Comparison

iReal Pro vs TimerBeats

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

Head to head
About

iReal Pro

This app provides a virtual band accompaniment for musicians to practice with, offering realistic sounding instruments and a variety of styles. It also functions as a digital chord chart book, allowing users to create, edit, and share their own song charts.

Highlights
  • Virtual band accompaniment
  • Create, edit, and share chord charts
  • Thousands of downloadable songs
  • Chord diagrams and scale recommendations
  • Practice exercises and transposition
  • Export charts and audio
  • Cloud synchronization
Features
Read full description

iReal Pro is two things musicians love in one app: a realistic backing band that plays along with you, and a huge free library of chord charts you can pull up anytime — at practice, at a jam session, or on a gig. Need to transpose a song for a singer? Done. Want to practice with a full rhythm section behind you? Hit play. Named one of TIME Magazine's 50 Best Inventions and trusted by thousands of students, teachers, and pros at schools like Berklee College of Music — iReal Pro has been helping musicians get better since 2008. BAND • 50 accompaniment styles — Swing, Bossa Nova, Blues, Funk, Rock, Bluegrass, Reggae, Latin, Gypsy Jazz, Country, and more • Customize each style with acoustic or electric piano, Fender Rhodes, guitars, upright or electric bass, drums, vibraphone, organ • 40 additional styles — blues, salsa, Brazilian — available as in-app purchases BOOK • Download thousands of free chord charts shared by the iReal Pro community • Create your own charts in minutes with the built-in editor • Organize charts into playlists for gigs, sets, or lessons PRACTICE • Adjust tempo, loop difficult sections, transpose to any key • Automatic tempo increase and key cycling for focused practice • Global Eb, Bb, F, and G transposition for horn players REFERENCE • Guitar, ukulele, and piano fingerings for any chord • Tap any chord in your chart to see how it's played • Scale suggestions for improvisation SHARE • Share charts and playlists with other iReal Pro users • Export charts as PDF or MusicXML • Export backing tracks as audio or MIDI files • Sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud FOR TEACHERS • Create playlists of exercises or tunes for students • Use in the classroom, over live stream, or while screen-sharing lessons We're a small team of musicians who built this app because we needed it ourselves. We hope you enjoy using it as much as we do.

About

TimerBeats

Features
Read full description

Make practice fun for your kids when playing piano, guitar or any other instrument, using this combined timer and metronome. Set the total practice time, start and watch the remaining time decrease, like a game. When the practice is paused, the remaining time is increased, encouraging short pauses. The metronome can sound like percussion sounds or a counting voice. It can also change the color of an on-screen component to indicate beats. TimerBeats can be used for other types of practice as well, where pauses can be frequent and short, like sports and studying. You can select another language if you enable Show Language Button in the Settings of the TimerBeats app. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

iReal Pro4 screens
TimerBeats4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: TimerBeats at Free against iReal Pro's $21.99. iReal Pro's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#6 vs unranked). On update cadence, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

TimerBeats is free to download; iReal Pro costs $21.99 up front. iReal Pro sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and TimerBeats sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.99 per 3 months. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
iReal Pro versus TimerBeats: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriReal ProTimerBeats
Price$21.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (11K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews83.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings11K — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#6 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.415.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size176 MB56 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTechnimo LLCDemagic AB

Bugs and requests

iReal Pro

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Occasional skipping or timing issues with playback
  • Trouble with registration and login process
  • Compatibility issues with newer devices or operating systems

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add ability to write rhythm notation
  • Integrate with Real Books
  • Improve sound quality and add more instrument options
  • Add melodies and lyrics support
  • Improve chord editing and customization
Show 2 more
  • Add more styles and grooves
  • Improve sync and backup functionality across devices

TimerBeats

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

iReal Pro

One-time3
  • Blues style backing tracks$6.99
  • Salsa style backing tracks$6.99
  • Brazilian backing tracks$6.99
1 purchases

TimerBeats

Subscriptions1
  • Quarterly use of TimerBeats$0.993 Months

Questions

Is iReal Pro free?
iReal Pro costs $21.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is TimerBeats free?
TimerBeats is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do iReal Pro or TimerBeats have ads?
TimerBeats shows ads; iReal Pro does not.
Which is updated more often, iReal Pro or TimerBeats?
iReal Pro ships an update fortnightly, and TimerBeats fortnightly. Most recently, iReal Pro was updated on October 14, 2026 and TimerBeats on October 10, 2026.

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