Comparison

ScalePlay vs SongTab

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

Head to head
About

ScalePlay

This app generates intricate musical patterns and sequences using complex scale theory. It's a powerful tool for both music production and education, offering scale references, virtual instruments, and interactive playback features.

Highlights
  • Generates intricate ostinatos and sequences
  • Applies complex scale patterns
  • User-defined songforms and chord changes
  • Scale references for hundreds of scales
  • Nine virtual instruments and 128 sounds
  • Visualizes scale relations
  • Interactive playback with generated patterns
Features
Read full description

ScalePlay is a generative music app capable of producing the most intricate ostinatos and sequences by applying complex scale patterns over user defined songforms and chord changes. It can be used in music production and is also a fantastic tool for music education. It includes scale references for hundreds of scales, nine virtual instruments and 128 instrument sounds. Its unique set of features allows the musician to visualize scale relations and to play along with generated patterns. Modern musicians often practice playing scales according to organizing principles like thirds. What is meant by that is to play a scale tone, then its third, then the second scale tone, the third on top of that one and so forth. The exercise would result in the scale tones 1, 3, 2, 4, 3, 5, etc. Not an easy feat at first, because before even getting started, one has to know the base scale. Playing patterns through different keys and scale types finally is a demanding task even for advanced musicians. ScalePlay constructs patterns like these and much more complicated ones by using two simple grids. Grids have been around in music apps for years, but they are based on half-tone steps and include all available notes of the spectrum. That leaves one difficulty on the table, namely that of correctly identifying the notes of a scale. These grids also don’t easily allow for patterning as in our scale in thirds. So a different solution is called for and ScalePlay provides just that and so much more. In the application songs are used as metaphor to organize different scale types into a harmonic context. They are constructed with chords which in turn determine what scale types are available at a given time. During playback the app then cycles through these virtual chords or as with TouchPlay allows to call them up at will. This architecture is very helpful for superimposing ScalePlay patterns over existing pieces and even practicing improvising over changes. For practicing ScalePlay shows a pattern's progression on the built-in instrument and also provides a music notation reference. One can slow things down to need and play along. With the pattern lock feature all patterns can be kept in the same general vicinity. So instead of raising all scale tones when a base chord moves from C to G for example, patterns stay in place. This allows guitarists to practice scale patterns over changes while remaining in the same position. ScalePlay is also a fabulous generative music app. That is because of the magic that happens when these self-repeating scale structures are put in motion. Fantastic music occurs. Since ScalePlay supports virtual MIDI and can be recorded into any iOS based DAW. It also features TouchPlay for advanced looping. With TouchPlay scale structures can be looped endlessly and out of order. The TouchPlay environment is superimposed over ScalePlay's main interface and allows live switching between different scale types with the tap of a finger in continuous or full pattern mode. Of course ScalePlay supports multi-app multitasking as well as split-view and split-screen to make this feature even more useful. Instruments • Banjo, Bass, Cello, Double Bass, Guitar, Mandolin, Piano, Viola, Violin Some other Features: • 211 scale types • Virtual MIDI • Advanced looping with TouchPlay • Full general MIDI instrument library

About

SongTab

Features
Read full description

SongTab is a chord recognition app designed for musicians and music enthusiasts. It identifies chords from audio, making it an essential tool for learning and transcribing songs. ## Key features: 1. Advanced Chord Recognition: SongTab excels at detecting a wide range of chords, from basic to complex jazz harmonies, including augmented, diminished, sixth chords, seventh chord, 7-flat-5 chords, inversions, and many others. 2. Capo Adjustment: Change virtual capo position to display transposed chord names. 3. Playback Speed Control: Alter song tempo without changing pitch. 4. Flexible Looping Options: Full song loop and A-B loop. ## Free Plan - Create 3 new projects per day - View chord progressions for the first minute of audio ## Pro Plan: - Identify chord progressions for entire songs - Unlimited projects - Adjustable playback speed ## About Subscriptions: SongTab offers three subscription plans to unlock unlimited access to all premium features: - 1-Month Subscription – $0.99 USD/month - 6-Month Subscription – $3.99 USD/half-year - 1-Year Subscription – $6.99 USD/year Prices may vary by region and are converted to local currencies according to the App Store pricing matrix. Subscription Terms: All plans are auto-renewable. Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your App Store account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period, at the then-current subscription price. You can manage or cancel your subscription at any time by going to your App Store account settings after purchase. Privacy Policy: https://soulreload.com/app/songtab/privacy-policy/ Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

SongTab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SongTab at Free against ScalePlay's $9.99. SongTab also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). ScalePlay's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 8 months). On ads 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

SongTab is free to download; ScalePlay costs $9.99 up front. SongTab sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. ScalePlay asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ScalePlay ships an update every 3 months, SongTab every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ScalePlay versus SongTab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScalePlaySongTab
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (10 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings10 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 8 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRoGame Software小舟 苏

In-app purchases

None

ScalePlay

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

SongTab

Subscriptions3
  • Pro Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Pro Half-yearly$3.996 Months
  • Pro Yearly$6.991 Year

Questions

Is ScalePlay free?
ScalePlay costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is SongTab free?
SongTab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ScalePlay or SongTab have ads?
Neither ScalePlay nor SongTab shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ScalePlay or SongTab?
ScalePlay ships an update every 3 months, and SongTab every 8 months. Most recently, ScalePlay was updated on November 2, 2026 and SongTab on November 4, 2026.

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