Rubberband vs Nimbus Synth
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Rubberband
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RUBBERBAND is not a keyboard. It's an elastic surface where every line is a magnet: you glide, and GRAVITY pulls notes toward the scale. All the way up, you can't play out of tune. At zero, it's free glissando. In between, your ear decides. A microtonal synth built to be both an instant toy and a serious instrument β played like a theremin or a ribbon controller, tuned like the world. THE WORLD'S TUNINGS RUBBERBAND truly speaks microtonality β not an effect, the heart of the instrument. Arabic maqam, Turkish makam, Persian dastgah, just intonation, just blues and barbershop, klezmer modes, Southeast-Asian equiheptatonic, xenharmonic temperaments (19- and 31-TET, the harmonic series), Western scales β with region-adjustable neutral tuning. The engine thinks in cents: any tuning on Earth is within reach. 36 VOICES Plucked strings, basses, bowed instruments (violin, cello, kamancheh, sarangi), bells and bars, synth voices, the RUBBERβSTRING morph, the instruments of the East (oud, qanun, santur, ney, zurna, duduk), and granular clouds. Every voice is physically modelled and rendered in real time β no samples. EXPRESSIVE UNDER THE FINGER (MPE) Pressure is dynamics; gliding along a string changes the colour, from sul tasto to ponticello; vertical is pitch. Tilt the phone and it becomes an axis of expression. MPE MIDI out drives your other synths with the same gestures. LISTEN TO THE ROOM RUBBERBAND hears the music around you, detects the key, and tunes to it. Play along with anyone, in tune. ALSO A DRONE holding the tonic under your playing, a sympathetic halo that rings the neighbouring strings, a LOOPER to stack loops, and recording your takes straight to your device. IN YOUR LANGUAGE Full interface in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), German, Turkish, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Korean and Arabic β with real musician vocabulary in each, not machine translation. Haptics, Metal rendering, fully native. No account, no ads, no data collected β the microphone is analysed locally and never recorded or sent. FREE, THEN PRO Start free: the full elastic surface, starter voices, and a taste of the world's tunings. The RUBBERBAND PRO unlock (one-time purchase) opens all 36 voices, the full catalogue of world tunings, recording and sharing, MPE MIDI output, MOTION and LISTEN. One-time purchase. No subscription.
Nimbus Synth
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Nimbus Synth is an ambient instrument you play by moving. No keys, no piano roll, no menus to learn. Tilt your phone, drag a finger across the screen, and slow, evolving drones grow out of the motion. Every gesture shapes the sound in real time. SIX VOICES Layer up to six ambient timbres: Sub Drone, Warm Pad, Glass, Air, Metallic, Cello Dark, each with its own character, sculpted through tilt and touch. ALWAYS IN KEY Seven scale modes and note-exclusion keep whatever you play in tune with itself. No wrong notes. LOOP AND LAYER Record a phrase, loop it, and keep playing on top. Quantize to tempo, add a metronome with time signatures and subdivisions, and build a piece one layer at a time. SAVE YOUR IDEAS Keep a library of recordings and slot presets to return to later. NIMBUS SYNTH PRO A one-time unlock, no subscription: β’ Unlimited saved ideas and presets β’ Export recordings as WAV and MIDI (free tier exports MP3) β’ MIDI Out: send what you play live to a DAW or hardware synth over Network MIDI Made for headphones, a quiet room, and a phone in your hand.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Nimbus Synth at weekly against Rubberband's monthly. Nimbus Synth also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). 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
Both are free to download. Rubberband sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Nimbus Synth sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Rubberband ships an update monthly, Nimbus Synth weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Rubberband | Nimbus Synth |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thinkspark | Ondre Studios, LDA |
In-app purchases
Rubberband
- RUBBERBAND PRO$12.99
- RUBBERBAND STUDIO$12.99
Nimbus Synth
- Nimbus Synth Pro$6.99
Questions
Is Rubberband free?
Is Nimbus Synth free?
Do Rubberband or Nimbus Synth have ads?
Which is updated more often, Rubberband or Nimbus Synth?
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