Comparison

Pulse Vinyl vs Penta

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

Head to head
About

Pulse Vinyl

Features
Read full description

Turn your Apple Music library into a personal vinyl and CD collection. PulseVinyl scans the albums in your music library and helps you discover which releases are available on physical media. Keep track of what you own, build your wantlist, scan barcodes, and view estimated market values in one beautifully designed app. FEATURES • Scan your Apple Music library for vinyl and CD availability • Track records and CDs you own • Create and manage a personal wantlist • Scan barcodes to quickly find physical releases • Recognize music with Shazam and check the single and album • View estimated collection values using available Discogs market data • Follow upcoming releases from artists in your library with Release Radar • Browse your collection with artwork, filters, sorting, and detailed release information • Keep your collection synchronized across your Apple devices with iCloud • Access helpful widgets from your Home Screen PulseVinyl is made for music lovers who want to connect their digital library with their physical collection. Some availability and market-value information depends on third-party data and may not be available for every release. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://pulseos.eu/privacy

About

Penta

Experience your Apple Music library with a virtual five-disc CD carousel player. Browse albums, load discs, and control playback with a realistic interface, complete with tactile sounds and a retro display.

Highlights
  • Five-disc carousel simulation
  • Apple Music library integration
  • Realistic tactile interface
  • Customizable display
  • Save and reload disc sets
  • iCloud sync for favorites
Features
Read full description

Penta turns your iPhone, iPad or iPhone Duo into a five-disc CD changer — the hi-fi component you grew up with, rebuilt for your Apple Music library. Open a jewel case, drop the disc into the carousel, and play. Every detail is here: the fluorescent display, the motorized carousel, the power-on self-test, a disc winding up to speed before it plays, and the clunk as it comes to a stop. ON IPHONE DUO The phone is the jewel case. Close it and you're holding the album; open it and the case opens with it. Open flat for the whole deck, or fold it like a laptop for your CD wallet above the tray. FEATURES • A real five-disc carousel — load, spin, and swap discs by hand • Real sounds, recorded from a five-disc changer: key clicks, the tray, the platter turning and a disc set down • A different deck each way up: the full carousel sideways, a CD wallet over the tray upright • Jewel-case browser — open the case and drag the disc out, or drop it straight into any of the five slots • Plays your Apple Music library in full, with real album art on every disc • Keys you can feel — on iPhone every key clicks under your thumb • Magazines — save a set of five discs and reload the whole cartridge later • Favorites, whole-library search, and Apple Music catalog search • A vacuum-fluorescent display with track, time, and format readouts • Any way up on iPad, and in resizable windows • Favorites and saved magazines sync across your devices via iCloud PENTA PRO A one-time unlock: Real CD Artwork (beta) shows the actual printed disc instead of the album cover, plus the full phosphor-colour set, the analog needle and VU meters, a gentle readable spin, the minimal readout, and unlimited saved magazines. The free deck plays your whole library with no limits. Albums you own play without a subscription. Streaming from the Apple Music catalog needs an Apple Music subscription.

Screenshots

Pulse Vinyl4 screens
Penta4 screens

Verdict

The call

Pulse Vinyl and Penta are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Pulse Vinyl sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Penta sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pulse Vinyl ships an update fortnightly, Penta weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Pulse Vinyl versus Penta: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPulse VinylPenta
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—5 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKuno BoersJohn Seubert

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Pulse Vinyl

Subscriptions2
  • PulseVinyl Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
  • PulseVinyl Pro Yearly7 Days trial$22.991 Year
One-time2
  • PulseVinyl Pro – Lifetime$39.99
  • PulseVinyl Pro Lifetime$49.99
1 purchases

Penta

One-time1
  • Penta Pro$0.99

Questions

Is Pulse Vinyl free?
Pulse Vinyl is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Penta free?
Penta is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Pulse Vinyl or Penta have ads?
Neither Pulse Vinyl nor Penta shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pulse Vinyl or Penta?
Pulse Vinyl ships an update fortnightly, and Penta weekly. Most recently, Pulse Vinyl was updated on October 25, 2026 and Penta on October 24, 2026.

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