Launchpad vs Beat Maker
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Launchpad
Create and remix electronic music with a professional sound library and intuitive grid interface. Layer beats, melodies, and vocals, then apply DJ-style effects to craft unique tracks. Record and share your musical creations with the world.
- Multi-color grid for playing sounds
- Mix and remix soundpacks
- DJ-style performance effects
- Weekly soundpack releases
- Record and share music
- Import custom sounds (iPad)
- Ableton Link integration
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The original Launchpad — Make & Remix Music. Enter an inspiring world of music creation and remixing on your iPhone & iPad. 8 free soundpacks included. Hundreds more available, updated weekly. Launchpad is the original number-one app for making and remixing electronic music. Instantly combine beats, basslines, melodies, vocals and FX loops into new creations. Layer DJ-style effects to chop and change your sound. Record your performance and share it with others. There’s never been a better time to make music. // MAKE & REMIX MUSIC Instantly create and remix music. Use the world-famous Launchpad grid to trigger loops and sounds from a huge professional library. Launchpad is always locked to the beat, so you’ll never go out of time. // EASY TO USE DJ-STYLE FX Free, easy-to-use DJ-style FX turn every remix into a creative performance. Advanced options on iPad further enhance your remixes. The pro DJ-style effects include filter, gater, stutter, stopper, flanger and delay. // INSPIRING SOUNDPACKS, UPDATED WEEKLY Launchpad comes with 8 remix soundpacks to get you started. Hundreds more are available in the store, with new ones added every week. // PRO FEATURES COLLECTION For the advanced or adventurous, the Pro Features Collection for iPad add-on lets you import your own sounds, use the extended FX features and sync easily to other apps and external hardware. Connect the world famous Launchpad hardware to your iPad for the ultimate sonic experience. At any time, capture your performance and share it easily. Features • Make music instantly — Play a multi-colour grid of amazing sounds • Be a DJ — Mix soundpacks together endlessly • 8 free soundpacks — Nearly 400 sounds included. Discover hundreds more in the store. • Weekly releases — Professional remix soundpacks released every week • DJ-style performance FX — Make your mixes unique with powerful DJ effects • Share your music — Soundcloud, YouTube, Facebook, Dropbox, Audiocopy and more • Create your own remixes — Craft your own remix by combining sounds from your library • Reuse soundpacks — Launchpad soundpacks appear automatically in Blocs Wave • Play in key — Set the key of your session and browse all clips in that key Advanced Features • Real-time tempo — Change tempo at any time, with real-time audio stretching • Blocs Wave export — Easily send your Blocs Wave projects to Launchpad • Audio Import* — Supports Dropbox, AudioShare, AudioCopy and Airdrop • Advanced performance FX* — Enhanced Stutter, Autofilter, Gater, Delay, Stopper & Flanger • Launchpad hardware — Integrates with Novation’s Launch hardware (iPad only) • Ableton Link — Jam in sync with your other apps, devices or Ableton Live • MIDI sync output* — Connect Launchpad to external hardware synths and drum machines* (iPad only) • Audiobus Support — Use any Audiobus-compatible apps to extend your music-making setup • Bluetooth — Supports Bluetooth speakers and headphones *In-App Purchase Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Beat Maker
Create professional-sounding beats on your mobile device with a wide variety of samples, including those inspired by famous songs. Enhance your tracks with effects, use a metronome for perfect timing, and record your creations to share.
- Create beats with samples
- Use samples from famous songs
- Add effects like delay and reverb
- Metronome for timing
- Record and share beats
- Customizable themes
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The best Beat Making Sampler app you will find on the app store. WHY YOU WILL LOVE BEAT MAKER • Easily create beats with the best samples • Use samples recreated from famous songs • Add awesome effects like delay and reverb • Use a metronome to always stay on beat • Record your beats to let your friend know how good you are • Choose from a variety of awesome themes to customize your board COMPLETELY FREE This app requires no money and we think that's pretty cool. WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK Do you have improvements? Bugs? Or do you just want to share other thought? Let us know: info@devnex.nl Terms of Use: https://www.devnex.nl/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.devnex.nl/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Launchpad at 85% against Beat Maker's 39%. Launchpad also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and 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
Both are free to download. Launchpad sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Beat Maker sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Launchpad holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Launchpad has 35K ratings behind it against 1.8K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Launchpad's written reviews are positive against 39% of Beat Maker's.
Launchpad ships an update fortnightly, Beat Maker monthly. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.
| Parameter | Launchpad | Beat Maker |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (35K ratings) — better | 4.5 (1.8K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 84.9% of reviews — better | 39.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 35K — better | 1.8K |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 129 MB | 121 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Focusrite Audio Engineering | Devnex |
Customer experience
Launchpad
Beat Maker
User reviews
Launchpad
From 35K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fun
- 🚀 Lots of beats you can use
- 🚀 Good for mental capacity
- 🚀 So good at making beats
- 🚀 Really good
Room to improve
- 🐛 Makes it look free but not
- 🐛 Not much you can do without paying
- 🐛 Crashes while working
- 🐛 Glitchy
- 🐛 Needs bluetooth MIDI desperately
Beat Maker
From 1.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Good beats and sounds
- 💡 Customizable pads
- 🚀 Quick music creation
Room to improve
- 🔒 Restricted features without subscription
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and loading issues
- 💰 Aggressive monetization with ads and paywall
- 🔍 Limited sound customization options
Bugs and requests
Launchpad
Reported bugs
9 issues- Audio import not working
- Inability to delete unnecessary recordings
- Inability to see name of soundpack a loop belongs to
- Pad selections disappearing when hitting stop
- Inability to import audio after updating
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- Inability to access audio import after signing out of account
- App crashing when trying to import audio
- App constantly closing when importing stuff
- Inability to restore audio import after getting a new device
Requested features
11 requests- Ability to edit after a track is recorded, adjusting levels/adding effects
- Pause button
- Ability to duplicate a current song
- Sequencer to use drum hits
- Ability to change key of project
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- Display key when pressing tempo button
- Ability to sync projects across devices
- Ability to record and save instruments, drums, piano etc.
- Ability to export separate stems
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
Beat Maker
Reported bugs
2 issues- Delayed audio playback
- Compatibility issues on older devices
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to record and save own samples
- Longer loop lengths
- Individual pad volume control
- Import custom sound packs
In-app purchases
Launchpad
- Launchpad Premium (Monthly)7 Days trial$7.991 Month
- Found Sound Journey: Hip HopFree
- EDM HazeFree
- Dub TrapFree
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- Found Sound Journey: TechnoFree
- FoundSoundJourney:ItalianChillFree
- Glitchstep$1.99
- Viral Hip Hop$1.99
- Hypnotic Energy$1.99
- Audio Import$6.99
Beat Maker
- Weekly Subscription3 Days trial$1.997 Days
- Monthly Subscription$2.991 Month
- Weekly Subscription3 Days trial2 variants$3.997 Days
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- Monthly Subscription$5.991 Month
- Yearly Subscription$24.991 Year
- Yearly Subscription$39.991 Year









