# Guitarist's Reference vs Ultimate Guitar

The clearest difference is price: Ultimate Guitar at Free against Guitarist's Reference's $19.99. Ultimate Guitar also leads on ratings volume (482K vs 16) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). Guitarist's Reference's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). On rating there is nothing between them.

Ultimate Guitar is free to download; Guitarist's Reference costs $19.99 up front. Ultimate Guitar sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Guitarist's Reference asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Guitarist's Reference against 4.7 for Ultimate Guitar. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ultimate Guitar has 482K ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 62% of Guitarist's Reference's written reviews are positive against 34% of Ultimate Guitar's.

Guitarist's Reference ships an update every 3 weeks, Ultimate Guitar weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Guitarist's Reference | Ultimate Guitar |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $19.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.8 (16 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/guitarists-reference/id304048049/reviews)** | [4.7 (482K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ultimate-guitar-chords-and-tabs/id357828853/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 16 | **482K** |
| Positive reviews | **62.0% of reviews** | 33.8% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | **#7** |
| Size | 79 MB | 234 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 16.1 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [My App Catalog LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/304048052) | [Ultimate Guitar](https://appshunter.io/developer/337516725) |

## What reviewers say

### Guitarist's Reference

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/guitarists-reference/id304048049)

This comprehensive suite offers a vast collection of guitar chords, scales, and arpeggios with clear diagrams and detailed theory. It includes tools for finding chord-scale relationships, exploring alternate tunings, and even a virtual guitar for practice.

**Highlights:** 3000+ guitar chords with diagrams, 42 scale types including modes and pentatonics, Arpeggio finder, 36 alternate tunings, Chord-scale relationship guide, Virtual guitar, Guitar tuner

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Comprehensive guitar reference
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 💡 Reverse chord finder
- 🚀 Detailed chord, scale, and arpeggio information
- 👍 Great for beginners and advanced players

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes and freezes
- 🔧 Missing some common chord and scale voicings
- 🔧 Chord playback implementation could be improved
- 🔧 Outdated or lacking support for newer iOS versions
- 🔧 Interface could use a more modern design

**Reported bugs**

- Chord finder not detecting all chord inversions
- Issues with alternate tuning functionality
- Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions

**Requested features**

- Ability to overlay multiple scales
- Customizable chord/scale display options
- Integrated tuner functionality
- Support for more alternate tunings
- Improved chord/scale audio playback


### Ultimate Guitar

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ultimate-guitar-chords-and-tabs/id357828853)

**Currently charting:** #7 Top Grossing · Music, #37 Top Free · Music, #194 Top Grossing (US App Store)

Access a vast library of guitar, bass, and ukulele chords, tabs, and lyrics. Learn songs with interactive lessons, original sounds, and practice tools. Create and share your own tabs, or explore curated collections.

**Highlights:** Extensive chord, tab, and lyric library, Interactive lessons and courses, Original song sounds with Tonebridge, User-created tab sharing, Offline tab access, Left-handed mode, Built-in tuner and metronome

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ultimate Guitar Pro | $9.99 | per month |
| Ultimate Guitar Pro Sale | $9.99 | per month |
| Ultimate Guitar Pro | $9.99 | per month |
| UG Pro+ (1 Month) | $9.99 | per month |
| Ultimate Guitar Pro Sale | $22.99 | per year |
| Annual Pro Access | $29.99 | per year |
| Ultimate Guitar Pro Sale | $29.99 | per year |
| Ultimate Guitar Pro | $39.99 | per year |
| UG Pro+ (1 Year) | $39.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great resource for learning guitar
- 👍 Huge library of songs and tabs
- 👍 Helpful features like auto-scroll and transposition
- 👍 Supportive community
- 👍 Useful tools like tuner and metronome

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 💰 Aggressive upselling and paywalls
- 🔒 Difficulty canceling subscriptions
- 🤔 Inconsistent quality of user-generated tabs
- 🤔 Confusing pricing and subscription model

**Reported bugs**

- Autoscroll feature not working as expected
- Inability to change instruments in Guitar Pro tabs
- Tuner not accurately detecting strings
- Freezing and crashing on certain devices

**Requested features**

- Allow adjustable font size for printed tabs
- Improve search and navigation
- Add more advanced features for experienced users
- Provide better organization and categorization of content


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Guitarist's Reference free?

Guitarist's Reference costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Ultimate Guitar free?

Ultimate Guitar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Guitarist's Reference or Ultimate Guitar?

Guitarist's Reference is rated higher. Guitarist's Reference averages 4.8 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Ultimate Guitar averages 4.7 from 482K ratings.

### Do Guitarist's Reference or Ultimate Guitar have ads?

Ultimate Guitar shows ads; Guitarist's Reference does not.

### Which is updated more often, Guitarist's Reference or Ultimate Guitar?

Guitarist's Reference ships an update every 3 weeks, and Ultimate Guitar weekly. Most recently, Guitarist's Reference was updated on November 6, 2026 and Ultimate Guitar on November 8, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*