Ear training apps are not really competing on features — they are competing on method. Most of them drill intervals in the abstract: two notes, name the distance. PitchMe establishes a key first and asks what you heard inside it, which is the way musicians actually hear music. This page compares PitchMe with the apps people most often weigh it against, including where those apps are the better choice.
Facts about other apps last verified .
"Not found" means we could not find the feature when we reviewed the app on 2026-08-25, not that it certainly does not exist. Apps change, and we do not track every release. Each app links to its own site — check anything that matters to your decision at the source.
These are the dimensions that decide whether an ear trainer actually builds relative pitch, rather than a feature count.
| What it trains | PitchMe | Functional Ear Trainer | EarMaster | Tenuto | Perfect Ear | ToneGym |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trains notes in a key | Yes Every mode establishes a key first, then asks what you heard inside it, labelled as scale degrees or solfège. | Yes The cadence-then-scale-degree exercise is its entire design. | Partial Includes functional and scale-degree work, but much of the syllabus is abstract interval and chord-quality identification. | Not found Interval and chord drills are presented without a key centre. | Partial Includes solfège and some in-key work, but the core drills are abstract. | Partial Some in-key games, but most identify intervals and chords in the abstract. |
Trains chords by function | Yes Chords are drilled as Nashville numbers — the 1, 4, 5, 6, then the 2, 3 and 7 — with inversions and non-diatonic chords unlocking later. | Not found Single notes only. | Partial Extensive chord identification, mostly by quality and inversion rather than by role in a key. | Partial Chord identification by quality and inversion, not by role in a key. | Partial Chord identification by quality; progressions can be built manually. | Partial Chord and progression games, mostly by quality. |
Trains hearing inside a chord | Yes A dedicated Harmony mode plays a chord and asks which note inside it you heard, including complex chords. | Not found No chord-tone identification. | Partial Chord and progression dictation, rather than picking a single note out of a sounding chord. | Not found No chord-tone identification. | Not found No dedicated chord-tone identification mode. | Partial Chord-tone games exist alongside a broad mixing-ear syllabus. |
Trains intonation in cents | Yes A dedicated Intonation mode asks whether a note is in tune, tightening from 15 cents to 5 cents as you improve. | Not found No tuning or cents work. | Not found No cents-level tuning drills. | Not found No cents-level tuning drills. | Partial Microphone singing exercises; no cents-level tuning discrimination found. | Not found No cents-level tuning drills. |
Removes crutches on a schedule | Yes Levels unlock a second octave, inversions, complex chords and extra scale degrees, and take the reference note away at level 3. | Yes Levels widen from part of a scale to multiple octaves. | Yes Guided courses set the order and the difficulty. | Not found Every exercise is manually configured; nothing escalates on its own. | Partial Structured units exist, but difficulty is mostly yours to set. | Yes The daily workout picks the games and the level for you. |
Built around a daily habit | Yes Rounds run about a minute, with three lives, a combo multiplier and optional daily reminders. | Partial Structured drills, but no game loop pulling you back. | Not found Designed as study software for longer sittings. | Partial Challenge Mode adds a timer and a personal high score. | Partial Practice reminders, but no game loop. | Yes A five-game daily workout is the centre of the product. |
Leaderboards | Yes Global leaderboards and shareable scores. | Not found No leaderboards. | Not found No leaderboards. | Not found Scores are private to you. | Not found No leaderboards. | Yes Weekly contests, a performance index and a large community. |
Price | Free to download; optional subscription. No ads. | Free, with in-app purchases. | Subscription, with in-app purchases for individual courses. See their site for current pricing. | One-time purchase. See their site for current pricing. | Free with ads; premium subscription. | Limited free account; subscription or lifetime purchase. See their site for current pricing. |
Platforms | iOS and Android. | iOS and Android. | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android. | iOS and macOS. | Android, with a more limited iOS build. | Web browser only — no native mobile app. |
The free, single-purpose app that made functional ear training popular: a cadence establishes the key, then you name the scale degree you heard.
The textbook of ear training software: a large, structured curriculum covering intervals, chords, scales, rhythm, melodic dictation and sight-singing, on desktop and mobile.
A clean, offline toolkit of about two dozen customisable music theory and ear training drills from the makers of musictheory.net, sold once rather than rented.
A broad, long-established Android-first trainer covering intervals, scales, chords, rhythm, solfège, note reading and custom exercises, free with ads and a premium tier.
A browser-based, heavily gamified ear training platform aimed at producers, with a daily workout of short games, weekly contests and a large community.
PitchMe is free to download on iOS and Android, with no ads.