Pianist Pro vs Slide School
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pianist Pro
This virtual piano app for iPad offers photo-realistic graphics and professional sound. It includes full recording, MIDI control, and a variety of built-in instruments and effects to help musicians create and perform.
- Full recording and overdub facility
- Live MIDI control
- Standard MIDI File import/export
- 16 professionally recorded instruments
- Built-in effects, arpeggiator, and drum machine
- 88 key configurable keyboard layout
- Scale Piano interface
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As featured in the Apple 'Your Verse' and 'iPad is Musical' TV Ads, recommended by The New York Times, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, Rolling Stone Magazine, and played live by legendary band Squeeze on the Jimmy Fallon show (NBC). --To take your compositions to the next level, be sure to check out our amazing new Digital Audio Workstation app for iPad: Looptical Music Studio-- Pianist, the ORIGINAL iPhone piano, turns Professional for the iPad with photo-realistic graphics and an unbelievable sound. Pianist Pro was the number one music app for the iPad at release. MAIN FEATURES ============= - Full recording and overdub facility. - Live MIDI control of external synths via CoreMidi, USB, Network MIDI, OSC or DSMI. - Standard MIDI File import and export. - Audio (WAV) file export. - 16 professionally recorded instruments (pianos, organs, guitars, synths). - Built-in effects, arpeggiator and drum machine. - Soft and Sustain pedals, and velocity based on key strike position. - A full 88 key Single or dual keyboard layout with configurable key size. - Onscreen pitch bend, modulation and swell pedal controls. - Vibrato and Low-Pass Filter. Pianist Pro is a virtual piano designed specifically for the iPad, with the same great interface and style that has made Pianist the best known piano on the iPhone, and a whole host of new features too. It features full MIDI import and export capability, allowing you to record song ideas while on the road and export them via MIDI to your Digital Audio Workstation back at the studio. You can also use Pianist Pro as a great master MIDI keyboard, either with USB, CoreMIDI, or via Wi-Fi. Drive your soft or hard synths wirelessly from the sofa, or from another room. Pianist Pro can even be used as a MIDI sound source, driven by an external hardware keyboard. A built-in arpeggiator allows the user to create perfectly timed runs just by holding down a few keys, and complex patterns of notes and chords can be programmed into the arpeggiator and played back live. Pianist Pro makes it easy to play shuffle-beat blues piano, complete with walking bassline and overlayed jazz chords - all by simply holding down a single chord. Changing the chord changes the melody but maintains the tight rhythm provided by the arpeggiator. A drum machine offers an elegantly simple interface for adding rhythm, with a choice of drum kits to suit a range of musical styles. While a delay effect can be used to bring energy and interest to a synth bassline, or guitar or piano riff. The 'Scale Piano' interface allows the user to select a musical scale from a large choice of presets (eg. Natural Minor or Pentatonic Blues) or define their own scales from scratch. Notes and runs on that scale can then be played back in any key, simply by sliding a finger up and down a virtual touch-pad on-screen. Musicians at all levels have raved about Pianist Pro. Visit our website (moocowmusic.com) for demonstration videos, a full description of functionality including the user manual, and more screenshots. If you require assistance, please click on the support link. We aim to answer all emails within 24 hours.
Slide School
Access all your educational videos in one convenient app. Receive timely notifications for news and updates, and easily save your favorite content for quick retrieval.
- Access all videos in one app
- Push notifications for news
- Password-free video access
- Save favorite posts
- Easy to use interface
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Inside the Slide School app, you can: Access all of your videos in one easy to use app Receive push notifications with the latest news and updates Access to all of your videos without having to remember your password Save your favorite posts so you can quickly find them later END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Slide School at Free against Pianist Pro's $4.99. Slide School also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.7). Pianist Pro's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 16.6). On ratings volume, update cadence, 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
Slide School is free to download; Pianist Pro costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Slide School holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 8 respectively.
Pianist Pro ships an update every 2 weeks, Slide School every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pianist Pro | Slide School |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.7 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 72.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 8 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 116 MB | 49 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MooCowMusic Ltd. | Slide School LLC |
Customer experience
Pianist Pro
Slide School
In-app purchases
Pianist Pro
No in-app purchases
Slide School
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Pianist Pro free?
Is Slide School free?
Which has better reviews, Pianist Pro or Slide School?
Do Pianist Pro or Slide School have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pianist Pro or Slide School?
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