Comparison

Chops vs Drumr Notate

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

Head to head
About

Chops

Master all 40 PAS rudiments with structured courses, dynamic exercises, and a smart metronome. Apply your skills on the kit with beautiful notation and full playback controls. Designed for drummers of all levels to practice with purpose and enhance their foundation.

Highlights
  • Master all 40 PAS rudiments
  • Apply skills on the drum kit
  • Dynamic exercises and workouts
  • Structured courses for all levels
  • Beautiful and readable notation
  • Smart metronome with tempo adjustment
  • Full playback controls
Features
Read full description

A rudiment trainer built for drummers: workouts, exercises, courses, and progress tracking. MASTER ALL 40 PAS RUDIMENTS From the basics to advanced patterns, learn every rudiment and enhance your drumming foundation. KIT VARIATIONS Break out from your practise pad and apply your new skills on the kit. EXERCISES AND WORKOUTS Keep your practice sessions dynamic and engaging with a variety of exercises and workouts. COURSES Whether you're a beginner or an advanced drummer, follow structured courses designed for all skill levels. PRACTICE WITH PURPOSE Maximize your practice time with guided courses that keep you progressing and motivated. BEAUTIFUL NOTATION Beautiful and easy to read notation. SMART METRONOME Built-in smart metronome adjusts tempo and time signature for you, letting you focus on playing. FULL PLAYBACK CONTROLS Hear how each exercise should sound with full playback controls. Adjust the metronome and tempo. Download Chops today and unleash your full drumming potential! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

About

Drumr Notate

Create and share drum music compositions quickly. This app offers a comprehensive set of notation tools for various drum instruments, allowing you to hear your music and export it as a PDF or MusicXML file. It integrates with a practice tool for enhanced learning.

Highlights
  • Compose drum music with detailed notation
  • Multiple instrument palettes (Drum Kit, Marching Snare, Tenors, Bassline)
  • Playback with built-in drum sounds
  • Export scores as PDF and MusicXML
  • Integrates with Drumr for interactive practice
  • Keyboard shortcuts and intuitive interface
Features
Read full description

Notation software made exclusively for drums. Write kit and drumline parts quickly and easily, hear them played back, and hand your players a clean PDF. Got a part from your instructor? Open, play, and share or print it free. Writing and editing need a Notate subscription — try it free for 7 days. No account required. Write it. Hear it. Share it. Everything you need to compose. - Note values from whole notes to 32nd notes - Tuplets — triplets, quintuplets, sextuplets, septuplets, and ninelets - Dynamics from ppp to fff, crescendo and decrescendo hairpins, and score-wide Accent/Tap dynamics - Accents, marcatos, tenutos, staccatos, flams, drags, ruffs, diddles, ghost notes, and open hi-hat markings - Add sticking and text to explain how the part should be played, or show sticking with Berger notation on Marching Snare - Per-measure tempo marks from 30 to 300 bpm and time signatures from 2/4 to 13/8 - Beams group themselves from the meter, compound meters included, with manual override - Rests consolidate automatically - Duplicate measures, repeat notes, and copy and paste to build patterns fast Built for the whole drumline. Four complete instrument palettes, with more than 100 sound and technique combinations. - Drum Kit — snare, bass drum, hi-hats, toms, and cymbals, plus cowbell, tambourine, clave, and gock block - Marching Snare — rimshots, cross-sticks, buzz and press rolls, backsticks, stick shots, stick clicks, ping shots, gock blocks, cowbell, and ribbon crasher - Marching Tenors — all six drums, with rim clicks, rimshots, buzz and press rolls, crossovers, stick shots, stick clicks, and skank - Marching Bassline — all five drums, with rim clicks, rimshots, buzz rolls, stick clicks, and unison hits Hear it back Play your score with built-in authentic drum sounds — playback follows the tempo marks you write, from 30 to 300 bpm, and a metronome clicks the beat while you listen. PDF and MusicXML Share or print a PDF of your scores. Scores live in the Files app and iCloud Drive, and every score is a standard MusicXML file you can use in Sibelius, Dorico, or any notation app that reads it. Send a score to anyone with Notate and they can open and play it free. Scores made with Drumr's retired Sibelius templates convert to Notate files at drumr.app/imports. Made for speed Tap, drag, or use full hardware keyboard shortcuts. Drag a note and Notate previews the valid placements before you drop it. Appearance Choose Light, Dark, or System, with preset or custom theme colors. Wrote it? Now practice it. Tap Open in Drumr on iPhone, iPad, or a Mac with Apple silicon to turn your score into an interactive practice tool — follow along note-for-note, slow the tempo or use speed training to build stick control, loop the hard parts, get practice feedback, and see your progress. Requires a Drumr Premium subscription with a free 7-day trial. — Help/feedback: https://support.drumr.app Privacy: https://privacy.drumr.app Terms: https://terms.drumr.app Apple EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Chops4 screens
Drumr Notate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Drumr Notate at every 2 days against Chops's every 3 weeks. Chops's advantage is ratings volume (15 vs 4) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. Chops sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Drumr Notate sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Chops against 4.8 for Drumr Notate. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 4 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chops ships an update every 3 weeks, Drumr Notate every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Chops versus Drumr Notate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChopsDrumr Notate
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (15 ratings)4.8 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings15 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB44 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDigital StavesDrumr Inc.

Customer experience

Chops

All ratings15 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Drumr Notate

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Chops

Subscriptions3
  • Chops Subscription (Monthly)7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Education Subscription (Yearly)$12.991 Year
  • Chops Subscription (Yearly)7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$69.99
2 purchases

Drumr Notate

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Annual7 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Chops free?
Chops is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Drumr Notate free?
Drumr Notate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chops or Drumr Notate?
Drumr Notate is rated higher. Chops averages 4.7 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Drumr Notate averages 4.8 from 4 ratings.
Do Chops or Drumr Notate have ads?
Neither Chops nor Drumr Notate shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chops or Drumr Notate?
Chops ships an update every 3 weeks, and Drumr Notate every 2 days. Most recently, Chops was updated on October 11, 2026 and Drumr Notate on October 14, 2026.

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