Comparison

Launchpad 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

Launchpad

Create and remix electronic music with a professional sound library and intuitive grid interface. Layer beats, melodies, and vocals, then apply DJ-style effects to craft unique tracks. Record and share your musical creations with the world.

Highlights
  • Multi-color grid for playing sounds
  • Mix and remix soundpacks
  • DJ-style performance effects
  • Weekly soundpack releases
  • Record and share music
  • Import custom sounds (iPad)
  • Ableton Link integration
Features
Read full description

The original Launchpad — Make & Remix Music. Enter an inspiring world of music creation and remixing on your iPhone & iPad. 8 free soundpacks included. Hundreds more available, updated weekly. Launchpad is the original number-one app for making and remixing electronic music. Instantly combine beats, basslines, melodies, vocals and FX loops into new creations. Layer DJ-style effects to chop and change your sound. Record your performance and share it with others. There’s never been a better time to make music. // MAKE & REMIX MUSIC Instantly create and remix music. Use the world-famous Launchpad grid to trigger loops and sounds from a huge professional library. Launchpad is always locked to the beat, so you’ll never go out of time. // EASY TO USE DJ-STYLE FX Free, easy-to-use DJ-style FX turn every remix into a creative performance. Advanced options on iPad further enhance your remixes. The pro DJ-style effects include filter, gater, stutter, stopper, flanger and delay. // INSPIRING SOUNDPACKS, UPDATED WEEKLY Launchpad comes with 8 remix soundpacks to get you started. Hundreds more are available in the store, with new ones added every week. // PRO FEATURES COLLECTION For the advanced or adventurous, the Pro Features Collection for iPad add-on lets you import your own sounds, use the extended FX features and sync easily to other apps and external hardware. Connect the world famous Launchpad hardware to your iPad for the ultimate sonic experience. At any time, capture your performance and share it easily. Features • Make music instantly — Play a multi-colour grid of amazing sounds • Be a DJ — Mix soundpacks together endlessly • 8 free soundpacks — Nearly 400 sounds included. Discover hundreds more in the store. • Weekly releases — Professional remix soundpacks released every week • DJ-style performance FX — Make your mixes unique with powerful DJ effects • Share your music — Soundcloud, YouTube, Facebook, Dropbox, Audiocopy and more • Create your own remixes — Craft your own remix by combining sounds from your library • Reuse soundpacks — Launchpad soundpacks appear automatically in Blocs Wave • Play in key — Set the key of your session and browse all clips in that key Advanced Features • Real-time tempo — Change tempo at any time, with real-time audio stretching • Blocs Wave export — Easily send your Blocs Wave projects to Launchpad • Audio Import* — Supports Dropbox, AudioShare, AudioCopy and Airdrop • Advanced performance FX* — Enhanced Stutter, Autofilter, Gater, Delay, Stopper & Flanger • Launchpad hardware — Integrates with Novation’s Launch hardware (iPad only) • Ableton Link — Jam in sync with your other apps, devices or Ableton Live • MIDI sync output* — Connect Launchpad to external hardware synths and drum machines* (iPad only) • Audiobus Support — Use any Audiobus-compatible apps to extend your music-making setup • Bluetooth — Supports Bluetooth speakers and headphones *In-App Purchase Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

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

Launchpad4 screens
Ableton Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Launchpad at Free against Ableton Note's $6.99. Launchpad also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (35K vs 676). Ableton Note's advantage is chart position (#7 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Launchpad is free to download; Ableton Note costs $6.99 up front. Launchpad sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month 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

Launchpad holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Launchpad has 35K ratings behind it against 676, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Launchpad's written reviews are positive against 73% of Ableton Note's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Launchpad ships an update every 3 weeks, Ableton Note monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Launchpad versus Ableton Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLaunchpadAbleton Note
PriceFree — better$6.99
Rating4.8 (35K ratings) — better4.2 (676 ratings)
Positive reviews85.1% of reviews — better72.5% of reviews
Number of ratings35K — better676
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#7 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size129 MB1007 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFocusrite Audio EngineeringAbleton AG

Customer experience

Launchpad

All ratings34,908 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral2.5%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews833 reviews
Positive85.1%
Neutral5.8%
Negative9.1%

Ableton Note

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

User reviews

Launchpad

From 35K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fun
  • 🚀 Lots of beats you can use
  • 🚀 Good for mental capacity
  • 🚀 So good at making beats
  • 🚀 Really good

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Makes it look free but not
  • 🐛 Not much you can do without paying
  • 🐛 Crashes while working
  • 🐛 Glitchy
  • 🐛 Needs bluetooth MIDI desperately

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

Launchpad

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Audio import not working
  • Inability to delete unnecessary recordings
  • Inability to see name of soundpack a loop belongs to
  • Pad selections disappearing when hitting stop
  • Inability to import audio after updating
Show 4 more
  • Inability to access audio import after signing out of account
  • App crashing when trying to import audio
  • App constantly closing when importing stuff
  • Inability to restore audio import after getting a new device

Requested features

11 requests
  • Ability to edit after a track is recorded, adjusting levels/adding effects
  • Pause button
  • Ability to duplicate a current song
  • Sequencer to use drum hits
  • Ability to change key of project
Show 6 more
  • Display key when pressing tempo button
  • Ability to sync projects across devices
  • Ability to record and save instruments, drums, piano etc.
  • Ability to export separate stems
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

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

10 purchases

Launchpad

Subscriptions1
  • Launchpad Premium (Monthly)7 Days trial$7.991 Month
One-time9
  • Found Sound Journey: Hip HopFree
  • EDM HazeFree
  • Dub TrapFree
Show 6 more
  • Found Sound Journey: TechnoFree
  • FoundSoundJourney:ItalianChillFree
  • Glitchstep$1.99
  • Viral Hip Hop$1.99
  • Hypnotic Energy$1.99
  • Audio Import$6.99
1 purchases

Ableton Note

One-time1
  • Drift In-App Purchase$3.99

Questions

Is Launchpad free?
Launchpad 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, Launchpad or Ableton Note?
Launchpad is rated higher. Launchpad averages 4.8 out of 5 from 35K ratings, while Ableton Note averages 4.2 from 676 ratings.
Do Launchpad or Ableton Note have ads?
Neither Launchpad nor Ableton Note shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Launchpad or Ableton Note?
Launchpad ships an update every 3 weeks, and Ableton Note monthly. Most recently, Launchpad was updated on September 24, 2026 and Ableton Note on September 22, 2026.

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