Comparison

StepBud vs AddStation

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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)
Features
Read full description

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

About

AddStation

Explore new sonic territories with this advanced additive synthesis tool. Create complex timbres by combining thousands of sine waves and unique morph sequencing. Integrate seamlessly with iOS production environments and enjoy a suite of built-in effects.

Highlights
  • Fractal additive synthesis
  • Sound morphing
  • Over 170 sound presets
  • AUv3 AudioUnit integration
  • Built-in effects suite
  • Audiobus 3 and Ableton Link support
Features
Read full description

The next generation of additive synthesis Additive synthesis is a sound synthesis technique that creates timbre by adding sine waves together. The timbre of musical instruments can be considered to consist of multiple harmonic or inharmonic partials or overtones. VirSyn already has a remarkable track record of products ( CUBE, POSEIDON ) trying to make this virtually unlimited synthesis method manageable for creative sound designers and musicians. AddStation is the next step forward giving you a tool to explore completely new sonic territory. The massive amount of sine waves in AddStation - thousands per voice - together with unique morph sequencing blocks blur the frontiers between analog and digital sonic realms. And all this integrated in all relevant iOS production environments especially the emerging AUv3 AudioUnit standard. Synthesis • Fractal additive synthesis • over 170 sound presets • Four parts with 8 Additive Sequence Blocks • Sound morphing • up to 512 partials per voice with independent AD envelopes • harmonic/inharmonic spectra • Ringmodulation • arbitrary filter function and noise spectra • four independent analog style Arpeggiators Effects • Chorus • Phaser • Flanger • Overdrive • Parametric EQ • Echo/Delay • Reverb Global • AUv3 for Host integration • Audiobus 3 compatible (Input slot) with state saving • Support for Ableton Link. • Inter-app audio compatible (Instrument/Generator) • CoreMIDI / Virtual MIDI • Audio recorder.

Screenshots

StepBud4 screens
AddStation4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: StepBud at $4.99 against AddStation's $8.99. AddStation's advantage is review sentiment (82% vs 71%) and update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

StepBud costs $4.99 and AddStation $8.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for StepBud against 4.5 for AddStation. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 38 and 42 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of StepBud's written reviews are positive against 82% of AddStation's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

StepBud ships an update fortnightly, AddStation weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
StepBud versus AddStation: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStepBudAddStation
Price$4.99 — better$8.99
Rating4.4 (38 ratings)4.5 (42 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.6% of reviews82.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3842 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB133 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCem OlcayHarry Gohs

Customer experience

StepBud

All ratings38 ratings
Positive84.2%
Neutral2.6%
Negative13.2%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive70.6%
Neutral5.9%
Negative23.5%

AddStation

All ratings43 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral4.7%
Negative7.0%
Written reviews39 reviews
Positive82.1%
Neutral2.6%
Negative15.4%

In-app purchases

None

StepBud

No in-app purchases

None

AddStation

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is StepBud free?
StepBud costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is AddStation free?
AddStation costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, StepBud or AddStation?
AddStation is rated higher. StepBud averages 4.4 out of 5 from 38 ratings, while AddStation averages 4.5 from 42 ratings.
Do StepBud or AddStation have ads?
Neither StepBud nor AddStation shows ads.
Which is updated more often, StepBud or AddStation?
StepBud ships an update fortnightly, and AddStation weekly. Most recently, StepBud was updated on October 29, 2026 and AddStation on October 24, 2026.

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