Comparison

Pocket Drums Classic vs Real Drums!

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

About

Real Drums!

Experience a realistic drumming environment with customizable drum kits and extensive sound options. Arrange components, edit layouts, and utilize features like auto-rolling and motion sensor integration for an immersive playing experience. Record your own beats or explore pre-recorded tracks.

Highlights
  • Customizable drum kit arrangement
  • Multiple drum kit sounds
  • Auto drum rolling
  • Motion sensor integration
  • Record and save beats
  • Pre-recorded beats library
  • 3-D sound positioning
Features
Read full description

Looking for a realistic drum playing application? Want to arrange drum components as you like? Want sliding and playing functions with great responsiveness? Meeting above needs all at the same time? Here is a perfect solution for your ideal drum. Real Drums will provide you with realistic drum playing environment at your fingertips. FEATURES: * 4 different drum kit sounds (rock, jazz, dance, electronic) * 10 basic drum components with 12 different sounds played simultaneously * 8 extra components (4 brushed, side-stick, 2 extra cymbals, and a cowbell) * Arrange drum components to make your fingers comfortable * Edit (Add / Remove / Resize) components * Auto drum rolling (4, 8, 12, 16, 32 beat) * Mixes high quality poly-phony sounds with no clipping at the end * 3-D Positioning sounds * A metronome with adjustable on/off, BPMs and beats * Open hihat features quick stop * Record and save your own beats * 40 pre-recorded beats (Rock, Hiphop, Jazz, Latin, Ballad, Dance, etc) * Slide and play * Activates motion sensor for playing bass drum and cymbals * Great responsiveness for double bass and fast beats * Animated visual effect * Velocity Control Turn on your favorate song and enjoy !!!

Screenshots

Pocket Drums Classic4 screens
Real Drums!3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Real Drums! at 4.5 against Pocket Drums Classic's 3.7. Real Drums! also leads on ads (none vs shown). Pocket Drums Classic's advantage is ratings volume (29 vs 8) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Pocket Drums Classic sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Real Drums! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Real Drums! holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 29 and 8 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 60% of Pocket Drums Classic's written reviews are positive against 54% of Real Drums!'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pocket Drums Classic ships an update every 2 months, Real Drums! every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Pocket Drums Classic versus Real Drums!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocket Drums ClassicReal Drums!
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (29 ratings)4.5 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.3% of reviews — better53.6% of reviews
Number of ratings29 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 4 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size69 MB35 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperDrum StarzMooseok Bahng

Customer experience

Pocket Drums Classic

All ratings29 ratings
Positive69.0%
Neutral3.4%
Negative27.6%
Written reviews78 reviews
Positive60.3%
Neutral15.4%
Negative24.4%

Real Drums!

All ratings7 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive53.6%
Neutral3.6%
Negative42.9%

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
Show 7 more
  • 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
Show 4 more
  • Allow sounds to overlap
  • Improve hi-hat sound
  • Consider a layout geared for finger drumming
  • Add dark mode option

Real Drums!

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Pocket Drums Classic

One-time4
  • Pocket Drums Upgrade$0.99
  • Kit Pack 1$0.99
  • Exporting$0.99
Show 1 more
  • Kit Pack 2$0.99
1 purchases

Real Drums!

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$1.99

Questions

Is Pocket Drums Classic free?
Pocket Drums Classic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Real Drums! free?
Real Drums! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pocket Drums Classic or Real Drums!?
Real Drums! is rated higher. Pocket Drums Classic averages 3.7 out of 5 from 29 ratings, while Real Drums! averages 4.5 from 8 ratings.
Do Pocket Drums Classic or Real Drums! have ads?
Pocket Drums Classic shows ads; Real Drums! does not.
Which is updated more often, Pocket Drums Classic or Real Drums!?
Pocket Drums Classic ships an update every 2 months, and Real Drums! every 4 months. Most recently, Pocket Drums Classic was updated on October 29, 2026 and Real Drums! on October 20, 2026.

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