Comparison

Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine vs PercussionTutor

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

Head to head
About

Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine

This app provides a metronome with realistic drum beats instead of a simple click. It's designed to improve timing, aid in songwriting, and facilitate live jamming and performance. Users can access a large library of pre-made beats across various genres and customize their practice sessions.

Highlights
  • Realistic drum beats, not a click
  • 100+ pre-made beats in various genres
  • Adjustable tempo without pitch change
  • Personalize and favorite beats
  • Improve timing with Bar Break beats
  • Connect to other music apps via Inter-app Audio
  • Jam via Bluetooth or AirPlay
Features
Read full description

You found it! Drum Beats+ is the metronome app that improves your timing using great sounding drum beats, not a boring click. But that’s not all. It can also help you write songs, jam with friends, or even perform live. It's a learning, jamming and performing tool that keeps getting better, just like you. "No more annoying metronome ticks or digital click tempos!" ~ AnthonyVilla "Awesome sounding and authentically grooving drum loops…but also a great practice tool for timing." ~ Ets5017 "Sorry drummers...but I use this on live gigs." ~ RBJ555 "A proper replacement for your deadbeat drummer." ~ Rolling Stone Magazine - - - FEATURES Cheaper than a metronome, simpler than a drum machine. • SUPER SIMPLE DESIGN - spend more time playing, less time learning the app • NO WORK REQUIRED - Standard Library comes with 100+ PRE-MADE great sounding beats in a variety of genres (Add 250+ with the Pro Library) • VERSATILE 45 to 200 Tempo Range -- play all the songs you want • ADJUSTABLE - Play any beat at any speed WITHOUT CHANGING THE PITCH • FAVORITE beats have their own tab. Play and practice faster. • LOCK THE TEMPO to save time during practice (tap the padlock button on tempo screen) • PERSONALIZE - Tap edit to RENAME the beats (e.g. "My Hit Song") - - - As you advance as a player, you’ll grow into the app’s advanced features. • Improve your timing with Bar Break beats that rest for entire bars or more • Refine your ear with beats that alternate between swing and straight feels, loud and soft volumes and beats per bar • Connect to GarageBand and other music apps using Inter-app Audio • Jam loud by using BlueTooth or AirPlay to play beats through your stereo or Apple TV • Hit the randomizer button to challenge yourself with beats you might not choose - - - So many drummers, so little time. Drum Beats+ includes four style packs and four training packs—100+ beats in all—with tons more in our Pro Library. • Break Beats. 16 bumping beats of classic funk and soul breaks • Hit Songs I. 16 beats based on popular songs every musician should know • Pop Rock I. 24 beats spanning funk, straight ahead rock, shuffles and more • R&B Essentials I: 16 excellent modern and vintage-sound electronic beats • Rhythm, Timing, & Dynamics Packs. 41 practice beats that alternate grooves, volumes, beats per bar and rests • Every beat features different sounds—booming rock bass drums, snappy soul snares and more. All digitally mastered to make practicing a pleasure - - - Enjoy this powerful, yet easy-to-use tool to get the best music experience! No need to replace the app with a complicated drum machine, or even a drummer. Just add more beats with our Pro Library. Preview everything inside the app. Drum Beats+ Pro Drum Beats+ Pro Subscription allows you unlock all sounds and features. Choose from different subscription options. Our standard subscription options are: - 1 year subscription with 7-day free trial - 1 year subscription - Lifetime subscription Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by you and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to iTunes Account Settings. For more information please visit the link https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202039. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period. Unused portion of a free-trial period will be forfeited when a user decides to subscribe. Privacy Policy: https://ninebuzz.com/privacypolicy_en/ Terms of Service: https://ninebuzz.com/terms_en/

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

Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine4 screens
PercussionTutor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine at Free against PercussionTutor's $14.99. Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (4.5K vs 266). PercussionTutor's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13) and review sentiment (90% vs 77%). On rating, ads and device support 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

Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine is free to download; PercussionTutor costs $14.99 up front. Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. PercussionTutor asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine against 4.9 for PercussionTutor. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine has 4.5K ratings behind it against 266, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 77% of Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine's written reviews are positive against 90% of PercussionTutor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine ships an update monthly, PercussionTutor every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine versus PercussionTutor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrum Beats+ Rhythm MachinePercussionTutor
PriceFree — better$14.99
Rating4.8 (4.5K ratings)4.9 (266 ratings) — better
Positive reviews77.4% of reviews90.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.5K — better266
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#61 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size773 MB440 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNinebuzz Software LLCFunkyDrumTutor

Customer experience

Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine

All ratings4,494 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral2.6%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews381 reviews
Positive77.4%
Neutral5.8%
Negative16.8%

PercussionTutor

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

User reviews

Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine

From 4.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fabulous drum accompaniment
  • 🚀 Excellent app for practice and jamming
  • 👍 Easy and helpful
  • 👍 Great practice tool
  • 👍 Useful app for guitarist accompaniment

Room to improve

  • 💰 Paid trash
  • 💰 Subscription
  • 💰 Only a 3 day free trial
  • 💰 Wanted to try. Paywall.
  • 💰 I paid for the app

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

Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Mutes after three loops
  • Sounds are OK, AirPlay doesn't work
  • NOT a metronome app - and a big problem with tempo
  • I don't have an Airturn
  • Sounds are poor
Show 1 more
  • Depletes battery in the background

Requested features

11 requests
  • Visual cue could be an improvement
  • Tap tempo
  • Ability to save customizations
  • Finer tempo adjustment
  • Ability to create own beats, sounds, and patterns
Show 6 more
  • More ballroom rhythms like Tango, Foxtrot, Cha Cha
  • Ability to rename favorite beats
  • Ability to record and export beats
  • Bluetooth pedal support for start, end, fill, next, previous
  • Indicators for bar start and rate
  • More reggae, waltz, and odd meter patterns

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

11 purchases

Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine

Subscriptions6
  • Drum Beats+ Pro (1 Month)3 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Drum Beats+ Pro (1 Month)3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Monthly Subscription$4.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Annual Subscription$19.991 Year
  • DB+ Pro 1 Year (3-days Free)7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Drum Beats+ Pro Unlimited3 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time5
  • Jazz 1$4.99
  • Heavy Metal 1$4.99
  • Blues 1$4.99
Show 2 more
  • Country 1$4.99
  • Blues 2$4.99
None

PercussionTutor

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine free?
Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PercussionTutor free?
PercussionTutor costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine or PercussionTutor?
PercussionTutor is rated higher. Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine averages 4.8 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while PercussionTutor averages 4.9 from 266 ratings.
Do Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine or PercussionTutor have ads?
Neither Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine nor PercussionTutor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine or PercussionTutor?
Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine ships an update monthly, and PercussionTutor every 5 months. Most recently, Drum Beats+ Rhythm Machine was updated on September 22, 2026 and PercussionTutor on September 21, 2026.

Other comparisons