Comparison

Tonic Synths vs Orbeat

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

Head to head
About

Tonic Synths

This app offers a portable music studio with 14 unique synthesizers for creating and sculpting audio. Users can draw sounds, program melodies, and apply effects like reverb and compression. Recordings can be exported as WAV files for use in other projects.

Highlights
  • 14 unique synthesizers
  • XY pad sound sculpting
  • 8-step melody programming
  • Resonant filter sculpting
  • Reverb and compressor effects
  • 60-second audio recording
  • WAV file export
Features
Read full description

Tonic Synth puts a studio full of synthesizers in your pocket. 14 unique synths. All live. All real. Draw sound with your finger on the XY pad. Twist an FM drone into alien textures. Program an 8-step melody. Sculpt noise through resonant filters. Drown everything in reverb. Every control changes the sound instantly — no presets, no menus, just your hands on the instrument. Hear something you love? Hit record. You get 60 seconds. Export it as a WAV file and take it anywhere — into your DAW, your sample library, or share it straight from the app. SYNTHS INCLUDE - FM Drone - XY Speed Pad - Delay Sequencer - Step Sequencer - Filtered Noise - Reverb - Compressor - Bandlimited Oscillator - Sine Sum - Stereo Delay - and more! Free. No ads. No in-app purchases. Just sound.

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

Tonic Synths4 screens
Orbeat4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Tonic Synths at none against Orbeat's 1. Orbeat's advantage is ratings volume (6 vs 2). On price, rating, 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. Orbeat sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Tonic Synths asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Tonic Synths against 5.0 for Orbeat. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 6 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tonic Synths ships an update every 11 days, Orbeat every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Tonic Synths versus Orbeat: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTonic SynthsOrbeat
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings26 — better
Update frequencyEvery 11 daysEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUpTech Works, LLCChih Han Lin

In-app purchases

None

Tonic Synths

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Orbeat

One-time1
  • Orbeat Pro$5.99

Questions

Is Tonic Synths free?
Tonic Synths is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Orbeat free?
Orbeat is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Tonic Synths or Orbeat?
Tonic Synths and Orbeat are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 6 ratings respectively.
Do Tonic Synths or Orbeat have ads?
Neither Tonic Synths nor Orbeat shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tonic Synths or Orbeat?
Tonic Synths ships an update every 11 days, and Orbeat every 6 days. Most recently, Tonic Synths was updated on October 24, 2026 and Orbeat on October 25, 2026.

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