Comparison

Dhol vs TaalMala

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

Head to head
About

Dhol

Experience the joy of playing the Dhol on your iPhone or iPod Touch. This app allows you to tap out rhythms with your fingers, offering multiple drum sounds and the ability to play along with your music library. It also features a unique Bluetooth connection mode for interactive learning and playing with friends.

Highlights
  • Virtual Dhol instrument
  • Multiple drum sounds
  • Play along with music
  • Bluetooth Dhol-E Connect
  • Interactive learning mode
  • Tap-based controls
Features
Read full description

For all the Bhangra fans around the world, you can now play the Dhol on the go on your iPhone or iPod Touch using Dhol-E. Dhol is a musical instrument played in the Asian subcontinent especially in the northern part of India in Punjab. Playing the Dhol on Dhol-E is as simple as tapping on the screen using your fingers. Other features of Dhol-E include 3 sounds (one for each side of the Dhol and one for tapping on the Dhol barrel itself) and the ability to play the Dhol to a song in your iPod collection. For optimal sound quality use headsets or for even better results connect to powered external speakers. Let Dhol-E bring out the real Dholi inside you. Version 2.0 adds a revolutionary new method to teach and learn the Dhol using "Dhol-E Connect". Using "Dhol-E Connect" you can connect to a another iPhone/iPod running Dhol-E over Bluetooth. Once connected you can see your friend play the Dhol on your screen and follow/play along. To connect using Dhol-E Connect just follow these easy steps -Make sure both phones are running the latest version of Dhol-E -On both devices press the Dhol-E Connect button. -Within a few minutes both the devices should see each other and display the name of the device. -On any one of the device tap on the device name and click the accept button on the other device. -To change Dhol-E Connect options tap on the Settings icon on your iPhone home screen and scroll down to Dhol-E. (Note: Dhol-E Connect requires an in-app upgrade on both devices and does not support the original iPhone and the original iPod) iPad Owners: Download the exclusive iPad only Dhol-E HD app! Check out the Dhol-E Fan Page on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dhol-E-iPhoneiPod-App/130114227036549

About

TaalMala

This app provides realistic accompaniment for Indian classical musicians, featuring high-quality sampled instruments like Tabla and Tanpura. It offers extensive pre-composed compositions and allows users to create their own Taals, Lehras, and SwarMandal patterns. Ideal for daily practice or live performances.

Highlights
  • High-quality sampled instruments
  • 360+ pre-composed Taals
  • 246+ pre-composed Lehras
  • 620+ pre-composed SwarMandal patterns
  • Compose custom Taals and Lehras
  • Sequencer for arranging patterns
  • Adjustable tempo and pitch
Features
Read full description

