Comparison

Rudimentalist vs StickTime

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

Head to head
About

Rudimentalist

Features
Read full description

Rudimentalist is a practice tool for drummers working through the PAS rudiments – from singles and paradiddles to flams, drags, and rolls. Set a tempo, tap start, and play. The app listens through your microphone, scores every hit against the metronome, and tells you exactly where the timing slipped – to the millisecond. No recordings. No accounts. No uploads. Audio is analyzed on-device in real time and discarded immediately. WHAT YOU GET β€’ 39 of the Percussive Arts Society's 40 rudiments – singles, doubles, paradiddles, flams, drags, and rolls – organized by family. The buzz roll is coming in a future update. β€’ Grace-note scoring: the app hears the grace strokes in your flams and drags and scores them too. β€’ Live per-hit timing feedback in milliseconds, with on-time / near-miss / missed colors so you can read the screen and fix the hand without breaking tempo. β€’ A drift label that tells you whether you are consistently rushing or dragging, plus a running session accuracy percentage. β€’ Adjustable tempo and session length so you can drill a phrase or run an exercise end-to-end. β€’ Demo: watch animated sticks play any rudiment on left/right hand pads before you practice – change the tempo live, anywhere from 40 to 200 BPM, with count-in and loop. β€’ Simple R/L notation with hand-colored boxes by default, plus a how-to-play card on every exercise – switch to full notation anytime. β€’ A session results screen that summarizes accuracy and drift across the patterns you played. β€’ Free to try. Rudimentalist Pro unlocks everything with a one-time lifetime purchase (Family Sharing supported) or a time-limited Pro Pass – no auto-renewing subscriptions. AUTOMATIC TIMING Every device and every audio route – speaker, wired, or Bluetooth headphones – has its own latency. Rudimentalist measures it and keeps adjusting as you play, separately for each route, so the score reflects your playing, not your hardware. There is no calibration step. Changed your setup? Use Settings β†’ Reset timing. PRIVACY BY DESIGN The microphone is the only sensor used, and the audio never leaves the device. No analytics SDK, no crash-reporting upload, no network permission requested. The app works fully offline. WHO IT IS FOR β€’ Drummers who want to know whether they are actually on the click, not just close to it. β€’ Students working through a method book or a teacher's rudiment list. β€’ Returning players rebuilding consistency. β€’ Anyone who has ever wondered "am I rushing?" and wanted a real answer. ABOUT THE DEVELOPER Built by a drummer and app developer with a long-running passion for learning, playing, and teaching drumming. Rudimentalist is a small, independent app from Potens Music Limited. If you have feedback or run into issues, the support link below reaches the developer directly. REQUIREMENTS β€’ A microphone – built-in is fine; an external mic gives sharper detection on a kit. β€’ Quiet-ish surroundings or a practice pad for clearest hit detection. β€’ Headphones recommended – through the speaker, the click can reach the mic. β€’ iPhone or iPad on iOS 17 or later.

About

StickTime

Features
Read full description

Turn your practice pad into a coach. StickTime pairs the full reference library of drum rudiments with a metronome that tracks how fast you can play each one, so every session builds toward a number you can watch climb. The 40 International Drum Rudiments, done right: - All 40 rudiments, grouped into the four families every drummer learns: rolls, diddles, flams, and drags. - Each rudiment shows its sticking pattern, a short how-to, and a difficulty level. - A visual and haptic metronome with a tempo ramp that climbs hands-free while you play. - Personal best BPM for every rudiment, with a tempo-climb chart and a goal you set. - Practice routines: line up rudiments with target tempos and run them one after another. - A session log with a daily streak and your total practice time. - Groove notes on any rudiment, so the fix you found last week is there next week. - A daily practice reminder to keep the streak alive. - Syncs across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud. Free and Pro: - Free includes 8 rudiments across all four families, the metronome, routines, streaks, and stats. - Pro unlocks all 40 rudiments and your full tempo history, and adds CSV and PDF export of your bests, sessions, and reports. StickTime Pro is $3.99 USD per month, $24.99 USD per year, or $59.99 USD once for lifetime access. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation. Cancel anytime in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions; cancellation applies at the end of the current period. Terms (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Rudimentalist4 screens
StickTime4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: StickTime at every 2 weeks against Rudimentalist's every 2 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Rudimentalist sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and StickTime sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Rudimentalist ships an update every 2 months, StickTime every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 5 level
Rudimentalist versus StickTime: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRudimentalistStickTime
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 β€” better18.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size11 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPotens Music LimitedInnovaLabWorks

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Rudimentalist

One-time5
  • Pro Pass (1 Month)$0.99
  • Pro Pass (3 Months)$1.99
  • Pro Pass (6 Months)$3.99
Show 2 more
  • Pro Pass (12 Months)$6.99
  • Lifetime Pro$9.99
3 purchases

StickTime

Subscriptions2
  • StickTime Pro$5.991 Month
  • StickTime Pro$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • StickTime Lifetime$12.99

Questions

Is Rudimentalist free?
Rudimentalist is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is StickTime free?
StickTime is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Rudimentalist or StickTime have ads?
Neither Rudimentalist nor StickTime shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Rudimentalist or StickTime?
Rudimentalist ships an update every 2 months, and StickTime every 2 weeks. Most recently, Rudimentalist was updated on October 8, 2026 and StickTime on October 4, 2026.

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