Comparison

Pro Band vs Pocket Drums

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

Head to head
About

Pro Band

Play along with high-quality, professionally produced backing tracks featuring live musicians. This app allows you to adjust key and tempo, record and share your solos, and access detailed chord charts and scale fingerings for practice and learning.

Highlights
  • High-quality live musician backing tracks
  • Adjustable key and tempo
  • Record, mix, and share solos
  • Detailed chord charts and scale fingerings
  • In-app track store with bundles
  • Play through effects apps or Audiobus
Features
Read full description

Pro Band Backing Tracks will give you the amazing experience of playing along with pro musicians on a wide variety of styles, grooves and tempos. These high quality, professionally produced tracks are not midi or sequencer-based. They have been produced with real live studio musicians, so the feel is real. Join the 100,000+ users of Pro Band!!! "This product is superb! The backing tracks are very well produced." "The quality of the tracks are awesome and the ability to change key and tempo creates endless variety. Awesome app!" "I rarely write reviews, but this is an app that deserves a great review. If you're looking for an app to practice with, this is it! " "Mark Fitchett and the app developer have done a great job continuing to develop and support the app. It is a perfect companion for jamming and practicing. " "I purchased all the bundles and use this app to practice every day, definitely worth every penny!!" "Best app to learn scales." "What a great app this is! It is simple to use, with a clean interface." Pro Band makes it easy to record, mix and share your solos! Play and record through any effect App or use Audiobus. Share you solos with the Pro Band Community, Facebook, Twitter or iTunes in just one step! Find shared solos directly from within the Pro Band app, tap on the like button! You can browse shared solos by popularity and by date! Like no other App, you can re-mix and re-play your solo in any key and tempo! And you can do the same for any solos shared by other Pro Band users. There's truly no limit to what you can do with Pro Band! Much thought and consideration has been put into each one of the tracks to make them representative of the many diverse elements found in guitar-driven music. Tracks specifically for Bass players and Drummers are available too! PRO BAND OFFERS THE GREATEST RANGE OF BACKING TRACKS AVAILABLE ANYWHERE! All Pro Band tracks can be PLAYED IN ANY KEY AND TEMPO. It includes detailed CHORD CHARTS for every track in every key with a synchronized cursor that follows the progression, so you can follow it while you play. Mark has selected appropriate SCALE FINGERING for each track, so you'll see exactly how to start to build up your skills, including following scale changes throughout the track. The Pro Band Track Store has over 100 tracks to purchase in many bundles for guitar players, bass players and even drummers! You can hear a sample of every track available at the Pro Band Track Store. Bundles include: - Pentatonic Blues - Classic Other Blues, inspired by R&B, Gospel, Country, Latin - Pentatonic Rock - Modes - Acoustic Blues - Jazz - Blues & Rock for Bass Players (no bass) - Blues & Rock for Drummers (no drums) - Eclectic Pro Band comes with two tracks: Stevie's House and Run That Way. Dozens of other tracks are available as in-app purchases individually or in our popular lower-priced bundles of tracks that can save up to 60%! Buy a bundle, save a bundle! Note from producer Mark Fitchett: Being a guitarist myself, I know what I like when it comes to jamming with a band so it is with utmost confidence that I can say that Pro Band Backing Tracks groove and inspire. I'll admit that I am biased, after all I did create them, but I absolutely love playing and practicing to them myself and use them all the time.

About

Pocket Drums

Experience realistic drumming with a virtual drum kit that fits in your pocket. This app offers responsive touch controls, high-fidelity drum sets, and various beats to help you play along. Learn rudiments with included videos and customize your sound with adjustable pitch, volume, and effects.

Highlights
  • Realistic touch-sensitive drum response
  • 15 high-fidelity recorded drum kits
  • 16 PlayAlong Beats and 20 music/drum beats
  • Basic drum rudiment videos
  • Adjustable pitch, sensitivity, volume, reverb, and delay
  • Multi-track recording and sharing capabilities
Features
Read full description

