OpenWav vs SongCharter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
OpenWav
This platform empowers independent musicians to release music, sell merchandise, and host events. Artists can build direct fan communities, own their data, and monetize their work without upfront costs or ads.
- Release music and exclusive drops
- Design and sell custom merchandise
- Create events and sell tickets
- Build exclusive fan communities
- Track sales and own fan data
- Direct fan support and engagement
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OpenWav is the next-generation music platform built for indie artists to drop music, monetize and engage with fan communities. OpenWav gives you the tools to create, connect, and earn—on your terms. What you can do on OpenWav: Stream Music – Release singles, albums, and exclusive drops with immersive player and direct fan support Make Merch, Your Way – Design and sell custom merch globally with no inventory or upfront costs Create Events & Sell Tickets – Host shows, listening parties, or concerts—sell tickets directly to fans Build Your Fan Community – Start exclusive chat channels, drop updates, and grow your core audience Own Your Data - Track sales, build your mailing list, and be direct with your fan base with no ads. Join a Movement – Be part of a community where indie artists thrive and fans show up with real support Drop your sound. Grow your wave. Get paid.
SongCharter
Easily create chord charts from various sources like links, photos, or audio recordings. Transcribe songs, manage your music library, and set up live performance sets. Offers a one-time purchase for full access.
- Create charts from links, photos, PDFs, or audio
- Transcribe songs from voice recordings
- Organize music library
- Set up ordered performance sets
- Adjust key and capo positions
- Publish live sets to band members
- iCloud sync across devices
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Easy iPad chord charts. No subscription. No pain. Make them from a chord-site link, a photo of the page in the band book, a PDF, the whole folder you've been dragging between apps for years, or a hook you hum at 11pm. Every one comes out as the same clean chart: chords over the words, in the key you actually sing, in the order you play them. BRING THE WHOLE BOOK Switching apps? Pick every ChordPro or text file at once and they all come in together - a library of hundreds in one go, not one file at a time. Paste a link to a chord site and the chart comes across without the ads, the ratings line, or the paragraph about somebody's strumming pattern. Messy pages arrive with a note telling you what they need, and one tap clears the tablature or the commentary out. SING IT IN Songs don't start as charts. They start as a hum at 11pm. Tap record, sing or play the idea, and the words come back transcribed for you to edit. The recording is saved the moment you stop, and your sketches live in their own Ideas tab until they're ready to become charts. Record as many as you want, free. WRITE IT DOWN Already have words? Paste them straight from Notes - no chords needed. Verses and choruses fall into place, and you tap a word to put a chord over it. A half-finished chart you started somewhere else works too. THE CAPO IS THE POINT Set the key for your voice, then take the capo position the ladder suggests and play shapes you already know. The sounding key holds still while the chord names change - capo up, chords down, the song never moves. And the ladder is real: it scores every position against the actual chords in your song and shows you what your hands would do there. BUILT FOR THE GIG • Sets that run like one book - tonight's songs, in order, one tap apart • Pages turn as you play: tap either edge, or use a Bluetooth page-turner pedal • Stage-sized type you can read from four feet away • Publish a set to the whole band as one link that stays live - change the order, publish again, and their copies update • iCloud sync keeps every device holding the same book • No account, so nothing logs you out mid-set. Your library is on the device, so the set plays with no signal YOURS, AND PRIVATE No accounts. No analytics. Your library - every chart, every recording, every half-written lyric - lives on your device, and we can't read or hear any of it. Voice transcription happens on the device too: your unreleased songs never touch a server. Published sets are encrypted before they leave your hands and expire on their own. The whole policy is short and honest: songcharter.app/privacy A question goes to a person, not a queue: support@songcharter.app FREE TO TRY Recording ideas is free and unlimited. Your first fifteen songs and your first set are free, full-featured. One purchase - $19.99, once - unlocks everything, on every device signed into your Apple Account. No subscription.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: OpenWav at 164 against SongCharter's 1. On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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
Both are free to download. OpenWav sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and SongCharter sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for OpenWav against 5.0 for SongCharter. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OpenWav has 164 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
OpenWav ships an update every 9 days, SongCharter weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | OpenWav | SongCharter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (164 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 97.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 164 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 144 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | OP3N, LLC | SongCharter LLC |
Customer experience
OpenWav
SongCharter
Bugs and requests
OpenWav
Reported bugs
1 issue- Minor bugs in new platforms
Requested features
2 requests- Partnership with TIDAL for integration
- Live streaming with gift earning functionality like TikTok
SongCharter
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
OpenWav
- Music Credits Pack$0.99
- Music Credits Pack$1.29
- Music Credits Pack$1.49
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- Music Credits Pack$1.99
- ADDICT$1.99
- BTS: Bohan’s new album stud...$1.99
- Music Credits Pack$2.99
- Music Credits Pack$4.99
- Music Credits Pack$9.99
- Music Credits Pack$19.99
SongCharter
- Full Unlock$19.99









