Comparison

Doumbek! vs Bongos

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

Head to head
About

Doumbek!

Experience the authentic sound of the doumbek with this comprehensive drumming app. It offers multiple drum variations, realistic touch response, and advanced sound customization. Record, loop, and share your performances, or play along with built-in beats and your own music.

Highlights
  • 6 high-fidelity doumbek sounds
  • Realistic touch-sensitive volume and pitch
  • Multi-track recording and looping
  • Adjustable reverb, pitch, and delay
  • Play along to built-in beats or iPod music
  • Share and export recordings
Features
Read full description

Doumbek! is the most realistic and comprehensive drumming app for this popular and ancient Middle Eastern drum. Professionally recorded 44.1 khz high fidelity sounds combine with the latest technology to produce the ultimate Doumbek app! Doumbek! features 6 different doumbeks to play, including an Egyptian Doumbek , a Doumbek with jingles, and small, medium and large Doumbeks.   There's even a unique Doumbek "jam" that allows anyone to easily sound like a pro!   With the ability to adjust reverb, pitch, and delay, and more, it's easy to create your ideal sound. Doumbek! also features record/playback/loop with multi-track capabilities; play along to dozens of unique drum beats, music loops and metronome sounds from within the app; or play to your favorite music on your iPod. You can also share your drumming via email, Facebook, and Twitter, or export to your computer via iTunes file sharing! Another great feature of Doumbek! is the ability to play the Doumbek with a variety of other drums and percussion, including Tabla, Pakharaj, and Tambourine. The Doumbek  responds  to your touch, and the  volume changes depending on how hard you tap the drum, just like a real Doumbek. The pitch also changes slightly depending on where you hit the drum. Playing realistic rolls is as easy as swirling your finger around; the roll speed corresponds to how fast or slow you swirl your finger. Beginner or pro, to save and to share.....now anyone can play Doumbek!.......anytime, anywhere! FEATURES: 
- 6 different professionally recorded 44.1 khz high fidelity Doumbeks, in addition to Tabla, Pakharaj, Tambourine, and more - Slider control for infinite drum color choices - The harder you hit the drums, the louder they sound! - Drum Pitch Sensitivity - the pitch changes depending on where you strike the drum, just like real drums - Separate Reverb and Delay Controls - slider adjustments allows limitless drum sounds - Pitch Control - lower or raise the pitch of the drums - Realistic visual effects - drums look and respond like a real drum, visually corresponding to your every touch - Retina Display for both iPad and iPhone for incredibly crisp graphics - 22 Ethnic Drum Beats and 12 World Music Beats to play along to, with more to come! - Realistic Rolls - simply swirl your finger around to create slower or faster rolls - Double drum feature with slider adjustment - 17 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 via iTunes file sharing - Lefty Mode - reverse the entire drum layout - Play along to the music on your iPod 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

Doumbek!4 screens
Bongos4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bongos at none against Doumbek!'s 1. Bongos also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Doumbek!'s advantage is review sentiment (25% vs 0%) and update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly). On price, rating, ratings volume 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. Doumbek! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Bongos asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for Doumbek! against 4.1 for Bongos. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 28 and 36 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 25% of Doumbek!'s written reviews are positive against 0% of Bongos's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Doumbek! ships an update every 3 days, Bongos fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Doumbek! versus Bongos: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDoumbek!Bongos
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (28 ratings)4.1 (36 ratings) — better
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2836 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterFortnightly
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
Size54 MB577 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperDrum StarzSatomi Uchida

Customer experience

Doumbek!

All ratings28 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral7.1%
Negative21.4%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%

Bongos

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

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Doumbek!

One-time1
  • Remove ads$0.99
None

Bongos

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Doumbek! free?
Doumbek! 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, Doumbek! or Bongos?
Bongos is rated higher. Doumbek! averages 4.0 out of 5 from 28 ratings, while Bongos averages 4.1 from 36 ratings.
Do Doumbek! or Bongos have ads?
Both Doumbek! and Bongos show ads.
Which is updated more often, Doumbek! or Bongos?
Doumbek! ships an update every 3 days, and Bongos fortnightly. Most recently, Doumbek! was updated on November 1, 2026 and Bongos on November 3, 2026.

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