Comparison

theDrumDictionary vs DrumToolz

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

Head to head
About

theDrumDictionary

This app is a comprehensive resource for drummers and musicians to expand their rhythmic knowledge. It features all standard rudiments and a large collection of drum set beats with adjustable tempo audio and notation. An integrated metronome and practice tracking tools make it an ideal practice companion.

Highlights
  • 40 standard snare drum rudiments
  • Over 100 drum set beats
  • Tempo-adjustable audio examples
  • Integrated metronome
  • Practice time tracking
  • Customizable beat lists
Features
Read full description

"If you’re looking for a great resource to develop and maintain your beat vocabulary and rudimental proficiency, this is a great place to start." - Modern Drummer theDrumDictionary is a great tool for drummers, band leaders, producers, or anyone looking to learn more about drums. It includes all 40 standard snare drum rudiments and over 100 full drum set beats in a variety of styles. For each example, there is notation and tempo-adjustable audio. theDrumDictionary also includes a built-in metronome, making it a great all-in-one practice tool. For Practice: • Make the most of your practice time with the built-in metronome • Adjust the tempo of the example audio to help learn those tricky parts or to push your skill to the next level of speed • Keep track of your time spent practicing each beat or rudiment Lists: • Create a list of your favorite beats in different styles • Create lists for what you'd like to practice • Drum instructors, create a separate list for each of your students theDrumDictionary is also great for non-drummers who are interested in knowing a little about drums: band leaders who want to communicate better with their drummer, musicians who want to program realistic drum parts in their songs, and the list goes on... Entries include • All 40 standard snare drum rudiments • Over 100 drum set beats in a variety of styles: Rock, Jazz, World, Funk and more Contacts: • @GigBagApps • support@GigBagApps.com, for support, questions, suggestions • www.GigBagApps.com

About

DrumToolz

Compose and practice drum cadences and beats on your mobile device. This app allows manual input of exercises, generation of new ideas, and practice of rudiments. Share your creations and learn from a community of drummers.

Highlights
  • Compose drum cadences and beats
  • Manual exercise input
  • Generate new rhythmic ideas
  • Editable music score
  • Practice snare rudiments
  • Library of dynamic exercises
  • Social profile and sharing
Read full description

Compose cadences on the go! Choose from snares, tenors, bass drums, cymbals, and even drumset if you want. In a league of its own, DrumToolz also lets you manually input exercises for drum set, marching snare, tenors, and bass drums while generating new creative ideas using what you input, all shown on an editable music score. You can also upload your beats to your social profile, play what other users are playing, save rhythms, practice snare drum rudiments, and learn from a full library of dynamic exercises for both snare drum and drumset! It's perfect for all skill levels, from beginner to extremely advanced, drum wizards. Works great for sharing drum cadences with your drumline. Isolate individual snare, tenors, etc. parts. Practice the simplest to the most complex of beats and rhythms. If you can think of it, you can input it and practice it! Anything from beginner rock beats, to the most complex of jazz beats and fills. Lastly, top off the notes with ornaments: stickings, accents, flams, diddles, and cheese. Input up to 50 measures. When practicing drum set beats, choose from a ride cymbal, hihat, hihat foot, kick drum, snare drum, and three toms. Input everything from whole notes to thirtysecond notes and tuplets. Also, for tenors, choose from four tenors and a spock. Bass drums - five bass drums. Marching snare - a realistic marching snare and a ping sound. Generate new ideas (modifications) using beats that you input into the score. Choose from several modification methods: Add, Shuffle, Substitute, Permutate, Repeat, and Random. Modify individual parts of the beat (ex: kick drum only) or the entire beat if desired. Custom snare exercises. Choose the time sig, subdivisons, tuplets, stickings, accents, flams, diddles, cheese, drags. Save the beat in the score for later practice, keeping the modifications if desired. If the modifications are kept, this turns the beat into an endless, dynamic exercise! Each time you generate an exercise, it uses the modifications to give you an entirely new beat. String together saved rhythms and practice them as one exercise, perfect for practicing beats followed by a drum fill. Upload your beats to your profile. Find and follow other drummers in the social network. Learn from them as you see and practice what they have uploaded to their profile. Share your beats through PDF links and files. Also, share your entire score with a link that pre-populates the score into the app. Learn from a full library of dynamic drum set and snare drum exercises, essential and hybrid rudiments included. For highlighted rhythms, shuffle around groups of notes, stickings, accents, flams, diddles, and cheese.

