Autoharp vs Harp Real
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Autoharp
Experience the realistic sound of an autoharp with intuitive chord buttons and strumming. Enhance your music with built-in effects and use it as a MIDI controller. Customize string and chord layouts for advanced control.
- Realistic autoharp sound
- Chord buttons and strumming
- Built-in chorus, delay, and reverb effects
- MIDI controller output
- Customizable string and chord layouts
- Save and switch effect programs
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This app works like a real autoharp: just push one of the chord buttons and strum! Autoharp uses high-quality audio samples and matches its volume to your strumming speed for the most realistic sound available. If you want to expand your sonic palette, Autoharp includes built-in chorus, delay and reverb effects. You can configure each effect and enable them in any combination. With an in-app purchase, you can save multiple effects programs and switch between your saved programs. If you have any MIDI equipment, you can also use Autoharp as a MIDI controller. Strum its strings and send note-on commands to another device to generate virtually any sound. The MIDI commands include velocity values determined by your strumming speed for expressive playing. Advanced players can even customize Autoharp's string and chord layout, to optimize the sound for a given song or test a new setup before modifying a real autoharp. With an in-app purchase, you can set the note assigned to each string (from a total of 53 available notes) and set the strings assigned to each chord bar (either 15 or 21), then switch between any of your saved layouts. Before buying this app, I recommend watching the demo video at autoharpapp.com to see how it works. If you need help after your purchase, please contact me before writing a bad review. I have no way to respond or help you if you publish your complaints in a review, but I respond promptly to all emails.
Harp Real
This app simulates a 27-string lever harp, offering a realistic playing experience with a wide frequency range. Practice songs with adjustable speed and transposition, or play in real-time. Record and share your music.
- 27-string lever harp simulation
- Frequency range C3 to A6#
- Offline and online song practice
- Adjustable song speed and transposition
- Reverb effect
- Normal and RealTime play modes
- Autoplay option
- Record, playback, and share functionality
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The Harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps have been known since antiquity in Asia, Africa and Europe, dating back at least as early as 3500 BC. The instrument had great popularity in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, where it evolved into a wide range of variants with new technologies, and was disseminated to Europe's colonies, finding particular popularity in Latin America. Although some ancient members of the harp family died out in the Near East and South Asia, descendants of early harps are still played in Myanmar and parts of Africa, and other defunct variants in Europe and Asia have been utilized by musicians in the modern era. Harps vary globally in many ways. In terms of size, many smaller harps can be played on the lap, whereas larger harps are quite heavy and rest on the floor. Different harps may use strings of catgut, nylon, metal, or some combination. While all harps have a neck, resonator, and strings, frame harps have a pillar at their long end to support the strings, while open harps, such as arch harps and bow harps, do not. Modern harps also vary in techniques used to extend the range and chromaticism (e.g., adding sharps and flats) of the strings, such as adjusting a string's note mid-performance with levers or pedals which modify the pitch. The pedal harp is a standard instrument in the orchestra of the Romantic music era (ca. 1800–1910) and the contemporary music era. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harp) The Harp Real is Lever Harp (Celtic Harp) 27 strings simulation app with lever feature. Frequency range: C3 -> A6#. More offline and online songs for practice (With the ability to change speed, transpose, reverb). Play with 2 modes: - Normal - RealTime You can choose autoplay for listening songs. Record feature: record, play back and share to your friends. ** Songs is updated regularly
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Harp Real at Free against Autoharp's $1.99. Harp Real also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.8) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Autoharp's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 15 months). On review sentiment, monetization model, 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
Harp Real is free to download; Autoharp costs $1.99 up front. Autoharp sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Harp Real asks for nothing beyond the download.
Harp Real holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Harp Real has 649 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Autoharp's written reviews are positive against 68% of Harp Real's.
