JustChords vs Songstead
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
JustChords
Organize your song library with chord charts and lyrics. Create or import songs, sync across devices, and build setlists for live performances. Supports various music notations and audio playback.
- Chord chart and lyric editor
- Import songs from online sources
- iCloud device syncing
- Setlist creation and sharing
- AirPlay lyric projection
- Audio player and recorder
- Support for multiple music notations
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JustChords is your complete tool for cataloging chord charts and lyrics. Create charts from scratch, import them from files, or pull them from online sources — building a library that's always with you, synced across iPhone, iPad and Mac via iCloud. Use JustChords standalone or as an AUv3 plugin in your favorite DAW. FEATURES • Setlists, with sharing and collaboration • Song editor is based on ChordPro and supports chords & lyrics, note sheets (PDF), chord beats, guitar tabs and ABC notation • Change Key, Capo, Piano Transpose, Rewrite into key • Metronome & Tuner • Autoscroll • Guitar, ukulele and piano chord diagrams, including alternate tunings • Audio player & recorder. Attach your tracks from Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, URL or local file • Project lyrics or a dedicated stage display via AirPlay, with rich configuration options • Bluetooth / MIDI pedal support • Chord Beats — visualize chord duration right in your chords & lyrics, send chord notes over MIDI as they play, and trigger predefined MIDI messages on section changes • Tonic Pad — an ambient backing pad matched to your song's key • PlayTogether — keep your whole band in sync live, hands-free
Songstead
Organize your song library with chord charts, setlists, and collaborative tools. Write songs in various formats, transpose keys, and export PDFs. Build setlists for events and share your music library with a band or studio.
- Chord chart creation
- Key transposition
- Setlist building
- Collaborative library sharing
- PDF export
- Plain text and ChordPro writing
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Songs - Chord charts with the tools you actually need: write in ChordPro or plain text, transpose to any key, auto-detect the key from what you enter, switch notation styles, and export a clean PDF for print or tablet. Sets - Build a setlist for a gig, a rehearsal, or a practice session. Add a date, a title, and a location, so everyone knows exactly what you're playing and when. Groups - A shared space where the whole band, team, or studio works from the same library. Invite people in, set their role, and everyone always has the current version.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Songstead at none against JustChords's 7. Songstead also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.5). JustChords's advantage is ratings volume (350 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. JustChords sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Songstead asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for JustChords against 5.0 for Songstead. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: JustChords has 350 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of JustChords's written reviews are positive against 100% of Songstead's.
JustChords ships an update every 2 weeks, Songstead every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | JustChords | Songstead |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (350 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 95.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 350 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.5 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | get started s. r. o. | beestat.io |
Customer experience
JustChords
Songstead
Bugs and requests
JustChords
Reported bugs
11 issues- App crashes when importing songs from online sources
- Pinch zoom feature stopped working
- Songs disappearing from library
- App unable to load songs from library in certain conditions
- Multi-column view not functioning on iPad
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- PDF export inconsistently includes/excludes metadata
- Control+S keyboard shortcut non-functional on iPad and desktop
- Choppy scrolling between songs
- Tagging system filters incorrectly (excludes songs with multiple tags)
- Songs won't open when tapped (reported on iPhone 8 with iOS 16.7.4)
- Sticky notes placement requires manual adjustment
Requested features
8 requests- Apple Pencil direct annotation with eraser capability
- Standard tag filtering logic (show songs with selected tags)
- Bluetooth pedal support for song navigation without touching device
- Web-based editor for songs
- Direct in-app sharing to other users
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- Improved documentation and user manual
- Smoother song-to-song scrolling transitions
- Dark mode option
Songstead
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
JustChords
- Buy me a coffee$0.99
- Nice Chords!$2.99
- Buy me a pineapple$4.99
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- Rock On!$6.99
- Buy me a book$7.99
- Big Thanks!$17.99
- Legendary Support!$44.99
Songstead
No in-app purchases








