Comparison

Reason Compact vs Ableton Note

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

Head to head
About

Reason Compact

Create beats, melodies, and basslines with a powerful yet easy-to-use music studio in your pocket. Sketch song ideas on the go, experiment with instruments and effects, and connect with other music apps. Unlock more sounds and features as you progress.

Highlights
  • Create beats from scratch
  • Design melodies and basslines
  • Use built-in synthesizers and effects
  • Sketch song ideas on the go
  • Connect with other music apps
  • Unlock new sounds and features
Features
Read full description

Go creative and make amazing beats and melodies now! Maybe you’re humming on your first beat ever or maybe you’re thinking about your next album. With Reason Compact you’ll have a powerful and easy-to-use music studio right in your pocket, ready to sketch down ideas whenever inspiration strikes. It’s never been easier and more fun to make music! • Start a song from scratch or use one of the genre-based demo songs • Learn more and find inspiration from smart tools and explainers • Sketch out song ideas on the go with a full-featured studio • Create music with three amazing-sounding instruments • Craft banging beats, beautiful melodies and deep basslines • Discover and play sounds made by world-class artists and music producers • Connect with other music apps • Take your tracks further with Reason, the desktop music studio • Carry your easy-to-use pocket music studio with you everywhere Get started with Reason Compact for free, then add new sounds and more options only when you’re ready to take it to the next level. FEATURES: Create banging beats • Start making fantastic beats from scratch or choose between a range of pre-made drum beats for quick beat making, designed for different modern music genres • Choose among 16 free inspirational drumkits • Play the easy-to-use drum pads • Give your beats your personal touch by exploring all the different effects • Make beats with the Rytmik drum machine to create unique rhythms • Sequence and build patterns in the drum grid Make amazing melodies and basslines • Create melodies with Europa, a cutting-edge synthesizer • Get your basslines going with the Monotone Bass Synthesizer • Play lush synth chords with a single key using the Chords tool • Play melodies and basslines with the smart keyboard that helps you always stay in key and never hit the wrong note • Discover and play sounds made by world-class artists and music producers • Draw notes and polish your performance with the MIDI note grid • Mix your tracks and play with the built-in effects and controls to dial in your perfect sound • Add depth and texture to your tracks using distortion, delay, and reverb effects Take yourself to the next level • Start soft and unlock new features, sounds and controls only when you are ready • Learn more about the fantastic world of music making and instruments with the easy to understand explainers in the app • Play with an external MIDI keyboard if that is more your thing • Collaborate with other music makers and artist in real-time using Ableton Link • Connect Reason Compact with other music apps using Audiobus or Inter-app Audio • Get a better understanding of a DAW to take your music further on desktop • Export your tracks to Reason, the desktop music studio MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: • iOS 11

About

Ableton Note

Create musical ideas with curated sounds and effects. Build beats, melodies, and sample your surroundings. Seamlessly transfer your projects to Ableton Live for further development.

Highlights
  • Create beats and melodies
  • Sample sounds with phone microphone
  • MIDI Editor for sequencing
  • Transfer projects to Ableton Live
  • 76 Drum Sampler kits
  • 317 synth sounds
Read full description

Start new musical ideas with a curated selection of sounds and effects. Create beats and melodic parts, sample your world, and continue your tracks in Ableton Live. Note is a place to form ideas, explore new sounds and find direction. Get your ideas out or just experiment until inspiration hits, using a selection of Ableton Live’s drum kits, synths and melodic instruments. Create your own sound palette by sampling with your phone’s built-in microphone. And use Note’s built-in MIDI Editor to sequence notes, beats and chords or make tweaks as you listen back Follow your ideas wherever they lead by sending your projects to Live without leaving the app with the help of Ableton Cloud. Open projects from Live’s browser and keep working – you can edit all your MIDI notes, and all your samples and sounds from Note are exactly the same. Ableton Note users get a free license for Ableton Live Lite – simple, intuitive software used by musicians, producers and DJs around the world to write, record, and perform. For Ableton Move users, Note also offers the chance to keep working on a Set from your phone. Begin with a beat: • Choose from 76 Drum Sampler kits • Tap out a beat using the 16-pad grid, or sequence one with the MIDI Editor • Play each drum hit melodically using 16 Pitches mode • Quantize your beat or nudge notes to fix loose timing or mistakes • Add more layers of rhythm • Create beat repetitions with Note Repeat • Change parameters to shape your sound • Experiment with effects or apply swing for variations Start with a melody: • Choose from 317 synth sounds and 60 Melodic Sampler instruments • Play or program your melody or chord progression with the 25-pad grid, piano roll or MIDI Editor • Set a key and scale to get instantly harmonic results • Add more layers of harmony • Change parameters to shape your sound • Add effects to experiment with sound design Sample your environment: • Create your own kits by recording percussive sounds into Note’s Drum Sampler • Record tonal sounds to create your own Melodic Sampler instruments • Manipulate your samples by cutting, filtering or repitching them • Sequence samples into beats, melodies and chords using the MIDI Editor • Shape or transform your sounds with effects • Import your own samples or audio directly from videos Work with Audio • Add audio clips from the library • Warp tempo or adjust pitch of your clips • Record audio directly using your phone’s built-in microphone • Connect an audio interface to record external sources • Combine recorded and imported audio with your beats and melodies Capture improvisations: • Play something, then tap the Capture button to keep it • Play at a tempo that feels comfortable and Note will detect it • Note will recognize the length of the phrase and create a loop • Quantize it, add to it, or change the sound • Connect MIDI hardware to play keys and change the sound of your instruments Create variations: • Note features a grid-based Session View layout • Double your loops to create variation within clips • Duplicate your clips and create different versions of your ideas • Add, delete or adjust multiple notes at once with the MIDI Editor • Create eight tracks with up to eight clips on eight scenes • Try different clip combinations and song structures • Export your work as an audio file to listen and share