Pocket Drums is the most realistic sounding and looking drum app out there! Perfect for both beginners and pros alike, Pocket Drums utilizes the latest technology and decades of real drum experience to create the ideal drumming app for the iPhone or iPad. All of the features of the app combine to make you feel as if you are sitting down and playing a real drum set. The drums respond to your touch - the pitch changes slightly depending on where you hit the toms, just like a real kit. Playing realistic rolls is as easy as swirling your finger around, simply adjusting the roll speed by how fast or slow you swirl your finger. There is also 15 different professionally recorded high fidelity drum sets to choose from, and an amazing drum wrap, with more to come. Pocket Drums also features 16 PlayAlong Beats, 10 unique Drum Beats and 10 Music Beats to rock out with, as well as 10 different metronome sounds. A unique feature is the addition of 10 basic rudiment videos, so you can see firsthand how to play the drum rudiments. With the ability to adjust the pitch, sensitivity, individual drum volume, reverb, and delay, recording, ability to share and export your recordings (optional in-app purchase), and so much more, Pocket Drums is by far the most comprehensive and realistic drumming app available today! FEATURES: • 15 professionally recorded 44.1 khz high fidelity kits, with more to come • Drum Pitch Sensitivity - the pitch changes depending on where you strike the toms, just like a real kit • Reverb and Delay Controls - slider adjustments allows limitless drum sounds • Pitch Control - lower or raise the pitch of the drums • Drum Volume - adjust volume of each individual drum • Snares - 11 more snares that you can mix and match to create your ideal sound (optional in-app purchase) • Videos of basic drum rudiments played on a real snare drum • Amazingly realistic drum wraps • Realistic visual effects - drums and cymbals look and respond like a real drum set, visually corresponding to your every touch • Retina Display for both iPad and iPhone for incredibly crisp graphics • PlayAlong Beats: 16 new loops with basic bass drum, hi-hat or snare beats, to play along for added rhythmic expression! • 10 Drum Beats and 10 Music Beats to play along to, with more to come! • Realistic Rolls - simply swirl your finger around to create slower or faster rolls • Double Bass drum feature with slider adjustment • 10 Metronome Sounds and 4 Time Signatures to choose from, with BPM adjustment • Recording - easily add or delete tracks, save and loop recordings • Multi-track recording functionality • Share your recordings through email, Facebook, and Twitter • Export your recordings to your computer (optional in-app purchase) • Lefty Mode - reverse the entire drum layout • Play along to the music on your iPod • Option to add bass drum when hitting crash cymbal IN-APP PURCHASES TO UPGRADE: • Additional kit pack • 11 more snares that you can mix and match to create your ideal sound • 3 more wraps: Turquoise, Black Oyster, and Dark Wood • Export recordings • Ads removed PRIVACY POLICY: http://codyrotwein.com/privacy.html

Screenshots

Pro Band4 screens
Pocket Drums4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Pocket Drums at 4.0 against Pro Band's 2.9. Pocket Drums also leads on ratings volume (290 vs 34). Pro Band's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (62% vs 49%). On price, update cadence, 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

Both are free to download. Pro Band sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Pocket Drums sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pocket Drums holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pocket Drums has 290 ratings behind it against 34, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 62% of Pro Band's written reviews are positive against 49% of Pocket Drums's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Pro Band versus Pocket Drums: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPro BandPocket Drums
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.9 (34 ratings)4.0 (290 ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.9% of reviews — better49.4% of reviews
Number of ratings34290 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size90 MB84 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperENCLAYVE GROUP LLCDrum Starz

Customer experience

Pro Band

All ratings34 ratings
Positive44.1%
Neutral11.8%
Negative44.1%
Written reviews97 reviews
Positive61.9%
Neutral4.1%
Negative34.0%

Pocket Drums

All ratings290 ratings
Positive73.4%
Neutral7.6%
Negative19.0%
Written reviews83 reviews
Positive49.4%
Neutral2.4%
Negative48.2%

Bugs and requests

Pro Band

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Pocket Drums

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • App crashes when playing drums rapidly
  • Glitching audio that stutters and repeats loudly
  • App freezes when recording multiple times
  • Screen stretches and becomes unresponsive
  • App fails to open after updates
Show 4 more
  • Video upload functionality broken
  • Drums don't register input properly
  • Incompatibility with recent iOS updates
  • Ads freeze the app and prevent closing

Requested features

9 requests
  • Double bass pedal for metal songs
  • Reggae drum tones
  • Splash and china cymbals
  • Mix and match custom drum sets
  • Built-in drumming lessons
Show 4 more
  • Ability to modify and remove playlists
  • Better disco beat drum sounds
  • More instruments and variety
  • Reduced ad frequency

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Pro Band

One-time10
  • Practice Looper$1.99
  • 8 Blues Tracks$3.99
  • Acoustic Blues Bundle$3.99
Show 7 more
  • 14 Track Mode Bundle: Parallel and Derivative$4.99
  • Jazz Bundle Volume 1$4.99
  • Emi Pentatonic - All 16 Tracks$5.99
  • Blues Volume #2: 18-Track Bundle$5.99
  • Bass Bundle$5.99
  • Super Mode Jams!$5.99
  • Ultimate Blues Package$12.99
6 purchases

Pocket Drums

One-time6
  • Remove ads$0.99
  • Exporting$0.99
  • Kit Pack$0.99
Show 3 more
  • Wraps$0.99
  • Snares$0.99
  • Full - Unlock everything$2.99

Questions

Is Pro Band free?
Pro Band is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pocket Drums free?
Pocket Drums is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pro Band or Pocket Drums?
Pocket Drums is rated higher. Pro Band averages 2.9 out of 5 from 34 ratings, while Pocket Drums averages 4.0 from 290 ratings.
Do Pro Band or Pocket Drums have ads?
Pocket Drums shows ads; Pro Band does not.
Which is updated more often, Pro Band or Pocket Drums?
Pro Band ships an update every 2 months, and Pocket Drums every 2 months. Most recently, Pro Band was updated on November 1, 2026 and Pocket Drums on November 1, 2026.

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