Esspresso vs sub808
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Esspresso
This advanced audio effect offers professional de-essing with an intuitive interface. It functions as both a standalone app and an AUv3 plugin, allowing independent control over detection and suppression frequencies for precise sibilance management.
- Standalone app and AUv3 plugin
- Independent detection and suppression frequencies
- Visual frequency response view
- Detector sensitivity gain
- Visual reduction and detector RMS
- Load/save presets
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This audio effect is an advanced de-esser with an intuitive user interface, and works both as an AUv3 audio plugin, and as a standalone app. The uniqueness of Esspresso is that the detection frequency range isn’t coupled with the suppressors frequency range. That means you can listen to a specific frequency and compress another one, which is often what you’ll want from a professional de-esser. With a fast and accurate frequency response view, you will easily get full control over annoying S-sounds that ruin the mix. Noteworthy features: • Works both as a standalone app and as an Audio Unit Extension (AUv3) with compliant hosts • Detector sensitivity gain • Visual reduction RMS • Visual detector RMS • Suppressor can work as allpass, bandpass and highpass • Load / Save presets
sub808
Create powerful sub-bass sounds with this intuitive instrument app. Explore analog-inspired flavors, fine-tune saturation, and sculpt your basslines with versatile envelope and shaper controls. Compatible across devices for seamless production.
- 50 Factory Presets
- 4 Analog Flavors
- 8 Saturation Modes
- Filter Cutoff & Glide
- Handcrafted Envelope & Shaper
- Cross-platform Compatibility
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Sub atomic bass. Anywhere. For any mix. sub808 is the end result of countless hours dialing in and perfecting the perfect 808 - so you don’t have to! Experience the instant power of sub808 in your productions and sculpt your bass into something uniquely yours with our intuitive interface, all within moments. At its core, sub808 includes 50 Factory Presets, featuring 4 distinct flavors: Smooth, Tape, Gritty, and Nasty. Each flavor comes with its own unique analog character, providing excellent starting points for your creativity. Fine-tune these sounds to perfection with 8 Saturation modes, offering precise control over drive and mix levels. Smooth Easy-To-Dial-in Filter Cutoff & Glide Times: Experience enhanced versatility with a filter cutoff featuring both pre and post saturation modes, enabling you to position your filter precisely within the signal chain. Elevate your bass playability with the added convenience of an easily adjustable glide function, facilitating seamless pitch bending between your bass lines for added depth and expression. Handcrafted Envelope and Shaper: We’ve dialed in a customized amp envelope, giving you just what you need: Attack & Release. To complement this further, a specialized transient shaper that can sculpt your sound from a smooth bass pad, to PUNCH kick drum sound with ease. Collaborate, Anytime, Anywhere, on Any Machine: Wether you have a fleet of production machines, or if you collaborate with music makers around the world, we have you covered with cross-platform compatibility & presets to make switching between any machine fast and easy. Features - 50 Factory Presets covering multiple genres - 4 distinct Flavors with baked in Analog goodness - 8 Saturation Modes w/ Drive & Mix Controls - Punch Control for Smooth or Punchy bass - Sound sculpting Glide & Attack/Release Controls - Preset Manager included for saving, editing, and loading different presets - Standalone app and AUv3 included
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: sub808 at 4.2 against Esspresso's 3.5. sub808 also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Esspresso's advantage is review sentiment (40% vs 0%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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
Esspresso costs $9.99 and sub808 $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
sub808 holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 10 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 40% of Esspresso's written reviews are positive against 0% of sub808's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Esspresso ships an update every 9 months, sub808 every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Esspresso | sub808 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | $9.99 |
| Rating | 3.5 (16 ratings) | 4.2 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 16 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 6 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 150 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Klevgrand Produkter AB | OSC Audio |
Customer experience
Esspresso
sub808
In-app purchases
Esspresso
No in-app purchases
sub808
No in-app purchases








