Bongos! vs Rhythm Pad
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
Rhythm Pad
Create and record drum beats with high-quality sampled sounds. Utilize a sequencer to build patterns, play along with your music library, and export your creations as audio files. Customize drum kits and apply effects for professional-sounding results.
- High-quality stereo sampled drum sounds
- Sequencer for creating drum patterns
- Live performance recording
- Export recordings as audio files (AAC/WAVE)
- Built-in reverb and compression effects
- Customizable drum kits
- Play along with music library
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Note: This free version is supported by ads. To remove advertisements, either use the in-app purchase or buy Rhythm Pad Pro from the App Store. Play drums and compose beats using high-quality, professionally sampled drum kits with Rhythm Pad. Create drum recordings by tapping on the pads or using the sequencer and export them as audio files. Play drums along with the songs from your Media Library and Apple Music. Rhythm Pad is the smartest way to play drums on your mobile device. Introducing the Sequencer Quickly put together drum patterns of up to 8 bars using the sequencer. You can also record your live performance directly on to the sequencer and edit your sequence to your liking. Save your sequences and export them as audio files. Top features of Rhythm Pad • High-quality stereo sampled sounds with maximum polyphony. • Realistic Open and Closed Hi-Hats function. • Recording feature - Record by playing on the pads or create new patterns using the sequencer. • Quantization - Fix imprecisions during recording by enabling the quantization feature. • Export your recordings as audio files (AAC or WAVE) and use it in other audio applications. • Apply built-in reverb and compression effects to process the drum sounds. • Custom drum kits - Create new drum kits with sounds from other factory drum kits. • Smart Levels - Pads sound louder at the center and softer at the edges. • Optimized layout for maximum playability on iOS devices. • Precise metronome powered by the Metronome M1 engine. • Configure the volume level of individual pads. • Rearrange pad positions to your preference. Follow Rhythm Pad on Twitter for updates: @JSplashApps (https://twitter.com/jsplashapps) Like Rhythm Pad page on Facebook: https://facebook.com/rhythmpad
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Rhythm Pad at 316 against Bongos!'s 60. On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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 Rhythm Pad sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Bongos! against 4.5 for Rhythm Pad. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Rhythm Pad has 316 ratings behind it against 60, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Bongos!'s written reviews are positive against 75% of Rhythm Pad's.
Bongos! ships an update every 3 months, Rhythm Pad every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 13, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bongos! | Rhythm Pad |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (60 ratings) | 4.5 (316 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 70.6% of reviews | 75.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 60 | 316 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| 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 | 13.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | +9 | 4+ |
| Developer | Drum Starz | Bijoy Thangaraj |
Customer experience
Bongos!
Rhythm Pad
Bugs and requests
Bongos!
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Rhythm Pad
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes on startup after purchasing the pro version
- Ads still show up even after purchasing the pro version
- Music playback issues when using the app
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to import custom drum samples
- More drum kits and sound options
- Support for additional time signatures
- Improved recording and overdubbing features
- Option to adjust individual pad volumes
In-app purchases
Bongos!
- Bongos! Upgrade$0.99
- Exporting$0.99
Rhythm Pad
- Upgrade to Pro Version$9.99









