Comparison

Fender Play vs Rocksmith Tuner

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

Head to head
About

Fender Play

Learn guitar, bass, or ukulele with guided video lessons, song tutorials, and practice tools. This app offers a personalized learning path for beginners and intermediate players, featuring feedback technology and a supportive community.

Highlights
  • Guided learning paths
  • 3000+ bite-sized video lessons
  • Extensive song library
  • Integrated lesson feedback
  • Practice tools (metronome, looping)
  • Community support
Features
Read full description

Fender Play® is your one-stop online guitar teacher for starting your guitar, bass, or ukulele learning journey. Start for free. Play for life. Created by the most trusted name in music; you can expect a robust, guided learning path to jumpstart your playing ability as a beginner or intermediate player. Whether you’re learning to play your favorite songs, building a healthy habit, or finding a new creative outlet — we’ve got you covered! Learn to play guitar with the industry's elite instructors and over 3000+ bite-sized video lessons, with chords, scales, songs and riffs that you can practice at your own pace. Play your way with Fender Play. How Does It Work? EXTENSIVE MUSIC LIBRARY Play songs by your favorite artists with our 1000+ song library! Fender Play helps you to master the chords, techniques and guitar scales to play songs from your favorite artists, including: "Come As You Are" - Nirvana "when the party's over" - Billie Eillish "Red" - Taylor Swift "Good Riddance (Time of Our Lives) - Green Day "Paint it Black" - The Rolling Stones "Master of Puppets" - Metallica QUALITY LEARNING EXPERIENCE Guided Learning Tools - Begin playing in a few short lessons with learning, practice and feedback activities. Bite-Sized, Quality Lesson Videos - Top quality lessons from our experienced instructors help show you a unique hands-on perspective, breaking down each skill, riff or popular song. Personalized Learning Path - Choose your instrument and your favorite genre to customize your learning experience. Integrated Lesson Feedback - Cutting-edge listening technology by MatchMySound helps to assess your playing, give you feedback and help improve your score. No Ads - Enjoy consistent and quality lessons, free of ads or other distractions. INNOVATIVE PRACTICE TOOLS Practice Mode - Built-in metronome and tempo control to help you learn timing. Reminders - Set practice reminders to prioritize practicing in a way that fits your schedule. Tone Integration - Tap into amp presets that work with select Fender amps to get the right tone to sound like your favorite artists. Practice Features for All - Scrolling tablature, chord charts, chord drills, backing & isolated tracks, looping, tuning, metronome and more. COMMUNITY & MOTIVATION Highly Supportive Community - Live instructor office hours, giveaways and more are here to help you feel supported and motivated to stick with your instrument. Streaks - Keep your streak going by practicing every week! Backing Tracks - Feel like you’re jamming with a full band, even if you’re practicing alone. Chord Challenge - Master chord transitions and improve finger dexterity. Beat your own high score by increasing the speed and tempo of chords from your favorite songs. Simply download the Fender Play app and learn to play guitar on your iPhone, iPad, or iOS device and get started learning how to play guitar today! Download the Fender Play learning app and get 14 days free. Get 10% off Fender gear (and other added perks) all year long with an Annual Plan or 10% off your next order with a Monthly Plan. Discount only applies to Fender products in the U.S., UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Australia. -- Terms of Use: https://www.fender.com/play/pages/terms-of-use Privacy Policy: https://www.fender.com/pages/privacy-center

About

Rocksmith Tuner

This app provides a highly accurate, professional-grade tuner for guitar and bass. It offers both a precise chromatic tuner for experienced musicians and a guided basic tuner for beginners, supporting over 30 tuning presets.

Highlights
  • Professional-grade chromatic tuner
  • Basic guided tuner for beginners
  • Over 30 tuning presets
  • Supports acoustic and electric instruments
  • Connects to Rocksmith+ for learning
  • Real-time feedback and note detection
Read full description

THE ACCURACY OF A PROFESSIONAL GRADE TUNER IN A FREE APP The Rocksmith Tuner features an accurate tuner for guitar and bass you can trust. Our chromatic tuner offers accuracy and range that's professional grade. For beginners we have a basic tuner that will guide you to over 30 tuning presets.. The app is completely free, with no ads, and no strings attached (aside from the ones on your instrument). The Rocksmith Tuner will keep you in tune so you can learn guitar or play your favorite songs with confidence. COMPATIBLE WITH GUITAR & BASS: • Acoustic and electric instruments supported • Connect directly or use the microphone on your mobile device • Display options for 3x3 and 6 in-line headstocks for guitar and 2x2 and 4 in-line headstocks for bass • For musicians of all skill levels EASY BASIC TUNER FOR BEGINNERS • Teaches newcomers how to tune their instrument with clear instructions • Features an easy-to-read, string-by-string guided interface • Audio previews for each string in selected tunings gives a reference to tune towards • Play nearly any song with over 30 presets for the most common tunings • See the full list of tuning presets below PRECISE CHROMATIC TUNER FOR EXPERTS • Dial in exact tunings with a resolution of 0.1 cents • Pro setting lets you choose from 5 degrees of tuning precision • Tune to the entire frequency spectrum of guitar and bass • Use the chromatic tuner to check your intonation and setup a guitar or bass. CONNECT TO ROCKSMITH+ AND LEARN TO PLAY GUITAR OR BASS • Works with Rocksmith+; a subscription service on PC that lets you learn and practice guitar and bass by playing your favorite songs* • Built on the critically acclaimed Rocksmith method which has helped over 5 million people learn to play guitar and bass** • Connect to Rocksmith+ on PC and use the on-board microphone on your phone or tablet to detect your guitar or bass playing • Get real-time feedback and note detection for effective, personalized learning • Works with acoustic guitars or amplified electric instruments • Learn to play your favorites from a vast and ever-growing song library • No extra gear needed, just use your instrument & mobile device • Visit www.rocksmith.com to learn more about Rocksmith+. TUNING PRESETS: E Standard Drop D DADGAD Open G Open A Open D Open E Open Em OpenEbm Open Dm Eb Standard Drop Db D Standard Drop C C# Standard Drop B C Standard Drop Bb B Standard Drop A Bb Standard Bb Drop Ab A Standard Ab Standard DBDGBe Double Drop D EABGBd# EADGAe EADGBD EADGBd# All Fourths Open D5 (DADADd) *Subscription required to use Rocksmith+. Subscription not required for or included with Rocksmith Tuner. ** Over 5M copies of Rocksmith and Rocksmith 2014 sold. Legal - https://legal.ubi.com/en-INTL End User License Agreement - https://legal.ubi.com/eula/en-INTL Terms of Use - https://legal.ubi.com/termsofuse/en-INTL Privacy Policy - https://legal.ubi.com/privacypolicy/en-INTL

