Comparison

MOUND vs Orbeat

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

Head to head
About

MOUND

Create unique music by layering sounds and applying effects with intuitive touch controls. Explore chord progressions, sonic combinations, and evolving soundscapes.

Highlights
  • Collage soundscape sequencer
  • Four mix channels
  • 100+ soundfont instruments
  • Paint to drive effects
  • Euclidean sequencing
  • Choose key, scale, BPM, and sequence length
Features
Read full description

A collage soundscape sequencer. MOUND is a unique touch instrument (standalone and AUv3 instrument and MIDI included) that uses collage and paint to generate music. You get four layers of stamps to populate chord progressions automatically using euclidean sequencing, and up to 6 paintbrush effects to use your gestures for uninhibited sonic combinations. FEATURES - Four mix channels — chord channel, and three other voices to layer. - 100+ soundfont instruments - Paint to drive effects — use X/Y and hold to control effects - Evolve — mutate your canvas and hear new possibilities - Choose key and scale - Choose BPM and sequence length - FREE Cassette Effect and Granular Delay Free to play. Unlock the full SoundFont library, advanced EVOLVE theory settings, and the rest of the spray effects. Built by fourtrack.fm.

About

Orbeat

This music app offers a unique circular sequencer for beat creation, featuring four distinct drum kits and generative tools. It allows for advanced rhythmic manipulation and can be used as a standalone instrument or an AUv3 plugin. Unlock full features with a one-time purchase.

Highlights
  • Circular sequencer interface
  • Four unique drum kits
  • Generative rhythm patterns
  • Swing and velocity controls
  • Probability and polymeter
  • AUv3 plugin support
  • WAV export
Features
Read full description

Orbeat is a drum machine in the round. Instead of a grid, your rhythm lives on a glowing mandala — concentric lanes of light that orbit a single play button. Tap the rings, watch the playhead sweep, and feel the groove move. Built to be played, not programmed. Open it and you're already making beats. A CIRCULAR SEQUENCER — UP TO TWELVE LANES Six lanes wrap the screen as rings, and the circle can grow to twelve: the mandala opens a second page of rings in its own electric color set, so every lane keeps its full size. Tap to place hits, lock a lane you love, mute and solo as you build the groove layer by layer. The whole pattern turns as it plays. FOUR DRUM KITS Classic, Acoustic, Glitch, and 8-bit — one tap reskins every voice while your pattern stays put. From clean and punchy to broken and chiptune. BRING YOUR OWN SOUNDS Build a custom kit and drop your own audio into any lane — WAV, AIFF or mp3, up to ten seconds, played at its original pitch and in stereo. Imported samples run clean to the output, while the lanes you leave alone keep their synth voice, so a hi-hat you recorded yourself sits right next to Orbeat's own drums. Your first custom kit is free. GENERATORS THAT SURPRISE YOU Roll the dice for an instant pattern, or use Euclidean rhythms to spread hits evenly around a ring. Like what you hear? Tap the ring to write it in and edit by hand. MAKE IT BREATHE, MAKE IT DRIFT Add swing to push the feel off the grid, draw velocity per step for accents that live, and pan each lane across the stereo field. With Probability, hits fire by chance; with polymeter, each lane gets its own length so the phases drift in and out of sync. TAKE IT ANYWHERE Bounce any loop to a stereo WAV — named with the beat, its length and its tempo, so it still makes sense in your DAW next month — or run Orbeat as an AUv3 instrument with MIDI in & out — sequence other instruments, or play Orbeat's lanes from your host's piano roll inside GarageBand, AUM, Logic, and other AUv3 hosts. Standalone, play the pads live from any MIDI controller and sync the whole groove to external MIDI clock. PLAY IN SYNC WITH THE ROOM Ableton Link keeps Orbeat in time with every Link-enabled app and device on your network — Ableton Live, AUM, Loopy, a friend's iPad across the table. Tempo follows the session, start and stop are shared, and everyone stays in phase. No cables, no setup. PLAY FREE. UNLOCK ONCE. The full instrument is free forever — every kit, the six-lane circle, Euclidean generators, swing, velocity, pan, your first custom kit with your own samples, MIDI in & out, and Ableton Link. Orbeat Pro is a single one-time purchase (no subscription, ever) that unlocks room to grow the circle to twelve lanes, plus Probability, polymeter, WAV export, unlimited saved beats, and extra custom kits. Made for iPhone and iPad. No account, no ads, no tracking — your beats never leave your device unless you share them. Tap the rings. Make it move.

Screenshots

MOUND3 screens
Orbeat4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Orbeat at 100% against MOUND's 67%. Orbeat also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ratings volume, 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. MOUND sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Orbeat sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Orbeat holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of MOUND's written reviews are positive against 100% of Orbeat's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MOUND ships an update every 5 days, Orbeat every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
MOUND versus Orbeat: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMOUNDOrbeat
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (8 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 6 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size176 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerfourtrack.fm LLCChih Han Lin

Customer experience

MOUND

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%

Orbeat

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

MOUND

One-time1
  • MOUND Lifetime Unlock$4.99
1 purchases

Orbeat

One-time1
  • Orbeat Pro$5.99

Questions

Is MOUND free?
MOUND is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Orbeat free?
Orbeat is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, MOUND or Orbeat?
Orbeat is rated higher. MOUND averages 4.8 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Orbeat averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do MOUND or Orbeat have ads?
Neither MOUND nor Orbeat shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MOUND or Orbeat?
MOUND ships an update every 5 days, and Orbeat every 6 days. Most recently, MOUND was updated on November 5, 2026 and Orbeat on October 31, 2026.

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