TaalMala provides personalized accompaniment of Tabla, Pakhawaj, Manjeera, Tanpura, SwarMandal and Lehra/Nagma on Santoor and Harmonium. Use TaalMala for your daily riyaaz or live concerts. With high-quality Tabla, Pakhawaj, Manjeera, Tanpura, SwarMandal, Santoor and Harmonium sounds sampled from real instruments, more than 360+ pre-composed Taals and Sequences, and more than 246+ pre-composed Lehra/Nagma compositions, and 650+ SwarMandal patterns in 65+ Ragas, TaalMala provides a complete practising solution for any Indian musician. With TaalMala Composer, you can compose your own Taals, Lehras/Nagmas, SwarMandal patterns by simply typing the notation of the Taal/Lehra on special built-in Taal/Lehra keyboard. With TaalMala Sequencer, you can arrange sequences of fixed or randomized or tempo-based Taal and Lehra/Nagma patterns. TaalMala features: - High-quality studio-recorded Tabla, Pakhawaj, Tanpura, SwarMandal, Santoor, Harmonium and Manjeera (Zanj) sounds - Two sets of Tabla/Dagga sounds and ability to choose and mix-match between the two sound sets - 360+ pre-composed Taals and Taal sequences, including most popular Taals and their variations - 246+ pre-composed Lehra/Nagma compositions and sequences in multitude of ragas and Taals - 620+ pre-composed SwarMandal patterns in 62+ Ragas - New Taals, Lehras/Nagmas and compositions added frequently as updates - Compose your own Taals and Lehras/Nagmas by simply entering the notation - Powerful sequencer to compose fixed, tempo-based and randomized sequences from the Taals and Lehras library - Taal/Lehra/SwarMandal pad; play any Taal/Lehra/SwarMandal pattern on-demand in live accompaniment - Automatic Manjeera/Zanj accompaniment, synchronized with the Tabla/Pakhawaj Taals - Adjustable tempo from 10 bpm to 1000 bpm - Pitch control (+/- 0.5 octave), with independent fine-tuning of all instruments for precise matching with your scale - Pitch detector for detecting your pitch and precise matching, built within the app - Independent volume control for Tabla/Pitch, Dagga/Bass, Manjeera and Lehra/Nagma - Choice of chromatic or just/harmonic tuning for all instruments, with fine-tuning capability. - Up to 2 simultaneous Tanpuras - High-quality Tanpura sounds (male and female tones) with all popular Tanpura patterns included - Adjustable Tanpura tempo and strumming speed of 4 Tanpura strings independently - Option to slightly vary the Tanpura plucking delays randomly for better realism - Tap on the screen twice to set exact Taal tempo, as required This version of the application has following limitations: Playback restricted to 5 minutes every hour. To unlock full functionality and remove the limitation above, click "Buy" option on the main screen. Once you purchase a subscription to the app, the 5-minute per hour limitation will be removed. Please contact us at service@taalmala.com if you have any questions. Licensing terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Our privacy policy: https://www.taalmala.com/privacy.shtml

Screenshots

Dhol2 screens
TaalMala4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Dhol at 91% against TaalMala's 34%. Dhol also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 12.0). TaalMala's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 7 months). On price, ratings volume, 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. Dhol sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and TaalMala sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Dhol holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 145 and 177 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of Dhol's written reviews are positive against 34% of TaalMala's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dhol ships an update every 7 months, TaalMala every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Dhol versus TaalMala: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDholTaalMala
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (145 ratings) — better4.3 (177 ratings)
Positive reviews90.8% of reviews — better34.1% of reviews
Number of ratings145177 — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS10.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB73 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMutual Image LLC.Abhijit Patait

Customer experience

Dhol

All ratings145 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral3.4%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews163 reviews
Positive90.8%
Neutral4.3%
Negative4.9%

TaalMala

All ratings177 ratings
Positive82.5%
Neutral3.4%
Negative14.1%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive34.1%
Neutral12.2%
Negative53.7%

Bugs and requests

Dhol

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Lags and delays when playing
  • Not working, no shop beats
  • Doesn't load, stuck on settings
  • No sound on iPhone 5

Requested features

8 requests
  • Update and improve sound effects
  • Add kin and ke as well as dha ne ge and click
  • Add option to record when playing with songs
  • Add more accurate sounds and ghir ghira
  • Add volume setting to be louder when playing along to tracks
Show 3 more
  • Add ability to change sounds, dugga side could use different sample
  • Add dark mode option
  • Add advanced analytics dashboard

TaalMala

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Dhol

One-time6
  • Peer Connect Upgrade$0.99
  • Dhol With Khanda$0.99
  • Disable Ads$0.99
Show 3 more
  • Dhol Bling$0.99
  • DholE Dance$0.99
  • Get Everything!$4.99
2 purchases

TaalMala

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Edition - Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Premium Edition - Yearly$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Dhol free?
Dhol is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is TaalMala free?
TaalMala is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Dhol or TaalMala?
Dhol is rated higher. Dhol averages 4.7 out of 5 from 145 ratings, while TaalMala averages 4.3 from 177 ratings.
Do Dhol or TaalMala have ads?
Neither Dhol nor TaalMala shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dhol or TaalMala?
Dhol ships an update every 7 months, and TaalMala every 2 months. Most recently, Dhol was updated on October 7, 2026 and TaalMala on October 12, 2026.

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