Comparison

StaffWars Live vs Songmaker

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

Head to head
About

StaffWars Live

Enhance instrumental practice with this engaging game. Play notes as they appear on the staff to score points and improve your skills. Customize your practice experience with various instruments, scales, and key signatures.

Highlights
  • Instrumental practice aid
  • Customizable instrument, key, and scale
  • Adjustable note range and speed
  • Score tracking
  • Transposition practice
  • MIDI device support
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Built on the success of the original 'StaffWars', StaffWars Live offers game play designed to aid students in instrumental practice. Choose your instrument, key signature, scale and note range, then play the notes that appear on the staff with your instrument to destroy them before they damage you clef. Notes get faster with every ten correct and you get three lives. Press the "Settings" button to change your instrument, scale, key signature and adjustable note range. All notes are in the instruments' written pitch (i.e. Clarinet in C major would be concert Bb Major) All your scores are saved when exiting the game, so you can track your improvement. Scales include Major, Major Blues, Minor Blues, Chromatic Need to practice transposition? StaffWars Live has got you covered. All notes are in the instruments’ written pitch, so you can be a french horn player and select ‘Trumpet' to practice transposing to Bb. Connect any MIDI device to trigger the game with MIDI. Note range = from 4 Spaces Below to 4 Spaces Above Clef Start speed adjustable. ***NOTE*** - Make sure your instrument is in tune prior to playing StaffWars Live. Always play with good attacks and good tone. Game sounds may trigger the pitch detection so it is a good idea to turn your iPhone\iPad volume down while playing with the sound turn on.

About

Songmaker

This app provides creative tools to help users explore musical ideas and compose original songs. It offers features for generating titles, exploring chords, sparking lyrical inspiration, and structuring songs, making the songwriting process accessible and focused.

Highlights
  • Generate unique song titles
  • Explore chord progressions
  • Spark lyrical ideas
  • Experiment with themes and moods
  • Shape song structure
  • Simple, focused creative tools
Features
Read full description

Songmaker is a creative music app designed to help you explore ideas and create original songs. Whether you're just starting out or already writing, Songmaker gives you simple tools to move from a blank page to something real. Generate unique song titles, explore chord progressions, spark lyrical ideas, experiment with themes and moods, and shape your ideas into a clear song structure. There’s no complicated setup and no overwhelm. Just focused creative tools that help you begin and keep going. Songmaker is especially helpful for young people, emerging artists, and educators who want a straightforward way to support songwriting and creative expression. Start anywhere. Build something real.

Screenshots

StaffWars Live4 screens
Songmaker3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Songmaker at Free against StaffWars Live's $2.99. Songmaker also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 58%) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). StaffWars Live's advantage is chart position (#76 vs unranked). 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

Songmaker is free to download; StaffWars Live costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

StaffWars Live ships an update every 4 months, Songmaker every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
StaffWars Live versus Songmaker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStaffWars LiveSongmaker
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (892 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews58.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings892 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#76 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size123 MB86 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTMI Media, LLCMusic Therapy Australia Pty Ltd

Customer experience

StaffWars Live

All ratings880 ratings
Positive85.0%
Neutral3.1%
Negative11.9%
Written reviews105 reviews
Positive58.1%
Neutral9.5%
Negative32.4%

Songmaker

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

StaffWars Live

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes not registering correctly
  • Bass clef not working as expected
  • App crashing on launch for some users
  • Misalignment of note graphics

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add support for more instruments, including piano
  • Implement a speed/difficulty slider
  • Add an option for the grand staff
  • Improve bass clef and transposition accuracy

Songmaker

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

StaffWars Live

No in-app purchases

None

Songmaker

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is StaffWars Live free?
StaffWars Live costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Songmaker free?
Songmaker is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do StaffWars Live or Songmaker have ads?
Neither StaffWars Live nor Songmaker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, StaffWars Live or Songmaker?
StaffWars Live ships an update every 4 months, and Songmaker every 2 months. Most recently, StaffWars Live was updated on October 29, 2026 and Songmaker on October 31, 2026.

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