Ear Trainer Lite vs Active Ear
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ear Trainer Lite
Improve your musical ear with this free educational tool. It offers exercises for intervals, chords, and scales, with a virtual piano to help you learn. Track your progress with collected statistics.
- Interval comparison exercises
- Chord identification exercises
- Chord progression exercises
- Scale identification exercises
- Melody exercises
- Virtual piano keyboard
- Progress statistics
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With an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars it is a must to try out this app. Did we mention that it is free? Listening is the most important skill in music, and this app will help you to listen better. Ear Trainer Lite is an educational tool designed for musicians, music students and anyone interested in improving ones musical ear. It has exercises covering intervals, chords, and scales. This is the LITE version with 32 exercises. The full version has over 260 exercises and the ability to create custom exercises. Ear Trainer Lite covers the following categories: - Interval Comparison (18 exercises) - Chord Identification (3 exercises) - Chord Progressions (3 exercises) - Scales (4 exercises) - Melody (4 exercises) Each exercise has a short description of its purpose and optional preview. A virtual piano keyboard 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 progress 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. For more information please see the demonstration video at: www.dev4phone.com
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.
- Pitch Recognition
- Interval Training
- Chord Quality Identification
- Bassline Training
- Progression Training
- Chord Inversions
- Customizable Practice Mode
- Quiz Mode
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Active Ear at none against Ear Trainer Lite's 1. Active Ear also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). Ear Trainer Lite's advantage is ratings volume (343 vs 50) and iOS requirement (12.1 vs 15.1). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. Ear Trainer Lite sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Active Ear asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Ear Trainer Lite against 4.7 for Active Ear. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ear Trainer Lite has 343 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 Lite's written reviews are positive against 94% of Active Ear's.
Ear Trainer Lite ships an update every 4 months, Active Ear monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and June 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ear Trainer Lite | Active Ear |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (343 ratings) | 4.7 (50 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 95.0% of reviews — better | 93.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 343 — better | 50 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.1 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 92 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | thoor software AB | MCPHERSON'S MUSIC LLC |
Customer experience
Ear Trainer Lite
Active Ear
Bugs and requests
Ear Trainer Lite
Reported bugs
2 issues- Sound not playing
- Compatibility issues with older devices
Requested features
4 requests- More interval training options
- Customizable difficulty levels
- Support for different instrument timbres
- Progress tracking and performance analytics
Active Ear
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Ear Trainer Lite
- Upgrade to full version$7.99
Active Ear
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Ear Trainer Lite free?
Is Active Ear free?
Which has better reviews, Ear Trainer Lite or Active Ear?
Do Ear Trainer Lite or Active Ear have ads?
Which is updated more often, Ear Trainer Lite or Active Ear?
Other comparisons
