Comparison

Cajon! vs Bongos

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

Head to head
About

Cajon!

Experience authentic drumming with a variety of percussion instruments. This app offers realistic touch sensitivity, pitch changes, and multi-track recording. Customize your cajon's color and sound with adjustable effects, and play along to built-in beats and metronome.

Highlights
  • 6 high-fidelity cajons
  • 5 additional percussion instruments
  • Realistic touch sensitivity and pitch response
  • Multi-track recording and export
  • Customizable cajon colors
  • Play-along beats and metronome
Features
Read full description

The cajon is thought to have originated in Peru, where African slaves used old packing crates to replace their native drums. Cajon! Free features 6 different professionally recorded high fidelity cajons to play. You can also add 5 different percussion instruments that can be played along with the cajon including congas, bongos, timbales and more. Realistic features of Cajon! Free combine to give you an authentic drumming experience. The pitch changes slightly depending on where you hit the cajon. Also, the volume responds to your touch; the harder you tap, the louder it sounds. Playing rolls is as easy as swirling your finger, simply adjusting the roll speed by how fast or slow you swirl.   A unique addition to Cajon! Free is the ability to choose any color you desire for the cajon. Other great features include adjustments for pitch, reverb, delay, and touch sensitivity, multi-track recording, ability to share and export your recordings (optional in-app purchase), and so much more! There are also 16 PlayAlong Beats, 15 unique Drum Beats and 11 Music Beats to play along to, as well as 11 different metronome sounds. Utilizing decades of real drum experience and the latest technology, Cajon! Free is the perfect app for cajon players of all ages and experience! FEATURES:
 - 5 professionally recorded 44.1 khz high fidelity cajons, with more to come - 5 different percussion instruments to choose from including congas, bongos, timbales, cowbell/woodblock, and snare/cymbal - Slider control for different cajon color choices - The harder you hit the drums, the louder they sound! - Drum Pitch Sensitivity - the pitch changes depending on where you strike the cajon, just like a real cajon - Reverb and Delay Controls - slider adjustments allows limitless drum sounds - Pitch Control - lower or raise the pitch of the drums - Realistic visual effects - Retina Display for both iPad and iPhone for incredibly crisp graphics - 15 Drum Beats and 11 Music Beats to play along to, with more to come! - PlayAlong Beats: 16 new loops with basic bass drum, hi-hat or snare beats, to play along for added rhythmic expression! - Realistic Rolls - simply swirl your finger around to create slower or faster rolls - Double Beat drum feature with slider adjustment - 11 Metronome Sounds and 4 Time Signatures to choose from, with BPM adjustment - Multi-track recording - easily add or delete tracks, save and loop recordings - 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 - Adjust volume for metronome and beat sounds PRIVACY POLICY: http://codyrotwein.com/privacy.html

About

Bongos

This app provides a realistic finger bongo pad experience with high-quality sounds. Practice along to songs, customize bongo positions, and utilize built-in metronome and recording features for jam sessions and lessons.

Highlights
  • Realistic finger bongo pad
  • High-quality sound selection
  • Customizable bongo positions
  • Built-in metronome (30-300 BPM)
  • Recording and loop functions
  • Practice along to songs
Features
Read full description

***** This App is a Real Finger Bongo 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 Bongos] * Simple Bongo Pads with No Delay. [Sound Selection & Custom Bongo Positions] * Long Press to Select and set Sound. (After selecting the sound, push the selected Bongo again, it will be changed) * Available in All Bongo Positions. [Color] * Abundant Color Variations. [Metronome] * BPM(30〜300) [Rec] * Includes Recording, Loop and Metronome functions. * Suitable for Jam Sessions and Lessons. [List of Bongo Sounds] * Real High Quality Sound. [Bongo 1,Bongo 2,Bongo 3,Bongo 4,Bongo 5,Bongo 6,Bongo 7,Bongo 8,Bongo 9,Bongo 10,Bongo 11,Bongo 12,Bongo 13,Bongo 14,Bongo 15,Bongo 16,Bongo 17,Bongo 18,Bongo 19,Bongo 20,Bongo 21,Bongo 22,Bongo 23,Bongo 24,Bongo 25,Bongo 26,Bongo 27,Bongo 28,Bongo 29,Bongo 30,Bongo 31,Bongo 32,Bongo 33,Bongo 34,Bongo 35,Bongo 36,Bongo 37,Bongo 38,Bongo 39,Bongo 40,Bongo 41,Bongo 42,Bongo 43,Bongo 44,Bongo 45,Bongo 46,Bongo 47,Bongo 48,Bongo 49,Bongo 50,Bongo 51,Bongo 52,Bongo 53,Bongo 54,Bongo 55,Bongo 56,Bongo 57,Bongo 58,Bongo 59,Bongo 60,Bongo 61,Bongo 62,Bongo 63,WoodStick,Dog]

Screenshots

Cajon!4 screens
Bongos4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bongos at none against Cajon!'s 2. Bongos also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Cajon!'s advantage is review sentiment (25% vs 0%) and rating (4.3 vs 4.1). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Cajon! sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Bongos asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cajon! holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 18 and 36 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of Cajon!'s written reviews are positive against 0% of Bongos's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cajon! ships an update monthly, Bongos fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Cajon! versus Bongos: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCajon!Bongos
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (18 ratings) — better4.1 (36 ratings)
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1836 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyFortnightly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB577 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperDrum StarzSatomi Uchida

Customer experience

Cajon!

All ratings18 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral5.6%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative62.5%

Bongos

All ratings36 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral5.6%
Negative19.4%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Cajon!

One-time2
  • Exporting$0.99
  • Remove Ads$0.99
None

Bongos

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Cajon! free?
Cajon! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bongos free?
Bongos is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Cajon! or Bongos?
Cajon! is rated higher. Cajon! averages 4.3 out of 5 from 18 ratings, while Bongos averages 4.1 from 36 ratings.
Do Cajon! or Bongos have ads?
Both Cajon! and Bongos show ads.
Which is updated more often, Cajon! or Bongos?
Cajon! ships an update monthly, and Bongos fortnightly. Most recently, Cajon! was updated on October 29, 2026 and Bongos on October 27, 2026.

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