Comparison

Drumgenius vs Wheelhouse Beats

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

Head to head
About

Drumgenius

Explore an encyclopedia of drum grooves from Jazz to Rock, played by legendary drummers. Practice with expert virtual drummers to develop your time-feel and expand rhythmic knowledge. Includes a smart metronome with "clave" and "swing regulator" features.

Highlights
  • Encyclopedia of 500+ drum grooves
  • Play along with master drummers
  • Develop time-feel and rhythm knowledge
  • Stretchable and loopable drum loops
  • Smart Metronome with clave and swing regulator
  • Descriptions and discography references
Features
Read full description

Master your sense of time by practicing with a drum genius! Created after years of research by Mauro Battisti (experienced musician and specialist in the field), Drumgenius is the choice of top players and leading music academies. An ever-growing rhythm library to practice on — 500+ loops across 21 styles, reproducing real grooves by the best drummers and following authentic patterns of rhythms from around the world. The loop player is packed with dedicated functions that put you in full control of every practice session. In-depth descriptions and insights offer a deeper understanding of the world of rhythm. Plus, using Metrogenius, the smart built-in metronome — with a fully editable library of 9 meters + 22 clave patterns — you can explore everything from basic patterns to the most complex rhythmic cycles. Easy Organization & Backup: Personalize your library by renaming loops, creating custom groups, and starring favorites. Save different practice setlists into single backup files to switch setups whenever you need, restore in a single tap on new devices, or share with friends, students, and fellow musicians. THE LOOP LIBRARY IS CONSTANTLY GROWING AND CURRENTLY INCLUDES: Afro-Cuban — 65 Boogaloo — 9 Brazilian — 53 Caribbean — 22 Country — 4 Disco — 3 Funky — 24 Gospel — 5 Hip-Hop — 5 Jazz — 53 Jazz – 3/4 — 9 Jazz – Ballad — 7 Jazz – Straight 8ths — 10 Jazz – Two Feel — 10 Jungle/D&B — 3 Neo Soul — 3 New Orleans — 14 Odd Time Signatures — 46 Polymeters — 17 Pop — 12 R&B — 3 Rock — 26 Shuffle — 17 Swing Lab — 24 World — 65 12/8 — 7 LOOP PLAYER TOOLS: • Count-in: Activate it if you don't want to miss the one. • Clave: Activate it to hear the rhythm backbone. Perfect for navigating tricky rhythms with confidence. • Play X Cycles: Structure your practice session by setting the exact number of repetitions for each loop. • Internal Loop Recording: Record yourself over the loop. Track your progress and share the recordings with peers and teachers. • Silence Mode (Internalize the Time): Set intervals of silence while the tempo keeps running — the ultimate test of your internal clock. • Time Morph (Rhythmic Elasticity): Accelerate and decelerate the loop in a continuous cycle, training you to react to the tempo in real time. STAY MOTIVATED: • Weekly Goals: Set practice targets, track your consistency, and share your achievements with a tap. WHAT MUSICIANS SAY: ▶ "Mauro Battisti has made it possible for anyone to play along with the greatest drummers in the world, historical and contemporary, with the ability to alter tempo. Drumgenius is a great resource that can bring any player closer to the flame." — Dave Liebman ▶ "Drumgenius sounds very good; I find it very handy to practice my instrument with real drums pattern that I can have always with me in my phone: thanks Mauro for this App." — Dominique Di Piazza, electric bass player (John McLaughlin, Trilok Gurtu, Biréli Lagrène, Dennis Chambers) ▶ "Love this app: these loops sound fantastic! They are real drum loops — not MIDI or sequences — and they loop flawlessly. A fantastic groove reference for musicians of any kind." — Damian Erskine, electric bass player (Peter Erskine, The Jaco Pastorius Big Band, Gino Vannelli, Tony Furtado), studio musician, author, adjunct professor at Portland State University ▶ "Drumgenius is a world-class teaching aid that addresses a fundamental challenge to successful performance practice for any musician: it is a virtuoso educational work by a true musical virtuoso!" — Harold Danko, jazz pianist (Lee Konitz, Chet Baker, Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Big Band), composer, Professor of Jazz Studies & Contemporary Media at Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY, USA Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Wheelhouse Beats

Explore a vast library of drum grooves recorded by world-class drummers at various tempos and phrase lengths. This app helps instrumentalists, drummers, and songwriters develop their timing, feel, and creativity with musical loops and customizable percussion parts.

