Comparison

PMDA vs Beat Bazaar

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

Head to head
About

PMDA

Features
Read full description

PMDA (pronounced "pimda") is one music lover's take on building the music library of his dreams โ€” and now yours. Point the app at your own self-hosted PMDA server and enjoy your entire collection, beautifully organized, anywhere you go. WHY PMDA Most music apps lock you into a subscription and their catalog, or leave your carefully-built library a mess of mismatched tags and missing covers. PMDA is different: 100% self-hosted, private, and it actually understands your music. WHAT YOU GET โ€ข Your whole library, everywhere โ€” browse artists, albums, genres and labels, with rich, clickable artist pages. โ€ข Real listening โ€” gapless playback, history, cross-user recommendations, synced lyrics and waveforms. โ€ข Lossless, your way โ€” stream bit-perfect FLAC or save data with smart transcoding; download albums for offline, even on a plane. โ€ข Clean and yours โ€” your files, your server, your rules. No cloud lock-in, no ads, no tracking, no AI. HOW IT WORKS PMDA mobile is a companion to the PMDA server (a free, self-hosted music library app you run on your own machine or NAS). Enter your server's address, sign in, and your library is in your pocket. Nothing is stored on our servers โ€” the app talks only to the server you point it at. Built for people who are in love with music. Welcome.

About

Beat Bazaar

Features
Read full description

Works Fully Offline Your music lives on your device. Play anywhere: on a plane, in the subway, or with Wi-Fi off. Your library stays private and always accessible. Plays All Your Files MP3, AAC, M4A, M4B, MP4 audio, WAV, and FLAC. One app for your entire collection with no conversions needed. Fix & Organize Your Tags Beat Bazaar reads titles, artists, albums, genres, and artwork directly from your files. Fix missing or incorrect details, bulk-edit entire albums in seconds, and save changes back to the files. 10-Band Equalizer Shape your sound with up to 10 bands of EQ from 31Hz to 16kHz for more bass, brighter highs, and clearer vocals. Pitch & Speed Change playback speed and pitch independently. Slow down to learn a part, speed up to save time, or shift pitch without affecting tempo. Synced Lyrics Lyrics scroll in time with the music, fetched from a public database. Follow along word by word. Customize Everything Pick a theme preset or create your own colors and font. Supports 6 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Background Playback Music keeps playing while you do other things. Control it from your lock screen with full track info and artwork. Stay Informed Stay updated on new features and announcements without leaving the app. Organize Your Way Browse by artist, album, genre, playlist, or folder. See your files exactly as they're arranged on disk. Search, filter, and sort to find any track instantly. Waveforms & Smart Queue Tap anywhere on a track's waveform to jump to that moment. The queue supports shuffle, repeat, and reordering and remembers where you left off. Free with Optional Ads Beat Bazaar is free with light ads. Watch a quick video to disable ads for your session, or subscribe for permanent ad-free access.

Screenshots

PMDA4 screens
Beat Bazaar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PMDA at none against Beat Bazaar's 3. PMDA also leads on ads (none vs shown). Beat Bazaar's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. Beat Bazaar sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. PMDA asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PMDA ships an update every 3 weeks, Beat Bazaar every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
PMDA versus Beat Bazaar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPMDABeat Bazaar
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 days โ€” better
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS16.415.1 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size82 MB61 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRaphael VaelMartin Thibaul

In-app purchases

None

PMDA

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Beat Bazaar

One-time3
  • Beat Bazaar Gold Month$1.99
  • Beat Bazaar Gold Yearly$12.99
  • Beat Bazaar Gold Lifetime$19.99

Questions

Is PMDA free?
PMDA is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Beat Bazaar free?
Beat Bazaar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PMDA or Beat Bazaar have ads?
Beat Bazaar shows ads; PMDA does not.
Which is updated more often, PMDA or Beat Bazaar?
PMDA ships an update every 3 weeks, and Beat Bazaar every 3 days. Most recently, PMDA was updated on October 5, 2026 and Beat Bazaar on October 4, 2026.

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