Comparison

iPianoChords vs ChordPolyPad

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

Head to head
About

iPianoChords

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iPianoChords makes a huge piano chord library with over 2300 chords available to your iPhone. A small and helpful tool for Keyboarder, Piano player or even Guitar players. Video and more info at: http://www.projectizer.de - Learn new songs easy with our massive chord library. Intelligent sorting will allow to find your chord quick and easy. - A perfect day, great new song is born? Just enter the keys and the chord is displayed. Share your song with chord names with others - No fun by learning score reading? The chord snapshot functions saves the current chord as image and you can add it to your personal songbook. - Key features - Huge chord library - Contains chord inversions - Chord playback - Piano sample sounds - Chord filtered by difficulty - Revers chord finder - Root note display - Notes instantly displayed - Alternative chord names - Chord info display - Chord formula infos - Snapshot function for chords

About

ChordPolyPad

This app is a versatile MIDI chord player that allows users to create and play complex chord sets. It offers extensive customization for pads, MIDI controls, and chord generation, functioning as a standalone app or an AUv3 MIDI effect plugin.

Highlights
  • Standalone app and AUv3 MIDI effect plugin
  • 128 pads per preset
  • Customizable X/Y MIDI controllers
  • Advanced random chord generator
  • Internal and external MIDI support
  • Chord filtering and quantizing
  • Preset manager with in-app purchases
Features
Currently charting
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"ChordPolyPad" is a MIDI chords player that lets you create chord sets using a large internal library, any custom combination of notes, or randomly generated chords. Each preset contains either 8 groups of 16 pads or 2 groups of 64 pads, for a total of 128 pads. In addition to playing chords, each pad can generate customizable MIDI controls on its horizontal and vertical axes, allowing expressive real-time modulation. "ChordPolyPad" can be used as a standalone application or as an AUv3 MIDI effect plug-in. The app supports full internal and external MIDI input and output. An internal sound bank is included for immediate use. The AUv3 MIDI effect plug-in supports multiple instances. A compatible host is required and must support the Audio Unit v3 (AUv3) MIDI effect format. Hosts supporting AUv3 MIDI effect on iOS: Logic Pro, Cubasis, Beatmaker, AUM, Audiobus, NanoStudio, Auria Pro, apeMatrix. Hosts supporting AUv3 MIDI effect on macOS: Logic Pro 10.7 or later. Features: • Standalone application and AUv3 MIDI effect plug-in • 8 groups of 16 pads or 2 groups of 64 pads per preset (128 pads) • Assignable MIDI port and MIDI channel for each pad • Customizable X/Y controller per pad • Per-note velocity control for each chord • Strumming configuration per pad • Copy and paste for pads and groups • Drag and drop chords directly from the library • Chord filtering and quantizing based on the selected scale • Predefined scales and possibility to create custom scales • Advanced random chord generator with diverse musical moods featuring voice leading and context-aware harmonic progressions for naturally flowing compositions • Stop "Audio Background" automatically after inactivity (15 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, or never) • Internal sound bank • Receive MIDI notes and control from external devices • Send MIDI to a virtual port usable as MIDI input by other "Core MIDI" compatible apps • Preset manager with support for in-app purchase packs • "Program Change" support • Preset sharing support by "AirDrop", "Mail", "Messages", and other supported services • Native iCloud support • "iCloud Drive" support in the "Files" app on iOS and "Finder" on macOS • Full support for "Windowed Apps" mode on iPad • Undo/Redo Supported MIDI connections: • Virtual "Core MIDI" connections between apps • Any compatible MIDI interface • MIDI over Wi-Fi • MIDI over Bluetooth

Screenshots

iPianoChords3 screens
ChordPolyPad3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: iPianoChords at $1.99 against ChordPolyPad's $17.99. iPianoChords also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). ChordPolyPad's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 23 months) and chart position (#165 vs unranked). On 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

iPianoChords costs $1.99 and ChordPolyPad $17.99 up front. ChordPolyPad sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. iPianoChords asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iPianoChords ships an update every 23 months, ChordPolyPad every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on December 3, 2025 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
iPianoChords versus ChordPolyPad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriPianoChordsChordPolyPad
Price$1.99 — better$17.99
Rating—4.6 (51 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—92.1% of reviews
Number of ratings—51 — better
Update frequencyEvery 23 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#165 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStefan ArnholdLaurent Colson

In-app purchases

None

iPianoChords

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

ChordPolyPad

One-time3
  • Retro Pop$4.99
  • Clubwave$4.99
  • Liminal Spaces$4.99

Questions

Is iPianoChords free?
iPianoChords costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is ChordPolyPad free?
ChordPolyPad costs $17.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Do iPianoChords or ChordPolyPad have ads?
Neither iPianoChords nor ChordPolyPad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iPianoChords or ChordPolyPad?
iPianoChords ships an update every 23 months, and ChordPolyPad every 2 months. Most recently, iPianoChords was updated on December 3, 2025 and ChordPolyPad on October 26, 2026.

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