Comparison

Ultimate Guitar vs Loop Manager

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

Head to head
About

Ultimate Guitar

Access a vast library of chords, tabs, and lyrics for guitar, bass, and ukulele. Learn songs with interactive lessons, backing tracks, and effects. Create and share your own tabs, or explore curated collections.

Highlights
  • Extensive chord, tab, and lyric library
  • Interactive lessons and courses
  • Original sound effects with Tonebridge
  • User-generated tab creation and sharing
  • Offline access to favorite tabs
  • Left-handed mode and customizable display
  • Built-in tuner and metronome
Features
Read full description

Access the world's largest catalogue of guitar, bass & ukulele chords, tabs, and lyrics. Challenge yourself to learn your favourite songs and more! You have choices galore: • Search for songs by genre, rating, your ability, tuning level • Explore UG Tab collections. Use the finder for your faves, fall in love with something new, feel the nostalgic vibes. Search by themes like House or Acoustic, or check out the latest album releases. Find collections based on your interests such as Star Wars or funky Bollywood beats. • Focus on guitar techniques, find songs personal to you in collections from professional guitarists • Anytime you feel inspired to share a song, create and upload your shot on the spot. It’s that easy! Share the best parts of your performance with your like minded community of fellow musicians. • Reach your true musical potential – learn to play with UG Courses here. Access over 2500 lessons for any skill level and instrument type from guitar, drums to piano and more. Learn different styles and techniques with guidance from professional musicians. Progress at your own speed and on any device, anytime, anywhere. • Play 29K+ popular songs in their original sound with Tonebridge Guitar Effects And it doesn’t end there Check out all these features: • Explore guitar, bass & ukulele chords, tabs, and lyrics for songs in every genre • Watch videos of songs to refresh your memory or use as backing tracks • Compile your favourite tabs in playlists from our tab collections • Create ‘Personal’ tabs to edit chords, lyrics or change tabs to suit your needs • Option to Switch to left-handed mode • Set a font style and size to match the tab • Offline access to favourite tabs - available at all times • Enjoy dark mode for a gig With a Pro account: • Use interactive tabs to play songs note by note, at your own pace • Select the chord variation that best suits you from the world's biggest library of chords • Use ‘Simplify’ to make difficult songs easier • Jam with high quality tabs - over 29,000 that include backing tracks and synchronised lyrics • Hit the right tempo with metronome • Transpose songs to get just the right tone for you • Take advantage of autoscroll during your practice sessions • Achieve the right sound with the built-in guitar tuner • Share, print, and export your fave songs Problems or feedback? We are always eager to improve your Tabs experience and strive for excellence in doing so. Let us help you in person by contacting our development team at support.ios@ultimate-guitar.com, and we will endeavour to meet your needs. Please do not post bug reports or feature requests as an App Store review. Subscription information: • The "UG Pro + UG Courses + UG Sing" subscription gives you unlimited access to the app's premium content and features • The subscription price is $9.99/monthly, $59.99/yearly* • Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period • Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period at the cost of the chosen package • Subscriptions may be managed, and auto-renewal may be turned off via ‘Account Settings’ on your device after purchase • There is no way to cancel your current subscription during its active period • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. * Prices are equal to the value determined by ‘Apple's App Store Matrix’ as the equivalent of the subscription price in $USD. You can read our privacy policy at https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/about/privacy.htm You can read our terms of service at https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/about/tos.htm

About

Loop Manager

This app helps guitarists manage audio files on their looper pedals. It converts various audio formats to WAV, allowing for adjustments to volume, tempo, and length, and facilitates file organization directly on the pedal.

