Comparison

DrumKick vs Score Drummer

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

Head to head
About

DrumKick

This app allows users to play a high-quality drum kit on their mobile device, offering low latency and interactive 3D graphics. It uniquely enables kick drum playing with your foot using a second iOS device and Bluetooth connection.

Highlights
  • Foot-controlled kick drum via second iOS device
  • High-quality stereo drum sounds
  • Low-latency performance
  • Interactive 3D animated drums
  • MIDI over Bluetooth support
  • Audiobus & Inter-App Audio support
Features
Read full description

DrumKick is the ultimate live performance drum app on-the-go! It gives you the freedom to play a great-sounding, intuitively laid-out drum kit anywhere—without the hassle of lugging your entire acoustic set to the show. Simply plug into a P.A. system, headphones, a boombox, or an amplifier, and you're ready to rock! – Connect to your Bluetooth-enabled laptop or device with MIDI over Bluetooth. – Core and Virtual MIDI support. – Audiobus & Inter-App Audio support. – Featured in Apple's Music-Making Apps for "The Song." – Featured in Apple's Band In Your Hand showcase. Reviews: http://www.musicappblog.com/drumkick-music-app-review/ DrumKick is the only stereo drum app that allows you to play the kick drum with your foot! With DrumKick installed on two iOS devices, such as an iPad and an iPhone, you can use the iPhone as a Bluetooth remote to play the kick drum with your foot! It also works with two iPhones or iPod touches. Or, you can mix and match. How does it work? Playing the virtual kick drum pedal is achieved by inserting the iPhone (upside down) into a snug fitness band that's wrapped around your ankle, or the front tube of your relatively clean crew sock. Tap your toes with your heel down, and the iPhone's accelerometer will trigger the kick drum sound on the iPad via Bluetooth. Feature Highlights: • Play the kick drum sound with your foot, using a second iOS device via standard Bluetooth connection. • High-quality drum stereo sounds with independent control of their volume, pitch and pan levels. • Low-latency with drum taps and sounds. • Retina-enhanced, interactive, 3-D animated drums and cymbals. • Multiple tap regions for triggering different drum and cymbal sounds. • Ability to switch the drum kit's audio output from stereo to mono when connected to stereo speakers, such as a P.A. system. • Touch-hold on the crash cymbal for a choked cymbal* muting effect. • Audiobus & Inter-App Audio support (iOS7+) for adding effects apps to DrumKick's output and recording into to GarageBand, Loopy, or AudioShare. https://audiob.us • Audiobus Remote triggers for playing DrumKick's sounds via a secondary iOS Device with the Audiobus Remote app installed. Requires the Audiobus app, iOS 8.3 +, and a Bluetooth LE-enabled iOS device, such as an iPad 3, iPhone 4S & higher. https://audiob.us/remote. • Core MIDI IN & OUT support, thanks to Nic Grant of Audeonic Apps for his robust MidiBus Library (http://midib.us) and generous help. • MIDI over Bluetooth support. • Compatible with the iRig BlueBoard MIDI foot controller. Requires Bluetooth LE-enabled iOS device, such as an iPad 3, iPhone 4S & higher. The iRig BlueBoard does not work with iPad 2. • Jam along with music apps that run in the background, such as GarageBand, Pandora, or your iPod music library. • Minimum requirements: iPad 2, iPhone 4S and newer devices are recommended. * No cymbals were harmed during the making of this app. If you have an issue or find a bug within DrumKick, please do not inform me about it in an App Review, since that method doesn't provide your contact information. For help and support, please send an email to: feedback@drumkickapp.com Known issues: • Missing UI panel for controlling the playback and recording from an Inter-App Audio connected app.

