Kalimba! vs Real Kalimba
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Kalimba!
Experience the soothing sounds of an African thumb piano on your device. This app simulates a 7-prong kalimba, allowing for single notes or strumming. Customize your sound with different tunings.
- African thumb piano simulation
- 7-prong instrument
- Single note and strumming
- C Major tuning
- G Major tuning
- Landscape mode
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Kalimba is an old African instrument, also known as the African Thumb Piano in the west. Other names for Kalimba are mbira, ikembe, likembe, sanza, sansa, marimba, marimbula, while in the west it is also known as a finger harp or gourd piano. The app runs in landscape mode (either side) and the instrument has 7 prongs, allows for multiple prongs to be pressed at the same time and also allows you to strum. You can also change the tuning between C Major and G Major from the main screen.
Real Kalimba
Experience the soothing sounds of a thumb piano with this realistic simulator. Slide your fingers to play notes, tune the instrument, and explore various reverb effects. Record your melodies, learn new songs with interactive tutorials, and customize the visual appearance.
- Realistic kalimba sound and visuals
- Adjustable tine range and tuning
- Multiple reverb environments
- Audio recorder with editing and sharing
- Over 100 songs and 20+ tabs for learning
- Customizable backgrounds, colors, and key markings
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A simple and easy to play kalimba simulator also known as a thumb piano. Slide your fingers over the tines and play multiple notes at the same time. Enjoy the visual vibration of the tines! The kalimba is an African musical instrument with a wooden soundboard and metal keys(tines). It is played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs, the right forefinger, and sometimes the left forefinger. It has a clear, percussive, chimelike timbre. Tuning the Kalimba is now available, easily change the root note or key of the kalimba at the push of a button. The kalimba also contains 16 different reverb spaces. The environment reverb zones change how the kalimba sounds in the various reverb locations. With the new audio recorder, you can now record the kalimba sound, edit it, save the recorded sound or share it with friends that love playing real kalimba as much as you. Learn how to play like a Pro with over 100 Kalimba songs and 20 plus kalimba tabs with the help of the falling music note tiles. Features • 100+ Falling Note Songs • 20+ Kalimba Tabs • Tine Adjustment 8-17 key range • 81 Customizable Background Colors • 6 Wood Backgrounds • 2 Tine Colors • Note Captions • Settings Menu With Volume Adjustment • Haptics • Customize Key Markings, Centre Wood and Wood Carving • Kalimba Key Tuning • Environment Reverb Zones(Changes Kalimba Sounds in Locations) • Record the Kalimba sound, Edit, Save or share with friends • Play songs in different scales • Fast and Responsive • Beautiful Realistic Graphics • Portrait and Landscape Mode • Customisable key markings • Real sound recorded in professional studios More features and skins coming soon!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Kalimba! at every 4 months against Real Kalimba's every 11 months. Kalimba! also leads on ratings volume (135 vs 20). 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
Both are free to download. Kalimba! sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Real Kalimba sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Kalimba! against 4.3 for Real Kalimba. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Kalimba! has 135 ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 50% of Kalimba!'s written reviews are positive against 49% of Real Kalimba's.
Kalimba! ships an update every 4 months, Real Kalimba every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Kalimba! | Real Kalimba |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (135 ratings) — better | 4.3 (20 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better | 48.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 135 — better | 20 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 11 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 93 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Discovolos | Budali Kingsley |
Customer experience
Kalimba!
Real Kalimba
In-app purchases
Kalimba!
- Remove Ads$0.99
- Remove Ads$1.99
- Remove Ads$2.99
Real Kalimba
- Go Pro-Unlock All with No Ads$2.99








