Basic Pitch vs Kalimba Keys
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Basic Pitch
This app makes music education engaging for all skill levels. It offers a gamified approach to ear training and sight-singing, essential skills for musicians. Learn to identify pitches, intervals, scales, chords, and rhythms through interactive exercises.
- Gamified music education
- Ear training exercises
- Sight-singing practice
- Learn music theory concepts
- Identify pitches and intervals
- Chord and rhythm recognition
Read full descriptionHide full description
Basic Pitch builds internal pitch awareness through simple, game-like listening, matching, and singing.
Kalimba Keys
This app offers a realistic and expressive Kalimba instrument experience with studio-quality sound. It features detailed sampling, a variety of built-in effects, and cross-platform preset management for seamless creativity.
- Individually-sampled Kalimba notes
- Multiple Kalimba sound variations
- Modulation and Space & Time FX
- Adjustable effects order
- 35 included presets
- Cross-platform preset sharing
- Standalone app and AUv3 compatibility
Read full descriptionHide full description
Kalimba Keys is your gateway to expressive Kalimba sounds. Experience the richness of Kalimba Keys, the go-to Kalimba instrument app that brings studio-quality sound to your fingertips. Immerse yourself in authenticity with round robin and per-key sampling, allowing for genuine and nuanced playback. Elevate your compositions with essential effects, including tape-style delay, powerful stereo reverb, and versatile modulation FX (Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Tremolo, Auto Pan). Unlock the simplicity of creativity as you save and load configurations with cross-platform presets, ensuring seamless compatibility across sessions. Enjoy the freedom of full automation control, sculpting your ideal sound effortlessly. AUv3 compatible for use with your favorite host apps like Cubasis, GarageBand, AUM, & more! Explore the world of expressive Kalimba Keys – where simplicity meets precision. Features - Individually-sampled Kalimba notes - 4X Kalimba Sounds (Original, Classic, Large, & Small) - Modulation Multi-FX: Multiple FX section with 6 modes including Chorus, Flanger, Phase, Vibrato, Tremolo, Auto Pan - Space & Time FX: Further customize your sounds with natural reverb and tape-style delay effects - Effects Pre/Post Mode: Space & Time and Modulation effects orders can be swapped. - 35 Presets include for instant playability and inspiration - Cross-platform support: presets can be shared between iOS and macOS & Windows - Preset Manager included for saving, editing, and loading different presets - Standalone app and AUv3 included
Screenshots
Verdict
Basic Pitch and Kalimba Keys both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Kalimba Keys's written reviews are positive against 67% of Basic Pitch's. Basic Pitch's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 6 months) and price ($1.99 vs $4.99). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Basic Pitch costs $1.99 and Kalimba Keys $4.99 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 Basic Pitch against 5.0 for Kalimba Keys. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 14 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of Basic Pitch's written reviews are positive against 100% of Kalimba Keys's.
Basic Pitch ships an update every 5 weeks, Kalimba Keys every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Basic Pitch | Kalimba Keys |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (11 ratings) | 5.0 (14 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 11 | 14 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 112 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Carlos DeSoto | OSC Audio |
Customer experience
Basic Pitch
Kalimba Keys
In-app purchases
Basic Pitch
No in-app purchases
Kalimba Keys
No in-app purchases
