The best free rhythm games for Android and iOS in 2026

Disclosure: this guide is published by the Rhythm Guru team (Doctor Games). We have tried to describe every game the way its own players would, including where ours is weaker. Prices and business models change; check the store page before you download.

How we picked

A game made the list if it is playable on a phone, can be started for free (or is famous enough that you will be asked about it anyway), and is still actively played. We looked at three things: how the game feels in the hand, where the songs come from, and how the game makes money — because in rhythm games the business model decides whether you can play the songs you want.

Quick comparison

Features players ask about

“?” means we could not confirm it from an official source; check the store page.

1. osu! — the deepest free rhythm game, but it lives on a computer

osu! is the reference point for competitive rhythm games: completely free, with a community that has charted an enormous number of songs and a global ranking built on performance points (pp). If you have a PC and want to get seriously good, it is hard to beat. The catch for phone players is that osu! is a desktop game; the open-source osu!lazer client has mobile builds, but the community, the tools for making beatmaps and the full experience are built around a mouse, a tablet or a keyboard.

Best for: players who want the most content and the most serious ranking scene and do not mind playing at a desk.

2. Phigros — free, generous and beautifully charted

Phigros is famous for judgement lines that move, rotate and split across the screen, and for being unusually generous: songs are unlocked by playing rather than by paying. The charts are hand-made and inventive, and the difficulty ceiling is very high. Expect a learning curve — the moving lines are the whole point.

Best for: touchscreen players who want hand-crafted charts and a free game that does not push purchases.

3. Arcaea — stylish, with a three-dimensional twist

Arcaea combines ordinary taps with "arcs" you trace in the air above the lanes, wrapped in a strong visual identity and a story. The base game is free and includes a decent set of songs, but most of the catalogue is sold in packs. If you fall for it, budget for a few of them.

Best for: players who like a distinctive mechanic and do not mind paying for song packs later.

4. Project Sekai — if you love Vocaloid music

Project Sekai (Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku) is a polished free rhythm game built around Vocaloid songs, characters and story events, with a lane-based play field that will feel familiar if you have played arcade rhythm games. It is free to play; the gacha is for character cards rather than for songs, so you can play the music without spending.

Best for: Vocaloid fans and players who enjoy events and collecting.

5. Magic Tiles 3 — the casual option

Magic Tiles 3 is the "piano tiles" style game many people install first: tap the black tiles in time with the melody. It is easy to pick up and has a huge catalogue of familiar tunes. It leans on ads and a VIP subscription, and the skill ceiling is lower than in the games above.

Best for: relaxed play and familiar songs, short sessions.

6. Rhythm Guru — rhythm game with your own music (ours)

Rhythm Guru is the game we make, so read this with that in mind. Its idea is simple: instead of a fixed song list, you add any song that is already on your phone (MP3, M4A, WAV or FLAC, up to 10 minutes), and the game builds a level with five difficulties — usually in about a minute; a song nobody has added before can take two or three. You can fix any note in the built-in editor, publish the map to the Community, and compete on world, country and friends leaderboards with D–SS ranks and pp. There is also a hand-tuned catalogue, a daily song with streaks, and offline play for downloaded songs.

Where it is weaker, honestly: maps are generated, then polished by people — they are not hand-charted from scratch like Phigros or Arcaea, and rap or purely instrumental tracks are the known weak spots. The play field is three lanes of taps (two and four lanes are available as mods), so it is simpler than games with holds, flicks or arcs. The free tier includes 10 generated maps a month; Premium removes ads and that limit. Ads appear between screens, never during a song, and there is no energy system.

Best for: people whose favourite songs are not in any rhythm game — and who like having a leaderboard on them. More detail in how to turn a song into a level.

Worth knowing, but not free

Cytus II

A paid game from Rayark with superb music and a scanning-line mechanic: notes appear across the whole screen and a line sweeps up and down to judge them. One purchase gets you a large catalogue; extra character packs cost more. If you are willing to pay once, it is one of the most polished rhythm games on mobile.

Muse Dash

A paid, two-button side-scroller: you attack enemies on the upper and lower lanes in time with the music. Very approachable, very cute, and great on a phone in portrait hands. Extra songs come as optional DLC.

Beat Saber — VR only

Beat Saber is often the first answer to "best rhythm game", but it needs a VR headset (Meta Quest, PC VR or PlayStation VR2); there is no phone version. If you are searching for it on Android or iPhone, apps with similar names are not the real game.

Which one should you install?

• Want the most serious competitive scene and own a PC: osu!.
• Want hand-crafted charts on a phone for free: Phigros.
• Love Vocaloid: Project Sekai.
• Want to play your songs and race friends on them: Rhythm Guru.
• Happy to pay once for polish: Cytus II or Muse Dash.

Whatever you pick, a few habits will make you better faster — see our tips on accuracy, timing offset and full combos, and if you are coming from osu!, the comparison with osu!, Cytus II and Beat Saber.