Comparison

WhoSampled vs Ableton Note

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

Head to head
About

WhoSampled

Explore the connections within music by discovering samples, covers, and remixes. Scan music playing around you or your library to uncover the DNA of your favorite tracks and artists. Access a vast database of musical knowledge and delve deeper into the music you love.

Highlights
  • Scan music to find samples, covers, and remixes
  • Connect to Spotify and Apple Music libraries
  • Access a large database of music DNA
  • Compare songs and listen to full tracks
  • Detailed sample information
  • Music charts and recommendations
  • Save favorites
Features
Read full description

What is the sample in this song? Who covered my favorite artists? What remixes were made for this track? WhoSampled knows! Discover the DNA of the music you love. Scan the music playing around you, or your Spotify or Apple Music library, to uncover samples, covers, and remixes - and explore WhoSampled's vast universe of musical knowledge. Awards include: - Selected by Apple as APP STORE BEST OF YEAR - The Telegraph - BEST MUSIC APP OF THE YEAR - Music Ally Digital Music Awards - BEST MUSIC APP - Named one of the world's best apps by The Next Web, The Sunday Times, The Independent, and more Explore the Music Behind the Music WhoSampled is the music DNA discovery app that reveals how songs are connected. Explore the world's largest database of sample-based music, cover songs and remixes, and discover how your favorite artists influence, and are influenced by, others. Whether you're into Hip-Hop, Electronic/Dance, Rock, Pop, Jazz, Funk, Soul, Reggae, Classical, or beyond, WhoSampled is an essential music discovery experience. Key Features - Discover music through your own collection. Scan your Spotify or Apple Music library to uncover amazing connections for the songs you love. - Identify music playing around you and instantly see its samples, covers and remixes. - Access the world’s largest and richest database of music DNA, with over 1,280,000 tracks, 398,000 artists, and continuous daily additions. Search for any artist or track even if it's not in your music library. - Beautiful, ad-free, clean interface. Simple and intuitive navigation makes exploration effortless. - Compare songs side-by-side and listen to full‐length tracks via YouTube (where available), Spotify (Premium required), or Apple Music (subscription required). Note: your iPhone must not be on silent/vibrate mode for audio playback. - "Now Playing" feature – switch from Spotify or Apple Music to the WhoSampled app to instantly see the musical DNA of the song you’re listening to. - Highly detailed information on any sample (sample timing, sample type, part sampled) lets you pinpoint exactly where and how samples were used. - Share your discoveries with your Facebook friends and X followers. - Deep and unique music charts that show you trending and top-rated music as well as the all-time most influential artists and tracks. - A host of other features and functionality including the ability to save favorites and contextual recommendations from every sample, cover and remix. Dig deeper into the music you love. Dig into the WhoSampled app! In-App Subscription Terms Payment will be charged to iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Terms of Use: https://www.whosampled.com/html/terms_of_use.html Privacy Policy: https://www.whosampled.com/html/privacy_policy.html

About

Ableton Note

Create musical ideas with curated sounds and effects. Build beats, melodies, and sample your surroundings. Seamlessly transfer your projects to Ableton Live for further development.

Highlights
  • Create beats and melodies
  • Sample sounds with phone microphone
  • MIDI Editor for sequencing
  • Transfer projects to Ableton Live
  • 76 Drum Sampler kits
  • 317 synth sounds
Read full description

Start new musical ideas with a curated selection of sounds and effects. Create beats and melodic parts, sample your world, and continue your tracks in Ableton Live. Note is a place to form ideas, explore new sounds and find direction. Get your ideas out or just experiment until inspiration hits, using a selection of Ableton Live’s drum kits, synths and melodic instruments. Create your own sound palette by sampling with your phone’s built-in microphone. And use Note’s built-in MIDI Editor to sequence notes, beats and chords or make tweaks as you listen back Follow your ideas wherever they lead by sending your projects to Live without leaving the app with the help of Ableton Cloud. Open projects from Live’s browser and keep working – you can edit all your MIDI notes, and all your samples and sounds from Note are exactly the same. Ableton Note users get a free license for Ableton Live Lite – simple, intuitive software used by musicians, producers and DJs around the world to write, record, and perform. For Ableton Move users, Note also offers the chance to keep working on a Set from your phone. Begin with a beat: • Choose from 76 Drum Sampler kits • Tap out a beat using the 16-pad grid, or sequence one with the MIDI Editor • Play each drum hit melodically using 16 Pitches mode • Quantize your beat or nudge notes to fix loose timing or mistakes • Add more layers of rhythm • Create beat repetitions with Note Repeat • Change parameters to shape your sound • Experiment with effects or apply swing for variations Start with a melody: • Choose from 317 synth sounds and 60 Melodic Sampler instruments • Play or program your melody or chord progression with the 25-pad grid, piano roll or MIDI Editor • Set a key and scale to get instantly harmonic results • Add more layers of harmony • Change parameters to shape your sound • Add effects to experiment with sound design Sample your environment: • Create your own kits by recording percussive sounds into Note’s Drum Sampler • Record tonal sounds to create your own Melodic Sampler instruments • Manipulate your samples by cutting, filtering or repitching them • Sequence samples into beats, melodies and chords using the MIDI Editor • Shape or transform your sounds with effects • Import your own samples or audio directly from videos Work with Audio • Add audio clips from the library • Warp tempo or adjust pitch of your clips • Record audio directly using your phone’s built-in microphone • Connect an audio interface to record external sources • Combine recorded and imported audio with your beats and melodies Capture improvisations: • Play something, then tap the Capture button to keep it • Play at a tempo that feels comfortable and Note will detect it • Note will recognize the length of the phrase and create a loop • Quantize it, add to it, or change the sound • Connect MIDI hardware to play keys and change the sound of your instruments Create variations: • Note features a grid-based Session View layout • Double your loops to create variation within clips • Duplicate your clips and create different versions of your ideas • Add, delete or adjust multiple notes at once with the MIDI Editor • Create eight tracks with up to eight clips on eight scenes • Try different clip combinations and song structures • Export your work as an audio file to listen and share

