# Beat Maker vs CalmusNotation

The clearest difference is price: CalmusNotation at Free against Beat Maker's $3.99. Beat Maker's advantage is review sentiment (30% vs 0%) and ratings volume (28 vs 5). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

CalmusNotation is free to download; Beat Maker costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Beat Maker against 4.4 for CalmusNotation. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Beat Maker has 28 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 30% of Beat Maker's written reviews are positive against 0% of CalmusNotation's.

Beat Maker ships an update every 2 months, CalmusNotation every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Beat Maker | CalmusNotation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $3.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.4 (28 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/beat-maker-loops-and-drum-pad/id979117778/reviews) | [4.4 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/calmusnotation/id993026661/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **28** | 5 |
| Positive reviews | **30.0% of reviews** | 0.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 months** | Every 4 months |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Size | 10 MB | 294 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13** | 15.6 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Mikhail Akopov](https://appshunter.io/developer/467468541) | [Erki-tonlist sf](https://appshunter.io/developer/929321904) |

## What reviewers say

### Beat Maker

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/beat-maker-loops-and-drum-pad/id979117778)

Create professional-quality music with an intuitive interface. Make beats, loops, and full tracks using a variety of sounds and instruments. Record, import, and export your creations easily.

**Highlights:** Create beats, loops, and tracks, 14 drum sounds and 75 instrument sounds, Record or import sounds, Layer up to 8 sounds per loop, Up to 10 channels per track, Export creations as sounds, loops, or tracks

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### CalmusNotation

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/calmusnotation/id993026661)

Create and visualize musical compositions using AI-powered graphical notation. This app leverages advanced AI, inspired by NASA's Lisp programming, to generate original music based on user input and can display music from other compatible apps for live performance.

**Highlights:** AI-powered music composition, Graphical notation display, Real-time performance visualization, Lisp-based AI engine, User input-driven music creation, Integration with CalmusComposer and CalmusPlay

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Beat Maker free?

Beat Maker costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is CalmusNotation free?

CalmusNotation is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Beat Maker or CalmusNotation?

Beat Maker and CalmusNotation are both rated 4.4 out of 5 on the App Store, from 28 and 5 ratings respectively.

### Do Beat Maker or CalmusNotation have ads?

Neither Beat Maker nor CalmusNotation shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Beat Maker or CalmusNotation?

Beat Maker ships an update every 2 months, and CalmusNotation every 4 months. Most recently, Beat Maker was updated on October 27, 2026 and CalmusNotation on October 8, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*