Comparison

Ephemeral vs DrumKnee 3D Drums

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

Head to head
About

Ephemeral

Explore a collection of digital musical instruments playable in augmented reality. Unleash your creativity anytime and anywhere with immersive sound experiences.

Highlights
  • Augmented Reality instruments
  • Digital music creation
  • Playable anywhere
  • Creative sound experiences
Features
Read full description

Ephemeral is a playful music maker for iPhone and iPad. Tap out a beat, record your own samples, build a melody, and turn a small idea into a song!

About

DrumKnee 3D Drums

Experience realistic 3D drumming with foot-controlled bass. Record, share, and play along with drumless tracks. Customize your kit with professional sounds and stylish skins for an immersive music experience.

Highlights
  • Realistic 3D drum set
  • Foot-controlled bass drum
  • Record and share songs
  • Play along with drumless tracks
  • Customizable drum kits
  • Low latency response
  • Chokable cymbals
Features
Read full description

DrumKnee is the most realistic drums app. Now you can play the bass with your foot. Perfect for on-the-go drumming! It is like having a real drum set in the palm of your hands. Play drums, record, and share your songs with the DrumKnee 3D community. The new Splitteroo integration lets you remove drums from your favorite songs, create custom drum kits with the separated snare and kick sounds, and play along with the track for an immersive drumming experience! DrumKnee is very different from any other app out there: First of all, it is a well-polished real drum app in 3D (how cool is that?). In addition, you get to trigger the bass sound with your foot. That's right, just rest your phone/tablet on your knee and kick it!! Mix and match the sounds so you can build your own custom drum set!! Features: Professionally recorded sounds. Very low latency response. The best one out there. The delay between your tap on the screen and the sound is incredibly low. Most realistic drums app. You will feel just like playing a real drum. Cymbals are also chokable by holding your finger on them when played. Play along with select drumless songs. You can record your masterpiece and share it with friends. Many stylish skins for you to choose from. Jazz/Funk drum set DK Music is another feature available. This service is a separate monthly fee that allows you to download drumless tracks directly to the app to play along with. SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS - Subscribe for unlimited access to the full drumless (songs without drums) songs library for the duration of your subscription - Subscriptions are monthly, quarterly and yearly - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period - Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription - You can read our privacy policy at https://drumknee.wordpress.com/policy/ *Price is equal to the value that "Apple's App Store Matrix" determines is the equivalent of the subscription price in USD. https://drumknee.wordpress.com/termsofservice

Screenshots

Ephemeral4 screens
DrumKnee 3D Drums4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: DrumKnee 3D Drums at 4.8 against Ephemeral's 3.5. DrumKnee 3D Drums also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 50%) and ratings volume (17K vs 2). Ephemeral's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Ephemeral sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and DrumKnee 3D Drums sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

DrumKnee 3D Drums holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DrumKnee 3D Drums has 17K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Ephemeral's written reviews are positive against 81% of DrumKnee 3D Drums's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ephemeral ships an update every 5 days, DrumKnee 3D Drums weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Ephemeral versus DrumKnee 3D Drums: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEphemeralDrumKnee 3D Drums
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (2 ratings)4.8 (17K ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews81.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings217K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterWeekly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB89 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperphelgoMusic4Fun LLC

Customer experience

Ephemeral

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

DrumKnee 3D Drums

All ratings16,497 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral3.0%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews850 reviews
Positive81.2%
Neutral6.6%
Negative12.2%

Bugs and requests

Ephemeral

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

DrumKnee 3D Drums

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Drum kit customization not working as expected
  • Subscription issues and inability to restore purchases
  • Crashes and freezes when playing for extended periods

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to customize drum kit layout
  • More advanced drum techniques (e.g. double bass, ghost notes)
  • Integration with music production software like GarageBand
  • Additional drum kit and song library updates
  • Rechargeable and wireless DK Sense pedal

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Ephemeral

One-time1
  • Full Version$2.99
11 purchases

DrumKnee 3D Drums

Subscriptions3
  • 1 Month DrumKnee Premium3 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • 3 Months DK Music$9.993 Months
  • 1 Year DrumKnee Premium$29.991 Year
One-time8
  • Pack 12 variants$2.99
  • Pack 42 variants$2.99
  • Jazz/Funk Pack$2.99
Show 5 more
  • Electro Pack$2.99
  • Pack 2$2.99
  • Rock Pack$3.99
  • Metal Pack$3.99
  • DrumKnee PRO$5.99

Questions

Is Ephemeral free?
Ephemeral is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DrumKnee 3D Drums free?
DrumKnee 3D Drums is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ephemeral or DrumKnee 3D Drums?
DrumKnee 3D Drums is rated higher. Ephemeral averages 3.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while DrumKnee 3D Drums averages 4.8 from 17K ratings.
Do Ephemeral or DrumKnee 3D Drums have ads?
DrumKnee 3D Drums shows ads; Ephemeral does not.
Which is updated more often, Ephemeral or DrumKnee 3D Drums?
Ephemeral ships an update every 5 days, and DrumKnee 3D Drums weekly. Most recently, Ephemeral was updated on October 24, 2026 and DrumKnee 3D Drums on October 30, 2026.

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