Screenshots

WhoSampled4 screens
Ableton Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: WhoSampled at Free against Ableton Note's $6.99. WhoSampled also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (8.5K vs 676). Ableton Note's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months) and chart position (#8 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and iOS requirement 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

WhoSampled is free to download; Ableton Note costs $6.99 up front. WhoSampled sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $9.99 per year and Ableton Note sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

WhoSampled holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: WhoSampled has 8.5K ratings behind it against 676, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 62% of WhoSampled's written reviews are positive against 73% of Ableton Note's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

WhoSampled ships an update every 4 months, Ableton Note monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
WhoSampled versus Ableton Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWhoSampledAbleton Note
PriceFree — better$6.99
Rating4.9 (8.5K ratings) — better4.2 (676 ratings)
Positive reviews61.9% of reviews72.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8.5K — better676
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#8 — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB1007 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperWhoSampledAbleton AG

Customer experience

WhoSampled

All ratings8,458 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral1.0%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews236 reviews
Positive61.9%
Neutral8.1%
Negative30.1%

Ableton Note

All ratings676 ratings
Positive78.4%
Neutral10.8%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews473 reviews
Positive72.5%
Neutral13.7%
Negative13.7%

User reviews

WhoSampled

From 8.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💎 Incredible resource for music lovers
  • 🔍 Helps discover new music through samples
  • 📚 Extensive database of samples and covers
  • 🎶 Useful for DJs and producers
  • 🔗 Good integration with music streaming services

Room to improve

  • 💰 Misleading pricing with hidden subscription fees
  • 🤖 Outdated and clunky user interface
  • 🔍 Incomplete database, missing some music
  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes, especially with Spotify integration
  • 🚫 Restricted functionality without subscription

Ableton Note

From 676 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Intuitive workflow
  • 🎨 Great sound quality
  • 🤝 Seamless Ableton Live integration
  • 💰 Affordable price
  • 🔥 Inspiring for creativity

Room to improve

  • 🔇 No audio track support
  • 🎹 Limited note editing capabilities
  • ⏱️ Bluetooth latency issues
  • 🔢 Restricted to 4/4 time signature
  • 🔧 Lacking some advanced features

Bugs and requests

WhoSampled

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Network errors when scanning Spotify
  • Audio not working on sample videos
  • Login issues with Spotify and other accounts

Requested features

5 requests
  • iPad app optimization
  • More advanced search and filtering options
  • Ability to submit new samples and covers
  • Smoother transitions between songs and samples
  • Background music playback while browsing

Ableton Note

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional loss of unsaved work
  • Freezing issues when editing clips

Requested features

6 requests
  • Audio track support
  • Expanded note editing tools
  • Midi controller support
  • More effects and synth options
  • Time signature flexibility
Show 1 more
  • Ability to import samples from Ableton Live

In-app purchases

1 purchases

WhoSampled

Subscriptions1
  • Unlimited Track ID$9.991 Year
1 purchases

Ableton Note

One-time1
  • Drift In-App Purchase$3.99

Questions

Is WhoSampled free?
WhoSampled is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ableton Note free?
Ableton Note costs $6.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, WhoSampled or Ableton Note?
WhoSampled is rated higher. WhoSampled averages 4.9 out of 5 from 8.5K ratings, while Ableton Note averages 4.2 from 676 ratings.
Do WhoSampled or Ableton Note have ads?
Neither WhoSampled nor Ableton Note shows ads.
Which is updated more often, WhoSampled or Ableton Note?
WhoSampled ships an update every 4 months, and Ableton Note monthly. Most recently, WhoSampled was updated on September 24, 2026 and Ableton Note on September 22, 2026.

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