Comparison

Ear Trainer vs Active Ear

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

Head to head
About

Ear Trainer

This app is designed to enhance your musical listening skills. It offers a comprehensive set of over 260 exercises across nine study areas, plus custom exercise creation. Suitable for all levels, it helps musicians and students improve their ear training.

Highlights
  • Over 260 built-in exercises
  • Nine areas of musical study
  • Custom exercise creation
  • Interval, chord, and scale identification
  • Melody and chord progression training
  • Progress tracking and statistics
  • Virtual piano and note view
Features
Read full description

With an overall 4.8 out of 5 rating in it is a must to try out this ear training app. What our users says: Awesome ear training app ***** One of the most in depth apps out there for ear training and a easy to use interface. You can even make your own exercises. I wish you could undo a note entry in the melodic exercises, a lot of the times iv just pressed the wrong note because of my fat fingers but I guess it’s part of the challenge to not make a mistake(wish you could change it in the settings or something). Still a must buy for ear training. Guy ***** You guys deserve 1000000 stars thank you Everything You Need **** It took a while for me to appreciate this app. It wasn't until I had a bit of ear training done that I could see the limitations in other apps and how this one would take me further and teach more of what I could actually use versus simpler apps. Once I could hear intervals up to an octave and major vs minor chords, this app had plenty more for me to study. Great app. ---- Listening is the most important skill in music, and this app will help you to listen better. Ear Trainer is an educational tool designed for musicians, music students and anyone interested in improving ones musical ear. It has over 260 individual exercises that are conveniently placed into nine different areas of study. It is also possible to create custom exercises so that you can practice exactly what you need. No need to be an expert, Ear Trainer is suitable for all users from beginner to very advanced. No matter what level your musical hearing skills are, Ear Trainer will help to hone them. * Built-in Exercises * - Interval Comparison (48 different exercises) - Interval Identification (30 different exercises) - Chord Identification (48 different exercises) - Chord Inversions (24 different exercises) - Chord Progressions (25 different exercises) - Scales (24 different exercises) - Note relative to chord (18 different exercises) - Relative Pitch (12 different exercises) - Melody Exercises (38 different exercises) Each exercise has a short description of its purpose and optional preview. A virtual piano keyboard and note view in each exercise helps you visually understand and analyze the notes that have been played. To aid your progression you can compare the different options after answering. (You can even play the virtual piano if you like!) As you work through the exercises, statistics are collected so that you can see your progress. The questions in the exercises are randomly generated so you can do them over and over again as many times as you like to continue to hone your skills. * Custom Exercises * Users can create their own custom exercises to match their desired areas of study and/or skill level. The following areas are available for custom exercises: - Interval Comparison - Interval Identification - Chord Identification - Chord inversion - Chord Progression - Scale Identification - Note after chord * Share Custom Exercises * Custom exercises can be shared with friends and class mates through Email, AirDrop and iMessage. What our users says: ------ ***** Must Have!!! This is the best Ear Trainer of all I tried in App Store, everything works just perfectly. If you are interested in improving your musical hearing you must have it. ------ ***** Amazing I have been using this app every day for just about a year now and the result are simply amazing. ------ **** I'm in my second third semester as a music major and I have to say, this is a great app for any music major, or anyone looking for ear training. I like that I'm able to switch between different instruments, it makes hearing the notes on the instrument you're use to a bit easier for me. ------ For more information please see: www.dev4phone.com

About

Active Ear

Develop your musical ear with a comprehensive ear training app. It offers various exercises to help musicians identify pitches, intervals, chords, and progressions. Customize your learning with practice modes and test your knowledge with quizzes.

Highlights
  • Pitch Recognition
  • Interval Training
  • Chord Quality Identification
  • Bassline Training
  • Progression Training
  • Chord Inversions
  • Customizable Practice Mode
  • Quiz Mode
Features
Read full description

Active Ear is for musicians of all skill levels and instrument types. With dozens of exercises ranging from beginner to advanced, Active Ear focuses on teaching you to identify pitches, intervals, chords, and progressions using only your Ear. The Practice Mode of the app allows you to customize the challenges to focus only on areas you're interested in improving. Once you're confident with the Practice Mode, you test yourself in the Quiz Mode of the app to see how well you understand the concepts. Active Ear Comes with six Ear Training Programs: -
Pitch Recognition -
Interval Training -
Chord Quality -
Bassline Training
 -
Progression Training
 - Chord Inversions

Screenshots

Ear Trainer4 screens
Active Ear4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Active Ear at Free against Ear Trainer's $7.99. Active Ear also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). Ear Trainer's advantage is ratings volume (1.2K vs 50) and iOS requirement (12.1 vs 15.1). On rating, review sentiment, 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

Active Ear is free to download; Ear Trainer costs $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 — 4.8 for Ear Trainer against 4.7 for Active Ear. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ear Trainer has 1.2K ratings behind it against 50, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of Ear Trainer's written reviews are positive against 94% of Active Ear's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ear Trainer ships an update every 4 months, Active Ear monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and June 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Ear Trainer versus Active Ear: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEar TrainerActive Ear
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (1.2K ratings) — better4.7 (50 ratings)
Positive reviews94.8% of reviews — better93.8% of reviews
Number of ratings1.2K — better50
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.1 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size90 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerthoor software ABMCPHERSON'S MUSIC LLC

Customer experience

Ear Trainer

All ratings1,200 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral1.4%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews386 reviews
Positive94.8%
Neutral3.6%
Negative1.6%

Active Ear

All ratings50 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews32 reviews
Positive93.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.3%

Bugs and requests

Ear Trainer

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Incorrect chord quality identification
  • Inconsistent note layout in some exercises

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add more chord types (diminished, half-diminished, etc.)
  • Include more modes and scale types
  • Implement MIDI connectivity for external instruments
  • Add a random exercise mode
  • Provide more detailed progress tracking and statistics
Show 2 more
  • Introduce a timed test mode
  • Offer a dark mode option

Active Ear

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Ear Trainer

No in-app purchases

None

Active Ear

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Ear Trainer free?
Ear Trainer costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Active Ear free?
Active Ear is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Ear Trainer or Active Ear?
Ear Trainer is rated higher. Ear Trainer averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.2K ratings, while Active Ear averages 4.7 from 50 ratings.
Do Ear Trainer or Active Ear have ads?
Neither Ear Trainer nor Active Ear shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ear Trainer or Active Ear?
Ear Trainer ships an update every 4 months, and Active Ear monthly. Most recently, Ear Trainer was updated on September 30, 2026 and Active Ear on June 10, 2026.

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