# Holiday Bells vs TouchBells

The clearest difference is rating: Holiday Bells at 4.7 against TouchBells's 2.5. Holiday Bells also leads on ratings volume (56 vs 2) and review sentiment (94% vs 78%). TouchBells's advantage is update cadence (every 5 months vs every 23 months). On ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Holiday Bells costs $0.99 and TouchBells $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Holiday Bells holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Holiday Bells has 56 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of Holiday Bells's written reviews are positive against 78% of TouchBells's.

Holiday Bells ships an update every 23 months, TouchBells every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Holiday Bells | TouchBells |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **$0.99** | $1.99 |
| Rating | **[4.7 (56 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/holiday-bells/id300097303/reviews)** | [2.5 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/touchbells/id378697992/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **56** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | **93.8% of reviews** | 77.8% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 23 months | **Every 5 months** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Paid |
| Size | 118 MB | 66 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 15.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Lightsphere LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/300097306) | [Thomas Braun](https://appshunter.io/developer/296553965) |

## What reviewers say

### Holiday Bells

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/holiday-bells/id300097303)

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:** macOS Compatibility, iMessage stickers, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🎶 Beautiful bell sounds
- 🎄 Festive holiday cheer
- 👍 Easy to use and fun
- 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Enjoyed by all ages
- 🎵 Good for learning music

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Lyrics off beat
- 🐛 iPad screen rotation bug
- 🐛 Graphics issue on iPad
- 🐛 Handbells silent for some users
- 🐛 App crashes for VoiceOver users

**Reported bugs**

- 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

**Requested features**

- Label bells with note names
- Add another octave
- Songs that play automatically
- Add non-holiday songs
- Upload sticker pack to iMessage


### TouchBells

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/touchbells/id378697992)

This app is a virtual carillon instrument for iPad, offering xylophone, vibraphone, and tubular bell sounds. Users can play freely, record and share songs, and learn to play through a teach mode. It's designed for musical exploration and early childhood education.

**Highlights:** Virtual carillon instrument, Xylophone, Vibraphone, Tubular Bells sounds, Song recording and playback, Song sharing with other users, Teach mode for learning songs, Adjustable stereo effect, Tunable instrument pitch

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Holiday Bells free?

Holiday Bells costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is TouchBells free?

TouchBells costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Holiday Bells or TouchBells?

Holiday Bells is rated higher. Holiday Bells averages 4.7 out of 5 from 56 ratings, while TouchBells averages 2.5 from 2 ratings.

### Do Holiday Bells or TouchBells have ads?

Neither Holiday Bells nor TouchBells shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Holiday Bells or TouchBells?

Holiday Bells ships an update every 23 months, and TouchBells every 5 months. Most recently, Holiday Bells was updated on October 16, 2026 and TouchBells on October 8, 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.*