Comparison

StrumForge vs PulseMaster

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

Head to head
About

StrumForge

Instantly generate countless guitar chord progressions and practice with built-in scales, tempo, and grooves. Explore various chord types and fingerings, and play along with integrated drum patterns. Designed for musicians to focus on playing and songwriting.

Highlights
  • Generate over 425,000 chord progressions
  • Play along with chord diagrams in tempo
  • Solo over progressions with scale diagrams
  • Lock or randomize key
  • Choose chord types (open, barre, triads, power)
  • Built-in drum groove and tempo control
  • Left-handed chord diagram support
Features
Read full description

StrumForge instantly generates over 1 million unique, theory-based chord progressions across every key. Automatically create progressions, customize them, or create your own from scratch. Learn & practice scales, triads, and arpeggios in every key with built-in playback features. Whether you're learning guitar fundamentals, writing songs, practicing improvisation, or exploring music theory, StrumForge helps you discover new ideas and practice more effectively. No ads. No account required. Perfect for: • Daily guitar practice • Learning new guitar chords and voicings • Improving rhythm, timing, & chord changes • Songwriting and improvisation • Understanding triads and arpeggios • Scale and fretboard training • Learning guitar theory • Exploring modes and pentatonic scales Chord Progressions • Generate over 1 million unique theory-based chord progressions instantly • Create 4, 8, or 12-chord progressions based on musical style or mood • Choose a key, mode, chord type, groove, tempo, and guitar sound • Lock or manually override individual chords in the progression • Choose from open chords, barre chords, triads, or power chords • Add sevenths, suspended, and add9 chords for more flavor • Explore new voicings and chord combinations Practice Tools • Play along with interactive chord diagrams in real time • Use the Triad Trainer view to explore every triad inversion, play along in time, and see how they connect across the fretboard • Learn moveable arpeggios across the fretboard with built in playback and tempo controls • Customize rhythm, groove, tempo, and playback controls • Solo over progressions with matching scale diagrams • Practice timing, chord changes, and improvisation all in one place • Use portrait or landscape orientation • Left-handed diagram support Scales & Fretboard • Explore matching mode and pentatonic scale diagrams • View intervals, notes, and finger position labels • Interval and modal flavor note color options to visualize and emphasize chord tones • Learn scales visually across the fretboard • Move diagrams to your preferred fretboard position • Cycle through different chord shapes and fingerings • See chord interval and shape labels Unlock Pro Features • Unlimited chord progression generation • Triad Trainer view for mastering triads in every root note across the fretboard • Arpeggio trainer mode for learning moveable shapes across the neck • Save, revisit, and share favorite progressions • Sync favorites and preferences across devices • Automatic practice session tracker with stats & streaks • Styles for mood-based progressions • Built-in guitar tuner, includes popular alternate tunings • Full-featured metronome with tap tempo, subdivisions, and additional customizations • Dark mode • Advanced scale tools and individual scale shapes • Additional grooves and rhythm options • Additional 12-string, overdrive, and arpeggiated guitar voices • Default app preference settings Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

PulseMaster

This rhythm trainer offers four distinct modes to hone your timing and internal metronome. Practice strumming patterns, subdivisions, and custom beat accents with visual aids and adjustable silent bars. All features are unlocked and available offline.

Highlights
  • Silent bars for internal metronome practice
  • Visual strumming pattern training
  • Rhythm pyramid for subdivision mastery
  • Customizable beat pattern design
  • Offline functionality
  • No sign-up required
Features
Read full description

Train your inner metronome. Pulse Master is a free rhythm trainer with four modes that help you practice timing and rhythm specifically. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads—just open it and practice. SILENT BARS Test your internal metronome. The click plays a few bars, then it stops — you continue playing on your own. When it starts again, you’ll immediately hear whether you stayed in time. Choose freely which bars are loud and which are silent. STRUMMING PATTERNS Internalize strumming patterns by visualizing them. Arrows or DUs show you downstrokes and upstrokes, mutes, and rests. Work in eighths or sixteenths, save your favorite patterns as presets. RHYTHM PYRAMID Climb through subdivisions — quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, tuplets up to septuplets. The pyramid automatically changes step by step so you can learn to embed subdivisions cleanly into the beat. BEAT PATTERN Design your own accent patterns. Configurable per beat, with different subdivisions per beat. ALSO • Everything stored locally on your device, no sign-up required • Anonymized usage statistics via Amplitude (EU servers), without tracking COMPLETELY FREE Pulse Master is 100% free — no in-app purchases, no subscription, no ads. All modes are unlocked from the start. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://repetude.com/privacy

Screenshots

StrumForge4 screens
PulseMaster4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: StrumForge at 50 against PulseMaster's 1. StrumForge also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). On price, rating, update cadence 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. StrumForge sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and PulseMaster sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. 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 — 4.9 for StrumForge against 5.0 for PulseMaster. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: StrumForge has 50 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

StrumForge ships an update every 3 days, PulseMaster every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and July 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
StrumForge versus PulseMaster: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStrumForgePulseMaster
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (50 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings50 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdam SpainDavid Schulze

In-app purchases

4 purchases

StrumForge

Subscriptions3
  • StrumForge Pro Weekly7 Days trial$2.997 Days
  • StrumForge Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • StrumForge Pro Annual$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pro$49.99
4 purchases

PulseMaster

One-time4
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Nice Tip$2.99
  • Generous tip$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Huge tip$9.99

Questions

Is StrumForge free?
StrumForge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PulseMaster free?
PulseMaster is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, StrumForge or PulseMaster?
PulseMaster is rated higher. StrumForge averages 4.9 out of 5 from 50 ratings, while PulseMaster averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do StrumForge or PulseMaster have ads?
Neither StrumForge nor PulseMaster shows ads.
Which is updated more often, StrumForge or PulseMaster?
StrumForge ships an update every 3 days, and PulseMaster every 4 days. Most recently, StrumForge was updated on September 24, 2026 and PulseMaster on July 8, 2026.

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