Comparison

Fifths vs Dronewheel

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

Head to head
About

Fifths

This app provides a musical practice environment for musicians. It allows users to create custom drone progressions, explore harmonic relationships, and turn video lessons into practice loops. Features include a metronome, hands-free Siri control, and a library of sounds and chord progressions.

Highlights
  • Create looping drone progressions
  • Explore harmony via circle of fifths
  • Turn YouTube lessons into practice loops
  • Built-in metronome with subdivisions
  • Hands-free Siri control
  • Library of chord progressions and sounds
  • Daily music theory questions
Features
Read full description

Fifths is built around one idea: practicing with musical context, not just isolated exercises. Create moving drone progressions, explore harmony through the circle of fifths, and turn YouTube lessons into focused practice loops. Build the exact practice environment you need for intonation, improvisation, fretboard awareness, phrasing, ear training, and learning real songs section by section. When you want a fixed reference, Fifths also works as a focused single-note drone, or a continuous tanpura for a rich harmonic center. And when your hands are on your instrument, just ask Siri: start a drone, load a preset, start the metronome, or answer today's question without touching your phone. Use Fifths to: - Build looping drone progressions for scale, melody, and improvisation practice - Create single-note or multi-note drone steps to outline changing harmonic centers - Hold a single drone when you want a stable key center for ear training or intonation work - Practice in time with a built-in metronome from 30 to 400 BPM, synced to your drone progressions, with subdivisions from eighths and triplets to swing, sixteenth patterns, quintuplets, and septuplets - Control Fifths hands-free with Siri and Shortcuts: start drones by key or preset, start the metronome, look up scale notes and intervals, check your practice streak, and hear and answer the Daily question - Load ready-made chord progressions from a library of pop, rock, minor-key, blues, jazz, and classical examples, organized around the circle of fifths - Turn YouTube lessons into saved practice loops, and share loops with other Fifths users - Slow down difficult sections, set rep targets, and let Fifths automatically ramp up speed as you progress - Fine-tune loop start and end points and adjust volume - Quickly search for a song's key and BPM while you practice - Explore the circle of fifths visually and hear key relationships instantly - See key signatures, relative keys, parallel keys, and scale notes at a glance - Train faster with daily questions, streaks, and multiple quiz difficulties - Add the Music Theory Daily widget to keep a fresh question on your Home Screen, and answer it right from the widget - Practice with 100+ sounds including strings, choir, organ, guitar, winds, pads, and synth textures - Save presets, favorite sounds, loops, and sounds tailored to your workflow - Customize the Drone screen by reordering or hiding sections, plus note naming, reference pitch, octave range, fade time, and quiz length - Keep practicing alongside other audio apps Fifths Pro unlocks unlimited saved loops, longer drone progressions, the full sample progressions library, the full sound library, and Medium and Hard quiz difficulty. Whether you are working on intonation, improvisation, key signatures, modes, intervals, songs, or general musicianship, Fifths gives you a practice tool that is immediate, musical, and built for repetition. Privacy Policy: https://fifthsdrone.com/privacy.html Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Dronewheel

Create sustained tones and chords in any key for practice, meditation, or songwriting. Offers a variety of sounds and scales, with a free version and an optional Pro upgrade for more features.

Highlights
  • Hold pure drones in 12 keys
  • Play chords and inversions
  • Deep sound library with synth and instrument tones
  • Lock intonation against reference pitch
  • Set scales and modes
  • Build grooves with beat engine
  • Metronome for timekeeping
Features
Read full description

Dronewheel is a looping studio built on a wheel. Hold a perfectly tuned drone, finger drum a beat, chop a sample, loop your voice, or mix a song. Five decks share one clock, so everything stays in time. • Drone in any key, with chords and scales • Drums with pitch and level on every pad • Chop any sound or video into twelve pads • Loop your mic right on the beat • Mix any song: sync it to your tempo and split out the vocals, drums or bass • Launch clips, mix, add effects, and record the session Your projects sync to your account and across your devices automatically. Free includes the drone, chords, a drum kit, the mic deck, SampleWheel with a starter library, and cloud backup. Pro adds every sound and kit, all scales and modes, your own samples and video, the Pro effects, and recording with export. Dronewheel Pro: 3 day free trial, then $4.99 a month or $34.99 a year. Payment is charged to your Apple ID. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store settings. Questions? support@wheelverseaudio.com Privacy Policy: https://dronewheelprivacy.netlify.app/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Fifths4 screens
Dronewheel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Fifths at 5.0 against Dronewheel's 3.5. Dronewheel's advantage is review sentiment (40% vs 0%) and ratings volume (8 vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Fifths sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Dronewheel sells 2 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

Fifths holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dronewheel has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 0% of Fifths's written reviews are positive against 40% of Dronewheel's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 8 days. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Fifths versus Dronewheel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFifthsDronewheel
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better3.5 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews40.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings18 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 daysEvery 8 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS26.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size75 MB304 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRichard ChirinoJOSEPH LEE ALLEN

Customer experience

Fifths

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Dronewheel

All ratings8 ratings
Positive62.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative37.5%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative60.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Fifths

Subscriptions2
  • Fifths Pro Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Fifths Pro Yearly7 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Fifths Pro Lifetime$29.99
2 purchases

Dronewheel

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly3 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly3 Days trial$34.991 Year

Questions

Is Fifths free?
Fifths is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dronewheel free?
Dronewheel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Fifths or Dronewheel?
Fifths is rated higher. Fifths averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Dronewheel averages 3.5 from 8 ratings.
Do Fifths or Dronewheel have ads?
Neither Fifths nor Dronewheel shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fifths or Dronewheel?
Fifths ships an update every 8 days, and Dronewheel every 8 days. Most recently, Fifths was updated on November 5, 2026 and Dronewheel on November 5, 2026.

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