Comparison

Polychord vs MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin

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

Head to head
About

Polychord

Create music with an intuitive interface that makes playing chords easy for everyone. Explore songwriting, strum and solo with confidence, and even add auto-accompaniment. Advanced MIDI features allow integration with popular music production software.

Highlights
  • Play chords from diverse palettes
  • Strum and solo in key
  • Auto-accompaniment band feature
  • MIDI control for DAWs
  • Songwriting tools
Features
Read full description

Polychord turns your iPad into a chord instrument — a full band at your fingertips. Nine chord circles hold every chord in your key — arranged so the right one is always under your fingers. Tap a circle to hear it, and the ring around it offers the colors: sevenths, sixths, suspensions. Strum across the keys like a harp. You can't hit a wrong note, and you never have to stop and think. Flip on Auto Accompany and a rhythm section falls in behind you: bass and drums that follow every chord change you make, in styles from folk to funk to krautrock. One finger becomes a band. When something good happens, hit record. Loop, layer, and bounce it to audio, or export multi-track MIDI with chords, strum, bass, arpeggiator, and drums on separate tracks, ready for your DAW. In the studio, Polychord comes with you. The AUv3 MIDI-effect plugin puts the chord grid inside DAWs like Logic Pro that support MIDI effects, and MIDI in and out means it can play — or be played by — everything else you own. Whether you've played for twenty years or never learned an instrument, Polychord closes the gap between imagining music and making it. FEATURES • Nine chord circles covering the full harmony of any major or minor key • Chord palettes for folk, jazz, gospel, bossa nova, soul, cinematic, and more • Strum keys with pitch bend • Auto Accompany: bass lines and drum patterns that follow your chords • Arpeggiator with adjustable direction, rate, and octave span • Built-in wavetable synth with ADSR envelopes, filter, delay, and bitcrusher • Record performances and bounce to audio • Multi-track MIDI export: chords, strum, bass, arpeggiator, and drums on separate tracks • MIDI out to any app or hardware; MIDI in to trigger chords from a keyboard • You can even split your MIDI output to trigger multiple instruments at once in DAWs like Logic • AUv3 MIDI-effect plugin: play the chord grid inside your favorite host • AUv3 works in DAWs like Logic Pro that support MIDI effect plug-ins Polychord is a one-time purchase. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no account. Your music stays yours.

About

MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin

This app generates MIDI note data to simulate guitar strumming and picking. It includes a soundfont player, definable chord pads, and a pattern editor for creating custom strumming and picking sequences. You can also chain patterns into songs and apply various audio effects.

Highlights
  • Simulate guitar strumming and picking
  • Generate MIDI note data
  • Import and use soundfonts (.SF2, .DLS)
  • 16 definable chord pads
  • Pattern editor for creating sequences
  • Song mode to chain patterns
  • 6 and 12 string emulation
  • Built-in audio effects
Features
Read full description

MIDI Strummer is an AUv3 plugin designed to simulate guitar strumming and picking techniques. It can used to generate MIDI note data which can be sent to either an external synth of choice or the internal soundfont engine.  The inbuilt soundfont player allows you to import all your favourite .SF2 and .DLS soundfonts and use them as a sound source. MIDI strummer has a set of 16 definable chord pads that can hold a series of chords, which in turn can be triggered remotely via MIDI messages or by tapping the pads. Use the pattern editor to create a series of picking or strumming patterns that can be tranposed to the selected chord pad.  Song mode allows you to chain these chord patterns together to form songs combining both picking and strumming patterns within the same song. Enable 6/12 string on a particular part to emphesize a pert by adding depth. Strummer also features a number of audio effects that can be used to enhance the audio from the soundfont player. These include overdrive, distortion, tremolo, chorus, phaser, graphic EQ, digital delay and reverb. Key Features: • 6 and 12 string emulations. • Simulate strum up/down with variable speeds. • Create patterns up to 64 steps in length. • Load up to 6 pattern variations. • Ramdomize and rotate options. • Songs can be up to 255 steps in length. • Built in ARP function. • Import your own soundfonts. • 8 different effect types (reverb, delay, phaser, chorus, overdrive, distortion, tremelo and EQ). • Paramter Automation from your DAW using MIDI. • Built in Sampler. • Comprehensive Help pages included. Please Note: This version is now compatible with GarageBand running on iOS14.

