SampleTank vs VinylCrate
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SampleTank
This professional mobile workstation offers a vast collection of world-class instruments, sounds, and patterns for live performance and composition. Layer or split instruments across 8 multitimbral slots, with an expandable library and a powerful new sound engine.
- 8-part multitimbral sound module
- Expandable sound library with 2300+ instruments
- Over 1,200 melodic and rhythmic patterns
- 8-track MIDI recorder with audio export
- Intuitive interface
- New sound engine
- Zones feature for splits & layers
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SampleTank 2 for iOS is a professional, fully featured mobile sound and groove workstation that brings the sound, power and features of desktop virtual instruments to your iPad and iPhone — without compromise. It is designed for professional live performance, song composition and puts a comprehensive array of world-class instruments, sounds and patterns right at your fingertips. SampleTank gives you 8 multitimbral instrument slots that you can easily layer or split. Choose from a comprehensive, expandable sound collection that covers virtually every acoustic and electronic sound imaginable. Plus, each instrument category includes instrument riffs and grooves so you can start composing and playing in no time. The included instruments and the new sound engine are derived from the desktop version of SampleTank, IK's flagship workstation, offering you unmatched realism, variety of sound and audio performance. For the first time on iOS, thousands of professional sample-based sounds and patterns can be easily accessed, layered and used for playing live or in the studio. SampleTank 2 comes with over 140 instruments and 1,000 patterns including pianos, electric pianos, synths, organs, drums, basses, guitars, strings, brass, woodwinds, voices, ethnic instruments, percussion and sound FX. What’s more, SampleTank offers an ever-growing library of sounds and are available via in-app purchase: • Elektronika - a series of electronica and EDM-oriented groove libraries and sound collections that make it easy to create hits in today’s most popular styles • Miroslav Philharmonik — the legendary orchestral libraries, now available on your mobile device! Stunningly realistic and expressive samples of a wide range of orchestra and percussion instruments. • SampleTank PRO - the latest and most high-end sounds and grooves available, letting you create professional-grade compositions on your mobile device • Plus additional libraries covering cinematic sounds, the finest pianos, drum libraries from iconic drummers and much more! SampleTank for iOS offers over 2,300 instruments and over 1,200 MIDI patterns — the largest collection of sounds available for any virtual instrument for iOS. Features: • 8-part multitimbral professional quality sound and groove module • Expandable sound library with 2300+ instrument • Over 1,200 melodic and rhythmic patterns • 8-track MIDI recorder with audio export • Totally redesigned intuitive interface • New sound engine derived from SampleTank 3 for Mac/PC • Zones feature lets you easily create splits & layers on your controller • Song and Live environments for composing and playing • Built-in insert effects and master reverb • MIDI learn feature makes programming external controllers easy • Plug-and-play compatibility with iRig interfaces and controller • Polyphony: up to 64 voices on new Apple devices
VinylCrate
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VinylCrate is a calm, private home for your record collection. Catalog each pressing with the detail collectors care about, file records into crates, log every spin, and watch your collection value and listening stats grow. WHAT YOU GET - Record catalog: artist, title, year, label, catalog number, format, and speed, with separate media and sleeve grades - Crates: group records into named, colour-coded crates and filter your shelf with a tap - Search and sort: find any record by artist, title, or label, and sort by recently added, artist, title, or value - Spin log: log every play with a date, a rating, and a note, in a warm timeline grouped by day - Want list: keep the records you are hunting, with a priority and a target price, and move one into your collection the day it turns up - Value notes: record what you paid and what each copy is worth, and see your collection value and your gain - Listening stats (Lifetime): your weekly rhythm, your most played records, and records and value in every crate - Collection report (Lifetime): a clean PDF of your shelf and a CSV of the whole catalog, through the share sheet - Covers: add your own photo to any record, or keep the clean generated sleeve - iCloud sync: your whole collection syncs privately across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac FREE AND LIFETIME Free includes up to 25 records with full pressing detail, crates, search and sort, the spin log, the want list, and value notes. The one time Lifetime unlock adds unlimited records, the listening stats screen, and the collection report. ONE TIME PURCHASE VinylCrate Lifetime is a single purchase of $12.99 USD. It is not a subscription. Pay once, keep it forever. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your collection syncs privately across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac through your own iCloud account. We never see it. No separate account, no ads, no tracking. A Delete All My Data control removes everything from your devices and iCloud whenever you want. Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: VinylCrate at Free against SampleTank's $24.99. VinylCrate also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). SampleTank's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). On ads, in-app purchases 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
VinylCrate is free to download; SampleTank costs $24.99 up front. SampleTank sells 13 one-off in-app purchases and VinylCrate sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
SampleTank ships an update every 2 months, VinylCrate every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SampleTank | VinylCrate |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $24.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 2.7 (107 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 29.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 107 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.5 GB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | IK Multimedia US, LLC | InnovaLabWorks |
Bugs and requests
SampleTank
Reported bugs
4 issues- Freezes when adjusting parameters
- Crashes on launch for some users
- Incompatible with certain iOS versions
- Issues with downloading and restoring in-app purchases
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for Audio Unit (AUv3)
- Improve MIDI integration and control
- Implement a more robust sequencer
- Allow user-defined pitch bend range
- Add ability to back up and restore custom presets
VinylCrate
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SampleTank
- Organ$4.99
- Strings$4.99
- Brass$4.99
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- Synth Pads$4.99
- Synth Leads$4.99
- Electric Piano$7.99
- The Grid$14.99
- Miroslav Philharmonik - Mobile Edition$24.99
- Sample Moog - Mobile Edition$24.99
- Sonik Synth - Mobile Edition$24.99
- All Sounds$64.99
- SampleTank PRO - All Sounds Pack$64.99
- Miroslav Philarmonik 2 - All Sounds Pack$64.99
VinylCrate
- VinylCrate Lifetime$12.99
Questions
Is SampleTank free?
Is VinylCrate free?
Do SampleTank or VinylCrate have ads?
Which is updated more often, SampleTank or VinylCrate?
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