Comparison

Salsa Rhythm vs PercussionTutor

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

Head to head
About

Salsa Rhythm

This app provides a versatile tool for practicing salsa rhythms and musicality. Users can customize tempo, mix instruments, and select loops to enhance their timing and groove. It's ideal for dancers, musicians, and instructors looking to refine their skills.

Highlights
  • Customizable tempo (BPM)
  • Mix and loop instruments
  • Metronome and groove practice
  • Instructor voice counting
  • Automatic key change
  • Individual instrument volume control
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Salsa Rhythm is your ultimate salsa practice tool, helping you to perfect your salsa timing, musicality, and musicianship by selecting your own instruments, tempo, and loops! It is great for dancers, musicians, producers, and instructors! Top Features: * Practice at a tempo of YOUR choice! * Combine/mix instruments to your liking and choose their loops! * Use as a metronome and practice your groove! * As an instructor, hold your dance classes anywhere! Instruments: Clave, Piano, Congas, Timbales, Bongos, Bass, Maracas, Guiro, Cowbell and an Instructor Voice Also included: * 20 different piano loops, 20 bass loops, >29 percussion loops including Tumbao, Guaguancó, Cáscara, Rumba, Caballo, Danzón and more * Automatic key change setting for practicing in all keys! * Instructor voice counting the beats of your choosing * Control the tempo (BPM), musical key and the individual volume of each instrument App Store reviews are very helpful. If you think Salsa Rhythm is great, would you mind taking a minute to write a review, or update an old one? It's greatly appreciated. If you have any problems or questions you can email us through the support page in the app (or directly at hey@districtonemobile.com), thanks! See the end user license agreement at the following link: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

PercussionTutor

Explore a vast library of world percussion rhythms and instruments. Learn through standard notation, videos, and practice tools like time-stretching and a metronome. Ideal for musicians, dancers, and rhythm enthusiasts seeking authentic global drumming traditions.

Highlights
  • Extensive library of world rhythms
  • Individual drum track control
  • Audio time-stretching
  • Integrated metronome
  • Standard notation and descriptions
  • Instructional videos
  • Authentic instrument sounds
Currently charting
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MODERN DRUMMER MAGAZINE (October 2015 issue): “This is a must-have for anyone wanting an encyclopedia of world percussion rhythms at their fingertips.” PercussionTutor is an educational app for dedicated world percussion enthusiasts. The app and its free companion book feature a unique library of world rhythms and instruments played by leading percussionists and drummers. A time stretching feature and a metronome give the users the option to practice at their own pace. NO IN-APP PURCHASES! Make sure to buy the app now and get all the future content for free. We will release updates on a regular basis adding new rhythms and videos. Damian Erskine (bassist, educator, writer for NoTreble.com): “PercussionTutor is truly fantastic and a blast to play along with”. (full review on NoTreble.com) Lincoln Goines (electric and acoustic bassist) writes: “This app is an engaging and informative way to check out the original funk. A great tool for musicians, dancers, and all lovers of rhythm”. Percussive Arts Society: “The interactive application is very thorough [...]. Navigation is simple and the layout is logical and easy to grasp.” PercussionTutor will allow you to approach South American, Caribbean and West African music in a different way. This app offers you more than a simple play-along. It includes standard notation, videos and specific claves. We also took the outmost care to capture the natural feeling of all those drumming traditions. For the batá rhythms we even developed a random playback engine that will simulate an actual batá performance. This app puts you in a live playing situation - just like you learned your mother language. You will sound more natural and more alive and you will awaken to new rhythmic possibilities. It's also a great tool for other musicians, dancers and performers who want to immerse themselves into centuries-old traditional languages. FEATURES: - Over 80 rhythms (some rhythms include a basic and a more advanced version) - Rhythms from Cuba, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Peru, West Africa, ... - ALL drums can be turned on and off individually - audio time-stretching feature - 59 videos - over 50 percussion instruments - Sheets of all the rhythms included in the app and in the free book - A description of all the rhythms - MORE RHYTMS COMING: we are working on a lot more content to be released on a regular basis! FEATURED MUSICIANS: * Louis Bauzo, performed with Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, Paul Simon * Greg Askew, performed with Tito Puente * Luiz Ebert * Jérôme Goldschmidt, performed with Tito Puente, M. Santamaria & Chico O’Farrill * Marcos Napa, performed with Perú N. * M. Monaco, performed with Al Di Meola * Oswald Simmonds * Reynaldo Alcantara * Richard Byrd, performed with Babatunde Olatunji * Rudy Walker, performed with Pharaoh Saunders, Randy Weston * Victor Rendón, performed with M. Santamaria, Xavier Cugat Orchestra FEATURED RHYTHMS: **Cuba - Popular Music** - Afro - Bolero - Cha Cha Cha - Mozambique - Pachanga - Pilon - Salsa 1, 2, 3, 4 - Songo 1, 2 & 3 - Timba **Cuba - Folk Music** - Abakua Havana - Afra - Agüeito - Azogano Part 1, 2 - Columbia Part 1 - Conga - Guaguanco - Guiro - Iyesa - Makuta - Mozambique - Palo - Yambu - Yuca **Cuba - Batá Drums** - Lalubanche - Latopa - Ogun - Auguere (part 1) - Auguere (part 2) - Imbaloke - Babaluaye (part 1) - Babaluaye (part 2) - Kuru Kurubete - Ewe Masiboroñu - Borotitilawa - Dada - Oggue - Agayu Part 1,2,3 & 4 - Oferere - Ibejis - Akete Obba - Odudua - Iya Mase - Yacota - Ñongo - Chachalokafun - Iyesa - Echu - Olokun **Spain - Flamenco** - Bulerías - Soleá por Bulerías - Tangos **Brazil** - Baião - Bossa Nova - Samba Batucada - Samba Enredo - Samba Pagode - Samba Reggae - Xaxado **Dominican Republic** - Jaleo - Merengue - Pambiche **Puerto Rico** - Xica - Holandes & Holandes fast version - Plena **Peru** - Festejo - Zamacueca - Vals Peruano - Lando - Afro **West Africa** - Fanga - Saa - Lamban - Sounou

