Comparison

Time Guru Metronome vs PercussionTutor

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

Head to head
About

Time Guru Metronome

This app strengthens your internal sense of rhythm by periodically going silent, testing your ability to maintain tempo. It offers random and patterned muting, complex meter sequences, and gradual tempo changes for comprehensive practice.

Highlights
  • Random and patterned muting
  • Complex meter sequences
  • Gradual tempo changes
  • Practice timer
  • Customizable sound sets
  • Voice counting
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

**Strengthen your internal sense of rhythm.** Time Guru is the only metronome that periodically goes silent—randomly, in patterns, or both—so you discover whether you rush, drag, or lose your place. **Random & Pattern Muting** Set any percentage of random muting to test your timekeeping. Or create sequenced muting patterns. Or combine both. You'll quickly learn where your time falls apart—and strengthen it. **Complex Meter Sequences** Build unlimited chains of shifting meters: 4/4 -> 7/8 -> 3/4 -> 11/16 -> 4/4 -> 3/8. Meters go up to 16/x, patterns have no length limit, and you can rearrange them with drag-and-drop. **Gradual Tempo Changes** Automatically speed up or slow down over time—perfect for building technique. **Practice Timer** Set the metronome to stop after a specified duration. **Also includes:** • 35 loud, clear sound sets • Drum machine-style rhythmic patterns • Voice counting in English, Chinese, French, German & Russian • Tap tempo (5–300 BPM) • iCloud backup and sync • Light and dark themes • Full VoiceOver accessibility • Rock-solid timing via custom audio engine Developed by Avi Bortnick and Adam Bellard

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
Read full description

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

Time Guru Metronome4 screens
PercussionTutor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Time Guru Metronome at $2.99 against PercussionTutor's $14.99. Time Guru Metronome also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months). PercussionTutor's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (90% vs 80%). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Time Guru Metronome 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

PercussionTutor holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 455 and 267 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Time Guru Metronome's written reviews are positive against 90% of PercussionTutor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Time Guru Metronome ships an update weekly, PercussionTutor every 5 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Time Guru Metronome versus PercussionTutor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTime Guru MetronomePercussionTutor
Price$2.99 — better$14.99
Rating4.5 (455 ratings)4.9 (267 ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.1% of reviews90.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings455 — better267
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#62 — better#132
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.69.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB440 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAvi BortnickFunkyDrumTutor

Customer experience

Time Guru Metronome

All ratings450 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral2.7%
Negative8.4%
Written reviews196 reviews
Positive80.1%
Neutral5.1%
Negative14.8%

PercussionTutor

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

User reviews

Time Guru Metronome

From 455 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent metronome app
  • 👍 Highly customizable and flexible
  • 🎼 Helpful for developing internal rhythm
  • 🎯 Effective for practicing odd time signatures
  • 💡 Innovative random mute feature

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 🤔 Not very intuitive interface
  • 🔊 Could use better volume control

PercussionTutor

From 267 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

Time Guru Metronome

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Skipping beats and glitching
  • Unable to delete saved rhythms
  • Incompatibility with newer devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to rearrange rhythm patterns
  • Option to assign different sounds to beats
  • Gradual tempo increase/decrease
  • Higher quality sound options
  • More time signature options beyond 7 beats

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

Time Guru Metronome

No in-app purchases

None

PercussionTutor

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Time Guru Metronome free?
Time Guru Metronome costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PercussionTutor free?
PercussionTutor costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Time Guru Metronome or PercussionTutor?
PercussionTutor is rated higher. Time Guru Metronome averages 4.5 out of 5 from 455 ratings, while PercussionTutor averages 4.9 from 267 ratings.
Do Time Guru Metronome or PercussionTutor have ads?
Neither Time Guru Metronome nor PercussionTutor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Time Guru Metronome or PercussionTutor?
Time Guru Metronome ships an update weekly, and PercussionTutor every 5 months. Most recently, Time Guru Metronome was updated on November 1, 2026 and PercussionTutor on November 1, 2026.
Which is more popular, Time Guru Metronome or PercussionTutor?
Time Guru Metronome currently peaks at #62 in the App Store charts, and PercussionTutor at #132. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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