iShala vs ChordsVault
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iShala
This app provides accompaniment for Indian classical music practice, offering customizable tanpuras, tablas, and other instruments. It includes a vast library of rhythmic cycles and ragas, with advanced features like pitch correction and recording capabilities in its Pro edition.
- Customizable tanpuras and tablas
- Vast library of ragas and rhythmic cycles
- Pitch correction for vocal accuracy
- Manual instrument playing via MIDI keyboard
- Session recording and loop creation
- Cloud access to user-created content
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iShala is an Indian music mobile app that provides flawless accompaniment for classical music practice, be it vocal, instrumental or rhythmic. It comes in 2 Editions: Standard and Pro (previously known as Premium). It features: • 6 Tanpuras (10 on Pro Edition) • 2 Tablas (3 on Pro Edition) • a Swarmandal • a Vibraphone (Pro Edition only) • a Harmonium • 3 Manjeeras (6 on Pro Edition) all fully customisable in practice sessions that can then be loaded on demand. It effectively replaces a tabla machine, a lehra player and an electronic tanpura. It is therefore an ideal tool for anyone practicing Indian classical music, or just wishing to jam along virtual Indian musicians on any other musical style. iShala includes over 60 rhythmic cycles, melodies in more than 110 ragas and 7 different tempos. You can also create your own ragas and fine-tune each of their notes at micro-tones (or shrutis) level. Possible combinations are thus nothing short of endless! iShala initially comes in Standard Edition, but you can upgrade it to Pro Edition through an In-App purchase option. These are one-time payments; whatever the edition you choose, you can use the app forever. Standard Edition has all the features you need for your riyaaz, and more. But Pro Edition adds some really exciting functionality like: • pitch correction: iShala detects the note you are currently singing, along with a coloured meter highlighting whether you are right on pitch or not. This is a precious tool to improve your accuracy. • additional instruments: 4 tanpuras, a low pitch tabla, a vibraphone and 3 manjeeras • manual playing of all instruments: tabla, harmonium, tanpura, swarmandal, vibraphone and manjeera • NEW: plug a MIDI keyboard (USB/Bluetooth) and play any of these instruments through it! • record your own loops • record your practice session: adjust mic/music level, then press REC, sing, press STOP and the audio recording file will be generated for you to listen and share • pull items from the Cloud: download rhythmic and/or melodic cycles posted from SwarShala users directly on your device For more detailed info on features per edition, check the following topic: https://www.swarclassical.com/guides/ishala/topic.php?product=is&id=18 ---- Some sweet words from our users: "Best tanpura app. Concert like. Fully satisfied. I think incomparable with others. Price also reasonable compared to others. Anyone can perform even on stage with this app." "Amazing tool for your daily solo practice. Thanks for this help for music students. Love it, God bless" "This app is best investment for Indian classical musicians. I own this app for almost 4 years and I would say it's value for money. It is best app for riyaz with amazing tabla and tanpura." "After using this app for more than 1 year I am writing genuine review about this app. Wonderful service from the team. Even when I had queries and when I was in need of assistance, they replied through Email and helped me within 10 minutes. App is wonderful which I am using for my music practice, it's helping me a lot. If u are a true music learner, I would recommend this. Thanks a lot to the team members and developers of this IShala app." "Excellent app. Best for riyaz. Fine sounds. Perfectly tuned instruments." "Just one word... Perfect !!" "Excellent App. Wonderful to do Riyaz with this App. Best on the market. Well worth the price. Well done to the developers." FOLLOW US! • facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swarclassical • instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swarclassical • youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SwarClassical
ChordsVault
Create, design, and share guitar and instrument chords and songs. This app offers flexibility for transcribers and performers, allowing on-the-fly chord design, reuse, sharing, and transposition to different keys, tunings, and instruments.
- Create and design chords
- Share songs and chords
- Reuse chords between songs
- Transpose songs to different keys
- Support for various instruments and tunings
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ChordsVault is the mobile entry into the ChordsVault portal for creating, designing and sharing guitar (and other instruments) chords and songs. ChordsVault is easy to use but provides great flexibility for songs transcribers and song readers / performers. Unlike many other sites, ChordsVault lets you design chords on the fly, reuse chords between songs, share songs and chords, and transpose songs to different keys, tunings and instruments.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: ChordsVault at Free against iShala's $12.99. ChordsVault also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). iShala's advantage is ratings volume (161 vs 1). On update cadence, ads and device support 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
ChordsVault is free to download; iShala costs $12.99 up front. iShala sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ChordsVault asks for nothing beyond the download.
ChordsVault holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iShala has 161 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
iShala ships an update every 3 months, ChordsVault every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iShala | ChordsVault |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $12.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (161 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 42.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 161 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 6.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 111 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Swar Systems | Volicsoftware, Inc. |
Customer experience
iShala
ChordsVault
In-app purchases
iShala
- iShala 5 Pro Edition$9.99
ChordsVault
No in-app purchases