Screenshots

MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Polychord at $9.99 against MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin's $12.99. MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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

Polychord costs $9.99 and MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin $12.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Polychord against 4.3 for MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 39 and 51 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 75% and 75% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Polychord ships an update every 2 months, MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Polychord versus MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPolychordMIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin
Price$9.99 — better$12.99
Rating4.4 (39 ratings) — better4.3 (51 ratings)
Positive reviews74.8% of reviews75.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3951 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB386 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApposite4Pockets.com

Customer experience

Polychord

All ratings39 ratings
Positive84.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative15.4%
Written reviews147 reviews
Positive74.8%
Neutral11.6%
Negative13.6%

MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin

All ratings51 ratings
Positive80.4%
Neutral9.8%
Negative9.8%
Written reviews61 reviews
Positive75.4%
Neutral11.5%
Negative13.1%

User reviews

Polychord

From 39 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎵 Intuitive chord progression interface
  • 🎹 Excellent MIDI controller functionality
  • 🎸 Digital Omnichord replacement
  • 📱 Audiobus integration support
  • 🎼 Great for music theory learning

Room to improve

  • ⚠️ App no longer actively developed
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 📦 Limited built-in sound variety
  • 🔄 Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • 🎚️ Limited chord selection at once (3x3 grid)

MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin

From 51 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great app for guitar tracks
  • 💡 Versatile arpeggiator
  • 🎶 Excellent sound quality
  • 🎹 Capable soundfont player
  • 🎵 Intuitive interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • ⚠️ Suspicious support website
  • 📉 Limited control over swing/triplet tempo
  • ❓ Difficult to get MIDI out
  • 🖱️ Clunky UI

Bugs and requests

Polychord

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • App crashes during recording
  • Incompatible with iOS 8+ on older devices
  • MIDI off messages not sent properly
  • Sporadic glitches with Logic Pro and GarageBand
  • Sound occasionally disappears until app restart
Show 5 more
  • Strum keys disappear or become unresponsive
  • Record button resets project
  • Chord release affects all sustained chords
  • Visual glitches on Retina display
  • App not receiving updates for compatibility

Requested features

20 requests
  • Custom chord creation and palette selection
  • Copy and paste functionality
  • Save and load configurations/presets
  • Additional instrument sounds and drum kits
  • Retina display support
Show 15 more
  • Metronome and click track
  • Recording improvements (overdub, undo)
  • Visual chord progression tracker
  • Velocity control via accelerometer
  • Chord builder for custom chords
  • Master tune control
  • Extended chord types (M9, m9, M13, etc.)
  • Slash chords support
  • More scales (bebop, mixolydian, etc.)
  • Strum keys with note labels
  • Full iPad width strum section
  • AUv3 plugin support
  • Inverted chord options
  • MIDI channel routing
  • Audio copy/paste support

MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • App support is not opening
  • App support website is gone/suspicious
  • App keeps crashing when hosted in AUM
  • Plugin corrupts entire track and makes project impossible to open
  • Crashes constantly when used in AUM
Show 10 more
  • Latest update causes failed to load in IMPC pro 2 and standalone
  • App crashes and help function doesn't work
  • Audio unit extension quit messages
  • Crashes when selecting a preset
  • Soundfonts not working when loaded as an instrument in AUM
  • Sometimes stops all internal sounds
  • Pop up menus not accessible for VoiceOver
  • MIDI channel out returns to default on every startup
  • Chords bug out and change half the chord in latch mode
  • Preset/chords would not save in AUM

Requested features

34 requests
  • Include pattern lengths of 3, 5, 7
  • Piano to guitar chords and manual strumming
  • Offset notes in pattern editor for swing/triplet tempos
  • Add swing/humanize to patterns
  • Functionality for capo or real-time key change with MIDI
Show 29 more
  • Pattern latch function in real-time with MIDI
  • More guitar sounds and strum patterns
  • Optimize for M1 Macs
  • Save and export patterns to MIDI
  • Tap or strum patterns manually and record
  • Interface similar to Helium for saving/exporting MIDI
  • Interface reminiscent of Guitarism
  • Stronger colors for chosen/played chords
  • Modulation in song creation (change key)
  • Access MIDI parameters in Piano to Guitar mode
  • More detailed documentation on chord formation
  • Ability to reorder saved settings
  • MIDI learn for CC messages
  • Add more layers of pads for chords (7ths, sus, etc.)
  • Double size pad page for more chords
  • MIDI in functionality
  • Ability to touch fretboard for custom chords/voicings
  • Construct chords from scratch
  • Control over pedal damping
  • Add open tunings
  • Change chords on every half and quarter beat
  • Display current preset name at the top
  • Add bend of notes and note sustain
  • Improve interface for ARP/strum grid to match guitar tabs
  • Save chord chains, chord pads, and custom strumming patterns separately
  • Include custom chords in future versions
  • More Soundfont files
  • More presets
  • Faster BPM adjustment

In-app purchases

None

Polychord

No in-app purchases

None

MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Polychord free?
Polychord costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin free?
MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Polychord or MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin?
Polychord is rated higher. Polychord averages 4.4 out of 5 from 39 ratings, while MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin averages 4.3 from 51 ratings.
Do Polychord or MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin have ads?
Neither Polychord nor MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Polychord or MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin?
Polychord ships an update every 2 months, and MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin every 6 weeks. Most recently, Polychord was updated on November 6, 2026 and MIDI Strummer AUv3 Plugin on November 7, 2026.

Other comparisons