Bongos! vs Real Cajon
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bongos!
Experience the thrill of playing bongos and congas on your mobile device. This app offers high-quality sounds, realistic drumming experiences, and the ability to play along with your own music. Share and export your creations to sound like a pro.
- High-quality 16-bit stereo sounds
- Realistic 3D visual effects
- Play along to your music
- Metronome with 43 sounds
- 67 Pocket Beats and Loops
- Share and export recordings
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Now anyone can play the bongos anytime, anywhere with Bongos! Featuring high quality sounds and graphics, Bongos! Free is the ultimate drumming app for the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. You can play the Bongos, a Bongo Jam, and Bongos and Conga together. Play alone, to the metronome with 43 different sounds, or to our unique Pocket Beats and Loops. You can even play along to your favorite music on your iPod! With features including 3D visual effects, low latency, slide-and-play, pitch control, ability to share and export your recordings (optional in-app purchase), drum rolls and more, you'll sound like a pro from the moment you start playing. Bongos! is the grooviest drum app ever! FEATURES: • 3 different screens to choose from, all professionally recorded in high quality 16-bit stereo: Bongos, Bongo Jam, and Bongos and Conga. • 3 Unique Playing Zones on each drum create a realistic sounding drum • Share your recordings through email, Facebook, and Twitter • Export your recordings to your computer (optional in-app purchase) • Visual 3D effect when drums are hit maximizes the drumming experience • Metronome with 43 sounds to choose from and variable speed switch (BPM) • 67 Pocket Beats and Loops to play along to • 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 the drums • Shake your device to play sounds to your favorite music • Play drum heads simultaneously • Play along with your favorite music by easily accessing your iPod music right from within Bongos! Free • Volume controls for both the drum sounds and music • Pitch control allows for unlimited drum sounds • Rolls on drums with variable speed adjustment (BPM) • Using headphones will allow you to fully enjoy the high quality sounds of Bongos! Free PRIVACY POLICY: http://codyrotwein.com/privacy.html
Real Cajon
This app simulates playing a cajon, a Peruvian percussion instrument. It allows users to strike different sections of the cajon, record and share audio, and customize its appearance. Enjoy realistic sounds and visual feedback.
- Record and share audio
- Trim and playback recordings
- Adjustable volume for each sound
- Customizable skins and colors
- Realistic HD graphics
- Professional studio sound recordings
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A simple and easy to play cajon simulator. Strike the surface made out of a thin layer of plywood called tapa. Slap the wooden face of the cajon and play multiple sections at the same time. Enjoy the visual vibration of the cajon! The cajón is a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front or rear faces with the hands, fingers, or sometimes implements such as brushes, mallets, or sticks. Cajones are primarily played in Afro-Peruvian music. A Cajon falls under the drum instrument family due to its bass, mids and high frequency sound being similar to that of a kick drum and snares. Users can now record sound while playing, share the sound, trim recorded audio and playback the recorded sound. Adjust the volume for each cajon sound. Customize your cajon with different skins, wood types and background colors. Features • Record Sound while playing • Share Recorded Sound • Trim Recorded Audio • Playback Recorded Sound • Fast and Responsive • Beautiful Realistic HD Graphics • Customizable Cajon Wood Skins and background colors • Settings Menu With volume and haptic settings • Adjustable Volume for Each Cajon Sound • Portrait Mode • Tapa Marking Guide • Real sound recorded in professional studios More features and skins coming soon!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Bongos! at 72% against Real Cajon's 21%. Bongos! also leads on rating (4.4 vs 3.4) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 13 months). Real Cajon's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, 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
Both are free to download. Bongos! sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Real Cajon sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Bongos! holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bongos! has 60 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of Bongos!'s written reviews are positive against 21% of Real Cajon's.
Bongos! ships an update every 3 months, Real Cajon every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bongos! | Real Cajon |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (60 ratings) — better | 3.4 (10 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 72.2% of reviews — better | 21.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 60 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 13 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| 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 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 48 MB | 90 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Drum Starz | Budali Kingsley |
Customer experience
Bongos!
Real Cajon
In-app purchases
Bongos!
- Bongos! Upgrade$0.99
- Exporting$0.99
Real Cajon
- VIP Unlock All$2.99








