# Ultimate Guitar vs RecordScratch

The clearest difference is rating: Ultimate Guitar at 4.7 against RecordScratch's 3.4. Ultimate Guitar also leads on ratings volume (481K vs 5) and update cadence (every 6 days vs fortnightly). RecordScratch's advantage is review sentiment (71% vs 34%) and in-app purchases (none vs 12). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Ultimate Guitar sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. RecordScratch asks for nothing beyond the download.

Ultimate Guitar holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ultimate Guitar has 481K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 34% of Ultimate Guitar's written reviews are positive against 71% of RecordScratch's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Ultimate Guitar ships an update every 6 days, RecordScratch fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Ultimate Guitar | RecordScratch |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (481K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ultimate-guitar-chords-and-tabs/id357828853/reviews)** | [3.4 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/recordscratch/id6736775084/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **481K** | 5 |
| Positive reviews | 33.7% of reviews | **71.4% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Every 6 days** | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Ad-supported** |
| Best chart rank | **#7** | — |
| Size | 232 MB | 47 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.1 | **15.1** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 12+ | 9+ |
| Developer | [Ultimate Guitar](https://appshunter.io/developer/337516725) | [RecordScratch](https://appshunter.io/developer/1773330397) |

## What reviewers say

### Ultimate Guitar

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

**Currently charting:** #7 Top Grossing · Music, #35 Top Free · Music (US App Store)

Access the world's largest library of guitar, bass, and ukulele chords, tabs, and lyrics. Learn your favorite songs with interactive lessons, backing tracks, and a built-in tuner. Create and share your own tabs, and play along with original song sounds.

**Highlights:** Largest catalog of chords, tabs, and lyrics, Interactive lessons for all skill levels, Play songs with original sound and backing tracks, Create and upload personal tabs, Built-in guitar tuner and metronome, Offline access to favorite tabs, Left-handed mode and customizable display

**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


### RecordScratch

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/recordscratch/id6736775084)

Discover new music, share your opinions, and connect with other listeners. Rate albums and songs, follow friends, and explore trending music. It's a social hub for music lovers to share their tastes and find new favorites.

**Highlights:** Rate and review albums and songs, Search for music and users, Social feed with reviews, Follow other users, Set top albums, songs, and artists, Daily highlighted album, View trending albums

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Ultimate Guitar free?

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

### Is RecordScratch free?

RecordScratch is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Ultimate Guitar or RecordScratch?

Ultimate Guitar is rated higher. Ultimate Guitar averages 4.7 out of 5 from 481K ratings, while RecordScratch averages 3.4 from 5 ratings.

### Do Ultimate Guitar or RecordScratch have ads?

Both Ultimate Guitar and RecordScratch show ads.

### Which is updated more often, Ultimate Guitar or RecordScratch?

Ultimate Guitar ships an update every 6 days, and RecordScratch fortnightly. Most recently, Ultimate Guitar was updated on October 29, 2026 and RecordScratch on October 15, 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.*