Comparison

Pianist vs StepBud

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

Head to head
About

Pianist

Experience a realistic piano on your mobile device with a full 88-key keyboard. Record, overdub, and save your musical compositions. Features include virtual pedals, dual keyboard layout, and a configurable metronome for practice.

Highlights
  • Full 88 key piano keyboard
  • Record and save compositions
  • Overdubbing and note removal
  • Virtual soft and sustain pedals
  • Dual keyboard layout
  • Configurable metronome
Features
Read full description

The first widely available mobile multi-touch piano, Pianist has been featured in a number of Apple advertising campaigns and was one of the 'Awesome iOS4 Apps' in an Apple iTunes promotion. Sound On Sound magazine listed Pianist in its pick of the Top 20 iPhone Apps, and T3 Magazine in its Top 100 iPhone Apps. Pianist has also been recommended by media sources such as the Mail On Sunday and Fox News. Pianist is considered so influential that it has now been listed as one of three examples of musical instrument apps in the primary academic reference: "The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments". - Full 88 key piano keyboard sampled from a real piano for maximum authenticity. - Record and save your compositions for later playback. Overdub as many times as you want, and remove unwanted notes. - Virtual "Soft" and "Sustain" pedals, and expression depending on where you press the key. - Optional dual keyboard layout allows you to reach even more keys without the need to scroll. Up to four octaves can be displayed and played at once. - Stay in time with a completely configurable metronome. To take your music creation to the next step, be sure to also check out our new app: Looptical Music Studio.

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

Screenshots

Pianist4 screens
StepBud4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: StepBud at 4.4 against Pianist's 3.6. StepBud also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (38 vs 8). Pianist's advantage is price ($3.99 vs $4.99) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 13.0). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Pianist costs $3.99 and StepBud $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

StepBud holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 38 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Pianist's written reviews are positive against 71% of StepBud's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pianist ships an update every 6 months, StepBud fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Pianist versus StepBud: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPianistStepBud
Price$3.99 — better$4.99
Rating3.6 (8 ratings)4.4 (38 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.3% of reviews70.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings838 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS8.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMooCowMusic Ltd.Cem Olcay

Customer experience

Pianist

All ratings8 ratings
Positive62.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative37.5%
Written reviews306 reviews
Positive68.3%
Neutral8.2%
Negative23.5%

StepBud

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

Bugs and requests

Pianist

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Keyboard gets stuck or changes configuration
  • App freezes or crashes after extended use
  • Sustain pedal not functioning properly
  • Bluetooth speaker connectivity issues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for iPhone 5/newer displays
  • Implement MIDI export/import
  • Integrate with music streaming apps
  • Expand sound library with more instruments
  • Improve scrolling and key accessibility

StepBud

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Pianist

No in-app purchases

None

StepBud

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pianist free?
Pianist costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is StepBud free?
StepBud costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pianist or StepBud?
StepBud is rated higher. Pianist averages 3.6 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while StepBud averages 4.4 from 38 ratings.
Do Pianist or StepBud have ads?
Neither Pianist nor StepBud shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pianist or StepBud?
Pianist ships an update every 6 months, and StepBud fortnightly. Most recently, Pianist was updated on October 31, 2026 and StepBud on November 2, 2026.

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