Comparison

the Craic vs Strum Machine

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

Head to head
About

the Craic

This app transforms your device into a portable digital tunebook, offering thousands of traditional tunes in ABC notation. Easily search, play, and organize music for various instruments, with options to create custom sets and collections. Import tunes from multiple sources and share them as ABC or PDF.

Highlights
  • Searchable tune library
  • Create and play tune sets
  • Organize favorite tunes
  • Import ABC notation
  • Playback with tempo control
  • Edit ABC notation
  • Print and share tunes
Features
Read full description

Stop rummaging through paper tunebooks - turn your iPad or iPhone into a portable tunebook. Quickly search, display and hear thousands of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and other tunes for fiddle, flute, bagpipes, banjo, mandolin, concertina or accordion. Please leave a review or rate the app if you enjoy it - it helps! Subscribe either monthly or yearly to help support ongoing development. - includes a selection of 76 commonly played session tunes (lots more on the Internet!) - create, play and print sets of tunes - create collections of your favourite tunes and sets, print them as tune books or as incipits - import ABC notation via iTunes, cloud services like iCloud and Dropbox, email or the internet - bagpipe notation for tunes with HP or Hp key - search online or on your iPad or iPhone - online search results can be quickly imported into your library - simple playback with tempo control and looping - choose flute, whistle, fiddle, banjo, guitar, piano, harp or accordion - create and edit ABC notation on your iPad with a keyboard extension to simplify entry - external keyboard fully supported - print - share via email as ABC notation or PDF - open as a PDF in other applications Use of the Craic is governed by the standard Apple Terms of Use. You can view this at https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Strum Machine

Generate realistic backing tracks for practice with real instrument audio. Customize chord progressions, keys, and tempo. Features a large song library, song editor, and band customization options. Works offline and syncs across devices.

Highlights
  • Realistic instrument audio backing tracks
  • Customizable chord progressions, keys, and tempo
  • Extensive song library
  • Simple song editor
  • Band and instrument customization
  • Cross-platform syncing and offline mode
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Elevate your music practice with customizable backing tracks generated with audio from real instruments (guitar, mandolin, and standup bass). Strum Machine can play any chord progression, in any key, at any speed. It's the only backing-track app built specifically for players of bluegrass, old-time, fiddle tunes, and other such genres. (Although it works pretty good for some jazz/swing now, too!) Why musicians of all levels love Strum Machine: • Realistic Sound: Backing tracks are assembled in real time from studio-quality instrument recordings. • Quick Adjustments: Instantly adjust the speed/tempo, change the key, loop part of a song, etc. • Auto-Speedup: Gradually increase the BPM at the end of every repetition for training purposes. • Chord Reference: Clean, beautiful chord charts, which can be displayed in letters or numbers (i.e. "1-4-5"). • Extensive Library: Over 1,300 songs (mostly from bluegrass and old-time) ready to go, with thousands more posted on the community forum. • Simple Song Editor: Add your own songs (or edit existing ones) in minutes. Almost every chord you can play on a guitar is available for use. • Customize the Band: Choose from a variety of built-in band styles, then optionally customize each instrument individually – adjust the strumming pattern, add automatic bass runs, and more. • Organize & Share: Create song lists for practicing or even performing, and share them with your friends or on the community forum. • Cross-Platform: Sync your custom songs, lists, and preferences with any device you use Strum Machine on: phone, tablet, or computer. (It works offline, too!) • Responsive Support: If you run into any problems or have questions, write us an email or post a message on the forum and someone will get back to you within a few days! Strum Machine is under active development and we're always working on ways to make the app even more useful to our users... while keeping it uncluttered and intuitive first and foremost. Discover how Strum Machine can improve your music practice today! Download Strum Machine and play a handful of demo songs instantly, without signing up. For the full experience, including access to all built-in songs and the ability to create your own, start a free trial. Terms of Use: https://strummachine.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://strummachine.com/privacy

Screenshots

the Craic4 screens
Strum Machine4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Strum Machine at Free against the Craic's $4.99. Strum Machine also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support 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

