Comparison

Cadenza vs MorseCAT

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

Head to head
About

Cadenza

Features
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Cadenza teaches Morse code the way real operators actually read it: by ear. You start with just two letters at full speed and add more as you go, so you learn the sound and rhythm of each character instead of counting dots and dashes. Built on the proven Koch method with Farnsworth spacing, Cadenza adapts to you. It notices which characters you confuse, drills the exact pairs you mix up, and raises your speed only when you are ready. WHAT YOU GET - Letters trainer: the full alphabet, numbers and punctuation, one character at a time - Reference: tap any letter, prosign, Q-code or abbreviation to hear it - Tools: Listen, a decoder that turns clean Morse tones into text through your mic, a text-to-Morse translator (sound, screen light, camera flash, vibration) and an accessible Morse keyboard - Postcard: turn a short message into a Morse card, drawn as a rhythm score and sent as a picture with a link. Your friend hears it and decodes it in Cadenza - Progress: streaks, a daily goal, achievements, accuracy heatmaps and a daily challenge that is the same for everyone - Three channels: hear it, see it (a gentle beacon or an opt-in strobe), feel it through vibration GO FURTHER WITH PRO - Copy whole words, random groups and full lines of text - Your lists: drill your own words, callsigns and contest exchanges; the QSO simulator answers your own callsign - Head copy with no typing - Sending practice with an on-screen straight key - Realistic on-air modes: callsign trainer, QSO simulator and pile-up - Detailed analytics: confusion matrix and reaction time WHY CADENZA No accounts. No ads. No tracking. Everything works offline and your practice stays on your device. Where other trainers make you count or stare at charts, Cadenza keeps you listening. PERFECT FOR - Total beginners learning from zero - Aspiring and licensed ham radio operators preparing for on-air CW - Anyone who wants a durable, offline skill Free forever: the full Koch trainer, the reference, the tools, the daily challenge and basic stats. Cadenza Pro unlocks the copy, sending and on-air modes plus advanced analytics with a monthly or yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. Cadenza Pro is offered as a monthly or annual auto-renewing subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions are billed to your Apple ID and renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel in your Account Settings. Privacy Policy: https://trifoiltrailblazer.com/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://trifoiltrailblazer.com/terms-of-service

About

MorseCAT

Features
Read full description

Learn Morse code the way high-speed operators actually hear it: as sounds, not dots and dashes. MorseCAT is an Instant Character Recognition (ICR) trainer. Every character is sent at real speed from day one โ€” you never count elements, you learn the sound. Then you answer the way an operator would: key it back. LEARNING IS FREE. FOREVER. โ€ข The full guided path โ€” every letter, number, and prosign, in the proven CW Academy order โ€ข Listen & Learn โ€” hear each character introduced as pure sound โ€ข Listen & Say โ€” say the character out loud and MorseCAT grades you by ear โ€ข Free Practice โ€” your speed, your character set, whenever โ€ข Word Patterns and weekly LICW class groups โ€” drill exactly what your class covers โ€ข Progress that means something: a per-character mastery heatmap, recognition-time tracking, a copy-ceiling benchmark, streaks, and a proficiency rank ANSWER LIKE AN OPERATOR Hear a character, key it back. Use the on-screen straight key, the touch paddle, or plug in real hardware โ€” Bluetooth MIDI keyers and paddles (TinyMIDI, HaliKey, VBand-style interfaces) take over automatically the moment they connect. Motor memory in, guesswork out. REAL SPEED, HONEST NUMBERS Characters always sound at your character speed (default 32 wpm, floor 25) โ€” fast enough that there's no time to count elements, which is the whole point. Difficulty comes from closing the gaps, Farnsworth-style, never from slowing the code down. MorseCAT measures your time-to-recognize on every single character, so you always know which ones are instant and which ones still make you think. MORSECAT PRO โ€” ONE PURCHASE, YOURS FOREVER A single one-time unlock (no subscription, ever) opens the arcade and the airwaves: โ€ข Key Invaders โ€” read the falling words, shoot them by keying them โ€ข Ice Dash โ€” an arcade sprint for your sending hand โ€ข The full QSO simulator โ€” realistic contest and club exchanges: SST, POTA hunting, CWT, SKCC, and LICW scenarios, with band noise and fading if you want it โ€ข Advanced push drills โ€” the Miss Drill and Send Sprint Code Invaders, single-caller QSOs (5 a day), and every learning tool stay free โ€” and the whole arcade opens free for ten minutes every day, so you can try it before you decide. NO NONSENSE โ€ข No account. No ads. No tracking. โ€ข Works offline โ€” practice on a plane, in a park, anywhere โ€ข Your progress lives on your phone, nowhere else Whether you're prepping for your first POTA hunt, keeping up with your LICW class, or chasing 40 wpm head-copy, MorseCAT meets your ear where it is and pushes it โ€” one instantly-recognized character at a time. 73, and happy keying.

Screenshots

Cadenza4 screens
MorseCAT4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: MorseCAT at 3 against Cadenza's 1. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Cadenza sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and MorseCAT sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Cadenza versus MorseCAT: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCadenzaMorseCAT
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS16.415.1 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size73 MB37 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperIvan TerekhinAspen Ventures, LLC

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Cadenza

Subscriptions2
  • Cadenza Pro$6.991 Month
  • Cadenza Pro3 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Cadenza Pro Lifetime$39.99
1 purchases

MorseCAT

One-time1
  • MorseCAT Pro$4.99

Questions

Is Cadenza free?
Cadenza is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MorseCAT free?
MorseCAT is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Cadenza or MorseCAT have ads?
Neither Cadenza nor MorseCAT shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cadenza or MorseCAT?
Cadenza ships an update every 2 weeks, and MorseCAT every 2 weeks. Most recently, Cadenza was updated on September 26, 2026 and MorseCAT on September 18, 2026.

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