Degenson vs Orbeat
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Degenson
Create distorted percussion, hypnotic sequences, and aggressive sounds with this raw virtual analog drum machine. It offers six voices, dual LFOs, and fast hands-on control for electronic music production.
- Virtual analog drum machine
- Distorted percussion
- Hypnotic sequences
- Aggressive sound design
- Six voices
- Dual LFOs
- Hands-on control
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Degenson is a raw virtual analog drum machine built for distorted percussion, hypnotic sequences and aggressive sound design. Six voices, dual LFOs and fast hands-on control for techno, EBM and experimental production. Now it's also an AUv3 plugin: run Degenson inside your favorite iOS host — GarageBand, AUM, Cubasis, Drambo and more — perfectly in sync with your project tempo. • Six punchy virtual-analog voices with analogue-style decay — percussive across most of the knob, opening into an infinite drone at the top • Full MIDI: notes trigger the voices, every knob responds to a fixed MIDI CC, and the sequencer can be bypassed to play live from any controller • Melodic mode: each octave maps the six voices and transposes them, so you can play the drums tuned across the keyboard • Fast, tactile step sequencer with per-step control and dual LFOs for evolving, hypnotic patterns • Crunch Verb: a gritty master reverb with Mix, Decay and Crunch — the tail degrades as it fades Free to play. The optional Pro upgrade unlocks the AUv3 plugin for use in your DAW and WAV export for bouncing your patterns.
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.
- Circular sequencer interface
- Four unique drum kits
- Generative rhythm patterns
- Swing and velocity controls
- Probability and polymeter
- AUv3 plugin support
- WAV export
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Degenson at free against Orbeat's free with in-app purchases. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Degenson 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Degenson against 5.0 for Orbeat. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 6 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Degenson ships an update every 9 days, Orbeat every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Degenson | Orbeat |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (8 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fabrizio Alviti | Chih Han Lin |
Customer experience
Degenson
Orbeat
In-app purchases
Degenson
- Degenson Pro Upgrade$7.99
Orbeat
- Orbeat Pro$5.99








