Comparison

Hive vs Beat

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

Head to head
About

Hive

Features
Read full description

Hive is a honeycomb loop mixer. Pick a hive, tap a hex, and the loop locks to the beat. Every loop in a pack lives in the same key and tempo, so whatever you light up plays together. No timeline. No tracks. No menus. Just a wall of glowing hexes and a heartbeat that keeps the jam honest. Tap mid-cycle and the loop waits for the next downbeat, then drops in on time. Seven hives, seven moods. Tape Haze and Break Slice are free, forever. Pocket Groove, Stingray, Warehouse Pulse, Neon Current, and Crate Digger unlock with Hive Pro. Light up a mix you love and share it as a hive code. Anyone with Hive opens the same loops, on the same downbeat. Hive Pro is $4.99/month or $39.99/year. It unlocks every hive, all future packs, unlimited downloads, and mix recording. Cancel anytime in Settings. Works on iPhone and iPad, portrait or landscape. Pinch to zoom the bigger hives.

About

Beat

Features
Read full description

Make a beat with Loops or with your mouth. Watch it paint. Beat-Splash turns your voice into art. Beatbox, hum, clap, or drop in loops from the built-in library โ€” then watch every kick, snare and melody explode across the canvas as paint. No instruments. No music theory. If you can go "doof doof," you can make something amazing. THREE WAYS TO PAINT โ€ข Eruption โ€” every beat detonates a fountain of paint that splashes, splatters and piles into a glorious mess โ€ข Pendulum โ€” swinging paint funnels trace hypnotic spin-art loops, steered by your beat โ€ข Photo Reveal โ€” pick a photo and your track splatters it into view, color by color. Sky-blue paint only sticks to sky. BUILD YOUR BEAT โ€ข 7 layers: drums, bass, beat, synth, melody, FX and vocals โ€ข Record with the mic or drop in loops โ€” everything auto-syncs to your tempo โ€ข Big hits paint big. Quiet parts paint soft. The music is the brush. MAKE IT YOURS โ€ข Curated color palettes, or build and save your own โ€ข Record a video of your session โ€” art and music together โ€ข Save still artworks and editable tracks to your gallery Free forever: create without limits and share your videos. One single purchase unlocks everything โ€” every loop, saving to your gallery, and watermark-free exports. No subscriptions, ever. Your track is the artist. Press record and let it paint.

Screenshots

Hive4 screens
Beat4 screens

Verdict

The call

Hive and Beat are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters โ€” price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Hive sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Beat sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Hive versus Beat: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHiveBeat
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size45 MB160 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperENAMIC (PTY) LTDadam rogan

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Hive

Subscriptions2
  • Hive Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Hive Pro Yearly$39.991 Year
1 purchases

Beat

One-time1
  • Full Unlock$1.99

Questions

Is Hive free?
Hive is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Beat free?
Beat is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Hive or Beat have ads?
Neither Hive nor Beat shows ads.

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