# Play By Ear vs Complete Ear Trainer

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Play By Ear at none against Complete Ear Trainer's 3. Play By Ear also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.5). Complete Ear Trainer's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Complete Ear Trainer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Play By Ear asks for nothing beyond the download.

Complete Ear Trainer holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 79 and 195 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of Play By Ear's written reviews are positive against 85% of Complete Ear Trainer's.

Play By Ear ships an update every 2 months, Complete Ear Trainer fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Play By Ear | Complete Ear Trainer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.4 (79 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/play-by-ear-ear-training/id361203621/reviews) | **[4.7 (195 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/complete-ear-trainer/id1012455471/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 79 | **195** |
| Positive reviews | 81.7% of reviews | **85.1% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 24 MB | 59 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 17.5 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [SuperNonstop.com, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/361203624) | [Binary Guilt](https://appshunter.io/developer/1012455470) |

## What reviewers say

### Play By Ear

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/play-by-ear-ear-training/id361203621)

Develop your musical ear with this call-and-response ear training app. It uses pitch recognition, allowing you to play notes back on your instrument instead of pressing buttons. Practice melodies, chords, and intervals in a way that mirrors real musical performance.

**Highlights:** Pitch recognition for instrumental interaction, Hands-free, continuous play, Interval, chord, and melody exercises, Customizable tempo, Multiple key centers, Microphone calibration

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great for ear training
- 👍 Helps learn to read music
- 👍 Excellent for musicians
- 👍 Good for piano teachers
- 👍 Pitch recognition accuracy

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Inconsistent pitch detection
- 🐛 Issues with low notes
- 🐛 Glitchy chord recognition
- 🐛 False errors reported
- 🐛 Not ideal for beginners

**Reported bugs**

- No audio output
- App crashes frequently
- Pitch detection not working
- Plays single tone only
- Loses sound with timer/calls

**Requested features**

- Repeat option for phrases
- Limit scale patterns to selected scales/keys
- Profiles for multi-instrumentalists
- Test from the same root note sometimes
- Sign in and save practice data


### Complete Ear Trainer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/complete-ear-trainer/id1012455471)

Develop your musical ear and music theory knowledge with this comprehensive training app. It offers progressive drills, various sound options, and a gamified learning experience to improve improvisation, composition, and performance skills.

**Highlights:** 150+ progressive drills, 11 drill types, 24 intervals, 36 chord types, Melodic dictations and chord progressions, Gamified learning with star system, Custom drill and program creation, Cloud sync across devices

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cloud Sync and Web access | $0.99 | per month |
| Cloud Sync and Web access | $9.99 | per year |
| Full Version | $6.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Play By Ear free?

Play By Ear is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Complete Ear Trainer free?

Complete Ear Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Play By Ear or Complete Ear Trainer?

Complete Ear Trainer is rated higher. Play By Ear averages 4.4 out of 5 from 79 ratings, while Complete Ear Trainer averages 4.7 from 195 ratings.

### Do Play By Ear or Complete Ear Trainer have ads?

Neither Play By Ear nor Complete Ear Trainer shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Play By Ear or Complete Ear Trainer?

Play By Ear ships an update every 2 months, and Complete Ear Trainer fortnightly. Most recently, Play By Ear was updated on September 16, 2026 and Complete Ear Trainer on September 26, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*