Comparison

Pocket Drums vs Drum Set +

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 Set +

This app provides a realistic finger drum pad experience with high-quality sounds. Practice along to songs, customize drum positions and sounds, and utilize built-in metronome and recording features for jam sessions and lessons. It offers a wide variety of drum sounds and color options.

Highlights
  • Realistic finger drum pads
  • High-quality drum sounds
  • Customizable drum positions
  • Metronome function
  • Recording and loop features
  • Wide sound selection
Features
Read full description

******* No advertisement ******* ******* No Internet Connection Required ******* ******* Full Version ******* ***** This App is a Real Finger Drum Pad. ***** You can practice according to the Song. ***** Ideal for Jam Sessions with other Instruments. ***** Suitable for Jam Sessions and Lessons. ***** Real High Quality Sound. [Simple Drum] * Simple Drum Pads with No Delay. [Sound Selection & Custom Drum Positions] * Long Press to Select and set Sound. (After selecting the sound, push the selected Drum again, it will be changed) * Available in All Drum Positions. [Color] * Abundant Color Variations. [Metronome] * BPM(30〜300) [Rec] * Includes Recording, Loop and Metronome functions. * Suitable for Jam Sessions and Lessons. [List of Drum Sounds] * Real High Quality Sound. (Drum Notation) (c) = (Hat Close) (ho) = (Hat HalfOpen) (o) = (Hat Open) (fo) = (Hat Foot) (hi) = (High Tom) (mi) = (Middle Tom) (lo) = (Low Tom) (flo) = (Floor Tom) (VS) = (VerySoft) (S) = (Soft) (M) = (Medium) (H) = (Hard) (List of Drum Sounds) [Crash1,Crash2,Crash3,Crash4,Crash5,Crash6,Crash7,Crash8, Hat1(c),Hat2(c.fo),Hat3(c),Hat4(ho),Hat5(o.fo),Hat6(o),Hat7(c.fo),Hat8(c),Hat9(o),Hat10(c.S),Hat10(c.M),Hat10(c.H),Hat11(ho. S),Hat11(ho.M),Hat11(ho.H),Hat12(c.fo),Hat13(o.fo),Hat14(c),Hat15(o),Hat16(c), Kick1,Kick2(VS),Kick2(S),Kick2(M),Kick2(H),Kick3(S),Kick3(M),Kick3(H),Kick4(S),Kick4(M),Kick4(H),Kick5(S),Kick5(M),Kick5(H), Ride1,Ride2,Ride3,Ride4,Ride5(M),Ride5(H),Ride6,Ride7, Snare1,Snare2(S),Snare2(M),Snare2(H),Snar3(VS),Snare3(S),Snare3(M),Snare3(H),Snare4,Snare5,Snare6(M),Snare6(H),Snare7,Snare8,Snare9,Snare10(S),Snare10(M),Snare10(H),Snare11(S),Snare11(M),Snare11(H),Snare12(Roll),Snare13(Roll), DrumRoll, Tom1(hi.S),Tom1(hi.M),Tom1(hi.H),Tom2(flo),Tom3(hi),Tom4(mi),Tom5(lo.M),Tom5(lo.H),Tom6(hi),Tom7(hi),Tom8(lo), Xstick,WoodStick,Triangle,Clave,Cowbell1,Cowbell2,Click-Hi,Click-Lo,Cat,Dog,Conga1,Conga2]

Screenshots

Pocket Drums4 screens
Drum Set +4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Drum Set + at 100% against Pocket Drums's 49%. Drum Set + also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 6). Pocket Drums's advantage is price (Free vs $4.99) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 20 months). On device support 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

Pocket Drums is free to download; Drum Set + costs $4.99 up front. Pocket Drums sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Drum Set + asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Drum Set + holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pocket Drums has 290 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of Pocket Drums's written reviews are positive against 100% of Drum Set +'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pocket Drums ships an update every 2 months, Drum Set + every 20 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 1 level
Pocket Drums versus Drum Set +: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocket DrumsDrum Set +
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.0 (290 ratings)4.5 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews49.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings290 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 20 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB464 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperDrum StarzSatomi Uchida

Customer experience

Pocket Drums

All ratings290 ratings
Positive73.4%
Neutral7.6%
Negative19.0%
Written reviews83 reviews
Positive49.4%
Neutral2.4%
Negative48.2%

Drum Set +

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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 Set +

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
None

Drum Set +

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pocket Drums free?
Pocket Drums is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Drum Set + free?
Drum Set + costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pocket Drums or Drum Set +?
Drum Set + is rated higher. Pocket Drums averages 4.0 out of 5 from 290 ratings, while Drum Set + averages 4.5 from 4 ratings.
Do Pocket Drums or Drum Set + have ads?
Pocket Drums shows ads; Drum Set + does not.
Which is updated more often, Pocket Drums or Drum Set +?
Pocket Drums ships an update every 2 months, and Drum Set + every 20 months. Most recently, Pocket Drums was updated on October 29, 2026 and Drum Set + on October 24, 2026.

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