BrainBud vs Drawtone
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BrainBud
This app acts as a central controller for other music creation applications, allowing you to manage keys and scales simultaneously. It integrates with a variety of Bud apps via MIDI, enabling synchronized changes and broadcasting of musical parameters. Experiment with randomization and automate settings through its AUv3 plugin.
- Centralized key and scale control
- MIDI out to multiple Bud apps
- Budcast for parameter broadcasting
- Randomize musical parameters
- AUv3 plugin for automation
- Requires other Bud apps to function
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BrainBud controls the keys and scales of the Bud apps all at once. Connect BrainBud’s MIDI out to MIDI inputs of: - SnakeBud - PolyBud - MelodyBud - ShiftBud - ScaleBud 2 - In Theory - Textquencer - Binarhythmic - Auto Bass - BounceBud - MuseBud - Kebarp - FuncBud - Note to Be You can also broadcast the current key/scale to the newly connected apps with Budcast button. If you’d like to experiment, you can try the randomise button. With the AUv3 plugin, you can change the BrainBud's parameters or even automate them with AU parameters. For using the AUv3 plugin make sure you have an AUv3 host app such as AUM, Cubasis, Nanostudio, apeMatrix. BrainBud is a MIDI based app and requires other Bud apps present in order to work right. If you don't have any other Bud apps mentioned above, you can't make a use of BrainBud. BrainBud doesn't produce any kind of sound on its own.
Drawtone
Create music by drawing lines and colors. This app translates your visual input into unique sounds and melodies, offering a new way to compose without traditional musical knowledge. Explore pre-made soundscapes or craft your own compositions.
- Draw lines to create melodies
- Use color to define sound qualities
- Explore pre-made nature soundscapes
- Support for Turkish makams and Western scales
- Export music as WAV or MIDI
- Offline functionality
- No ads or in-app purchases
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Draw a mountain. Hear a sound climb its slope, rest a moment at the top, then come slowly down. You don't need to read music. In Drawtone, music starts with a line: drag a finger across the paper and it plays before the line is even finished. Whatever you draw is in tune; every line lands in the scale you chose. A long line is one long sound. Not a stutter of beeps; a sound that lasts like a breath and bends wherever your line bends. COLOUR IS THE SOUND A warm colour strikes like a string. A cool colour stretches like a bow. Six voices, six colours; stack them up and they never drown each other, each stays in its own place. OPEN A WATERFALL, THEN DRAW YOUR OWN Fifty drawings from nature are waiting inside. The waterfall is a marimba pouring down. The fireflies are single touches lighting up in the dark. The crane is one long line in Nihavend. Open one, listen, leave your own line on it. Your own drawing is not lost: undo brings it back, key and tempo included. DRAW HICAZ Hicaz, Uşşak, Nihavend, Hüzzam, Saba: the Turkish makams sit in the same list as the Western scales, not hidden in a submenu. The same line is a morning in Lydian and an evening in Hüzzam. THE PULSE The dot in the header beats with what you hear. Tap it: tempo, rhythm, swing. If you like, a light drum kit holds the floor underneath. Off by default; the first thing you should hear is your own line. SEND IT TO SOMEONE Share what you drew as WAV, or take it as MIDI and grow it in any other music app. No account, no ads, nothing to unlock. Every scale, every voice, every export is included. Works without internet. 19 languages. Draw a line. The rest follows.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Drawtone at every 4 days against BrainBud's every 2 months. Drawtone also leads on price ($0.99 vs $2.99). BrainBud's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On rating, review sentiment, 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
BrainBud costs $2.99 and Drawtone $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for BrainBud against 5.0 for Drawtone. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
BrainBud ships an update every 2 months, Drawtone every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BrainBud | Drawtone |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | $0.99 — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Cem Olcay | Ahmet Burak Ozyurt |
Customer experience
BrainBud
Drawtone
In-app purchases
BrainBud
No in-app purchases
Drawtone
No in-app purchases









