Comparison

Chord Archiver vs Pure Score Reader

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

Head to head
About

Chord Archiver

Archive song lyrics, chords, and tabs digitally to reduce paper waste. Organize songs into playlists for performances and easily transpose chords. Features include autoscroll, adjustable font size, and online backup for your music collection.

Highlights
  • Archive lyrics, chords, and tabs
  • Create and manage song playlists
  • Transpose chords with +1/-1 buttons
  • YouTube video integration
  • Autoscroll and adjustable font size
  • Print and share songs
  • Online backup subscription
Features
Read full description

Tired of printing lyrics, tab and chords wasting paper, ink and time? With Chord Archiver you can archive your songs (with lyrics, chords and tabs) manually or through the web, saving songs in the App. You can also insert the YouTube link to the relative video, so you can play it in a box while you're studying the song and learn it quickly. Songs are sorted by author, and you can use a full-text search to help you finding a song easily. Playlists You can create as many playlists as you want, and rearrange them. These songs are displayed in a menu on the right. You can decide the order of these songs and create a real outline for your live performance! After selecting a song from a playlist, you can browse the playlist back and forth in an simple way: swipe right or left to change song in that playlist. Print and sharing If you want, you can print a song directly in the app or share it with your band,by simply using an email address. Transposition and hints You can transpose chords with the buttons labelled +1 and -1, next to the song's title. If you select the chors you can play (in Settings), the lightbulb shaped button will suggest to you in which transposition you can play that song! Autoscroll and font size features. Long songs have long lyrics and chords: with autoscroll you can scroll without touching the display. You can change the font size and the autoscroll speed. Chord Archiver saves for you these settings for each song. Online Backup Your archive is getting bigger and bigger and you do not want to risk to lose it? Sign up for a Chord Archiver account and you can subscribe to the Online Backup service via the auto-renewable in-app subscription that lasts one year. For more informations see http://troise.net/dev/chordarchiver/docs/terms_of_service_en.php. By subscribing to the Online Backup service, you can back up your entire music archive and restore it at any time, even on another device.

About

Pure Score Reader

Features
Read full description

Your sheet music, always on stage. Pure Score Reader is a fast, distraction-free reader for your PDF scores. Import, annotate, and build setlists — then turn pages with a tap, a swipe, or a Bluetooth pedal. Everything a performer needs, and nothing in the way. ■ Distraction-free reading Read one page at a time or as a two-page spread. Smart zoom crops blank margins so the music fills the screen — nothing else gets in the way. ■ Effortless page turns Turn pages with a tap, a swipe, or a Bluetooth foot pedal — and pick up right where you left off. ■ Annotate in layers Mark up with a pressure-sensitive pen and highlighter. Keep fingerings, cuts, and cues on separate layers you can show or hide per performance. ■ Setlists Build a virtual score book — pages picked from any piece, in your running order. Jump straight to the next number. ■ Find any score fast Organize with labels and folders, and search by title or composer. Your whole library is one tap away. ■ Sync through your Drive Keep every device in sync through your own Google Drive. Your scores stay yours — there's no account to create. ■ Your library stays yours Works offline. No ads, no analytics profile, no selling your data. Just your music. ■ Simple, fair pricing Start free with up to 4 scores, 2 setlists, and PDFs up to 15 MB — annotations, layers, and Drive sync included. Unlock everything with a single one-time purchase (Essential): unlimited scores, unlimited setlists, any PDF file size, and all future updates. No subscription — pay once, keep it forever.

Screenshots

Pure Score Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Chord Archiver at 9.3 against Pure Score Reader's 17.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Chord Archiver sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per year and Pure Score Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chord Archiver ships an update every 2 weeks, Pure Score Reader every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Chord Archiver versus Pure Score Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChord ArchiverPure Score Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews56.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS9.3 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB17 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperDavide TroiseSukodama Inc.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Chord Archiver

Subscriptions1
  • Online backup$1.991 Year
One-time1
  • "Backup all songs"$0.99
1 purchases

Pure Score Reader

One-time1
  • Pure Score Reader Essential$17.99

Questions

Is Chord Archiver free?
Chord Archiver is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pure Score Reader free?
Pure Score Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Chord Archiver or Pure Score Reader have ads?
Neither Chord Archiver nor Pure Score Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chord Archiver or Pure Score Reader?
Chord Archiver ships an update every 2 weeks, and Pure Score Reader every 3 weeks. Most recently, Chord Archiver was updated on October 22, 2026 and Pure Score Reader on October 10, 2026.

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