Comparison

Fugue Machine vs ChordFlow

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

Head to head
About

Fugue Machine

This music sequencer uses multiple playheads to create complex melodic patterns inspired by Baroque and serialist composition techniques. Manipulate speed, direction, and pitch to generate unique soundscapes.

Highlights
  • Multi-playhead piano roll
  • Manipulate speed, direction, and pitch
  • Create complex melodic patterns
  • Inspired by Baroque and serialist music
  • Supports MIDI, AUv3 MIDI, Ableton Link
  • Inter-App Audio and Audiobus compatibility
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

A music sequencer reimagined with multiple playheads. "How Bach would have made a sequencer." (Create Digital Music) "A musical feat." (Creator's Project) "A new approach to sequencing." (XLR8R) "A next generation music sequencer." (Ask Audio) Fugue Machine Classic is a tool inspired by composition techniques used in Baroque music and Serialism — e.g. Bach’s canons and fugues, and Schoenberg’s twelve-tone technique. The idea was to design a tool to manipulate a melody’s speed, direction, and pitch, as well as play multiple variations of the melody simultaneously. As it turned out, the best implementation for this was to reimagine one of the most fundamental building blocks of all music sequencers: the piano roll. Fugue Machine Classic is the world’s first multi-playhead piano roll. Create a music sequence and play it back with up to four playheads at once — each at various speeds, directions, pitches, and more. Watch the playheads dance, and hear the complex patterns that emerge. It’s mesmerizing. Fugue Machine Classic supports iPhone, iPad, MIDI, AUv3 MIDI, Ableton Link, Audiobus, Audiobus 3 MIDI, and Inter-App Audio. Thanks to the AUv3 standard, you can run multiple instances of Fugue Machine Classic on a single device when hosted in an AUv3 MIDI host app — like AUM, Logic Pro for iPad, Loopy Pro, and Cubasis.

About

ChordFlow

This app helps musicians quickly create chord progressions, arpeggios, and melodies for their songs. It allows for easy editing, arrangement of song sections, and export to DAWs as MIDI files.

Highlights
  • Create chord progressions with scale matching
  • Draw rhythmic arpeggio patterns
  • Compose melodies with scale and chord context
  • Build songs with multiple sections
  • Export to DAW as MIDI
  • Intuitive drag-and-drop editing
Read full description

ChordFlow is a songwriting sketchpad that will help you create amazing chord progressions and melodies for your songs fast and easily. HOW TO USE IT? 1. Create a chord progression. 2. Draw an arpeggio – a rythmic pattern for your chords. 3. Compose a melody. 4. Build a complete song adding more sections. 5. Save your song, share or export to your favourite DAW as a MIDI file. CHORD PROGRESSION - Create chord progression of any length using intuitive chord selector. - Select a scale of your chord progression. - The chord selector will show you which chords are matching the selected scale. - Move chords around within chord progression using drag and drop gestures. - Transpose the chord progression by rotating the key wheel (with the lock button unlocked). Or transpose the key of the scale while keeping the existing chords unchanged (with locked mode). - See the notes of the selected chord and how the relate to the notes of the chord before and the one after the selected. ARPEGGIO - When you draw the arpeggio you are not specifying absolute notes but relative steps of the chords. When played, the pattern will be translated to the absolute notes depending on the currently played chord. - Specify the length and rate of the arpeggio grid. Length defines the number of steps in the sequence and rate define the speed at which the sequence is played. - Add up to 4 tracks to your arpeggio grid. Each track has it’s color, octave and number of parallel voices. To edit a track you select it with the track selection button, and then choose the required tool. - Draw complex curves spanning several rows and columns of the arpeggio grid with just one move with Dots tool - Draw long horizontal lines with Line tool - Move entire track along the grid using the Move tool - Clear a region of the selected track with the Eraser tool - Remove the selected track entirely using the Trash button - Set Loop region to repeatedly play only the selected section of your arpeggio. - Adjust notes velocities MELODY - Create up to 4 melody tracks. - Melodies are edited in their own grid, which also has length and rate params as the arpeggio grid. - Select the root note and the scale for the melody grid. You can also show and hide non-scale notes using the “Chromatic” switch. - Melody grid features the same collection of drawing tool as the arpeggio grid does. - While drawing your melody you will see which chords correspond to the specific steps and also which notes of the grid match the notes of the chords. - You can also set a loop region as in the arpeggio grid view. - Undo/Redo aslo works the same way as in arpeggio grid. SONG STRUCTURE - A song can contain unlimited number of sections - Each section has its own chord progression, arpeggio and melody parts - Add, remove, reorder, rename and clone sections - Make quantized or immediate jumps between sections while playing. - Set a song loop mode. Loop one section. Loop entire song. Or play whole song once. CONNECTIVITY - Control any CoreMIDI compatible app - Control desktop synths through USB or Wi-Fi - Control hardware synths - Specify MIDI destination and channel for each track - Use ChordFlow as MIDI or Audio sender in Audiobus (http://audiob.us/) - Play in sync with other apps running on the same device or on other devices in same Wi-Fi network using a new technology, Ableton Link (http://www.ableton.com/link/) SHARE/EXPORT - Share your projects by AirDrop, Mail, Dropbox or any other app supporting sharing . - Export to Standard MIDI file and open it in the DAW of your choice(Ableton Live, Logic, GarageBand, etc. )

