Comparison

Holiday Bells vs Vatanator

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

Head to head
About

Holiday Bells

Create and play Christmas music with realistic handbell sounds. Features include interactive song playback with visual cues, a collection of 20 holiday tunes, and customizable home screen widgets. Enhance your messages with festive stickers.

Highlights
  • Realistic handbell sounds
  • Interactive song playback
  • 20 Christmas songs
  • Home screen widgets
  • Festive stickers
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Play Christmas songs on the handbells with Holiday Bells! The beautiful bell sounds are real handbells! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Jingle Bells: Shake the phone to ring the bells. Handbell: Tap to ring. Tap on the clef to change pitch. Handbell Set: 15 handbells. Tap on the bells to play your favorite holiday songs! Songs: 20 Christmas songs, with favorites like "Jingle Bells", "Away in a Manger", "Joy to the World", and more. Scroll the songs list to see them all. Choose a song, then follow the snowflakes to tap along, or press the Auto-Play button to have the app play the song for you! Stickers: Add some holiday cheer to your text messages! Holiday Bells stickers have bells, stars, animated music notes, a music sheet and songbook, an animated candle with flickering flame, a Christmas wreath, birds (cedar waxwing, cardinal, and peace dove), and a red poinsettia. All of the stickers are original hand-drawn artwork by artist and app developer Kira Matrejek. Widgets: New in iOS14, add festive holiday widgets to your home screen! Holiday Bells has small, medium and large size widgets. Widgets can display the date, the days until Christmas, or holiday song lyrics, and there are several seasonal backgrounds to choose from. Merry Christmas! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

About

Vatanator

This app is a drum machine designed for simple and instant rhythm creation. It offers advanced MIDI functionality, 140 vintage hardware emulations, and real-time pattern recording with quantization. It supports various audio integration technologies and allows for sample import and song arrangement.

Highlights
  • 140 vintage hardware emulations
  • Real-time pattern recording with quantization
  • 16/32 step sequencer with advanced MIDI
  • Full MIDI and Bluetooth MIDI support
  • Audiobus, IAA, and Ableton Link support
  • Sample import via Files
  • Real-time effects with XY pads
  • Song arranger
Read full description

Vatanator is a unique drum machine with advanced MIDI functionality. It features 140 built-in presets emulating every classic vintage hardware. It is aimed for simplicity and instant rhythm creation. Vatanator features: – Audio Unit Extension – Record patterns in real-time with quantization, MIDI assignable – 16/32 steps sequencer with advanced MIDI options – Fast loading of presets on the fly – Full MIDI implementation, Bluetooth MIDI – Background audio – Audiobus, Audiobus Remote, Inter-App Audio and Ableton Link support – Ability to import samples via Files – Real-time effects with envelope follower and XY pads, MIDI assignable – Song arranger, ability to store a sequence of patterns and play them in order – Export pattern to MIDI file – 8 channel mixer with volume control and mute/solo for any individual instrument “Vatanator listed in 10 Best iOS / iPad Drum Machines Apps” - ProducerSpot "it’s a solid bread-and-butter drum machine that plays nice with AudioBus, IAA, Ableton Link and CoreMIDI, and, at this price, could find a place in anyone’s iPad studio workflow" - MusicRadar/Computer Music

Screenshots

Holiday Bells4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Holiday Bells at $0.99 against Vatanator's $7.99. Holiday Bells also leads on review sentiment (94% vs 68%) and chart position (#200 vs unranked). Vatanator's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 23 months). On rating, ads, in-app purchases 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

Holiday Bells costs $0.99 and Vatanator $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Holiday Bells against 4.6 for Vatanator. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 56 and 17 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 94% of Holiday Bells's written reviews are positive against 68% of Vatanator's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Holiday Bells ships an update every 23 months, Vatanator every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Holiday Bells versus Vatanator: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHoliday BellsVatanator
Price$0.99 — better$7.99
Rating4.7 (56 ratings) — better4.6 (17 ratings)
Positive reviews93.8% of reviews — better68.2% of reviews
Number of ratings56 — better17
Update frequencyEvery 23 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank#200 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad, Mac
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size118 MB337 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLightsphere LLCBACKPULLVER SOFTWARE LTD OOD

Customer experience

Holiday Bells

All ratings56 ratings
Positive94.6%
Neutral1.8%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews81 reviews
Positive93.8%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.7%

Vatanator

All ratings17 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral17.6%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive68.2%
Neutral18.2%
Negative13.6%

Bugs and requests

Holiday Bells

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Lyrics off beat
  • iPad rotate for song doesn't work
  • Handbells are silent
  • App crashes on handbell/more tab for VoiceOver users
  • iPad screen edges graphics issue
Show 2 more
  • Bells do not ring on iPad 2
  • Cannot adjust volume after update

Requested features

19 requests
  • Label bells with note names
  • Add another octave
  • Songs that play automatically
  • Add non-holiday songs
  • Upload sticker pack to iMessage
Show 14 more
  • Next note highlight for easier play
  • More songs
  • Auto-play feature
  • Different bell sounds
  • Background music during songs
  • Record own songs
  • Adjust bell volume/speed with shake
  • Sharps and flats
  • Three octaves
  • Marts and damping for handbells
  • Extend range to two octaves
  • Add half-steps
  • Adjust handbell fade into silence
  • Lock screen within app

Vatanator

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Holiday Bells

No in-app purchases

None

Vatanator

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Holiday Bells free?
Holiday Bells costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Vatanator free?
Vatanator costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Holiday Bells or Vatanator?
Holiday Bells is rated higher. Holiday Bells averages 4.7 out of 5 from 56 ratings, while Vatanator averages 4.6 from 17 ratings.
Do Holiday Bells or Vatanator have ads?
Neither Holiday Bells nor Vatanator shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Holiday Bells or Vatanator?
Holiday Bells ships an update every 23 months, and Vatanator every 3 months. Most recently, Holiday Bells was updated on October 24, 2026 and Vatanator on October 24, 2026.

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