Comparison

Drumline vs Drum Starz

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

Head to head
About

Drumline

This app offers a comprehensive virtual drumline experience with realistic sounds and instruments. It includes practice tools, tuning features, and engaging games to hone drumming skills. Designed for serious percussionists, it provides a professional marching experience on your mobile device.

Highlights
  • Realistic snare, tenor, bass, and cymbal sounds
  • Xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone instruments
  • Adjustable metronome with various modes
  • Drumhead tuning functionality
  • Memory and speed challenge games
  • Practice pad tools
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Snare drum, Tenors, Basses, Cymbals, Xylophone, Marimba, Vibraphone, Metronome, Drumhead Tuner, Challenges, and Practice Pad Tools!!! In your pocket for the cost of a drum key. This app isn't for people who like drums or are drum-curious. This app is for those who can't stop drumming on anything and everything around them to the point where they are considered "disruptive" to their family, friends, and neighbors. Honored by Apple as "New & Noteworthy" in the Music apps category and sits in the top 50 music apps most days. This isn't some free tap app with canned sound effects and busted graphics. We're bringing the world's best drumming hardware to your fingertips. We've partnered with Dynasty USA Drums, Pro-Mark Drumsticks, Evans Drumheads, and Sabian Cymbals to deliver an optimized marching experience directly to your iPhone and iPad. If you're reading this you're late. 1000s of drummers before you downloaded this app and continue to download it every day: • All battery audio samples are professional recordings by DCI DVD sound engineer Jamie Vanadia at NoiseFloor Ltd. in Chicago • All front ensemble samples are courtesy of University of Iowa Musical Instrument Samples (MIS) project (you guys rock!) • In Snare: toggle between dynamics and standard modes • In Basses and Tenors, toggle between Pro•Mark nylon and soft mallets while playing • In Cymbals, perform crashes, crash chokes, taps, sizzles, sizzle chokes, hi-hats, and zings • In Xylophone toggle between full keyboard and split layouts • In Marimba toggle between full keyboard and split layouts • In Vibraphone toggle between full keyboard and split layouts and operate foot pedal • Choose a color theme to matches your drumline • Play along with a metronome 30-300 bpm in wood block, metal, or "duts" mode • Configure the practice metronome with subdivision and offbeats and all that sweetness you need • Do the impossible: Tune your tenors or basses • Test your phrasing memory with the memory game • Test your BPM knowledge in the line leader game • Test your single stroke roll speed in the Speed Test challenge with your drum pad • Blazing fast touch responsiveness, literally to the limit of iOS • It's a whole drumline in your pocket for less than a drum key. Are you kidding?! Get all this when you buy now! Like no tricks. Snare: Dynasty's MS-XD14 Marching Snare Drum Tenors (5 drum and corps config): Dynasty's MT-680234 Tenor Drums in Corps Configuration with 6 inch and 8 inch shot drums Basses: Dynasty's MB-18 thru MB-26 Bass Drums - 18", 20", 22", 24", 26" Crash Cymbals: Sabian's Synergy HHX Cymbals - 18" and 20" Plus NEW: Xylophone, Marimba, and Vibraphone Memory Game • Test your drumming memory through sound and visuals • Test yourself on Snare, Tenors or Basses • Drumline captains, this will put your titles to the test! Metronome • 30-300 BPM Metronome • Subdivision of quarter, eighths, sixteenths, and triplets • NEW Save and store presets Drumhead Tuner • Hit-and-hold detection captures pitch instantly and displays for 5 seconds • Pre-configured for DCI specs with Low, Standard, and High tuning modes • Smart harmonic correction finds the true fundamental, even on bass drums • Built for marching percussion - no piano tuner nonsense, just drums Line Leader Game • Put your BPM senses to the test • You get 8 beats, then you pick which of the 3 BPMs was that tempo • The further you go the hard it gets! Speed Test • Challenge yourself to see how many taps you can do in 30 seconds! Learn more at: http://drumlineapp.com Join other drummers on Facebook (15000 likes and counting!!!): http://facebook.com/drumlineapp Or X: http://twitter.com/drumlineapp Yo! don't use real drumsticks on your device... you'll crack your screen and your friends will point and laugh at you! Let's try not to make this the bad, 1985. :)

About

Drum Starz

Learn to play various percussion instruments with interactive lessons and realistic sounds. Features include guided rhythm training, customizable effects, and multi-track recording. Suitable for all ages to develop basic rhythm and drumming skills.

