BEATSURFING Performer vs T.APE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BEATSURFING Performer
This app acts as a performance interface for compatible music plugins, allowing users to play virtual instruments like drum kits directly. It brings the interactive music-making experience from other acclaimed applications into your digital audio workstation.
- Perform virtual drum kits
- Connects to BEATSURFING plugins
- Integrates with DAWs
- Interactive music-making experience
- Companion app for plugins
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A companion app for playing BEATSURFING plugins, starting with DRUW, the drum kit generator. Once connected to your plugin, the app lets you perform your drums instead of programming them. Bringing the music-making experience of the acclaimed Playground and Beatsurfing 2 apps into your DAW.
T.APE
This app offers a retro-inspired multitrack recorder that mimics the feel of working with tape. It allows musicians to record up to four stereo tracks, layer ideas, and export projects with a vintage aesthetic and modern flexibility.
- 4-track stereo recording
- Per-track volume, pan, solo & mute
- Real-time tape-style playback
- Drag-to-scrub functionality
- Project title and notes
- Timeline view with waveform editor
- Loop-friendly layering
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T.APE – A Retro-Inspired Multitrack Recorder with a Modern Soul Step into the world of T.APE: a multitrack recording app that feels like working with tape—but in your pocket. Built for musicians, producers, and sound explorers, T.APE combines the warmth and immediacy of vintage cassette workflows with the flexibility of modern digital tools. Record up to four stereo tracks, layer your ideas, trim and bounce your takes, and take notes of your new project. Whether you're sketching demos, building experimental textures, or capturing spontaneous moments, T.APE gives you a fast and tactile way to create—without distractions. Key Features: - 4-track stereo recording with offline bounce - Per-track volume, pan, solo & mute - Real-time tape-style playback with drag-to-scrub - Give your project a title and save your notes too - Timeline view with waveform editor - Loop-friendly and made for layering ideas - Project export and import with all track settings - Vintage tape aesthetic with modern reliability T.APE doesn’t try to replace your DAW—it complements it. Perfect for quick takes, sound journaling, or lo-fi experiments on the go. For first-time users: T.APE lets you record multitrack audio just like an old-school tape recorder. To record over existing tracks in real time, you’ll need to use headphones. We recommend using original Apple wired headphones for the best results. Before you start, it’s also a good idea to fine-tune the app’s internal latency. To access the latency settings, tap the spinning reel icon at the top (it rotates during playback, like a tape spindle). Then swipe vertically to adjust the latency. On an iPhone 14 Pro, a value around 220 ms is usually ideal. Note: the system-calculated value doesn’t include your device’s final output latency. We’re working on a more advanced latency calibration system for future updates. To record at a specific point in your project, simply scrub forward or backward, press pause, arm the track, and start recording. If you have any questions or need help, feel free to reach out!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: BEATSURFING Performer at Free against T.APE's $3.99. BEATSURFING Performer also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 16 months) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.2). T.APE's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.5). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
BEATSURFING Performer is free to download; T.APE costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
T.APE holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.
BEATSURFING Performer ships an update weekly, T.APE every 16 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BEATSURFING Performer | T.APE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 16 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 18.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DRUW Audio | Paolo Giorgi |
Customer experience
BEATSURFING Performer
T.APE
In-app purchases
BEATSURFING Performer
No in-app purchases
T.APE
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is BEATSURFING Performer free?
Is T.APE free?
Which has better reviews, BEATSURFING Performer or T.APE?
Do BEATSURFING Performer or T.APE have ads?
Which is updated more often, BEATSURFING Performer or T.APE?
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