Comparison

Ableton Note vs Official PwA

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

Head to head
About

Ableton Note

Create musical ideas with curated sounds and effects. Build beats, melodies, and sample your surroundings. Seamlessly transfer your projects to Ableton Live for further development.

Highlights
  • Create beats and melodies
  • Sample sounds with phone microphone
  • MIDI Editor for sequencing
  • Transfer projects to Ableton Live
  • 76 Drum Sampler kits
  • 317 synth sounds
Read full description

Start new musical ideas with a curated selection of sounds and effects. Create beats and melodic parts, sample your world, and continue your tracks in Ableton Live. Note is a place to form ideas, explore new sounds and find direction. Get your ideas out or just experiment until inspiration hits, using a selection of Ableton Live’s drum kits, synths and melodic instruments. Create your own sound palette by sampling with your phone’s built-in microphone. And use Note’s built-in MIDI Editor to sequence notes, beats and chords or make tweaks as you listen back Follow your ideas wherever they lead by sending your projects to Live without leaving the app with the help of Ableton Cloud. Open projects from Live’s browser and keep working – you can edit all your MIDI notes, and all your samples and sounds from Note are exactly the same. Ableton Note users get a free license for Ableton Live Lite – simple, intuitive software used by musicians, producers and DJs around the world to write, record, and perform. For Ableton Move users, Note also offers the chance to keep working on a Set from your phone. Begin with a beat: • Choose from 76 Drum Sampler kits • Tap out a beat using the 16-pad grid, or sequence one with the MIDI Editor • Play each drum hit melodically using 16 Pitches mode • Quantize your beat or nudge notes to fix loose timing or mistakes • Add more layers of rhythm • Create beat repetitions with Note Repeat • Change parameters to shape your sound • Experiment with effects or apply swing for variations Start with a melody: • Choose from 317 synth sounds and 60 Melodic Sampler instruments • Play or program your melody or chord progression with the 25-pad grid, piano roll or MIDI Editor • Set a key and scale to get instantly harmonic results • Add more layers of harmony • Change parameters to shape your sound • Add effects to experiment with sound design Sample your environment: • Create your own kits by recording percussive sounds into Note’s Drum Sampler • Record tonal sounds to create your own Melodic Sampler instruments • Manipulate your samples by cutting, filtering or repitching them • Sequence samples into beats, melodies and chords using the MIDI Editor • Shape or transform your sounds with effects • Import your own samples or audio directly from videos Work with Audio • Add audio clips from the library • Warp tempo or adjust pitch of your clips • Record audio directly using your phone’s built-in microphone • Connect an audio interface to record external sources • Combine recorded and imported audio with your beats and melodies Capture improvisations: • Play something, then tap the Capture button to keep it • Play at a tempo that feels comfortable and Note will detect it • Note will recognize the length of the phrase and create a loop • Quantize it, add to it, or change the sound • Connect MIDI hardware to play keys and change the sound of your instruments Create variations: • Note features a grid-based Session View layout • Double your loops to create variation within clips • Duplicate your clips and create different versions of your ideas • Add, delete or adjust multiple notes at once with the MIDI Editor • Create eight tracks with up to eight clips on eight scenes • Try different clip combinations and song structures • Export your work as an audio file to listen and share

About

Official PwA

Read full description

Inside the [your app name] app, you can: Access all of your videos in one easy to use app Receive push notifications with the latest news and updates Access to all of your videos without having to remember your password Save your favorite posts so you can quickly find them later END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Ableton Note4 screens
Official PwA4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Official PwA at Free against Ableton Note's $6.99. Official PwA also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). Ableton Note's advantage is chart position (#7 vs unranked). On 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

Official PwA is free to download; Ableton Note costs $6.99 up front. Ableton Note sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Official PwA asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ableton Note ships an update monthly, Official PwA weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Ableton Note versus Official PwA: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAbleton NoteOfficial PwA
Price$6.99Free — better
Rating4.2 (676 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews72.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings676 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#7 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size1007 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAbleton AGAndrew Loay

Bugs and requests

Ableton Note

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional loss of unsaved work
  • Freezing issues when editing clips

Requested features

6 requests
  • Audio track support
  • Expanded note editing tools
  • Midi controller support
  • More effects and synth options
  • Time signature flexibility
Show 1 more
  • Ability to import samples from Ableton Live

Official PwA

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Ableton Note

One-time1
  • Drift In-App Purchase$3.99
None

Official PwA

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Ableton Note free?
Ableton Note costs $6.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Official PwA free?
Official PwA is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Ableton Note or Official PwA have ads?
Neither Ableton Note nor Official PwA shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ableton Note or Official PwA?
Ableton Note ships an update monthly, and Official PwA weekly. Most recently, Ableton Note was updated on September 25, 2026 and Official PwA on September 15, 2026.

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