Comparison

Pocket Drums vs RDM Playalongs

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

Head to head
About

Pocket Drums

This app serves as a portable drum trainer, offering structured lessons and visual aids to help users learn drumming techniques and practice rhythms. It features tempo control, diverse music styles, and progress tracking for aspiring drummers.

Highlights
  • Structured drum lessons
  • Visual drum kit maps
  • Adjustable tempo control
  • Premium drum tracks
  • Progress tracking
  • Practice anywhere
Features
Read full description

Pocket Drums is your ultimate portable drum trainer and practice studio. Learn drums, master rudiments, and practice anywhere — no full kit required. Download Pocket Drums and start drumming now! LEARN & PRACTICE ANYWHERE - Structured Lessons: Master beginner grooves, essential rudiments, drum fills, and advanced techniques. - Visual Drum Maps: See every hit in real time with an interactive visual kit map. - Total Tempo Control: Adjust the BPM, loop difficult bars, and practice at your own pace. - All Music Styles: Explore premium drum tracks across rock, jazz, funk, metal, hip-hop, and latin. - Track Your Progress: Save lessons to your library and log your daily practice time. Whether you are practicing on a drum pad or a full drum set, build real skills today.

About

RDM Playalongs

This app offers three practice tools for drummers, including a metronome with advanced features, a sight-reading generator, and a library of exercises. It helps improve hand speed, accuracy, and reading skills with customizable tempos and rhythms. Track your practice time and engage with a community for support.

Highlights
  • 500+ practice exercises
  • Customizable metronome with unique subdivisions
  • Generates unique sight-reading exercises
  • Tempo control with range and climbing options
  • Practice time tracking and streaks
  • Community support from developer
Features
Read full description

Three practice tools for rudimental drummers, built to get your hands clean and fast. PLAYALONGS 500+ exercises. Press play and it loops until you stop it. Set the tempo to bounce around inside a range so you can't settle in, or have it climb every few reps until you find where you break. Twelve ready-made playlists too, or build your own. METRONOME Any time signature. Any subdivision, including the ones normal metronome apps don't have: 7-lets, 9-lets, ratio rhythms. Accent, diddle, buzz or mute any beat, any partial. Chain different rhythms into a sequence and save it. SIGHT-READING LAB Hit generate, get a page you've never seen. Set the tempo, the rests, the stickings, the syncopation, the time signature. Set the difficulty to your level. Notation on screen while it plays, so you're reading and hearing at the same time. Practice time tracked. Streaks. Leaderboard. Stuck on something? Post it in the community and I'll answer it myself. Built by Anthony Steller, a gigging drummer and snare instructor, for marching snare drummers and drumlines. Start free. You get all three tools with limits, no card needed. RDM Playalongs Monthly is an auto-renewing subscription, $12.99 per month. It unlocks all 500+ exercises and every control in all three tools. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. It renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://rudimentaldrummingmastery.com/privacy-policy.html

Screenshots

Pocket Drums3 screens
RDM Playalongs4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pocket Drums at none against RDM Playalongs's 1. RDM Playalongs's advantage is ratings volume (10 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). 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. RDM Playalongs sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $12.99 per month. Pocket Drums 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 Pocket Drums against 5.0 for RDM Playalongs. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RDM Playalongs has 10 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Pocket Drums versus RDM Playalongs: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocket DrumsRDM Playalongs
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings210 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmark AiAnthony Steller

Customer experience

Pocket Drums

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

RDM Playalongs

All ratings10 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Pocket Drums

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

RDM Playalongs

Subscriptions1
  • RDM Playalongs$12.991 Month

Questions

Is Pocket Drums free?
Pocket Drums is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is RDM Playalongs free?
RDM Playalongs is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pocket Drums or RDM Playalongs?
Pocket Drums and RDM Playalongs are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 10 ratings respectively.
Do Pocket Drums or RDM Playalongs have ads?
Neither Pocket Drums nor RDM Playalongs shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pocket Drums or RDM Playalongs?
Pocket Drums ships an update every 4 days, and RDM Playalongs every 4 days. Most recently, Pocket Drums was updated on October 31, 2026 and RDM Playalongs on October 31, 2026.

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