Screenshots

Reason Compact4 screens
Ableton Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Reason Compact at Free against Ableton Note's $6.99. Reason Compact also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (5.3K vs 695). Ableton Note's advantage is review sentiment (72% vs 39%) and chart position (#9 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Reason Compact is free to download; Ableton Note costs $6.99 up front. Reason Compact sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Ableton Note 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

Reason Compact holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Reason Compact has 5.3K ratings behind it against 695, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 39% of Reason Compact's written reviews are positive against 72% of Ableton Note's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Reason Compact ships an update monthly, Ableton Note every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Reason Compact versus Ableton Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReason CompactAbleton Note
PriceFree — better$6.99
Rating4.6 (5.3K ratings) — better4.2 (695 ratings)
Positive reviews38.9% of reviews72.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5.3K — better695
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#9 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size185 MB1010 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperReason Studios ABAbleton AG

Customer experience

Reason Compact

All ratings5,282 ratings
Positive88.7%
Neutral4.5%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews463 reviews
Positive38.9%
Neutral15.3%
Negative45.8%

Ableton Note

All ratings696 ratings
Positive78.4%
Neutral10.5%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews485 reviews
Positive72.2%
Neutral13.6%
Negative14.2%

User reviews

Reason Compact

From 5.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 🎹 Great sounds and synth engines
  • 💡 Potential for a powerful mobile music tool
  • 👍 Seamless integration with Reason desktop

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Forced account creation to use the app
  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases for full functionality
  • 🔇 Limited features compared to desktop Reason
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🕰 Outdated and lacking updates

Ableton Note

From 695 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Intuitive workflow
  • 🎨 Great sound quality
  • 🤝 Seamless Ableton Live integration
  • 💰 Affordable price
  • 🔥 Inspiring for creativity

Room to improve

  • 🔇 No audio track support
  • 🎹 Limited note editing capabilities
  • ⏱️ Bluetooth latency issues
  • 🔢 Restricted to 4/4 time signature
  • 🔧 Lacking some advanced features

Bugs and requests

Reason Compact

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Login screen freezes on black screen
  • Exported files not recognized in Reason
  • Audio dropouts and loss of sound

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more instruments and tracks
  • Implement MIDI input and output support
  • Introduce song mode and arrangement features
  • Allow saving and loading of user presets
  • Add more time signature and tempo options

Ableton Note

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional loss of unsaved work
  • Freezing issues when editing clips

Requested features

6 requests
  • Audio track support
  • Expanded note editing tools
  • Midi controller support
  • More effects and synth options
  • Time signature flexibility
Show 1 more
  • Ability to import samples from Ableton Live

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Reason Compact

One-time10
  • Sad Girl Tool Kit$0.99
  • Grimey UKbass$0.99
  • Ambient Dream$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Melodic Keys$0.99
  • Electronic Components Vol.1$0.99
  • Celestial Atmospheres$0.99
  • Quirk Kit$0.99
  • Europa Synth$9.99
  • Rytmik Drum Machine$9.99
  • Monotone Bass Synthesizer$9.99
1 purchases

Ableton Note

One-time1
  • Drift In-App Purchase$3.99

Questions

Is Reason Compact free?
Reason Compact is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ableton Note free?
Ableton Note costs $6.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Reason Compact or Ableton Note?
Reason Compact is rated higher. Reason Compact averages 4.6 out of 5 from 5.3K ratings, while Ableton Note averages 4.2 from 695 ratings.
Do Reason Compact or Ableton Note have ads?
Neither Reason Compact nor Ableton Note shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Reason Compact or Ableton Note?
Reason Compact ships an update monthly, and Ableton Note every 5 weeks. Most recently, Reason Compact was updated on October 26, 2026 and Ableton Note on October 25, 2026.

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