mfxMonitor vs StepBud
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
mfxMonitor
This utility displays incoming MIDI events in both text and hex format with timestamps. It offers a clear button to reset the event log and is part of a series of powerful MIDI plugins for music production.
- MIDI event display
- Textual and hex format
- Timestamped events
- Clear event log
- AUv3 compatible
- CoreMIDI compatible
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* MIDI MONITOR * (AUv3 or CoreMIDI Effect) Does the World need another MIDI Monitor? We thought so, and it's free, so you have nothing to lose to add this handy little utility to your app collection. Any MIDI events received by the plugin are displayed in a scrolling window in both textual form and also the lower level hex bytes with timestamps. Once you get sick of the events you can press the 'clear' button to wipe them out of your life forever. * ABOUT mfxSeries * mfxSeries is a set of compact but powerful plugins for CoreMIDI or AUv3 hosts. Covering a range of use cases from common everyday MIDI manipulation tasks to creatively ambitious effects. Each plugin in the mfxSeries can be controlled and automated from the host as all controls are exposed as AUv3 parameters. mfxSeries plugins are built using the MidiBus library - http://midib.us
StepBud
This app is a versatile MIDI sequencer that allows for unlimited steps and detailed control over each step's parameters. It integrates with other music apps and supports various sequencing modes for creative performances.
- Unlimited steps
- Step parameter control (note, velocity, rate, etc.)
- Custom MIDI CC messages
- Step locking and skipping
- Master fader with copy/shift modes
- Step Editor for detailed note editing
- Arpeggio modes (up, down, random)
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StepBud is a MIDI Sequencer with Audio Unit AUv3 plugin, Audiobus and Ableton Link. Add an unlimited number of steps to your sequencer. Your steps appear with a LED and a fader on top of your screen. You can change the active mode that your step faders displaying/controlling. - Set the current note or chord in range of the scale and key you selected with respect the range of the octave you want to focus, - Set the velocity, rate, gate time, modulation, pitch bend, portamento, probability and swing for each step, - Try increasing the rate and repeat count your steps if you want to add more flavor. - Send unlimited custom MIDI CC messages if you want to control your hardware or software synth parameters. - Lock steps if you don't want them to change their value. - Skip steps for creating interesting live performances. Below the step faders, you have a master fader where you can control your entire sequencer. It has two modes which you can change from the settings strip on the bottom of the app. - In copy mode, it assigns its value to each step. - In shift mode, it shifts up or down each step. If you want to go off-scale or try some crazy chords on some of your steps, or maybe on all of them, you can go to the Step Editor by double tapping the LED of the step you want to edit. In StepBud's powerful Step Editor, you can set your step's notes either from the virtual keyboard or your connected MIDI keyboard. Don't forget to enable MIDI in port of your MIDI keyboard or the you want to receive MIDI from the settings menu. You may also preview the selected notes by pressing the preview button in Step Editor for making sure you created the perfect sound for your particular step. You can also toggle the steps you want to disable by tapping its LED. If you long-press the LED, you can access a menu where you may copy/paste the steps around, remove them or edit them. If you enable the lock mode from the settings strip on the bottom of the app, you may adjust each visible step fader on the screen by a single swipe gesture without having to lift your finger up. Try to change your arppegio mode from the settings strip. You can sequence your steps up, down, up-down or random order. StepBud is a MIDI sequencer app and it does not generate sounds itself. You need to route its MIDI out port in the settings menu to the audio app you want to sequence. Please note that you need to have an iOS 11+ device and an Audio Unit host application such as AUM, apeMatrix, Cubasis, BeatMaker or Audiobus in order to use the StepBud as an Audio Unit plugin. And don't forget to route StepBud's MIDI out to the app or audio unit you want to sequence. StepBud's MIDI layer powered by free and open-source project AudioKit https://github.com/AudioKit/AudioKit Also, StepBud offers its core components for free on GitHub. Feel free to star, fork or contribute. https://github.com/cemolcay/MusicTheory https://github.com/cemolcay/LiveFader https://github.com/cemolcay/MIDIEventKit
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: mfxMonitor at Free against StepBud's $4.99. mfxMonitor also leads on iOS requirement (9.0 vs 13.0). StepBud's advantage is rating (4.4 vs 4.0) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). 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
mfxMonitor is free to download; StepBud costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
StepBud holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: StepBud has 38 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of mfxMonitor's written reviews are positive against 71% of StepBud's.
mfxMonitor ships an update every 2 months, StepBud fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | mfxMonitor | StepBud |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.0 (4 ratings) | 4.4 (38 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 70.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 38 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #200 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Audeonic Apps | Cem Olcay |
Customer experience
mfxMonitor
StepBud
In-app purchases
mfxMonitor
No in-app purchases
StepBud
No in-app purchases