Highlights
  • LearnNPlay rhythm training
  • Multiple percussion instruments
  • High fidelity drum sounds
  • Multi-track recording
  • Drum rudiment videos
  • Customizable sound effects
  • Play along to personal music
Features
Read full description

Drum Starz is the FIRST music app to teach you how to play the drums in a fun and exciting way! Anyone can now play the drum kit, Congas, Bongos, and more with our unique LearnNPlay feature. When a LearnNPlay loop is played, the drum will light up when hit at the correct time. People of all ages will quickly and easily learn basic rhythm! Drum Starz colorful graphics, high fidelity drum sounds and user-friendly features combine to give you a realistic percussion experience whether playing a full size drum kit, Congas, Bongos, Doumbek, or Djembe. There are also dozens of Drum Beats, Music Beats, Rock loops, and metronome sounds to play along to, along with the ability to record your drumming, change the pitch, touch sensitivity, reverb, delay, and more. You can also play to your own music on your iPod from within the app. A unique feature of Drum Starz is the addition of 10 basic drum rudiment videos, so you can see first hand how to play the most important drum rudiments. Drum Starz amazing sounds, graphics, and kid-friendly features will inspire you to play the drums and teach them rhythm in a fun and creative way!  FEATURES:  • 5 different drums and layouts to choose from: Bongos, Congas, Drum Kit, Djembe, and Doumbek • Professionally recorded 44.1 khz high fidelity sounds • LearnNPlay feature teaches you rhythm in a fun and easy way - each drum has 8 different loops to play along to (4 beginner and 4 advanced) • Colorful graphics and animation- musical notes appear wherever drum is hit • The harder you hit the drums, the louder they sound!  • Drum Pitch Sensitivity option- the pitch changes depending on where you strike the drums, just like a real kit  • Reverb and Delay Controls - slider adjustments allows limitless drum sounds  • Pitch Control - lower or raise the pitch of the drums  • Videos of basic drum rudiments played on a real snare drum • Retina Display for both iPad and iPhone for incredibly crisp graphics  • 10 Rock Loops created just for kids to jam with • 8 Drum Beats and 7 Music Loops to play along to, with more to come!  • Realistic Rolls - simply swirl your finger around to create slower or faster rolls  • Double Bass drum feature with slider adjustment  • 10 Metronome Sounds and 4 Time Signatures to choose from, with BPM adjustment  • Multi-track recording - easily add or delete tracks, save and loop recordings  • Share your recordings through email, Facebook, and Twitter  • Export your recordings to your computer • Lefty Mode - reverse the entire drum layout  • Play along to the music on your iPod PRIVACY POLICY: http://codyrotwein.com/privacy.html

Screenshots

Drumline4 screens
Drum Starz4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Drum Starz at Free against Drumline's $4.99. Drum Starz also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 39%) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 4 months). Drumline's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (1.2K vs 35). On rating, 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

Drum Starz is free to download; Drumline costs $4.99 up front. Drumline sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Drum Starz sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for Drumline against 4.1 for Drum Starz. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drumline has 1.2K ratings behind it against 35, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 39% of Drumline's written reviews are positive against 78% of Drum Starz's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drumline ships an update every 4 months, Drum Starz every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Drumline versus Drum Starz: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrumlineDrum Starz
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.1 (1.2K ratings)4.1 (35 ratings)
Positive reviews39.2% of reviews77.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.2K — better35
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#27 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size171 MB94 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJohn OstlerDrum Starz

Customer experience

Drumline

All ratings1,151 ratings
Positive75.5%
Neutral6.1%
Negative18.4%
Written reviews125 reviews
Positive39.2%
Neutral17.6%
Negative43.2%

Drum Starz

All ratings35 ratings
Positive77.1%
Neutral2.9%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral11.1%
Negative11.1%

Bugs and requests

Drumline

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Drums not registering hits correctly
  • Tenors and bass drums not playing proper pitches
  • Cymbals not functioning as expected
  • App crashing or not producing any sound

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add landscape mode for better playability
  • Allow customization of drum tuning and sound
  • Implement a metronome and ability to play along with music
  • Add more advanced drumming techniques (rolls, diddles, etc.)

Drum Starz

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Drumline

One-time2
  • Memory Game$0.99
  • Pro Version$1.99
1 purchases

Drum Starz

One-time1
  • Remove ads$0.99

Questions

Is Drumline free?
Drumline costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Drum Starz free?
Drum Starz is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Drumline or Drum Starz?
Drumline and Drum Starz are both rated 4.1 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.2K and 35 ratings respectively.
Do Drumline or Drum Starz have ads?
Drum Starz shows ads; Drumline does not.
Which is updated more often, Drumline or Drum Starz?
Drumline ships an update every 4 months, and Drum Starz every 8 days. Most recently, Drumline was updated on October 16, 2026 and Drum Starz on October 8, 2026.

Other comparisons