Screenshots

Salsa Rhythm4 screens
PercussionTutor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Salsa Rhythm at $2.99 against PercussionTutor's $14.99. Salsa Rhythm also leads on ratings volume (3.4K vs 266) and chart position (#26 vs #88). PercussionTutor's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.1). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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

Salsa Rhythm costs $2.99 and PercussionTutor $14.99 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 Salsa Rhythm against 4.9 for PercussionTutor. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Salsa Rhythm has 3.4K ratings behind it against 266, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of Salsa Rhythm's written reviews are positive against 90% of PercussionTutor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Salsa Rhythm versus PercussionTutor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSalsa RhythmPercussionTutor
Price$2.99 — better$14.99
Rating4.8 (3.4K ratings)4.9 (266 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.1% of reviews90.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.4K — better266
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank#26 — better#88
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.19.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB440 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDistrict One Mobile, LLCFunkyDrumTutor

Customer experience

Salsa Rhythm

All ratings3,425 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral2.8%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews290 reviews
Positive83.1%
Neutral5.9%
Negative11.0%

PercussionTutor

All ratings266 ratings
Positive98.5%
Neutral0.8%
Negative0.8%
Written reviews101 reviews
Positive90.1%
Neutral2.0%
Negative7.9%

User reviews

Salsa Rhythm

From 3.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great practice tool
  • 🎼 Helps with musicality and rhythm
  • 🎛️ Customizable instrument volumes
  • 📚 Excellent for learning and teaching
  • 🕺 Useful for dancers and musicians

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes
  • 🔊 Limited volume control
  • 🤖 Robotic sound quality
  • 🔍 Confusing interface
  • 🕰️ Tempo issues

PercussionTutor

From 266 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎵 Authentic recordings by real musicians, not MIDI sequences
  • 👍 Easy to use and intuitive interface
  • 🎓 Excellent educational resource with detailed sheet music and videos
  • 🔊 High-quality sound and professional production
  • 🎯 Ability to mute individual instruments for focused practice

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Timing misalignment with metronome in some rhythms
  • 🔊 Audio distortion when tempo is increased moderately
  • 🎵 Pitch changes when adjusting tempo (no time-stretching)
  • 📱 Crashes when using external USB audio interfaces
  • 🔇 No individual volume control for instruments

Bugs and requests

Salsa Rhythm

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Bass not synchronized with other instruments
  • Clave rhythm not accurate
  • Inability to reset to default settings
  • Frequent prompts to write a review
  • App not working after updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more rhythms and instruments
  • Implement save/recall feature for settings
  • Include more advanced rhythmic patterns
  • Provide a better volume control system
  • Add support for other Latin genres (e.g., bachata)

PercussionTutor

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Metronome timing is 2 clicks ahead of actual rhythm
  • Audio distortion when moderately increasing tempo
  • Crashes with external USB audio interfaces (RME Babyface, RME Babyface Pro, Motu 828es)
  • No audio output with some USB interfaces despite no crash
  • App crashes when opening other apps
Show 4 more
  • Audio loss when switching between audio apps
  • Incorrect sheet music for Clave Tiñosa
  • Transient smearing and rhythm attack blurring at very slow tempos
  • Occasional app crashes during normal use

Requested features

18 requests
  • More Colombian rhythms (Cumbia, Bullerengue, Vallenato, Porro, Currulao, Mapale)
  • Brazilian genres expansion (Choro, Forró, and variations)
  • Individual volume controls for each instrument
  • Visual playhead/bar indicator moving through sheet music in real-time
  • Count-in before rhythm starts
Show 13 more
  • Metronome function for all rhythms
  • Tempo adjustment without pitch change (time-stretching)
  • Higher tempo limits for certain rhythms
  • Dominican Bachata rhythm
  • West African dance rhythms
  • 6/8 bell patterns and rhythms
  • Puerto Rican rhythm corrections and additions (Cuembé, Yubá, Seis Corrido)
  • Salsa 2-3 and 3-2 pattern variations
  • Practice timer to track time per rhythm
  • Better graphics and authentic instrument photos
  • Integration with DAW apps like GarageBand
  • Free trial version before purchase
  • Middle Eastern percussion sounds

In-app purchases

None

Salsa Rhythm

No in-app purchases

None

PercussionTutor

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Salsa Rhythm free?
Salsa Rhythm costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PercussionTutor free?
PercussionTutor costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Salsa Rhythm or PercussionTutor?
PercussionTutor is rated higher. Salsa Rhythm averages 4.8 out of 5 from 3.4K ratings, while PercussionTutor averages 4.9 from 266 ratings.
Do Salsa Rhythm or PercussionTutor have ads?
Neither Salsa Rhythm nor PercussionTutor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Salsa Rhythm or PercussionTutor?
Salsa Rhythm ships an update every 5 months, and PercussionTutor every 5 months. Most recently, Salsa Rhythm was updated on September 23, 2026 and PercussionTutor on September 21, 2026.
Which is more popular, Salsa Rhythm or PercussionTutor?
Salsa Rhythm currently peaks at #26 in the App Store charts, and PercussionTutor at #88. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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