Screenshots

Fender Play4 screens
Rocksmith Tuner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Fender Play at 4.8 against Rocksmith Tuner's 3.8. Fender Play also leads on review sentiment (52% vs 26%) and ratings volume (61K vs 71). Rocksmith Tuner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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

Both are free to download. Fender Play sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Rocksmith Tuner asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Fender Play holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Fender Play has 61K ratings behind it against 71, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 52% of Fender Play's written reviews are positive against 26% of Rocksmith Tuner's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fender Play ships an update monthly, Rocksmith Tuner every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and August 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Fender Play versus Rocksmith Tuner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFender PlayRocksmith Tuner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (61K ratings) — better3.8 (71 ratings)
Positive reviews51.7% of reviews — better25.5% of reviews
Number of ratings61K — better71
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#133 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size113 MB85 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFender DigitalUbisoft

Customer experience

Fender Play

All ratings60,611 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews532 reviews
Positive51.7%
Neutral10.5%
Negative37.8%

Rocksmith Tuner

All ratings71 ratings
Positive67.6%
Neutral4.2%
Negative28.2%
Written reviews98 reviews
Positive25.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative70.4%

User reviews

Fender Play

From 61K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great learning experience
  • 👍 Structured and progressive lessons
  • 🎨 Variety of instructors and teaching styles
  • ⏱️ Ability to learn at own pace
  • 🎸 Helpful for beginners and intermediate players

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Difficult to read chord charts and tabs
  • 🔀 Inconsistent lesson pacing and difficulty
  • 🐛 Buggy feedback mode and app crashes
  • 🔒 Subscription issues and lack of transparency
  • 🚫 Limited song selection and lack of advanced content

Rocksmith Tuner

From 71 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎸 Accurate tuning functionality
  • 🎵 Wide variety of alternate tunings available
  • 💰 Free tuner feature with no ads
  • 👍 User-friendly and intuitive interface
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive tuning detection

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Microphone access permission issues
  • 🌐 Network connectivity problems
  • 📵 Frequent app crashes and black screens
  • 🔊 Poor audio pickup sensitivity
  • 🎸 Bass tuner misidentifies strings

Bugs and requests

Fender Play

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Subscription renewal and login problems
  • Inconsistent lesson progress tracking
  • Feedback mode not working reliably
  • App crashes and freezes on certain devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add left-handed support
  • Improve chord chart and tab visibility
  • Synchronize video with chord/tab display
  • Implement real-time feedback and progress tracking
  • Expand song library and include more advanced material

Rocksmith Tuner

Reported bugs

13 issues
  • Microphone permission prompt appears but no settings option to enable
  • App fails to connect to local network on PS5
  • Black screen after splash screen on startup
  • Network error persists despite WiFi connection
  • App won't request local network permissions on iOS
Show 8 more
  • Login fails with invalid email error despite correct email
  • Audio pickup fails to register guitar strings consistently
  • Bass G string confused with D string in tuner
  • App crashes on iOS 26
  • Device compatibility detection inaccurate
  • App stuck on loading screen indefinitely
  • Microphone access removed after updates
  • Connection to Rocksmith+ servers fails repeatedly

Requested features

8 requests
  • Wired piano keyboard support for PS5
  • Better UI color scheme for accessibility
  • Song filtering by tuning type
  • Offline mode or cellular network support
  • Improved microphone sensitivity settings
Show 3 more
  • Better Rocksmith 2014 feature parity
  • More popular songs in subscription library
  • Fallback options without microphone requirement

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Fender Play

Subscriptions10
  • Monthly Plan7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Monthly Plan7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Monthly Plan$9.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • Monthly Plan7 Days trial$19.991 Month
  • Annual Plan14 Days trial$44.991 Year
  • Annual Plan14 Days trial$74.991 Year
  • All Access Annual Plan14 Days trial$74.991 Year
  • Annual Plan14 Days trial$89.991 Year
  • Annual Plan$89.991 Year
  • Annual Plan14 Days trial$149.991 Year
None

Rocksmith Tuner

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Fender Play free?
Fender Play is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Rocksmith Tuner free?
Rocksmith Tuner is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Fender Play or Rocksmith Tuner?
Fender Play is rated higher. Fender Play averages 4.8 out of 5 from 61K ratings, while Rocksmith Tuner averages 3.8 from 71 ratings.
Do Fender Play or Rocksmith Tuner have ads?
Fender Play shows ads; Rocksmith Tuner does not.
Which is updated more often, Fender Play or Rocksmith Tuner?
Fender Play ships an update monthly, and Rocksmith Tuner every 2 months. Most recently, Fender Play was updated on September 24, 2026 and Rocksmith Tuner on August 23, 2026.

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