iFretless Guitar vs Note by Note
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iFretless Guitar
This app offers a unique, touch-optimized guitar fretboard for iOS devices. It allows for expressive, one-touch note playing with real-time pitch control, enabling fast melodies, scales, and arpeggios. It's a powerful new instrument for making music, not just a simulation.
- One-touch-per-note design
- Real-time pitch control
- Audio unit support
- Fretless note bending
- Velocity sensitive instruments
- MIDI input and output
- Built-in reverb and EQ
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iFretless is a guitar fretboard re-designed for maximum playability on iOS devices. It replaces two handed playing and strumming with a one-touch-per-note design that enables fast, precise playing of melodies, scales, and arpeggios and real-time control over the pitch of each individual note. iFretless is not an imitation guitar for your iPhone; it's a powerful new way to make music. FEATURES 1) Audio unit support allows you to connect to a software effects chain or record directly in DAW apps 2) Fretless note bending 3) Velocity sensitive multi-sampled instruments 4) 10 different velocity sensitive guitar sounds 5) MIDI input and output 6) built-in reverb and Eq Sounds: 1) Nylon String Folk 2) Picked Steel String 3) Grunge Telecaster 4) Snarling Synth 5) Bridge-Mid Pickup Bright Strat 6) Blues Neck Pickup Strat 7) Hollow Body Electric 8) Classical 9) Clean bridge pickup 10) Clean neck pickup
Note by Note
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Learn songs by ear by listening to real recordings. For each song we have slow simple recordings. We have a recording not only for each song but another recording for each section and another for each individual lick.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Note by Note at Free against iFretless Guitar's $9.99. Note by Note also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). iFretless Guitar's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.6). On ads, in-app purchases 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
Note by Note is free to download; iFretless Guitar costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
iFretless Guitar ships an update every 2 months, Note by Note every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iFretless Guitar | Note by Note |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (11 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 54.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 11 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 201 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Blue Mangoo Consulting Company Limited | CGDevworks LLC |
Bugs and requests
iFretless Guitar
Reported bugs
37 issues- App keeps crashing
- Crashes after 5 minutes in Audiobus3
- Crashes with background audio
- DSP jumps high
- App crashes upon opening
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- AUv3 not loading in AUM
- No sound at all
- Audio output muted when app starts
- No sound on iPad Air
- No sound on iPad Air with latest iOS
- Reverb only sound
- Crashes anytime (standalone or IAA)
- Doesn't show in Audiobus anymore
- IAA instrument loading error
- Audiobus icon unresponsive
- App falls immediately when standalone
- No guitar presets, all bugged
- DSP jumps high, trash
- Update caused problems with Audiobus
- Distorted graphics
- No audio sometimes
- App does not work well on iPad Pro / iOS14
- Config right panel disappeared
- No sound in Auria Pro
- MIDI is broken in Auria Pro
- App crashes on iPad 5th gen with iOS 12.4
- App crashes on iPad Air 5
- App crashes on iPad Pro 2022
- App crashes on iPad Air, iOS 7.1.2
- App crashes on iPad Air II
- App crashes on iPad 2 iOS 7.1
- App crashes on iPad 5th gen with iOS 12.4
- App crashes on iPad Air 5
- App crashes on iPad Pro 2022
- App crashes on iPad Air, iOS 7.1.2
- App crashes on iPad Air II
- App crashes on iPad 2 iOS 7.1
Requested features
37 requests- AUv3 support
- Strumming coordinates
- Ability to play loose strings
- Open tunings with extensions
- Lap Steel / Dobro Tunings
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- Fix guitar tuning wonkiness
- Longer recording length
- Scale overlay for learning
- Ability to pick chords
- MPE compatibility
- Lock UI rotation for AUv3
- Save presets
- Adjustable attack and release times
- Palm muting
- Remember last session settings
- Add drum machine beats
- Improve sound quality
- Add more presets
- Scale selector with markers
- Polyphonic mode
- Customizable note range
- Different MIDI channels for chords
- Add violin or trumpet instruments
- Make app compatible with latest iOS versions
- Add advanced features like other apps in the suite
- Make it compatible with iOS 17
- Make it compatible with iOS 14
- Make it compatible with iOS 8
- Make it compatible with iOS 12.4
- Make it compatible with iOS 7.1.2
- Make it compatible with iOS 16
- Make it compatible with iOS 17
- Make it compatible with iOS 14
- Make it compatible with iOS 8
- Make it compatible with iOS 12.4
- Make it compatible with iOS 7.1.2
- Make it compatible with iOS 16
Note by Note
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
iFretless Guitar
No in-app purchases
Note by Note
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is iFretless Guitar free?
Is Note by Note free?
Do iFretless Guitar or Note by Note have ads?
Which is updated more often, iFretless Guitar or Note by Note?
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