Highlights
  • Audio file conversion (WAV, MP3 to WAV)
  • Volume, tempo, and trim adjustments
  • File renaming and organization
  • Backup and restore pedal content
  • Configurable pedal settings
  • Supports iPhone and iPad
Features
Read full description

Loop Manager is an iOS app designed to facilitate the management of audio files on a guitar looper pedal. The app will convert most common audio formats (i.e. wav, mp3) to a wav audio file of the selected bit depth (16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit, or 32 bit float) and save these into preset folders on the pedal. Additional features include moving/copying files from one preset position to another, renaming of files, volume adjustment, tempo adjustment, audio trimming, and audio duplication. The app is specifically designed and tested with the NUX Looper Pedals (Loop Core Stereo, Loop Core Deluxe and JTC Drum & Loop). However, the app could also work with other loop pedals that have audio files stored in similar patterned folders and of WAV audio format. The app configuration settings (target folder name, pattern, number of presets, and bit depth) are configurable and allow for matching the target pedal's configuration. Specific features include: - App is designed for both iPhone and iPad - Audio file selection via folder app selection or drag and drop - File conversion of most common audio formats (i.e. wav, mp3) to WAV format of either 16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit, or 32 bit float - Configurable and saved settings for the target folder name, the folder pattern, the number of presets, and the bit depth - Once audio files are converted and assigned to a preset, ability to move/copy files from one preset to another - Audio files can be renamed, becoming the preset name - Volume of audio files can be adjusted and re-saved with new volume level selected (with live sampling). The default volume adjustment can be saved, allowing for a consistent volume conversion. - Tempo of audio files can be adjusted and re-saved with new selected tempo (with live sampling) - Audio files can be trimmed at specific start and end markers and re-saved (with live sampling) - Audio files can be duplicated (to lengthen audio files) by selecting a number of repeats from 1 to 8 - Audio files can be deleted (removed from pedal) - Audio files can be shared individually (export audio) - Entire pedal content can be backed up to a selected folder on the iPad or iPhone - Previously backed up pedal content can be restored either as a partial restore (only affect contents of backup) or full restore (removing what is on the pedal prior to restore from backup) - Entire pedal content can be cleared (to remove all audio content on the pedal) IMPORTANT: This app works with the NUX Loop Pedal (and potentially other loop pedals) with no guarantee of compatibility with future firmware releases. DISCLAIMER: By using Loop Manager (the "Software"), you acknowledge and agree that the Software is provided on an "as is" basis, without any warranties or guarantees of any kind, whether expressed or implied. You assume all responsibility and risk for the use of this Software. You agree that you shall not hold the developer liable for any damages, losses, or liabilities, including but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Software.

Screenshots

Ultimate Guitar4 screens
Loop Manager4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Loop Manager at 100% against Ultimate Guitar's 34%. Loop Manager also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). Ultimate Guitar's advantage is price (Free vs $9.99) and update cadence (weekly vs every 12 months). On 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

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ultimate Guitar ships an update weekly, Loop Manager every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Ultimate Guitar versus Loop Manager: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUltimate GuitarLoop Manager
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating4.7 (483K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews33.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings483K — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 12 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#7 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size234 MB1 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperUltimate GuitarStephane Villeneuve

Customer experience

Ultimate Guitar

All ratings482,265 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral2.1%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews4,568 reviews
Positive33.8%
Neutral9.0%
Negative57.2%

Loop Manager

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Ultimate Guitar

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • 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

4 requests
  • 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

Loop Manager

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Ultimate Guitar

Subscriptions9
  • Ultimate Guitar Pro7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Ultimate Guitar Pro Sale$9.991 Month
  • Ultimate Guitar Pro$9.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • UG Pro+ (1 Month)$9.991 Month
  • Ultimate Guitar Pro Sale2 variants$22.991 Year
  • Annual Pro Access$29.991 Year
  • Ultimate Guitar Pro Sale$29.991 Year
  • Ultimate Guitar Pro1 Month trial$39.991 Year
  • UG Pro+ (1 Year)7 Days trial$39.991 Year
None

Loop Manager

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Ultimate Guitar free?
Ultimate Guitar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Loop Manager free?
Loop Manager costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Ultimate Guitar or Loop Manager have ads?
Ultimate Guitar shows ads; Loop Manager does not.
Which is updated more often, Ultimate Guitar or Loop Manager?
Ultimate Guitar ships an update weekly, and Loop Manager every 12 months. Most recently, Ultimate Guitar was updated on November 10, 2026 and Loop Manager on November 4, 2026.

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