Strum Machine is free to download; the Craic costs $4.99 up front. the Craic sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.39 per month and Strum Machine sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Strum Machine holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Strum Machine has 120 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of the Craic's written reviews are positive against 89% of Strum Machine's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

the Craic ships an update every 2 months, Strum Machine fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
the Craic versus Strum Machine: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterthe CraicStrum Machine
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (13 ratings)4.7 (120 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews88.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings13120 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank—#168 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.4
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB77 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWil MacaulayLuke Abbott LLC

Customer experience

the Craic

All ratings13 ratings
Positive76.9%
Neutral15.4%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral8.9%
Negative16.1%

Strum Machine

All ratings118 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral0.8%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews62 reviews
Positive88.7%
Neutral3.2%
Negative8.1%

Bugs and requests

the Craic

Reported bugs

28 issues
  • Won't read past errors in older ABC spec
  • Doesn't report ABC spec errors
  • No support for multi-voice (e.g., SATB grandstaff)
  • Small note heads
  • Does not cover concertinas
Show 23 more
  • App freezes up
  • Not all ABC tunes get imported
  • Setting markers for playback is unintuitive
  • Selections with pick-up notes don't loop properly
  • Multiply editing/saving can create multiple copies
  • GUI could be more intuitive/standard
  • Freezes up when editing first/second endings
  • No iCloud sync for tunes
  • No bagpipe option in instrument selection
  • App freezes on download
  • Gets stuck in a loop during download
  • Does not support drum notation
  • With iOS 12, staff lines don't display
  • Latest version freezes after a couple of minutes
  • App freezes on download
  • Crashes when deleting tunes
  • Default library reappears after deleting all tunes
  • Does not allow playback of tunes
  • Less than 100 tunes initially
  • Does not play tunes
  • Too difficult for usage
  • Tunes not sortable into books/set lists
  • Does not play tunes

Requested features

32 requests
  • Support for multi-voice ABC notation
  • Larger note heads
  • Support for concertinas (especially CG Anglo)
  • Option to select tunes only from Favourites list
  • Option to rearrange items within a set
Show 27 more
  • More intuitive marker setting for playback
  • Fix looping with pick-up notes
  • Prevent multiple copies when editing/saving
  • More intuitive/standard GUI elements
  • iCloud sync for tunes
  • Wider range for speed adjustment (slower)
  • Slight pause before tune starts playing
  • Drone note before tune starts
  • Choice of two or three GM instruments for playback
  • Light, bar, or dot that follows notes during playback
  • Provision to stop or interrupt downloads
  • Visually highlight notes as they play
  • Simpler way to add tunes to a set list
  • Groupings for different genres (Irish, Scottish, etc.)
  • More stability in the app
  • Ability to make entire library from zero
  • Export/import entire folder tree on cloud storage (Dropbox)
  • Read/write directly to ABC files on cloud storage
  • Ability to separate music by collections
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard
  • Support for drum notation
  • Support for bagpipes
  • Support for concertinas
  • Support for older ABC spec files
  • Better error reporting for ABC files
  • Support for SATB grandstaff

Strum Machine

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

the Craic

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly supporter7 Days trial$1.391 Month
  • Yearly supporter$12.991 Year
One-time3
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Large Tip$4.99
  • Huge Tip$19.99
1 purchases

Strum Machine

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly Subscription14 Days trial$4.991 Month

Questions

Is the Craic free?
the Craic costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Strum Machine free?
Strum Machine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, the Craic or Strum Machine?
Strum Machine is rated higher. the Craic averages 4.3 out of 5 from 13 ratings, while Strum Machine averages 4.7 from 120 ratings.
Do the Craic or Strum Machine have ads?
Neither the Craic nor Strum Machine shows ads.
Which is updated more often, the Craic or Strum Machine?
the Craic ships an update every 2 months, and Strum Machine fortnightly. Most recently, the Craic was updated on October 22, 2026 and Strum Machine on October 29, 2026.

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