AxeModes vs Solderbox
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AxeModes
This app helps guitarists learn various musical modes and scales from any root note. It features a dynamic fretboard, scale degree visualization, and audio playback for each note, along with chord accompaniment.
- Learn major, minor, and other scale modes
- Dynamic fretboard display
- Color-code and show/hide scale degrees
- Hear individual note sounds
- Play chord accompaniment
- Context-sensitive help
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Learn all the associated Modes of the Major, Melodic Minor, Harmonic Minor, Harmonic Major, Double Harmonic Major, Hexatonic, Pentatonic, and Diminished Scales. Starting from any Root Note. (Hundreds and hundreds of combinations!) Dynamically generated Fretboard. Show between 2 and 22 Frets at a time. Color code any Scale Degree(s). Show or hide any Scale Degree(s). Click on any Note to hear what it sounds like. Play Chord accompaniment for any Scale/Mode/Root combination. Context sensitive help available on every screen.
Solderbox
This app is a compact, semi-modular synthesizer designed for generative music creation. It offers a comprehensive set of modular functions, aiming for analog-like sound and behavior with unique digital effects and an 'Instability Engine' for organic fluctuations.
- Generative synthesis tools
- Analog-like sound emulation
- Instability Engine for organic fluctuations
- Audio Unit (AUv3) compatibility
- Built-in Pulsequencer melody generator
- Multiple filter modes
- Stackable patch cables
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Solderbox is a compact semimodular synthesizer, made in collaboration with Jakob Haq. It is heavily based on Jakob's own modular rack design (which features a lot of modules made by hand). The app is designed to offer a set of modular functions that is both comprehensive and eclectic, including several tools for generative synthesis, random signals and the surgical mangling of audio waves and modulation signals. A lot of effort went into making everything sound and behave as analog as digitally possible (with the exception of the unashamedly digital Entropy lo-fi effect processor). Additionally, the built-in Instability Engine injects the subtle fluctuations simulating the effects of crosstalk, leaky signals and expired electrical components. This is a living instrument with a soul of its own. - Full Audio Unit compatibility (AUv3 instrument, audio effect) - Universal design (iPhone, iPad, MacOS AUv3) - Built-in Pulsequencer (LFO-based generative melody generator with custom scales) - 4 mode Low-pass filter (6, 12, 18, 24 dB) - 3 voice polyphony - Drone mode - Stackable patch cables - DIY Lo-Fi digital delay circuit emulation - All synth settings exposed a AU Parameters (for automation and MIDI learning in your host of choice) Find the user manual on ruismaker.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: AxeModes at $4.99 against Solderbox's $12.99. AxeModes also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 6 weeks). Solderbox's advantage is ratings volume (27 vs 2) and device support (4 vs 2). On rating, 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
AxeModes costs $4.99 and Solderbox $12.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for AxeModes against 5.0 for Solderbox. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Solderbox has 27 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
AxeModes ships an update every 4 days, Solderbox every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AxeModes | Solderbox |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 — better | $12.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (27 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 90.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 27 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.2 | 13 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Joseph Svantner | Bram Bos |
Customer experience
AxeModes
Solderbox
In-app purchases
AxeModes
No in-app purchases
Solderbox
No in-app purchases









