Comparison

Tunepal vs Trad Buddy

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

Head to head
About

Tunepal

Identify traditional Irish, Scots, Welsh, and Breton tunes by playing them into your device. Search a vast database, download and view notation, edit staves, and share your findings. Enjoy high-quality playback of identified melodies.

Highlights
  • Identify tunes by playing them
  • Searchable database of 22,000+ tunes
  • Download and view musical notation
  • Edit tune staves
  • High-quality playback engine
  • Share tunes via email and Facebook
Features
Read full description

Listed in the top 500 apps of all times by the Sunday Times (6 February 2012) Listed in the top twenty cultural apps for iPhone by the Sunday Times (28 March 2010). Winner of the best overall invention 2010 in the Dublin Institute of Technology. Tunepal was in the top 25 grossing apps on the app store (17-18 July 2010). The essential tool for all musicians playing traditional Irish, Scots, Welsh and Breton music! Ever sat in a trad session and wondered what was the name of that great tune someone just played? Well now you can search a database of over 22,000 tunes from your iPhone/iPod BY PLAYING! Hold your device up to a melody instrument such as the tin-whistle, flute, concertina, uilleann pipes, accordion or banjo, hit record and the melody will be extracted and submitted to the tunepal.org search engine for matching. Matching tunes are downloaded to your device, where you can view and edit the notation or the stave, email the tune, post it to facebook or play it back using the high quality playback engine based on ABC2MIDI and FMOD.

About

Trad Buddy

Learn and play Irish traditional music with others. This app tracks tunes played in sessions and by friends, suggesting what to learn next. It features a player with adjustable speed, looping, and key changes, along with tune management and customizable display options.

Highlights
  • Session tune tracking
  • Friend tune sharing
  • Adjustable tempo player
  • Sheet music and tab
  • Tune set creation
  • Personal tune repertoire
  • Customizable display
Features
Read full description

Learn new tunes and play them with your session. Trad Buddy is for Irish traditional musicians of every level. It knows the tunes you play, the tunes your friends and your session play, and the difference, so you always know what to learn next. THE TUNES YOUR SESSION PLAYS Start a session for the one you play at, and everyone joins with a code or the QR code on the table. See every tune the session plays, how many of them you know, and which to learn next. Make a set you can all play. FRIENDS Follow friends by their code and see the tunes you share and the ones that are new to you. On any tune, see which of your friends play it. A PLAYER THAT SOUNDS LIKE A SESSION 11,700 tunes from TheSession.org with sheet music and tab: GDAE for banjo, mandolin and fiddle, plus guitar and DADGAD. Reels swing and jigs lilt. Slow it down, loop a part, change the key, and tap any note to hear it. Works with your phone on silent. Up to 10 versions of each tune, and a link to the tune on thesession.org. SETS Get three ready-made sets from the tunes you know, build your own, or try a Surprise set, where the next tune stays hidden until it's time to change. YOUR TUNES Keep track of the tunes you know, the ones you're learning, and the ones gone a bit rusty. Level up as your repertoire grows, with a title for every level. EASY TO READ Big, clear text in three sizes, and three looks: Classic, Night, or the original 8-bit. Works offline. No ads. Signing in is optional: use a code from your email, and add a password if you like, to keep your tunes on every phone and computer.

Screenshots

Tunepal3 screens
Trad Buddy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Trad Buddy at 5.0 against Tunepal's 3.0. Trad Buddy also leads on monetization model (free vs paid) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 months). Tunepal's advantage is ratings volume (46 vs 1). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Trad Buddy holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tunepal has 46 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tunepal ships an update every 2 months, Trad Buddy every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Tunepal versus Trad Buddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTunepalTrad Buddy
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (46 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews56.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings46 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size58 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBryan DugganChanasinj Sachdev

Customer experience

Tunepal

All ratings46 ratings
Positive45.7%
Neutral10.9%
Negative43.5%
Written reviews107 reviews
Positive56.1%
Neutral7.5%
Negative36.4%

Trad Buddy

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Tunepal

No in-app purchases

None

Trad Buddy

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Tunepal free?
Tunepal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Trad Buddy free?
Trad Buddy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Tunepal or Trad Buddy?
Trad Buddy is rated higher. Tunepal averages 3.0 out of 5 from 46 ratings, while Trad Buddy averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Tunepal or Trad Buddy have ads?
Neither Tunepal nor Trad Buddy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tunepal or Trad Buddy?
Tunepal ships an update every 2 months, and Trad Buddy every 6 days. Most recently, Tunepal was updated on November 1, 2026 and Trad Buddy on October 31, 2026.

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