Pocket Drums Classic vs PlayDrum
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pocket Drums Classic
This app allows users to play drums on their mobile devices with a wide variety of high-quality drum kits and realistic sound effects. It includes features for recording, sharing, and exporting performances, along with a metronome and loops for practice and jamming.
- 33 high-quality stereo drum kits
- Recording and sharing capabilities
- 14 unique drum loops
- Variable pitch and roll controls
- Metronome with multiple sounds
- Lefty mode
- Play along with iPod music
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Play the drums anytime, anywhere with Pocket Drums Free! Featuring 33 high-quality stereo drum kits, recording, ability to share and export your recordings (optional in-app purchase), 14 unique drum loops to play along to, variable pitch control, drum rolls, double bass drumming, play to your favorite iPod music from within Pocket Drums Free, variable metronome with half a dozen unique sounds, and lefty mode. Stickteck's DRUMMERZ tablet drumsticks makes playing Pocket Drums Free even that more fun and realistic. Now you can play directly on your iPad -- great for practicing, jamming and recording your favorite drum tracks from anywhere! Each DRUMMERZ drumstick features a plastic inner core surrounded by a conductive rubber-like material. Take a look http://www.getdrummerz.com and start jamming today! FEATURES: • 33 6-piece drum kits all professionally recorded in high-quality 16-bit stereo: Arena, Bebop, Birch, Classic, Country, Delay, Electronic, Funk, Fusion, Garage, Indian, Japan Vintage, Jazz, Latin, Liverpool, Lo-Fi, Marching, Melodic, Natural, Old Skool, Pop, Phat, Punk, Reggae, Retro, Reverb, Rock, Rocket, Tribal, Vintage, Weird, Wood, and World • Recorder that allows you to save, load, loop, and play recorded tracks • Share your recordings through email, Facebook, and Twitter • Export your recordings to your computer (optional in-app purchase) • Metronome with 8 sounds to choose from and variable speed switch (BPM) • 14 Pocket Beats/Loops • PlayAlong Beats: 16 new loops with basic bass drum, hi-hat or snare beats, to play along for added rhythmic expression! • Slide your finger between drums • Shake your device to play sounds to your favorite music • Repeated cymbal and drum taps blend in like real drums • Play multiple drum heads and cymbals simultaneously • Visual feedback when tapping drums and cymbals • Two Real Drums themes • Lefty Mode - reverse the layout • Play along with your favorite music by easily accessing your iPod music right from within Pocket Drums Free • Volume controls for both the drum sounds and music • Pitch control allows for unlimited drum sounds • Rolls on all drums with variable speed adjustment (BPM) • Double bass drumming with variable speed adjustment (BPM) • Runs on both the iPhone/iPod Touch and the iPad • Bass drum featured is a rare Ludwig 1960s psychedelic red finish • Fun and easy to play for the drummer in all of us IN-APP PURCHASE TO UPGRADE: • Multi-track recording • Record and play on top of loaded/saved tracks • 15 additional metronome sounds • 25 additional beats/loops • 3 additional layouts: Drum Machine, Basic, and Toms • 2 additional Real Drums themes • Ads removed Use headphones when possible to fully hear and enjoy the high quality sounds of Pocket Drums Free. PRIVACY POLICY: http://codyrotwein.com/privacy.html
PlayDrum
This app provides a realistic drumming experience for musicians of all levels. It features multiple drum kits, an intuitive interface, and interactive tutorials to help you learn. You can also play along to your favorite music and use it as a MIDI controller.
- Intuitive and customizable interface
- Multi-touch support for responsive play
- Multiple professional drum kits
- Interactive tutorial for beginners
- Play along to your music library
- MIDI controller functionality
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Drum sets made by drummers and made for all! No matter you’re 1st time drummers or professional musicians, Play Drum is designed just for you! Features: * Intuitive interface. Minimal, clean and professional look, customizable color theme. * Multi-touch supported. Super fast and responsive multi-touch so that you can hear each instrument clearly without any delay! * Multiple drum kits to choose from: Studio Heavy Kit, Rock Kit, Tight Kit and R&B Remix Kit. * Easy to learn. Interactive tutorial helps you learn the basics of drumming and all the instruments of a drum set in no time! * Play to your favorite music. You can add music from iTunes shared folder with ease. * Works as a MIDI Controller with GarageBand and Logic X. Contact us: playdrum.app@gmail.com. We’d love to hear what songs you play drums to!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: PlayDrum at 4.5 against Pocket Drums Classic's 3.7. PlayDrum also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (75% vs 60%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and in-app purchases 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. Pocket Drums Classic sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and PlayDrum sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
PlayDrum holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 29 and 37 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Pocket Drums Classic's written reviews are positive against 75% of PlayDrum's.
Pocket Drums Classic ships an update every 2 months, PlayDrum every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pocket Drums Classic | PlayDrum |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (29 ratings) | 4.5 (37 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 60.3% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 29 | 37 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 69 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Drum Starz | Maimaitiming Abudukadier |
Customer experience
Pocket Drums Classic
PlayDrum
Bugs and requests
Pocket Drums Classic
Reported bugs
12 issues- Ads pop up every time a drum is clicked
- Ads pop up when editing kits or going into settings
- Ads pop up in the middle of a song
- Bluetooth has a delay
- Ads pop up when opening the app
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- Ads pop up in the middle of the app, taking users to other games
- Ads redirect constantly
- Sound decided not to work
- Bombarded with adverts opening new internet tabs
- Free things popping up
- Advertising banner still present after paying for full version
- Can't even download
Requested features
9 requests- Change drum color
- Fix glitches when editing kits or going into settings
- Add option to change tempo
- Add more customization options
- Add a menu to choose different drum sets/skins
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- Allow sounds to overlap
- Improve hi-hat sound
- Consider a layout geared for finger drumming
- Add dark mode option
PlayDrum
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Pocket Drums Classic
- Pocket Drums Upgrade$0.99
- Kit Pack 1$0.99
- Exporting$0.99
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- Kit Pack 2$0.99
PlayDrum
- "Unlock All Drum Kits"$1.99
Questions
Is Pocket Drums Classic free?
Is PlayDrum free?
Which has better reviews, Pocket Drums Classic or PlayDrum?
Do Pocket Drums Classic or PlayDrum have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pocket Drums Classic or PlayDrum?
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