Comparison

GeoShred vs SynthShred

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

Head to head
About

GeoShred

This app is a fluidly expressive musical instrument for multi-touch devices. It offers a unique performance surface with advanced pitch rounding and physical modeling of various instruments. Expand your sonic palette with a wide range of purchasable instrument add-ons.

Highlights
  • Fluidly expressive playing surface
  • Physically modeled guitar and effects
  • Extensive in-app instrument purchases
  • AUv3 plugin support
  • MIDI/MPE IN/OUT support
  • Support for world scales and temperaments
Features
Read full description

GeoShred Pro Version 7 With in-app purchases for GeoSWAM and Naada instruments on devices running iOS 13 or later. Imagine a new kind of musical instrument, an instrument that lets performers fluidly express multiple independent voices. An instrument with continuous pitch control that also helps players precisely land on the right note in any temperament. GeoShred Pro is an award-winning, deeply expressive musical instrument for multi-touch devices. Its innovative performance surface features “almost magic” pitch-rounding algorithms and is coupled to physically modeled instruments and effects. GeoShred Pro also supports AUv3, MIDI In/Out, MPE, and 3D Touch. It combines Jordan Rudess’ groundbreaking performance concepts with powerful physically modeled guitar and effects technology based on the research of Dr. Julius O. Smith III of Stanford/CCRMA. GeoShred’s expressive control surface can also be used to play external synthesizers. 300,000 artists in over 120 countries perform with GeoShred, with a strong global community that includes many musicians in India. Awards include: • 2nd Place Winner, 2022/2025 MIDI Innovation Award for Software • Gold Medal Winner, 2019 Denny Award • Winner, 2019 Guthman New Musical Instrument Award • Winner, 2017 Electronic Musician Editor’s Choice Award GeoShred Pro Version 7 Features • Send/Connect support so GeoShred for iOS/iPadOS can control GeoShred Studio for macOS • A fluid, expressive playing surface with finger vibrato, slide, and intelligent pitch rounding • Built-in physically modeled guitar • Physically modeled effects including Distortion, Wah, EQ, VCF, Flanger, Phaser, Chorus, Tremolo, Reverb, Sympathetic Resonator, Echo Looper, Multi-Tap Echo, Amp and Cabinet Modeling, Modeled Feedback for Guitar, and VCF effects • In-app purchases for 22 Naada instruments: Bansuri, Bass, Bass Clarinet, Carnatic Violin, Cello, Dizi, Duduk, Erhu, Gaohu, Guan, Nadaswaram, Pan Flute, Pipa, Rudra Veena, Sarangi, Saraswati Veena, Sarod, Shehnai, Sitar, Suona, Viola, and Zhonghu • In-app purchases for 11 GeoSWAM instruments: GeoViolin, GeoFlute, GeoTenorSax, GeoCello, GeoClarinet, GeoOboe, GeoTrumpet, GeoBassTrombone, GeoBassFlute, GeoViola, and GeoPizzBass • AUv3 plug-in support with parameter automation • iCloud preset synchronization • MIDI/MPE In/Out support • MIDI configuration presets • Customizable control surface mapping to physical MIDI controls • Diatonic keyboard mode, where every key is in the scale • Support for world scales and temperaments, including Indian ragas, Arabic scales, and Balinese scales • 3D Touch support on compatible iPhones • Backing tracks • Built-in arpeggiator • Easy preset sharing via email or iCloud The GeoSWAM and Naada instruments can be performed from the GeoShred keyboard, MPE controllers, conventional MIDI controllers, and wind controllers. Praise for the GeoShred Family of Apps “GeoShred is brilliant—it’s a real instrument.” — Eddie Jobson “A fantastic new invention which is going to revolutionize the way music is played, expressed and learned! ‘GeoShred’ is one of the foremost best musical inventions I’ve had the pleasure to experience in recent years. Definitely 5 stars out of 5! GIGANTASTIVISSIMO…..R…A…Z!!!!!” — Patrick Moraz “That’s just nuts. You’re the best guitarist without a guitar of all time.” — Joe Satriani Our Commitment We are dedicated to providing the highest level of musical instrument experience for our customers worldwide. If you enjoy GeoShred, we would greatly appreciate your positive review on the App Store. If you have any questions, we would love to hear from you at: support@moforte.com Minimum Requirements iOS 13 or later is required for AUv3, iCloud, and GeoSWAM and Naada instruments. * Note: Due to App Store limitations, previously purchased individual instrument in-app purchases cannot be applied toward the purchase of collection in-app purchases.

