iReal Pro vs RealPlay
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iReal Pro
This app provides a virtual band accompaniment for musicians to practice with, offering realistic sounding instruments and a variety of styles. It also functions as a digital chord chart book, allowing users to create, edit, and share their own song charts.
- Virtual band accompaniment
- Create, edit, and share chord charts
- Thousands of downloadable songs
- Chord diagrams and scale recommendations
- Practice exercises and transposition
- Export charts and audio
- Cloud synchronization
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iReal Pro is two things musicians love in one app: a realistic backing band that plays along with you, and a huge free library of chord charts you can pull up anytime — at practice, at a jam session, or on a gig. Need to transpose a song for a singer? Done. Want to practice with a full rhythm section behind you? Hit play. Named one of TIME Magazine's 50 Best Inventions and trusted by thousands of students, teachers, and pros at schools like Berklee College of Music — iReal Pro has been helping musicians get better since 2008. BAND • 50 accompaniment styles — Swing, Bossa Nova, Blues, Funk, Rock, Bluegrass, Reggae, Latin, Gypsy Jazz, Country, and more • Customize each style with acoustic or electric piano, Fender Rhodes, guitars, upright or electric bass, drums, vibraphone, organ • 40 additional styles — blues, salsa, Brazilian — available as in-app purchases BOOK • Download thousands of free chord charts shared by the iReal Pro community • Create your own charts in minutes with the built-in editor • Organize charts into playlists for gigs, sets, or lessons PRACTICE • Adjust tempo, loop difficult sections, transpose to any key • Automatic tempo increase and key cycling for focused practice • Global Eb, Bb, F, and G transposition for horn players REFERENCE • Guitar, ukulele, and piano fingerings for any chord • Tap any chord in your chart to see how it's played • Scale suggestions for improvisation SHARE • Share charts and playlists with other iReal Pro users • Export charts as PDF or MusicXML • Export backing tracks as audio or MIDI files • Sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud FOR TEACHERS • Create playlists of exercises or tunes for students • Use in the classroom, over live stream, or while screen-sharing lessons We're a small team of musicians who built this app because we needed it ourselves. We hope you enjoy using it as much as we do.
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.
- Authentic backing tracks
- 100+ standard chord progressions
- Real-time tempo adjustment
- Instrument isolation and mixing
- Instant transposition to all keys
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: RealPlay at Free against iReal Pro's $21.99. RealPlay also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks). iReal Pro's advantage is ratings volume (11K vs 170) and chart position (#5 vs unranked). On rating, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
RealPlay is free to download; iReal Pro costs $21.99 up front. iReal Pro sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and RealPlay sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.29 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for iReal Pro against 4.8 for RealPlay. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iReal Pro has 11K ratings behind it against 170, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of iReal Pro's written reviews are positive against 73% of RealPlay's.
iReal Pro ships an update every 3 weeks, RealPlay every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 28, 2026.
| Parameter | iReal Pro | RealPlay |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $21.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (11K ratings) — better | 4.8 (170 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 83.3% of reviews — better | 73.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 11K — better | 170 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | #5 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 179 MB | 113 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Technimo LLC | RealPlay LLC |
Customer experience
iReal Pro
RealPlay
Bugs and requests
iReal Pro
Reported bugs
3 issues- Occasional skipping or timing issues with playback
- Trouble with registration and login process
- Compatibility issues with newer devices or operating systems
Requested features
7 requests- Add ability to write rhythm notation
- Integrate with Real Books
- Improve sound quality and add more instrument options
- Add melodies and lyrics support
- Improve chord editing and customization
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- Add more styles and grooves
- Improve sync and backup functionality across devices
RealPlay
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
iReal Pro
- Blues style backing tracks$6.99
- Salsa style backing tracks$6.99
- Brazilian backing tracks$6.99
RealPlay
- RealPlay Pro Monthly$3.291 Month
- RealPlay Pro Yearly$21.991 Year