Autoharp ships an update every 2 months, Harp Real every 15 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Autoharp | Harp Real |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.8 (9 ratings) | 4.7 (649 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 64.3% of reviews | 67.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 9 | 649 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 15 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 97 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Arlo Leach | Son Truong Ngoc |
Customer experience
Autoharp
Harp Real
User reviews
Autoharp
From 9 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎶 Lovely, natural sound
- 🤩 Addictive to fidget with
- 📚 Great for learning chords
- 💰 Free and not collecting data
- ✨ Rich and full sounds
Room to improve
- 💥 App crashes
- 🤔 App won't open
- 🗑️ Custom tunings lost on reinstall
- 📱 Chord buttons too hard to control
- 📏 Chord buttons too small
Harp Real
From 649 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎵 Realistic harp sound quality
- 💰 Free app with premium features
- 🎛️ Adjustable parameters (reverb, room size, tuning levers)
- 🎼 Built-in songs included
- 😌 Relaxing and enjoyable to play
Room to improve
- 📢 Unexpected ads during gameplay
- 📖 Lack of instruction manual/documentation
- 🔊 Sound issues for some users
- 🎵 Pitch accuracy problems reported
- ❌ Missing second hand notes for some songs
Bugs and requests
Autoharp
Reported bugs
61 issues- App crashes
- App won't open
- Custom tunings lost on reinstall
- Chord buttons too hard to control
- Chord buttons too small
Show 56 moreShow fewer
- No audio integration
- Drains batteries significantly
- Buttons too small for iPhone
- Buttons could be easier to hit
- Needs easier chord button reconfiguration
- Strings seem backwards on iPad
- Unwanted loud volume blasts
- Volume has a mind of its own
- Full of bugs
- Choppy performance
- Annoying to strum for sound
- Strings not completely responsive
- Does not respond to simple touch
- Hindering application
- Difficult to keep tune going
- Doesn't work
- Strings are NOT working
- Program doesn't work
- Não funciona!
- Rubbish
- Volume issue
- Stuck on loud volume
- Too many sound 'cutouts'
- Polyphony not sufficient
- New chord doesn't always cut out previous
- Sound level sometimes drops suddenly
- Zoomed-in mode doesn't detect off-screen swipes
- Too random related to what you play
- Slightly cheesy graphics
- Eb still odd sounding
- Chord keys small even when enlarged
- Not enough room to pluck strings
- Random increase and decrease of volume
- Sound 'cutouts' when played fast
- Chord transition issues
- Zoomed-in mode issues
- Randomness in playing
- Latency problems
- Does not work most of the time
- Broken on iPad 2
- Almost painful to play
- Sound cutouts
- New chord doesn't always dampen previous
- Needs ability to damp individual strings
- Needs ability to pluck or strum above keyboard area
- Fix Eb tuning
- Fix chord transition dampening
- Fix zoomed-in mode swipes
- Fix randomness in playing
- Fix volume adjustment on iPad 2
- Fix sound cutouts
- Improve polyphony
- New chord automatically cuts out previous
- Model strings individually
- Add ability to pluck strings
- Add ability to strum above keyboard
Requested features
40 requests- More stability
- Integration with GarageBand/Audiobus
- Larger chord keys
- Major and minor chords in all 12 keys
- Record audio in GarageBand
Show 35 moreShow fewer
- Audio unit or Audiobus integration
- Make chord keys bigger
- List note names for selected chords on enlarged screen
- Ability to transpose chords
- Full 21 chord implementation
- Ability to pluck individual strings
- Ability to play like a real autoharp
- Add ability to pluck or strum in area above keyboard
- Fix Eb tuning
- When transitioning chords, new chord should dampen previous
- Ability to damp individual strings
- Ability to pluck or strum above keyboard area
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
- Connectivity and additional MIDI and audio connectivity
- Save audio as mp4 or wav
- Wifimidi support
- Audio copy paste
- Record functionality
- Soundcloud integration
- Make strings responsive to touch
- Allow simple touch response
- Fix non-responsive strings
- Fix volume adjustment on iPad 2
- Fix sound cutouts
- Improve polyphony
- New chord automatically cuts out previous
- Model strings individually
- Fix zoomed-in mode swipes
- Fix randomness in playing
- Tidy up cheesy graphics
- Fix odd sounding Eb
- Fix chord transition dampening
- Add ability to pluck strings
- Add ability to strum above keyboard
Harp Real
Reported bugs
4 issues- No sound output for some users
- Volume control not easily accessible
- Incorrect pitches in some instances
- App not functioning properly on some devices
Requested features
4 requests- Background play functionality
- Transpose button
- Second hand notes for all songs
- Better documentation/tutorial
In-app purchases
Autoharp
- Save Multiple Effects Programs$0.99
- Set Up Custom Chord Layouts$3.99
Harp Real
No in-app purchases