Screenshots

Fugue Machine4 screens
ChordFlow4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: ChordFlow at $9.99 against Fugue Machine's $19.99. ChordFlow also leads on iOS requirement (9.0 vs 12.0). Fugue Machine's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.6) and update cadence (every 8 days vs monthly). On 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

Fugue Machine costs $19.99 and ChordFlow $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Fugue Machine holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 623 and 132 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 90% of Fugue Machine's written reviews are positive against 79% of ChordFlow's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fugue Machine ships an update every 8 days, ChordFlow monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Fugue Machine versus ChordFlow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFugue MachineChordFlow
Price$19.99$9.99 — better
Rating4.9 (623 ratings) — better4.6 (132 ratings)
Positive reviews90.3% of reviews — better78.7% of reviews
Number of ratings623 — better132
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#199 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB73 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlexandernautDmitrii Klochkov

Customer experience

Fugue Machine

All ratings623 ratings
Positive96.5%
Neutral1.4%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews238 reviews
Positive90.3%
Neutral5.0%
Negative4.6%

ChordFlow

All ratings132 ratings
Positive90.2%
Neutral3.8%
Negative6.1%
Written reviews75 reviews
Positive78.7%
Neutral8.0%
Negative13.3%

Bugs and requests

Fugue Machine

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

ChordFlow

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • Sound stops working, gets staticky and fades
  • General audio delay on iPad
  • Chords won't sound
  • Melody thirds and sevenths do not adjust to sharp or flat notes
  • App falls out of sync with Ableton Link
Show 8 more
  • Ableton Link implementation not good, start phase misses often
  • App crashes (Audiobus)
  • No sound output
  • Unstable in Audiobus
  • Doesn't work on iPhone 7+
  • Occasional tone and volume inconsistencies
  • Arpeggio mode feels like trial and error, notes not visible
  • Unexpectedly closes on iPad Pro

Requested features

43 requests
  • Add small keyboard to chord section to show notes
  • Show arp triggered notes when playing
  • Send MIDI data when tapping chords
  • Alter main chords within arpeggio editor
  • Get some serious promotion
Show 38 more
  • Introductory material (tutorial, walkthrough)
  • Freemium model
  • Add MIDI clock
  • Ability to enter number of repetitions for each section
  • Load into AUM
  • BPM swing
  • AUV3 support
  • Swing parameter
  • Manual or guide
  • Audio recording
  • Ableton Link Start/Stop support
  • Basic drum machine sequencer
  • Allow melody to reach lower notes (bass line)
  • A few more sounds
  • Use voices in amounts similar to chord notes for arpeggiation
  • Portrait view on phone
  • Fix Ableton Link sync issues
  • Fix start phase misses in Ableton Link
  • Fix 3/4 time signature issues
  • Improve melody drawing (edge to edge)
  • Volume sliders should work during playback
  • Transpose melody to different octaves
  • Pinch zoom for small screens
  • More control over chords (inversions, common chords from scale)
  • Copy/paste function in note editor
  • Simple mixer for internal sounds
  • Chord suggestions function
  • Vertical mode for adding chords with a swipe
  • Random sequence function
  • Separate MIDI channels per color/track
  • Start/stop control for each track
  • MIDI clock input
  • MIDI input for modulating chords with a keyboard
  • Diatonic chords of certain scales
  • Improve UX for complex sequences (readable separators)
  • Copy function for melodies
  • Fix unexpected closing on iPad Pro
  • Ability to open/import own MIDI files

In-app purchases

None

Fugue Machine

No in-app purchases

None

ChordFlow

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Fugue Machine free?
Fugue Machine costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is ChordFlow free?
ChordFlow costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Fugue Machine or ChordFlow?
Fugue Machine is rated higher. Fugue Machine averages 4.9 out of 5 from 623 ratings, while ChordFlow averages 4.6 from 132 ratings.
Do Fugue Machine or ChordFlow have ads?
Neither Fugue Machine nor ChordFlow shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fugue Machine or ChordFlow?
Fugue Machine ships an update every 8 days, and ChordFlow monthly. Most recently, Fugue Machine was updated on October 16, 2026 and ChordFlow on October 7, 2026.

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