Comparison

D'Tools vs Guitar Companion App

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

Head to head
About

D'Tools

This app is a comprehensive toolkit for guitarists, offering features like a chord library, scale explorer, digital tuner, and metronome. It provides professional-grade utilities to help players of all levels improve their technique and explore musical possibilities.

Highlights
  • Chord library with 7,000+ chords
  • Scale and arpeggio explorer
  • Professional-grade digital tuner
  • Hyper-accurate digital metronome
  • Chord finder by fret selection
  • Lefty mode for chords
Read full description

Newly updated to support the latest iPhones and iOS 12, D'Tools (formerly Guitar Tools) is the ultimate hand-held utility kit for guitar players of any style or skill level, brought to you by D'Addario & Company, Inc., the world's largest designer, manufacturer and distributor of musical instrument accessories. Enjoy the full functionality of the Chordmaster and Scale Wizard apps, the core features of ProTune and ProTempo. Developed exclusively for iOS by the minds at Audiofile Engineering, D'Tools packs a wealth of easy-to-use, professional-grade guitar utilities into one elegant application for your iPhone or iPod touch. FEATURES: CHORDS Explore a library of more than 7,000 guitar chords by simply tapping and strumming the touch screen. View chords in every position up and down the guitar neck and hear each one played back in pristine audio. There's even a "lefty" mode for the oft-neglected southpaw. CHORD FINDER You know how to play it, but what do you call it? Select frets and finger positions to discover the proper name for your chord. SCALES Improve your technique by choosing from thousands of scales, modes and arpeggios to practice. Try multiple positions and alternate tunings to boost your versatility. Use "big stretches" for unique, challenging fingerings. TUNER Keep your instrument in tune with a professional-grade digital tuner, powered by Audiofile Engineering's precise AETune™ pitch detection technology. Choose between strobe or needle interface and access dozens of presets. METRONOME Keep in time with a hyper-accurate and visually stunning digital metronome. Set tempos numerically or by tapping the touch screen. Choose from multiple sounds and time signatures. --- D'Tools was developed by Audiofile Engineering, a leading developer of audio software for OS X and iOS.

About

Guitar Companion App

This app provides a comprehensive practice toolkit for guitarists, featuring a responsive tuner, metronome, chord and scale library, music player, and setlist management. It offers both free and pro features to aid learning and performance.

Highlights
  • Responsive chromatic tuner
  • Adjustable metronome with subdivisions
  • Chord and scale library with diagrams
  • Music player for practice tracks
  • Setlist creation and live performance mode
  • Custom tuning options (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Tune up, keep time, learn the fretboard, and run your set — Guitar Companion is the practice toolkit that follows you from the bedroom to the stage. TUNER A responsive chromatic tuner that listens to your guitar and shows you exactly how far off you are. A converging dial gives you the fine detail as you close in, then settles when you land it. Standard tuning is free, forever. Go Pro for Drop D, Drop C, Open D, DADGAD, and any custom tuning you want to save. METRONOME Clean, dependable timekeeping with adjustable subdivisions and accent patterns. Pro unlocks decimal BPM for the tempos that sit between the whole numbers, advanced subdivisions, and fully custom accents. CHORDS, SCALES & CAGED A browsable library of chord voicings with clear fretboard diagrams — free, all of it. Pro adds scale shapes across the neck (major, natural minor, and the pentatonics) and the full CAGED system, so you stop memorising boxes and start seeing how they connect. Every diagram comes with audio at a steady 60 BPM you can loop for as long as you need. MUSIC PLAYER Bring in the songs you're actually working on — from the Files app, your camera roll, a cloud drive, or recorded straight into the app. Pro adds the smart metronome, so a click locks to the track you're playing along with. SETLISTS Build a set, put the songs in order, and store the tempo and notes for each one. Live Performance mode steps you through the night song by song, cueing each tempo as you go, so you're not fumbling with your phone between numbers. Free covers one setlist of up to five songs. Pro removes the limits and adds folders and cloud sync across your devices. WHAT'S FREE The tuner in standard tuning, the metronome, the full chord library, the music player, and a setlist of up to five songs. No trial clock, no ads. GUITAR COMPANION PRO One purchase unlocks everything, on whichever terms suit you: • Monthly — $1.99 • Annual — $11.99 • Lifetime — $29.99, paid once Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel any time in your account settings. Lifetime is a single purchase with no renewal. No account is required to start — tap Continue as Guest and your work stays on the device. Sign in with Apple or Google when you want it synced. Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.bubbystudio.com/privacy-policy

Screenshots

D'Tools3 screens
Guitar Companion App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Guitar Companion App at 5.0 against D'Tools's 3.7. Guitar Companion App also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 4 months). D'Tools's advantage is ratings volume (36 vs 2) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.4). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Both are free to download. D'Tools sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Guitar Companion App sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Guitar Companion App holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: D'Tools has 36 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

D'Tools ships an update every 4 months, Guitar Companion App daily. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
D'Tools versus Guitar Companion App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterD'ToolsGuitar Companion App
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (36 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews49.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings36 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB61 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperD'Addario & Company, Inc.Scott Davis

Bugs and requests

D'Tools

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • Chord finder crashes app repeatedly
  • Tuner stops working after iOS updates
  • Microphone access not granted or requested properly
  • Audio/sound stops working after app closure
  • Metronome has no sound intermittently
Show 9 more
  • App crashes when accessing 'Find Stores' or 'Find Teachers' features
  • Chord finder displays 'no chord' for valid chords
  • Tuner reads notes sharp or flat (off by semitones)
  • App crashes after receiving phone calls
  • Chord finder cannot recognize bar chords
  • Cannot select open strings in chord finder
  • App requires internet connection to function
  • Incompatibility with iOS 7, 8, 11, and 12.5.7
  • Tuner frequency range too limited (doesn't go below A1)

Requested features

13 requests
  • Mute button for metronome
  • Bluetooth audio output for metronome
  • Dark mode/dark background for tuner visibility
  • Ability to change tuning in chord dictionary
  • Auto-play feature for continuous chord/scale playback
Show 8 more
  • Poly-rhythm metronome
  • 3 notes per string scale display option
  • Bass-specific scale options
  • Ability to play pitch reference tone (440Hz, etc.)
  • Support for alternate tunings
  • Background metronome playback during multitasking
  • Restore previous purchases button
  • Microphone access request on app launch

Guitar Companion App

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

D'Tools

One-time1
  • Buzz Feiten Tuning System$19.99
3 purchases

Guitar Companion App

Subscriptions2
  • Guitar Companion Pro monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Guitar Companion Pro annual$11.991 Year
One-time1
  • Guitar Companion lifetime access$29.99

Questions

Is D'Tools free?
D'Tools is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Guitar Companion App free?
Guitar Companion App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, D'Tools or Guitar Companion App?
Guitar Companion App is rated higher. D'Tools averages 3.7 out of 5 from 36 ratings, while Guitar Companion App averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do D'Tools or Guitar Companion App have ads?
Neither D'Tools nor Guitar Companion App shows ads.
Which is updated more often, D'Tools or Guitar Companion App?
D'Tools ships an update every 4 months, and Guitar Companion App daily. Most recently, D'Tools was updated on November 1, 2026 and Guitar Companion App on October 31, 2026.

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