Comparison

Phase Monkey vs Stellarvox

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

Head to head
About

Phase Monkey

Explore a versatile digital synthesizer inspired by 1980s phase distortion technology. Create a wide range of sounds from warm pads to aggressive basses with its unique engine and eight-stage envelopes. Optimized for touch interaction, it also supports MIDI controllers and runs across Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Phase distortion synth engine
  • Eight-stage envelopes
  • Touch-first interface
  • AUv3 plugin support
  • Universal Apple purchase
  • MIDI controller support
  • iCloud preset syncing
Features
Read full description

Phase Monkey is a polyphonic synthesizer inspired by the classic phase distortion synthesizers of the mid-1980s. However, instead of being a direct copy, Phase Monkey presents a fresh take on the classic sound engine, including the rare eight-stage envelopes. The result is a surprisingly versatile digital instrument that can produce anything from warm pads to shimmering leads to snarling basses. Whatever you do, don’t have fun with it! Features: - Focused, fun, and characterful synth engine - Touch-first design, almost the entire screen is part of a control - Runs standalone or as AUv3 plug-in (in compatible host) - Universal purchase on Apple platforms: runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Presets synced across your devices via iCloud - Hook up a MIDI controller to play with a keyboard (optional) Details: - Eight classic phase distortion waveforms - Dedicated modulation oscillator for ring or noise modulation - Three rare eight-stage envelopes - Complex modulation of pitch and timbre possible via envelopes - LFO with five waveforms for classic modulation sounds - Master controls: portamento, random voice pan, onboard chorus, gain - Key behavior modes: poly, monophonic retrig, monophonic legato - Additional MIDI modulation sources: mod wheel, pitch bend, velocity, aftertouch (channel), key follow - Includes 40 highly usable factory presets to get you started making music Check out our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sketchaudio Read the manuals: https://sketchaudio.com/manuals/

About

Stellarvox

Design immersive ambient soundscapes with a hybrid reverb and artificial space designer. Create lush textures, deep spaces, and whispering backgrounds for electronic, experimental, and sound design projects. Offers intuitive controls and inspiring presets for quick, high-quality results.

Highlights
  • Hybrid reverb with artificial space designer
  • Algorithmic reflections tail processing
  • Dynamic timbre changes over time
  • Geometry and dimension control
  • Factory presets and random feature
  • MIDI learn support
  • Standalone and AUv3 module
Features
Read full description

Hybrid reverb with an artificial space designer, combining it with algorithmic reflections tail processing, is ideal to creating immersive ambience of deep spaces, lush atmospheric textures or stunning whispering backgrounds in your ambient, electronic, experimental and sound design projects. Unlike traditional algorithmic reverbs, Stellarvox constructs a complex model of a vast resonant sound spaces with choice of geometry, dimensions and tonal structure of the space, along with a unique feature that dynamically change the timbre of reflections over the reverberation time. The second algorithmic reverb allows you to prolong and blur reflections, adding extra dimensions to the sound space. Easy-to-use controls on a single screen, along with optimally designed parameters that always give great results, make insignificant the peculiarity of that kind of reverbs, when the model creates with a little delay after changing it. Factory presets and the random feature will give you a starting point of inspiration and allow you to get a quick result where you need just to slightly tweak the parameters to align with your idea. This application is great for ambient projects, it can create mesmerizing atmosphere from single infrequent sounds of various instruments, or giving a beautiful and deep backgrounds to sharp sequences in electronics, as well as for any experimental projects that require unusual, deep and rich sound ambience. Stellarvox is a universal application for iOS and macOS. It can work on iPhone and iPad as well as Mac / MacBook with M1 chip (and later). Stellarvox works on iPhone and iPad standalone, as an Audio Unit or Inter-App Audio module, with supports Audiobus host app. On MacOS, Stellarvox can works both as a standalone application and as an Audio unit (AUv3) with DAWs and other hosts that support AUv3 plugins. All application features are available on iOS and macOS, including MIDI support (with a MIDI learn option) and audio unit parameters. Stellarvox has a built-in detailed description of all parameters also available as PDF file on the application site. Sound demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEtZfvLtJy8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqCYa1tp2Qw You can find more information on Stellarvox and other audio apps at: https://motion-soundscape.blogspot.com

Screenshots

Phase Monkey3 screens
Stellarvox3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Phase Monkey at weekly against Stellarvox's every 5 months. Phase Monkey also leads on price ($5.99 vs $11.99). Stellarvox's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 71%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On ratings volume, 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

Phase Monkey costs $5.99 and Stellarvox $11.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Stellarvox holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 19 and 11 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Phase Monkey's written reviews are positive against 100% of Stellarvox's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Phase Monkey ships an update weekly, Stellarvox every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Phase Monkey versus Stellarvox: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhase MonkeyStellarvox
Price$5.99 — better$11.99
Rating4.8 (19 ratings)5.0 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings19 — better11
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSketch Audio, LLCIgor Vasiliev

Customer experience

Phase Monkey

All ratings19 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral14.3%
Negative14.3%

Stellarvox

All ratings11 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Phase Monkey

No in-app purchases

None

Stellarvox

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Phase Monkey free?
Phase Monkey costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Stellarvox free?
Stellarvox costs $11.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Phase Monkey or Stellarvox?
Stellarvox is rated higher. Phase Monkey averages 4.8 out of 5 from 19 ratings, while Stellarvox averages 5.0 from 11 ratings.
Do Phase Monkey or Stellarvox have ads?
Neither Phase Monkey nor Stellarvox shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Phase Monkey or Stellarvox?
Phase Monkey ships an update weekly, and Stellarvox every 5 months. Most recently, Phase Monkey was updated on September 23, 2026 and Stellarvox on September 22, 2026.

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