Comparison

Studiolab vs Songstead

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

Head to head
About

Studiolab

This app helps you write songs by providing tools for composition, arrangement, and lyric writing. You can experiment with musical patterns, chord progressions, and melodies, and even collaborate with others. Export your creations as PDF scores, MIDI, or audio files.

Highlights
  • Songwriting tools
  • Musical pattern integration
  • Chord progression experimentation
  • Melody and arrangement editing
  • Lyric writing support
  • Collaboration features
  • PDF, MIDI, and audio export
Features
Read full description

Unlike great musical productions, great songs do not depend on amazing sounds and effects. You can write one on a beach, using a guitar, pen and paper. Studiolab is a tool for writing songs. Start with an empty composition or with a known song. Use musical patterns for filling the song with music, so you can make major changes with a few, small edits. Experiment with the structure, chord progressions, musical patterns, melodies, arrangements and lyrics until you are satisfied. You can even collaborate with friends. You can export PDF scores, MIDI and audio. Create and share your own sounds and composition templates. Almost all Studiolab features can be used offline. The iPhone and iPad versions have the same features, but the iPad is naturally easier to use. Studiolab is a huge, evolving project for composing music. Most features are described in the in-app documentation.

About

Songstead

Organize your song library with chord charts, setlists, and collaborative tools. Write songs in various formats, transpose keys, and export PDFs. Build setlists for events and share your music library with a band or studio.

Highlights
  • Chord chart creation
  • Key transposition
  • Setlist building
  • Collaborative library sharing
  • PDF export
  • Plain text and ChordPro writing
Features
Read full description

Songs - Chord charts with the tools you actually need: write in ChordPro or plain text, transpose to any key, auto-detect the key from what you enter, switch notation styles, and export a clean PDF for print or tablet. Sets - Build a setlist for a gig, a rehearsal, or a practice session. Add a date, a title, and a location, so everyone knows exactly what you're playing and when. Groups - A shared space where the whole band, team, or studio works from the same library. Invite people in, set their role, and everyone always has the current version.

Screenshots

Studiolab4 screens
Songstead4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Songstead at 100% against Studiolab's 0%. Songstead also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.4) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). Studiolab's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks) and ratings volume (7 vs 1). On price, ads and device support 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. Studiolab sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Songstead asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Songstead holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Studiolab has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Studiolab's written reviews are positive against 100% of Songstead's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Studiolab ships an update weekly, Songstead every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Studiolab versus Songstead: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStudiolabSongstead
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.4 (7 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7 — better1
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size70 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDemagic ABbeestat.io

Customer experience

Studiolab

All ratings7 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral14.3%
Negative85.7%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Songstead

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Studiolab

One-time1
  • 400 Studiolab Points$1.99
None

Songstead

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Studiolab free?
Studiolab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Songstead free?
Songstead is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Studiolab or Songstead?
Songstead is rated higher. Studiolab averages 1.4 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Songstead averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Studiolab or Songstead have ads?
Neither Studiolab nor Songstead shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Studiolab or Songstead?
Studiolab ships an update weekly, and Songstead every 3 weeks. Most recently, Studiolab was updated on November 1, 2026 and Songstead on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons