Comparison

Play Drums! 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

Play Drums!

Experience a futuristic rhythm game inspired by 80s electronic drum kits and EDM. Tap colorful hexagons in time with the music to score points and improve your rhythmic abilities. Choose from various difficulty levels, songs, and drum kits.

Highlights
  • Rhythm game with EDM music
  • Beginner and advanced difficulty levels
  • Multiple drum kits and songs
  • Professionally recorded stereo sounds
  • Hi-resolution graphics
  • Lefty mode for reversed layout
Features
Read full description

Play Drums! is an exciting and unique rhythm game based on the electronic drum kits of the 1980s. Combined with electronic dance music (EDM), this fast-paced and futuristic game is not only fun and challenging, but actually improves your rhythmic abilities! When you start a song, choosing from either beginner or advanced levels, colorful concentric hexagons converge onto the drum pad that should be tapped. If you hit it right on time, you score 50 points; almost in rhythm, 25 points. And if you miss, 10 points are deducted from your score. With 10 songs and 6 different drum kits to choose from, you'll be rockin' like a real drummer in no time! Play Drums! is the most fun way ever to learn to Play Drums! FEATURES: * 5 free EDM beginner songs and 5 free EDM advanced songs to choose from * 6 free amazing drum kits to choose from......play to songs, or play drums without music * Professionally recorded stereo sounds * Beautiful hi-resolution retina graphics * Game Center integration * Lefty mode: reverse the drum layout PRIVACY POLICY: http://codyrotwein.com/privacy.html

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

Play Drums!4 screens
DrumKnee 3D Drums4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: DrumKnee 3D Drums at 4.8 against Play Drums!'s 3.7. DrumKnee 3D Drums also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 50%) and update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months). On price, ads, 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. Play Drums! sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and DrumKnee 3D Drums sells 3 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 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DrumKnee 3D Drums has 17K ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Play Drums!'s written reviews are positive against 81% of DrumKnee 3D Drums's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Play Drums! ships an update every 4 months, DrumKnee 3D Drums weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Play Drums! versus DrumKnee 3D Drums: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlay Drums!DrumKnee 3D Drums
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (13 ratings)4.8 (17K ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews81.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1317K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsWeekly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB89 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperDrum StarzMusic4Fun LLC

Customer experience

Play Drums!

All ratings13 ratings
Positive61.5%
Neutral15.4%
Negative23.1%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral33.3%
Negative16.7%

DrumKnee 3D Drums

All ratings16,497 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral3.0%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews851 reviews
Positive81.2%
Neutral6.6%
Negative12.2%

Bugs and requests

Play Drums!

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

5 purchases

Play Drums!

One-time5
  • Remove Ads$0.99
  • London House$0.99
  • Rocket$0.99
Show 2 more
  • Cephalopod$0.99
  • Blue Scorpion$0.99
3 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

Questions

Is Play Drums! free?
Play Drums! 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, Play Drums! or DrumKnee 3D Drums?
DrumKnee 3D Drums is rated higher. Play Drums! averages 3.7 out of 5 from 13 ratings, while DrumKnee 3D Drums averages 4.8 from 17K ratings.
Do Play Drums! or DrumKnee 3D Drums have ads?
Both Play Drums! and DrumKnee 3D Drums show ads.
Which is updated more often, Play Drums! or DrumKnee 3D Drums?
Play Drums! ships an update every 4 months, and DrumKnee 3D Drums weekly. Most recently, Play Drums! was updated on November 5, 2026 and DrumKnee 3D Drums on November 10, 2026.

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