About

Score Drummer

Features
Read full description

Practice drums with your own MIDI and Guitar Pro files. Turn your electronic drum kit into a personal practice studio for the song files you already have. Import a standard MIDI or supported Guitar Pro file, press play, and follow your drum part on screen with live timing feedback. You can also play directly on your iPhone or iPad with the new eight-pad touch drum kit, with score-aware Hi-Hat articulation and optional light haptic feedback. Start immediately with five guided Drum Kit Basics lessons and the included Rock Demo Song. Choose an Easy or Full drum arrangement, then import your own MIDI or Guitar Pro files for focused practice. HOW IT WORKS • Learn Kick, Snare, Hi-Hat, Crash, Toms, and Ride through five guided lessons. • Try Rock Demo Song in Easy or Full. • Import one of your own MIDI or supported Guitar Pro files. • Let Score Drummer detect the drum track automatically, or choose it yourself. • Follow the drum part in a lane-based visual score. • Play with the eight-pad touch drum kit, an electronic drum kit, or keyboard input. • Get live timing feedback as you practice. Guided setup helps you choose touch input, keyboard input, or an electronic drum kit before you begin. PRACTICE MODE Slow songs down and work through difficult sections without starting over. • Adjust tempo from 10% to 100%. • Loop specific bar ranges. • Tap a drum lane to mute it while you practice smaller parts. • Resume with a metronome count-in. • Navigate by song sections and the progress bar. PERFORMANCE MODE Play a full-tempo run and measure the result. • See your score, accuracy, and hit counts during playback. • Receive a letter grade at the end of the performance. • Review detailed stats, history, and replays with Pro. MIXING AND PLAYBACK • Built-in drum and General MIDI SoundFonts. • Full mixer with per-track and per-instrument volume, mute, and solo controls. • MIDI controller auto-detection with hot-plug support. • Touch and keyboard input modes for practice without a drum kit. FREE VERSION • Play five Drum Kit Basics lessons and Rock Demo Song. • Keep one imported song in your library at a time. • Delete or replace that song whenever you want. • Practice Mode and Performance Mode included. • Timing feedback included. • No ads, no time limits, no account needed. PRO FEATURES Score Drummer Pro is a one-time purchase. No subscription. One purchase unlocks Pro on Mac, iPad, and iPhone, and can be shared with your family through Apple Family Sharing. Pro includes: • Unlimited song library. • Detailed performance recap with stats breakdown. • Performance history for reviewing past sessions. • Replay mode for reviewing past performances. • Audio backing track import and MIDI sync. • Use your own SoundFont for backing-instrument playback. • Library export/import for backup and device transfer. • Export a Reference Video showing a perfect instructional playthrough. • Export a Performance Video of a saved take with recorded timing and feedback. Video exports are rendered offline and do not record your screen or camera. Completed videos are saved to Photos. PRIVACY No account or sign-in is required. Your songs, imported files, and performance data stay on your device and are never uploaded. Score Drummer sends limited anonymous product analytics and crash diagnostics, never linked to your identity.

Screenshots

DrumKick4 screens
Score Drummer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Score Drummer at Free against DrumKick's $3.99. Score Drummer also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 weeks). DrumKick's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 15.0). On ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Score Drummer is free to download; DrumKick costs $3.99 up front. Score Drummer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. DrumKick asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DrumKick ships an update every 6 weeks, Score Drummer every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
DrumKick versus Score Drummer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrumKickScore Drummer
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (40 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews79.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings40 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS7.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size56 MB66 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMark JeschkeRoberto Cau

Bugs and requests

DrumKick

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Kick drum feature doesn't sync or has high latency
  • App crashes on startup
  • App drains battery in background
  • Kick drum activates unexpectedly
  • Rarely loads, long loading screen
Show 3 more
  • Connection issues with remote kick between devices
  • Overall volume not loud enough
  • Sound of cymbals sometimes cuts out

Requested features

17 requests
  • Add left and right-handed orientation setting
  • Allow changing kit layout and adding more drums/percussive instruments
  • Ability to switch kits around
  • Add more drums or different percussive instruments
  • Add recording functionality
Show 12 more
  • Add background track playback (drumless tracks)
  • Option to add own kit sounds
  • Full Chinese localization
  • Support for iPhone 6/6+
  • Simple mode for easier hitting
  • More kit variations
  • Option to change each sound and build/save custom kits
  • Edit drum position button
  • Make rolls continuous
  • More drum kits
  • More variation in samples and velocity changes
  • Improve overall volume

Score Drummer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

DrumKick

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Score Drummer

One-time1
  • Score Drummer Pro$34.99

Questions

Is DrumKick free?
DrumKick costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Score Drummer free?
Score Drummer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do DrumKick or Score Drummer have ads?
Neither DrumKick nor Score Drummer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DrumKick or Score Drummer?
DrumKick ships an update every 6 weeks, and Score Drummer every 3 weeks. Most recently, DrumKick was updated on November 1, 2026 and Score Drummer on October 31, 2026.

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