Comparison

Orbeat vs Leaf Light

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

Head to head
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.

About

Leaf Light

This app offers a unique audio experience, simulating a lightfield lenticular ambiance machine with flanger, delay, and reverb effects. Control sound parameters through a simulated tree canopy, blending natural sights and sounds for relaxation or musical creativity.

Highlights
  • Lightfield lenticular ambiance machine
  • Flanger, delay, and reverb effects
  • Simulated tree canopy control
  • Time of Day, Brightness, Wind parameters
  • Camera Distance, Aperture Focus, Light Trails effects
  • Standalone or AUv3 host compatibility
Features
Read full description

Are you looking for a beautiful white noise machine to match your aesthetic and soothe your soul? Are you looking for a truly unique instrument effect for your music? What if we thought of your incoming instrument signal as the sun, split it through a tree canopy into dozens of copies, and then shifted the timing of those signals as the tree moved? Relax and invigorate with the natural sights and sounds of Leaf Light - the world's first lightfield lenticular ambiance machine and flanger/delay/reverb. With all parameters controlled by a simulated tree canopy, you'll be able to dial in the perfect sound with both your eyes and ears. Tune in the: - Time of Day (sound color) - Brightness (rays of sound, hi-freq) - Wind (motion of sounds) And for effect modes: - Camera Distance (Delay time and spread) - Aperture Focus (Lo-pass filter on repeats) - Light Trails (Delay feedback) Leaf Light is a new way to see and hear nature in unnatural environments. Enjoy the app in standalone or with AUv3 hosts. Headphones are recommended :)

Screenshots

Orbeat4 screens
Leaf Light4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Leaf Light at none against Orbeat's 1. Orbeat's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 6 weeks) and ratings volume (6 vs 2). On price, rating, ads and device support 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. Leaf Light 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 Orbeat against 5.0 for Leaf Light. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Orbeat ships an update every 6 days, Leaf Light every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and August 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Orbeat versus Leaf Light: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOrbeatLeaf Light
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChih Han LinRadii Research

Customer experience

Orbeat

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Leaf Light

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Orbeat

One-time1
  • Orbeat Pro$5.99
None

Leaf Light

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Orbeat free?
Orbeat is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Leaf Light free?
Leaf Light is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Orbeat or Leaf Light?
Orbeat and Leaf Light are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 6 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Orbeat or Leaf Light have ads?
Neither Orbeat nor Leaf Light shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Orbeat or Leaf Light?
Orbeat ships an update every 6 days, and Leaf Light every 6 weeks. Most recently, Orbeat was updated on September 14, 2026 and Leaf Light on August 25, 2026.

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