Chordio vs Progressions
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chordio
This app is a music composition and theory tool that helps musicians explore chords and scales interactively. It offers features for creating, storing, and rearranging chord progressions, along with integrated music theory lessons and practice tools. It's designed to spark creativity and enhance music learning for producers, composers, and educators.
- Chord progression generator
- Custom chord creation and editing
- Real-time MIDI input visualization
- Scales and modes practice
- Music theory lessons and quizzes
- Sheet music practice tools
- Chord Suggestion AI
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Looking for a spark for your upcoming song? Introducing Chordio, a powerful tool for composition and music theory that offers an enjoyable and interactive experience. This app allows you to explore chords and scales in a fun and engaging way. It also provides a convenient platform for storing all your distinctive musical chord progressions in a single location. As a result, Chordio becomes an indispensable resource for contemporary music producers, composers, and educators. Take your music theory knowledge to the next level and create innovative chord progressions for your latest composition. With a range of internal sounds included, you can explore the tool's features without needing any other external equipment. Connect your MIDI controller to Chordio and see chord names appear on the Grand Staff in real-time as you play. Solo over chord progressions using the built-in sounds, and quickly rearrange or transpose chord progressions on the fly for added flexibility. Uncover fresh chord sequences for any genre - from hip hop to house and everything in between. Simply drag and drop them into your DAW! Chordio empowers you to unleash your creativity and take your music to new heights. The main features are divided into four workspaces: Composition • Build-in sequencer to create chord progressions. • Build-in Chord progression generator. • Create custom chords, edit existing chords, get chord inversions, and extended chords. • Drag & Drop to change the song structure. • Transpose the entire chord progression with a single tap. • Create a playlist of custom chord progressions. • Chord Suggestion AI – Get intelligent chord recommendations that fit your existing progression, and seamlessly integrate them into your composition. • A Chord Types & Vocings panel helps you generate new chords. • Play-along with a backing rhythm track. • Save/load songs, export it as MIDl. • Download chord progressions from a growing collection of Chord Packs. Scales • Practice scales with a metronome in all keys. • Contains more than 40 scales you can work with. • Staff view for chords and scales. Modes • Interactive way to learn what scales are associated with each mode. • Practice modes in Chordio. • Change tonic, mode, and layout to discover the relationship between musical notes, chords, and scales. Music Theory * In-app theory lessons. • 3 New Music Theory Quizzes: Note Identification, Interval Recognition & Chord Identification. Sheet Music • Adjust the Tempo: Practice at your own speed. • Loop Key Sections: Focus on tricky parts with ease. • Practice Hands Separately: Work on left or right hand independently. • Play in Any Key: Transpose sheet music to suit your preference. • Customize Tracks: Adjust instrument volumes. • Jazz Solo: Jam over chord progressions. • Print Your Scores: Print a PDF version of the score for flexible, hands-on practice. Lessons • Learn to play songs at your own pace. • Download music from a growing collection of Lesson Packs. • Lessons can be slowed down or pitch changed. KEY FEATURES: • MIDI keyboard support. • Build progressions using the chord generators. • Export MIDI to your DAW or sequencer. • Custom chords, edit existing chords, get extended chords. • Play internal sounds. • Arpeggio, strum and performance modes. • Mac version include a detachable resizable Grand Staff, Chord Display, and Keyboard Views. • Customise the Keyboard highlight color. • Select chord, to display a range of related scales and chords. • Tap a note on the Grand Staff to highlight it with a color. • Choose from selection of backing rhythms that fit specific genres. • Chord Pattern playback Always backup your chord progressions!
Progressions
Generate unique chord progressions beyond traditional scales using mathematical algorithms. Control complexity and freedom to explore new harmonic territories. Features include arpeggiators, strumming patterns, and humanization for expressive musical output.
