SoundGym Alternative: Earlytics vs SoundGym for Ear Training

4 min read

SoundGym is the best-known name in ear training for producers and audio engineers, and for good reason. If you’re searching for an alternative, it’s usually for one of three reasons: the price of the Pro plan, the limits of the free plan, or the fact that it doesn’t cover classic music theory ear training. Here’s a fair side-by-side, including where SoundGym is the better choice.

Full disclosure: Earlytics is our app. Prices below were checked on each site in September 2026.

What SoundGym does well

SoundGym turns critical listening into short daily workouts made of games: frequency recognition, EQ, compression, panning, spatial awareness, and beat-making games. Around that core, it has built a lot:

• A large game library with a Pro “focused training” mode
• Community features: social spaces, followers, weekly contests
• Progress tracking with its own ranking, learning points and workout streaks
• An Audio School with courses on recording, production, mixing, synthesis and live sound
• A classroom version for schools

If you want a big, established, community-driven training platform and the budget isn’t a concern, SoundGym is a strong choice.

Where people run into limits

The free plan is narrow. Free users get a limited, fixed set of games in each workout; the full game library and focused training mode are Pro only.

Pro is priced like a professional tool. On SoundGym’s shop: USD 24.95 per month, USD 142 per year, or USD 495 for a lifetime license.

No solfège. SoundGym focuses on audio skills. If you also want intervals, chords, scales or rhythm dictation, you need a second app.

Browser-based. SoundGym runs on the web; on a phone, you train in the mobile browser.

How Earlytics is different

Earlytics was built for producers who want mixing ear training and the music theory fundamentals in one place.

• 17 categories. Mixing: EQ boost, EQ cut, compression, compression ratio, attack/release, saturation, panning, stereo width, volume gaps, filters, reverb and frequency matching. Solfège: intervals, chords, scales, rhythm dictation and cadences.
• A free plan that covers everything. 8 free questions per month in every one of the 17 categories, generated at your real level, not a demo mode.
• Adaptive difficulty per skill. Each category has 10 levels that follow your accuracy, so your EQ level and your compression level move independently.
• Level-matched comparisons where loudness would give the answer away (compression, saturation), so you judge the processing, not the volume.
• Pricing: €4.99 per month, €39.99 per year, or €59.99 lifetime.

It runs in any browser and can be installed on your phone’s home screen like an app.

Side by side

Where SoundGym is still the better pick

Be honest with yourself about what you’ll actually use. SoundGym is the better fit if you want:

• the community side: weekly contests, followers and social spaces
• structured courses alongside the games (the Audio School)
• beat-making and rhythm games aimed at producers
• a large library of different game types

Earlytics is newer and deliberately narrower: the focus is on the drills themselves, with difficulty that adapts per skill.

Where Earlytics is the better pick

• You want mixing and solfège training without paying for two apps
• You want a free plan that lets you test every skill, not a fixed subset
• You care about price: a year of Earlytics costs roughly what two months of SoundGym Pro do
• You want to see exactly which skill is weak, category by category

Try both before paying

Both have free options, so the simplest move is to try them side by side for a week. If you want a quick read on your ear first, the free 2-minute Earlytics test runs six questions on EQ, compression and panning, no account needed.

If you’re still comparing tools, our ear training apps comparison covers EarMaster, Perfect Ear and Quiztones too, and the EQ frequency guide explains how to train frequency recognition with any tool.