Highlights
  • Extensive library of drummer-recorded beats
  • Adjustable tempo and phrase lengths
  • Customizable percussion parts
  • Develop musical feel and timing
  • Inspiration through random beat generation
  • Suitable for instrumentalists, drummers, and songwriters
Features
Read full description

Virtuoso guitarist Charlie Hunter has assembled a world-class set of drummers for you: • JT Bates (Bonny Light Horseman, Anaïs Mitchell, Big Red Machine, Taylor Swift) • Jeremy “Bean” Clemons (Burning Spear, Harry Connick Jr., Mavis Swan Poole) • Corey Fonville (Butcher Brown, Nicholas Payton, Kurt Elling) • Chris Gelb (Megg Farrell, Vince Giordano, Café Society) • Brevan Hampden (Phil Cook, Charlie Hunter, Ani DiFranco, Al Strong, Hiss Golden Messenger) • Terence Higgins (Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Widespread Panic, John Scofield, Allen Toussaint, Ani DiFranco) • Derrek Phillips (Brett Eldredge, LeAnn Rimes, Hank Williams Jr., Charlie Hunter, Mike Farris, Gloria Gaynor) • Bobby Previte (Guggenheim Fellow, Greenfield Prize in Music, NEA Fellow, Creator/Director of The Improvisation Workshop) • Carter McLean (Roy Ayers, Bernie Worrell, Fred Wesley, Victor Wooten, Jamie McLean, Lion King on Broadway) • George Sluppick (Albert King, Charlie Hunter, JJ Grey & Mofro, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Morgan James, Sha Na Na) Each drummer recorded a special set of beats for Wheelhouse, and played those beats all the way from stone-cold slow to smoking fast. Wheelhouse stitches these together so you can play any tempo in between. As well as this huge range of tempos, most beats have an option of 1, 2, 4, or 8 measure phrases or loops. We've worked hard to make each one of these make musical sense. Like a metronome, Wheelhouse is a great tool for playing time, but even more, it‘s for helping develop your feel. For any kind of instrumentalist — playing with Wheelhouse will help you become a better musician, better listener, and better collaborator. For drummers — take a deep dive into how these pros use subtle sounds and dynamics to elevate a groove. And some of our biggest fans are songwriters, who use it to work out new material. It‘s more fun and more musical! Don‘t miss Brevan‘s Latin section, with four different percussion parts you can mix. And if you need a little inspiration, try rolling the dice for something new. Wheelhouse is independently made — your subscription goes directly to the musicians and keeps the app going. You'll have a ten-day demo from installation, and you can register your email with us for another ten days.

Screenshots

Drumgenius4 screens
Wheelhouse Beats4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Drumgenius at free with in-app purchases against Wheelhouse Beats's subscription. Drumgenius also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (234 vs 26). Wheelhouse Beats's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.5). On price, review sentiment, ads 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. Drumgenius sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Wheelhouse Beats sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Wheelhouse Beats holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drumgenius has 234 ratings behind it against 26, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 77% of Drumgenius's written reviews are positive against 73% of Wheelhouse Beats's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drumgenius ships an update weekly, Wheelhouse Beats every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Drumgenius versus Wheelhouse Beats: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrumgeniusWheelhouse Beats
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (234 ratings)4.7 (26 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.6% of reviews — better72.7% of reviews
Number of ratings234 — better26
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB241 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperProjazz LabBen Singer

Customer experience

Drumgenius

All ratings234 ratings
Positive85.0%
Neutral5.1%
Negative9.8%
Written reviews201 reviews
Positive76.6%
Neutral9.5%
Negative13.9%

Wheelhouse Beats

All ratings26 ratings
Positive92.3%
Neutral3.8%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral9.1%
Negative18.2%

Bugs and requests

Drumgenius

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Purchased loops disappearing
  • Inability to download/play some loops
  • Crashes when downloading loops

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more world rhythms and genres like Amapiano
  • Add more Tony Williams-style medium-uptempo swing tracks
  • Add ability to export/share loops
  • Add dark mode support
  • Improve organization and browsing of purchased loops

Wheelhouse Beats

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Drumgenius

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly Pass$1.991 Month
One-time4
  • 10 credits pack$0.99
  • 50 credits pack$1.99
  • Infinite Credits pack$7.99
Show 1 more
  • Lifetime Access$12.99
2 purchases

Wheelhouse Beats

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly14 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Yearly14 Days trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Drumgenius free?
Drumgenius is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Wheelhouse Beats free?
Wheelhouse Beats is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Drumgenius or Wheelhouse Beats?
Wheelhouse Beats is rated higher. Drumgenius averages 4.5 out of 5 from 234 ratings, while Wheelhouse Beats averages 4.7 from 26 ratings.
Do Drumgenius or Wheelhouse Beats have ads?
Neither Drumgenius nor Wheelhouse Beats shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drumgenius or Wheelhouse Beats?
Drumgenius ships an update weekly, and Wheelhouse Beats every 3 months. Most recently, Drumgenius was updated on October 29, 2026 and Wheelhouse Beats on October 24, 2026.

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