Comparison

ScaleMate vs RealPlay

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

Head to head
About

ScaleMate

This app provides an interactive reference for understanding music scales and jazz harmony. It allows users to hear, visualize, and manipulate scales to deepen their comprehension of musical concepts. Features include expert write-ups, practical usage tips, and animated transformations between scales.

Highlights
  • Hear scales as melodies
  • Visualize scales on circle of fifths
  • Expert scale write-ups
  • Manipulate scales and hear changes
  • Full library of scales
  • Automatic scale recognition
  • Animated scale transformations
Features
Read full description

ScaleMate is a modern, interactive reference to jazz harmony. ScaleMate lets you… HEAR SCALES conventionally or as random melodies. VISUALIZE SCALES in ways that help you understand them deeper. READ & LEARN through built-in, expert scale write-ups & use tips. MANIPULATE SCALES while you listen. Hear the effects instantly to understand how scales differ. ————————————————— ScaleMate is a reference that shows you & plays for you any scale you wish…. But that's just the beginning. ScaleMate helps you hear & understand scales and harmony more deeply… by teaching you to visualize scales in ways that match what they sound like. Imagine… Wouldn't it be nice to have a single image to understand all the modes of the major scale? Ever wonder why the modes are ordered so oddly, hopping between major & minor & dominant? Or notice that the Altered Scale is the "darkest", most minor sounding of all possible dominant scales? Or that its tritone-substitution, the Lydian Dominant Scale, is the "brightest" of them all? Ever notice that the minor pentatonic scale is a mode of the major pentatonic scale and wonder whether there were any other useful pentatonic modes? Ever notice that the major pentatonic scale (and its modes) are the only 5-note scale that doesn't contain any half steps or tritones? ScaleMate shows you scales in a way that makes these observations natural and immediate… and plays you the results too. Or ever just wonder what the definition of a dominant chord is and which common scales can be used for them? ScaleMate's got you covered. ——————— FEATURES ——————— USE IT RIGHT AWAY Use ScaleMate right now! Built-in help is there for you whenever you want it. LISTEN ScaleMate lets you hear what scales sound like, by playing them up & down, or by playing random melodies that use them. VISUALIZE WHAT YOU HEAR ScaleMate shows every scale both linearly (for melodic understanding) and on the circle of fifths (for harmonic understanding). FULL LIBRARY OF SCALES ScaleMate knows all the scales you're ever likely to encounter. A WELLSPRING OF KNOWLEDGE Extensive info pages on 60+ of the most common & important scales, including practical advice and usage tips. (Over 15,000 words of content.) USE IT TO TEACH ScaleMate is perfect for projecting on a screen or sharing over zoom while you teach. Its animations let you show how one scale transforms into another, and it has special features (pointing, hiding/revealing) for educators. AUTOMATIC SCALE RECOGNITION Build your own scales and ask yourself "what if I make this change…" Whenever you produce a conventional scale, ScaleMate will automatically identify it for you by name and tell you about it. ANIMATED IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES Change between one scale and another and see the differences between them, visually animated before you. SMART SPELLING ScaleMate notates perfectly, for every scale in every key. NOTE ROLES Next to each note, ScaleMate displays its function—in numbers (3, 5, b7) or in solfege (Mi, Sol, Te) or not at all, according to your preference. SIMPLE OR ADVANCED NOTATION ScaleMate shows you double flats and double sharps whenever they're called for… unless you'd rather see simpler note names. Prefer never to see notes like Cb and E#? You can have ScaleMate show them as B and F. DIMINISHED HARMONY Choose the option to color the notes in three colors so you can see which diminished seventh chord every note belongs to. Great for understanding diminished scales & chords and seeing how they relate to other scales too. JAZZ CRED ScaleMate is created by Anton Schwartz. An award-winning saxophonist & composer as well as an expert educator, he is also the creator of the highly rated RANDOM ROOTS app. Terms and conditions: https://scalemate.app/terms-conditions Privacy policy: https://scalemate.app/privacy

About

RealPlay

Practice music with authentic backing tracks performed by professional musicians. Customize tempo, key, and mix for focused learning. Features over 100 standard chord progressions with an expanding library.

Highlights
  • Authentic backing tracks
  • 100+ standard chord progressions
  • Real-time tempo adjustment
  • Instrument isolation and mixing
  • Instant transposition to all keys
Features
Read full description

RealPlay lets you practice with real music—not midi tracks, AI, or loops. Play along with authentic backing tracks performed by world-class rhythm sections, featuring an expanding library of over 100 essential standard chord progressions. Easily customize your practice with real-time controls for tempo, key, and mix—so you can focus on exactly what you need. Features: • World-class rhythm sections • 100+ essential jazz standards and chord progressions (expanding library) • Real-time tempo adjustment • Instrument isolation and mixing (ideal for rhythm section players) • Instant transposition to all 12 keys Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

ScaleMate4 screens
RealPlay4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: RealPlay at Free against ScaleMate's $3.99. RealPlay also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly) and ratings volume (164 vs 24). ScaleMate's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and review sentiment (100% vs 73%). On rating, ads, 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

RealPlay is free to download; ScaleMate costs $3.99 up front. RealPlay sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.29 per month. ScaleMate asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for ScaleMate against 4.7 for RealPlay. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RealPlay has 164 ratings behind it against 24, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of ScaleMate's written reviews are positive against 73% of RealPlay's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ScaleMate ships an update fortnightly, RealPlay every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
ScaleMate versus RealPlay: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScaleMateRealPlay
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (24 ratings) — better4.7 (164 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better73.2% of reviews
Number of ratings24164 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.517.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB113 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAnton SchwartzRealPlay LLC

Customer experience

ScaleMate

All ratings24 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral8.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

RealPlay

All ratings164 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral2.4%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive73.2%
Neutral12.2%
Negative14.6%

In-app purchases

None

ScaleMate

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

RealPlay

Subscriptions2
  • RealPlay Pro Monthly$3.291 Month
  • RealPlay Pro Yearly$21.991 Year

Questions

Is ScaleMate free?
ScaleMate costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is RealPlay free?
RealPlay is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ScaleMate or RealPlay?
ScaleMate is rated higher. ScaleMate averages 4.8 out of 5 from 24 ratings, while RealPlay averages 4.7 from 164 ratings.
Do ScaleMate or RealPlay have ads?
Neither ScaleMate nor RealPlay shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ScaleMate or RealPlay?
ScaleMate ships an update fortnightly, and RealPlay every 5 days. Most recently, ScaleMate was updated on October 18, 2026 and RealPlay on October 19, 2026.

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