- Generate unique chord progressions
- Adjust complexity and freedom levels
- Block Chord, Arpeggiator, and Strummer modes
- Supports open and closed chords with selectable voicings
- Humanize chord and note timings
- Integrated ARP and STRUM pattern editor
- Sync multiple instances
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Progressions is an AUv3 MIDI plugin for your favourite DAW. It can be used to generate a unique set of chords that are unrelated to traditional scales, which become predictable and repetative over time. Instead, Progressions uses a unique way of mathermaically generating a series of related chords using only a root note and mode (major or minor). Chord sequences are limited by the selected complexity and freedom levels, which mimic the way traditional composers of old would wander away from tonality and back again. The complexity level start off at Basic, which uses only the most common chords (I, IV, V and relative minor ii, iii, and vi triads). As you progress through the levels, you can add parallel majors and minors, sus and dom chords etc. At level 3 we start to introduce 6th and 7th chords, and then 9ths chords, all the way to 11ths, 13ths, Quartals and all their variations. The freedom level allows us to specify how far to drift away from tonality (the root), even allowing you to create never ending randomized soundscapes. Progressions allows you to quickly randomize a toolbox of chords, that can be played in a variety of modes (block chords, arpeggiated, or strummed). These can be synced to a host application, triggered remotely or pieced together into a song. Song mode allow you to change play modes on the fly as well as being able to control many features of the app in real time. Progressions supports open and closed chords with selectable voicings. It has an intelligent algorithm that attempts to align top notes of chords, add additional bass, and open chord padding to give equal weight to chords with only 3 notes. You can even play with rootless voicings. The Humanize section allows you to control chord and note timings, as well as set velocity variations to ensure things don't get too robitic. Progressions also features an integrated arpeggiator and strummming pattern editor. You can load up to 6 arp and 6 strum patterns at the same time and seemlessly switch between them manually, remotely, or using song mode. If you run multiple instances, Progressions allows you to sync your chord pads, song chain, arpeggiator / strum patterns between instances. Progressions can be loaded as a MIDI plugin or as an Instrument for those programs that don't support MIDI plugins (such as GB). Additionally when loaded as an instrument, you can use either internal sounds (soundfonts) or send MIDI directly to other MIDI instruments. Features • Block Chord, Arpeggiator and Strummer modes. • Supports open and closed Chords. • Varying complexity levels of chords. • Freedom levels control how far from the root key you can go. • Rootless voicing mode. • Open chord padding support. • Additional bass note mode. • Supports all common chord types. • Edit the preferred chord list to exclude certain chord types. • Input MIDI control for chords and play modes. • Automatic top note alignment of chords. • Hold Pedal support. • Built in ARP and STRUM editor. • Humanize options for chord and note velocity and timings. • Comprehensive Song Mode with 256 steps and looping. • Randomize chord progressions, arps and strumming patterns. • Route Chord/Arp/Strum modes & MIDI thru to any of 4 output ports. • Supports soundfonts when loaded as an Instrument plugin. • Sync multiple instances of Progressions. • AUv3 compatible MIDI plugin supporting Sync to Host.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Chordio at Free against Progressions's $6.99. Chordio also leads on rating (4.4 vs 4.1). Progressions's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 19) and ratings volume (34 vs 8). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads 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
Chordio is free to download; Progressions costs $6.99 up front. Chordio sells 19 one-off in-app purchases. Progressions asks for nothing beyond the download.
Chordio holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 34 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 62% of Chordio's written reviews are positive against 67% of Progressions's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Chordio ships an update every 8 days, Progressions every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chordio | Progressions |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $6.99 |
| Rating | 4.4 (8 ratings) — better | 4.1 (34 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 61.5% of reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 8 | 34 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 203 MB | 117 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | One In A Billion Ltd | 4Pockets.com |
Customer experience
Chordio
Progressions
In-app purchases
Chordio
- Free Chord PackFree
- Gymnopedie No.1$1.99
- Arabesque No.1$1.99
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- Gnossienne No.1$1.99
- Chord Progressions 251 No.1$2.99
- Jazz Progressions 01$5.99
- Neo-Soul Progressions 01$5.99
- Neo-Soul Tunes 01$5.99
- RnB Chords No.1$5.99
- Classical Progressions 1$5.99
- II-V-I Progression$5.99
- RnB Progressions 01$5.99
- Beginner Essentials$6.99
- RnB Progressions, Vol. 1$7.99
- II-V-I Jazz Progressions$9.99
- Jazz Progression, Vol. 1$9.99
- Jazz Lick Exercises, Vol. 1$9.99
- Classical Collection, Vol. 1$14.99
- Unlock App$14.99
Progressions
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Chordio free?
Is Progressions free?
Which has better reviews, Chordio or Progressions?
Do Chordio or Progressions have ads?
Which is updated more often, Chordio or Progressions?
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