Screenshots

theDrumDictionary4 screens
DrumToolz4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: theDrumDictionary at 4.9 against DrumToolz's 4.2. theDrumDictionary also leads on review sentiment (76% vs 58%) and iOS requirement (8.4 vs 14.0). DrumToolz's advantage is ratings volume (270 vs 45). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

theDrumDictionary holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DrumToolz has 270 ratings behind it against 45, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of theDrumDictionary's written reviews are positive against 58% of DrumToolz's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

theDrumDictionary ships an update every 2 months, DrumToolz monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
theDrumDictionary versus DrumToolz: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametertheDrumDictionaryDrumToolz
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (45 ratings) — better4.2 (270 ratings)
Positive reviews76.3% of reviews — better58.1% of reviews
Number of ratings45270 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.4 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB93 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHawks Hill Software, LLCJared Simon

Customer experience

theDrumDictionary

All ratings45 ratings
Positive97.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews131 reviews
Positive76.3%
Neutral12.2%
Negative11.5%

DrumToolz

All ratings270 ratings
Positive78.1%
Neutral8.5%
Negative13.3%
Written reviews43 reviews
Positive58.1%
Neutral25.6%
Negative16.3%

User reviews

theDrumDictionary

From 45 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Excellent learning tool for drummers of all levels
  • 🎵 High-quality audio samples and clear sound
  • 📚 Comprehensive collection of 40 rudiments
  • 🎯 Easy-to-use interface and navigation
  • 📖 Visual notation paired with audio playback

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Audio quality degrades when changing tempo
  • ⏸️ App stops playing when phone sleeps
  • 🔊 Bass drum not distinctive enough in mix
  • 📊 Limited number of beats per genre
  • ⚠️ Some audio samples don't match notation

DrumToolz

From 270 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for writing music
  • 👍 Helpful for drumline
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 👍 Good sounds
  • 👍 Good for practice

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Tutorial not helpful
  • 🐛 Hard to find features
  • 🐛 UI issues
  • 🐛 App crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Saves progress poorly

Bugs and requests

theDrumDictionary

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • App crashes on startup (older iOS versions)
  • Uneven single stroke roll with extra hits/flams
  • Audio warping when tempo changes
  • App stops when device goes to sleep
  • Inconsistent bass drum clarity
Show 1 more
  • Notation mismatches with audio playback

Requested features

20 requests
  • Tempo/speed control for practice
  • More beats and grooves across all genres
  • Odd time signatures (5/8, 7/8, 9/4, 11/4, 6/8, 7/4)
  • Highlighted note indicator during playback
  • Video demonstrations of techniques
Show 15 more
  • Drum fills and fill variations
  • Background playback capability
  • Practice history and progress tracking
  • Ability to create custom beats
  • Accelerating/decelerating metronome
  • More complex and advanced patterns
  • Sorting beats by practice time
  • Export notation and beat lists
  • Multi-user/student support
  • Rudiments numbered in learning order
  • Double bass drum beats
  • Finger drumming exercises
  • Sync across multiple devices
  • Note highlighting (karaoke-style)
  • Longer beat patterns

DrumToolz

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • App crashes and deletes progress
  • App won't open
  • Repeat function doesn't stop
  • Repeat save fails
  • Accents, diddles, flams added automatically
Show 8 more
  • Buzz roll cannot be removed
  • Font camouflages in dark mode
  • App crashes when opening after saving
  • App crashes when opening
  • App crashes when adding notes
  • App crashes after saving
  • App crashes when trying to reopen
  • App crashes a lot

Requested features

15 requests
  • Turn off metronome
  • Add rum shot for snare
  • Add rim shots for other drums
  • Add triplets, fivelets, sixlets
  • Add dynamics (forte, piano)
Show 10 more
  • Cymbals sizzle option
  • Add buzz roll for snares
  • Add diddle feature
  • More measures
  • Add bass drum notes
  • Add open hi-hat sound
  • Improve UI for tuplet measurement
  • Improve UI for measure change
  • Ability to hear multiple instruments simultaneously
  • Fix replace button for bass drums

In-app purchases

None

theDrumDictionary

No in-app purchases

None

DrumToolz

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is theDrumDictionary free?
theDrumDictionary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is DrumToolz free?
DrumToolz is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, theDrumDictionary or DrumToolz?
theDrumDictionary is rated higher. theDrumDictionary averages 4.9 out of 5 from 45 ratings, while DrumToolz averages 4.2 from 270 ratings.
Do theDrumDictionary or DrumToolz have ads?
Neither theDrumDictionary nor DrumToolz shows ads.
Which is updated more often, theDrumDictionary or DrumToolz?
theDrumDictionary ships an update every 2 months, and DrumToolz monthly. Most recently, theDrumDictionary was updated on September 18, 2026 and DrumToolz on September 25, 2026.

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