About

SynthShred

This app is a virtual musical instrument offering a vast library of sound presets, including pianos, guitars, and synths. It provides customizable guitar tunings and a selection of musical scales with root key adjustments for easier playing. Enjoy expressive sound shaping with built-in effects and multiple playing modes.

Highlights
  • 139 sound presets
  • 29 guitar tuning presets
  • 14 musical scales
  • Diatonic surface option
  • Monophonic and Polyphonic Mode
  • Reverb and Echo effects
Read full description

SynthShred is musical instrument containing 139 sound presets including piano, guitars, ethnic instruments, chromatic percussions, strings, pipes, synth pads, reed instruments, brass, organs, ensemble, bass, synth leads and many more. SynthShred comes with 29 guitar tuning presets including standard guitar, all fourths, drop tunings, open tunings, major minor tunings and many more. SynthShred also contains 14 mostly used musical scales including Major, Minor, Harmonic Minor, Pentatonic and many more. SynthShred provides the ability to change the root key for the the selected scale to be in the key every time. The diatonic surface option will remove the notes from the surface that are not part of the scale. It's easier for the player to be in key. SynthShred features includes: - Expressive physical guitar surface - Monophonic and Polyphonic Mode - Diatonic surface - Adjustable string and fret counts - 139 sound presets - 29 unique guitar tuning presets - 14 commonly used scales - Modulation slider - On screen Reverb and Echo effects controls - Sustain button for acoustic instruments Available for iPhone, iPad and iPods for free. Minimum Requirements: iOS 9.0 or later.

Screenshots

GeoShred4 screens
SynthShred4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SynthShred at Free against GeoShred's $24.99. SynthShred also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). GeoShred's advantage is review sentiment (91% vs 50%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.4). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

SynthShred is free to download; GeoShred costs $24.99 up front. GeoShred sells 24 one-off in-app purchases and SynthShred sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

GeoShred holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: GeoShred has 1.4K ratings behind it against 200, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of GeoShred's written reviews are positive against 50% of SynthShred's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GeoShred ships an update every 2 weeks, SynthShred every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
GeoShred versus SynthShred: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGeoShredSynthShred
Price$24.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (1.4K ratings) — better4.4 (200 ratings)
Positive reviews90.7% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1.4K — better200
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size865 MB141 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperWizdom Music LLCYugal Sharma

Customer experience

GeoShred

All ratings1,402 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral1.6%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews525 reviews
Positive90.7%
Neutral2.7%
Negative6.7%

SynthShred

All ratings200 ratings
Positive84.0%
Neutral7.0%
Negative9.0%
Written reviews46 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral8.7%
Negative41.3%

Bugs and requests

GeoShred

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Inconsistent performance and note retention issues when used with other apps
  • Occasional crashes and freezes, especially after updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • More classic acoustic and electric guitar sounds
  • Improved scale and mode selection interface
  • Ability to save and load custom presets
  • Support for external MIDI controllers and keyboards
  • Recording and looping capabilities within the app

SynthShred

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

24 purchases

GeoShred

One-time24
  • GeoBassTrombone$10.00
  • Naada Duduk$11.00
  • Naada Carnatic Violin$14.99
Show 21 more
  • Naada Sitar$14.99
  • GeoClarinet$14.99
  • GeoOboe$14.99
  • GeoCello$14.99
  • GeoViolin$14.99
  • GeoTenorSax$14.99
  • GeoFlute$14.99
  • GeoTrumpet$14.99
  • GeoPizzBass$14.99
  • Naada Bansuri$14.99
  • GeoBassFlute$14.99
  • GeoViola$14.99
  • Naada Collection III$50.00
  • GeoSWAM Collection II$59.99
  • GeoSWAM Collection Classic$74.99
  • Naada Collection 1$74.99
  • Naada Collecton IV$89.99
  • GeoSWAM Collection I & II$119.99
  • Naada Collection I & II$119.99
  • Naada Collection I & II & III & IV$173.99
  • Naada Collection I & II & III$179.99
1 purchases

SynthShred

One-time1
  • Full Upgrade to SynthShred Pro$3.99

Questions

Is GeoShred free?
GeoShred costs $24.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is SynthShred free?
SynthShred is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, GeoShred or SynthShred?
GeoShred is rated higher. GeoShred averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.4K ratings, while SynthShred averages 4.4 from 200 ratings.
Do GeoShred or SynthShred have ads?
Neither GeoShred nor SynthShred shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GeoShred or SynthShred?
GeoShred ships an update every 2 weeks, and SynthShred every 4 days. Most recently, GeoShred was updated on October 2, 2026 and SynthShred on September 24, 2026.

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