Ears Beginner free?
Better Ears Beginner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Active Ear free?
Active Ear is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Better Ears Beginner or Active Ear?
Active Ear is rated higher. Better Ears Beginner averages 4.5 out of 5 from 35 ratings, while Active Ear averages 4.7 from 50 ratings.
Do Better Ears Beginner or Active Ear have ads?
Neither Better Ears Beginner nor Active Ear shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Better Ears Beginner or Active Ear?
Better Ears Beginner ships an update every 6 months, and Active Ear monthly. Most recently, Better Ears Beginner was updated on September 14, 2026 and Active Ear on June 10, 2026.

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