Comparison

Pocket Drums vs Drum Sets

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

Head to head
About

Pocket Drums

Experience realistic drumming with a virtual drum kit that fits in your pocket. This app offers responsive touch controls, high-fidelity drum sets, and various beats to help you play along. Learn rudiments with included videos and customize your sound with adjustable pitch, volume, and effects.

Highlights
  • Realistic touch-sensitive drum response
  • 15 high-fidelity recorded drum kits
  • 16 PlayAlong Beats and 20 music/drum beats
  • Basic drum rudiment videos
  • Adjustable pitch, sensitivity, volume, reverb, and delay
  • Multi-track recording and sharing capabilities
Features
Read full description

Pocket Drums is the most realistic sounding and looking drum app out there! Perfect for both beginners and pros alike, Pocket Drums utilizes the latest technology and decades of real drum experience to create the ideal drumming app for the iPhone or iPad. All of the features of the app combine to make you feel as if you are sitting down and playing a real drum set. The drums respond to your touch - the pitch changes slightly depending on where you hit the toms, just like a real kit. Playing realistic rolls is as easy as swirling your finger around, simply adjusting the roll speed by how fast or slow you swirl your finger. There is also 15 different professionally recorded high fidelity drum sets to choose from, and an amazing drum wrap, with more to come. Pocket Drums also features 16 PlayAlong Beats, 10 unique Drum Beats and 10 Music Beats to rock out with, as well as 10 different metronome sounds. A unique feature is the addition of 10 basic rudiment videos, so you can see firsthand how to play the drum rudiments. With the ability to adjust the pitch, sensitivity, individual drum volume, reverb, and delay, recording, ability to share and export your recordings (optional in-app purchase), and so much more, Pocket Drums is by far the most comprehensive and realistic drumming app available today! FEATURES: • 15 professionally recorded 44.1 khz high fidelity kits, with more to come • Drum Pitch Sensitivity - the pitch changes depending on where you strike the toms, just like a real kit • Reverb and Delay Controls - slider adjustments allows limitless drum sounds • Pitch Control - lower or raise the pitch of the drums • Drum Volume - adjust volume of each individual drum • Snares - 11 more snares that you can mix and match to create your ideal sound (optional in-app purchase) • Videos of basic drum rudiments played on a real snare drum • Amazingly realistic drum wraps • Realistic visual effects - drums and cymbals look and respond like a real drum set, visually corresponding to your every touch • Retina Display for both iPad and iPhone for incredibly crisp graphics • PlayAlong Beats: 16 new loops with basic bass drum, hi-hat or snare beats, to play along for added rhythmic expression! • 10 Drum Beats and 10 Music Beats to play along to, with more to come! • Realistic Rolls - simply swirl your finger around to create slower or faster rolls • Double Bass drum feature with slider adjustment • 10 Metronome Sounds and 4 Time Signatures to choose from, with BPM adjustment • Recording - easily add or delete tracks, save and loop recordings • Multi-track recording functionality • Share your recordings through email, Facebook, and Twitter • Export your recordings to your computer (optional in-app purchase) • Lefty Mode - reverse the entire drum layout • Play along to the music on your iPod • Option to add bass drum when hitting crash cymbal IN-APP PURCHASES TO UPGRADE: • Additional kit pack • 11 more snares that you can mix and match to create your ideal sound • 3 more wraps: Turquoise, Black Oyster, and Dark Wood • Export recordings • Ads removed PRIVACY POLICY: http://codyrotwein.com/privacy.html

About

Drum Sets

Experience realistic drumming with multiple genre-specific kits. Use your fingers to play, with options for intense finger movements for dynamic drumming. Optimized for external speakers or headphones for the best audio quality.

Highlights
  • Realistic drum sounds
  • Rock, Jazz, and Metal kits
  • Finger drumming controls
  • Dynamic drumming movement
  • High-quality 44100 kHz audio
Features
Read full description

Want a Drum Set on your Ipad/Iphone Check out these great sounding Drum Sets, we have 3 sets to choose from Rock, Jazz and Metal, all featuring 44100 khz quality audio. Connect a set of speakers crank up the volume and drum away ! - Use your fingers as drum sticks. - For intense drumming move your finger around drums. - Select from Rock, Jazz and Metal drums. - To hear the drums at their best connect a pair of earphones or speakers.

Screenshots

Pocket Drums4 screens
Drum Sets3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Drum Sets at 4.4 against Pocket Drums's 4.0. Drum Sets also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Pocket Drums's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (289 vs 18). 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. Pocket Drums sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Drum Sets 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

Drum Sets holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pocket Drums has 289 ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 50% and 50% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pocket Drums ships an update every 2 months, Drum Sets every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and August 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Pocket Drums versus Drum Sets: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocket DrumsDrum Sets
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (289 ratings)4.4 (18 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings289 — better18
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 6 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB92 MB
Age rating+94+
DeveloperDrum StarzEdgeway Software

Customer experience

Pocket Drums

All ratings289 ratings
Positive73.7%
Neutral7.6%
Negative18.7%
Written reviews80 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral2.5%
Negative47.5%

Drum Sets

All ratings18 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

Pocket Drums

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • App crashes when playing drums rapidly
  • Glitching audio that stutters and repeats loudly
  • App freezes when recording multiple times
  • Screen stretches and becomes unresponsive
  • App fails to open after updates
Show 4 more
  • Video upload functionality broken
  • Drums don't register input properly
  • Incompatibility with recent iOS updates
  • Ads freeze the app and prevent closing

Requested features

9 requests
  • Double bass pedal for metal songs
  • Reggae drum tones
  • Splash and china cymbals
  • Mix and match custom drum sets
  • Built-in drumming lessons
Show 4 more
  • Ability to modify and remove playlists
  • Better disco beat drum sounds
  • More instruments and variety
  • Reduced ad frequency

Drum Sets

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Pocket Drums

One-time6
  • Remove ads$0.99
  • Exporting$0.99
  • Kit Pack$0.99
Show 3 more
  • Wraps$0.99
  • Snares$0.99
  • Full - Unlock everything$2.99
1 purchases

Drum Sets

One-time1
  • Unlimited Drums$1.99

Questions

Is Pocket Drums free?
Pocket Drums is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Drum Sets free?
Drum Sets is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pocket Drums or Drum Sets?
Drum Sets is rated higher. Pocket Drums averages 4.0 out of 5 from 289 ratings, while Drum Sets averages 4.4 from 18 ratings.
Do Pocket Drums or Drum Sets have ads?
Both Pocket Drums and Drum Sets show ads.
Which is updated more often, Pocket Drums or Drum Sets?
Pocket Drums ships an update every 2 months, and Drum Sets every 6 months. Most recently, Pocket Drums was updated on September 21, 2026 and Drum Sets on August 26, 2026.

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