MIDISpy vs ShowMIDI
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MIDISpy
This utility helps monitor MIDI connections across various platforms. It offers basic filtering for different MIDI message types and supports multiple connectivity options.
- Standalone and AUv3 support
- Basic message filtering
- Inter-App MIDI
- USB MIDI
- Bluetooth MIDI
- Network MIDI
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MIDISpy - MIDI Monitor A handy little utility for monitoring MIDI connectivity. Overview: - Standalone and AUv3 support - Basic Filters for Note, Control Change, Clock and SysEx messages Connectivity: - Inter-App MIDI - USB MIDI - Bluetooth MIDI - Network MIDI - AUv3 Requirements: - iOS9+
ShowMIDI
This application provides a real-time, glanceable view of all MIDI activity on your computer. It visualizes various MIDI messages and allows you to pause the flow for a data snapshot. It can be used as a standalone tool or an AUv3 plugin within your DAW.
- Real-time MIDI visualization
- Auto-hides irrelevant messages
- Pause and snapshot data
- Standalone application
- AUv3 plugin support
- Supports MPE configuration
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ShowMIDI is an open-source multi-platform GUI application to effortlessly visualize MIDI activity. Instead of wading through logs of MIDI messages to correlate relevant ones and identify what is happening, ShowMIDI visualizes the current activity and auto-hides what you don't care about anymore. It provides you with a real-time glanceable view of all MIDI activity on your computer. ShowMIDI is designed to be always on, using the spacebar or play/pause button you can pause the flow and focus on a data snapshot with the latest state of any MIDI entity. ShowMIDI can be ran as a standalone application that automatically detects all your MIDI devices, or as an AUv3 plugin in your DAW or host to visualize MIDI data in your sessions. ShowMIDI visualizes: * MIDI ports * channels * program change * note on/off * channel pressure * polyphonic pressure * continuous control change * pitchbend * RPN and NRPN * MPE configuration and channel modes ShowMIDI supports: * themes * standalone operation * AUv3 operation
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ShowMIDI at 4.8 against MIDISpy's 4.0. ShowMIDI also leads on review sentiment (88% vs 71%) and ratings volume (18 vs 4). MIDISpy's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ShowMIDI holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 18 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of MIDISpy's written reviews are positive against 88% of ShowMIDI's.
MIDISpy ships an update every 3 weeks, ShowMIDI every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MIDISpy | ShowMIDI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (4 ratings) | 4.8 (18 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews | 87.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 18 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kai Aras | Uwyn, LLC |
Customer experience
MIDISpy
ShowMIDI
In-app purchases
MIDISpy
No in-app purchases
ShowMIDI
No in-app purchases
