Comparison

FingerDrumPad vs MACHINE DRUM

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

Head to head
About

FingerDrumPad

Features
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Become a drummer, just with your fingertips. Plug in headphones and leave the bulky drum kit behind. Play real drums silently, even late at night. FingerDrumPad is a second drum kit that fits in the palm of your hand. ■ Total freedom in pad shape and placement Pads are free-form polygons with 3 to 10 vertices, placeable anywhere on screen. Make the kick large and round, the snare wide and horizontal, the hi-hat small and compact. Create as many original kits as you like, tailored to your own hands. ■ A practice mode that accelerates your progress Every hit is judged in real time. Detailed feedback — Perfect / Good / Early / Late — plus combos, scores, and ranks (S–D) turns daily practice into something you'll look forward to. Your timing habits are visualized as a heatmap, with per-pad statistics and a "pad to focus on next" suggestion. Daily streaks and weekly summaries keep your motivation going. Includes 100+ charts across 10 genres — rock, pop, funk, jazz, Latin, reggae, and more. Start free with the Basic charts. ■ A step sequencer that builds patterns and exports to your DAW Assemble rhythm patterns on 16th- and 32nd-note grids. Odd time signatures like 3/4, 5/4, and 7/4 are supported too. Send your patterns to Practice mode to play them, or export them as MIDI files to take into your DAW. ■ Expand your sound endlessly Load your favorite SF2 SoundFont and use it as an entire kit. Sounds matching the GM standard get the right colors and names automatically, so a brand-new kit takes seconds. Assign any AUv3 instrument plugin to a pad to turn FingerDrumPad into the ultimate touch instrument. A built-in scanner detects which notes actually produce sound, so you'll never guess which note to pick. ■ Packed with thoughtful details ・Multi-touch for both hands at once, plus choke by holding a cymbal pad ・Touch velocity that senses how hard you hit (with per-finger calibration) ・Haptic feedback you can feel with every hit ・Metronome supporting 40–200 BPM and 1–12 beats per measure ・Ensemble mode that plays along to songs from your music library (change playback speed from 50–100% while preserving pitch) ・An interactive tutorial so you'll never feel lost ・Custom drum maps you can register for MIDI modules like Roland and Yamaha ・In-app help via the "?" button on every screen ■ Private by design Crash reporting is off by default. Nothing is sent unless you explicitly opt in. Your practice history and settings stay on your device. ■ Unlock everything with Pro A single one-time purchase lifts the limits on kits and patterns you can save, and unlocks all 100+ charts across 10 genres, SF2 SoundFont import, and AUv3 plugins. No subscription. Plug in your headphones and start drumming with your fingertips today.

About

MACHINE DRUM

This app offers a minimalist drum machine and sound design lab for creating beats and audio. It features a tactile step sequencer, custom kick sound designer, and the ability to record and manipulate custom samples. Professional DSP effects and genre-inspired templates are also included to enhance creativity.

Highlights
  • Tactile 16-pad step sequencer
  • Custom kick sound designer with dual-oscillator engine
  • Record and manipulate custom samples
  • DSP effects including Delay, Reverb, and Bitcrusher
  • Frequency filters (LP, BP, HP)
  • Hardware and genre-inspired presets
Features
Read full description

MACHINE DRUM: Minimalist Drum Machine & Sound Design Lab Experience beatmaking stripped of clutter. MACHINE DRUM combines retro hardware aesthetics with clean, modern minimalism, giving you a distraction-free canvas built purely to support your creativity and professional grade audio expression. Every knob, slider, instrument and effect has been crafted for visual simplicity and self expression, letting you stay locked in the flow whether sketching rhythms on the go or sculpting intricate synthesis in the studio. TACTILE 16-PAD STEP SEQUENCER Build loops instantly with an intuitive, hardware-style pad grid. Tap steps to program rhythms, control tempo (BPM), and fine-tune levels. Solo or mute individual tracks to build dynamic build-ups and drops live. CUSTOM KICK SOUND DESIGNER Stop relying on generic samples. Synthesize your own signature kicks with a dedicated, dual-oscillator sound engine: • Envelope (ADSR): Fine-tune Attack, Decay, Sustain, & Release using a live visual envelope graph. • FM Synthesis: Dial in punchy transients using FM Depth, FM Speed, and Base Pitch controls. • LFO Modulation: Add rich movement and texture. Route the LFO to Pitch, Filter, Level, or Pan RECORD CUSTOM SAMPLES Record real-world sounds instantly using your iPhone's microphone. Pitch, trim, and swap custom samples into any track pad in real time. Perfect for integrating vocal chops, ambient hits, or custom percussion. DSP EFFECTS & FREQUENCY FILTERS Sculpt your final output mix with professional audio processing: • Delay, Reverb and Bitcrusher: Add analog-style warmth, drive, and grit to glue your beats together. • Frequency Filter: Switch between Low Pass (LP), Band Pass (BP), and High Pass (HP) modes with dedicated Cutoff and Resonance sliders. PRESETS & LEGENDARY GENRE TEMPLATES Load instantly playable song templates and legendary drum machine styles to jumpstart your inspiration: • Explore hardware profiles like the TR-808, TR-909, Linn LM-1, and MPC60. • Load curated song setups inspired by Classic Hip Hop, EDM and Synthwave

Screenshots

FingerDrumPad4 screens
MACHINE DRUM4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: FingerDrumPad at 18.0 against MACHINE DRUM's 26.2. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. FingerDrumPad sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and MACHINE DRUM sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference · 7 level
FingerDrumPad versus MACHINE DRUM: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFingerDrumPadMACHINE DRUM
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperToshihide NakamuraNathan Burazer

In-app purchases

1 purchases

FingerDrumPad

One-time1
  • Unlock Pro$9.99
1 purchases

MACHINE DRUM

One-time1
  • MACHINE DRUM PRO$9.99

Questions

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

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