Comparison

Set Dances vs Sessioneer

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

Head to head
About

Set Dances

This app offers a comprehensive collection of traditional and championship set dance music for Irish dancers. Practice at adjustable speeds with accurately timed tracks, perfect for solo competition preparation.

Highlights
  • Music for traditional set dances
  • Music for championship set dances
  • Adjustable music speeds
  • Includes specific An Coimisiún tunes
  • Includes specific An Comhdháil tunes
  • Offline music playback
Features
Read full description

Set Dances is a practice tool for Irish dancers. It provides the music for all the traditional and championship set dances approved by the Irish Dance Commission (An Coimisiun le Rinci Gaelacha) for use in solo Irish dance competitions. This app allows the music to be adjusted to a wide range of speeds. The music tracks were made in sync with a computer metronome, and the indicated speeds have been checked for accuracy against a stopwatch and other calibrated timing sources. Features: - Built for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV - All music is built into the app - Includes the music for the 8 traditional set dances - Contains the music for more than 35 championship set dances - Includes An Coimisiún set dance tunes: "The Vanishing Lake" and "The Charlady" - Includes set dance tunes used by Comhdháil Na Múinteoirí Le Rincí Gaelacha (An Comhdháil): "The Donegal Rambler", "Planxty Irwin", and "The Battle of Arklow"

About

Sessioneer

Features
Read full description

Sessioneer is a tune book for Irish traditional musicians, on iPad and iPhone. The full thesession.org database is built in and works offline: - Tens of thousands of tunes: jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas, slides, and more - Search by title, alias, composer, and submitter/transcriber - Multiple settings per tune - Build your own sets or browse thousands from the thesession.org community - Create Books of tunes, sets, PDFs and Images - Import Tunebooks and Bookmarks from thesession.org - Write notes with Apple Pencil directly on the music - Mark favorites, track your history - Import your own sheet music as PDFs or Images: read, search, and annotate with Apple Pencil - Add PDFs and Images to Books alongside tunes and sets - Tablature for fiddle, mandolin, and guitar with tuning and capo options - Favorite and share PDFs and Images Syncs through iCloud across your devices. No account, no email, no analytics, no data sold. Subscriptions are optional. The whole app is free. Subscribers remove a small support banner; nothing is gated. Tune database by thesession.org, used under Creative Commons. Built by an indie developer. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Set Dances1 screens
Sessioneer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Set Dances at none against Sessioneer's 4. Set Dances also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.0). Sessioneer's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 8 months). On price and ads 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. Sessioneer sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Set Dances asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Set Dances ships an update every 8 months, Sessioneer every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Set Dances versus Sessioneer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSet DancesSessioneer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size168 MB69 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDouglas LowderRUSSELL JAMES SCHICK

In-app purchases

None

Set Dances

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Sessioneer

Subscriptions4
  • Supporter (Monthly)$0.991 Month
  • Patron (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Supporter (Annual)$6.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Patron (Annual)$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Set Dances free?
Set Dances is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sessioneer free?
Sessioneer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Set Dances or Sessioneer have ads?
Neither Set Dances nor Sessioneer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Set Dances or Sessioneer?
Set Dances ships an update every 8 months, and Sessioneer every 2 weeks. Most recently, Set Dances was updated on September 29, 2026 and Sessioneer on September 21, 2026.

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