Comparison

AxeModes vs VAMonoMkII

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Read full description

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.

About

VAMonoMkII

This app is a virtual analog bitimbral synthesizer for iOS and macOS. It offers two 8-voice synthesizers with extensive modulation, classic analog filter models, and built-in effects. Create and export music with its sequencer and audio visualization tools.

Highlights
  • Virtual analog bitimbral synthesizer
  • Dual oscillators with variable waveforms
  • Transistor Ladder and Sallen-Key filter models
  • Built-in effects suite (delay, reverb, chorus, etc.)
  • 16-bar sequencer with piano roll and automation
  • Audio Unit Extension (AUv3) support
  • Ableton Link and MIDI 2.0 compatibility
Features
Read full description

VAMonoMkII is a virtual analog bitimbral synthesizer for iPhone, iPad and Mac. It features two 8 voice synthesizer, effects, sequencer and audio visualization tools. It operates as a stand alone or as an AudioUnit Extension (AUv3). Stand Alone supports Ableton Link, MIDI and audio file export. The bitimbral synthesizer consists of two synthesizer, which features two oscillators, two ADSR envelopes, resonant high pass and low pass filter and an amplifier per voice. The oscillators features continuously variable wave shape and wide variety of modulation. The filters are modeled on Transistor Ladder filter circuit and the Sallen-Key filter circuit for classic analog sound. The Effects include delay, chorus, flanger, reverb, eq and compressor. The sequencer features piano roll and parameter automation editor to program 16 bar pattern per clip. Project files can be saved in iCloud Drive, so that the project can be accessed from iPhone, iPad or Mac. - Main Features - Virtual analog bitimbral synthesizer Two type of Lowpass filter, Transistor Ladder model and Sallen-key model. Maximum 8 voice polyphony. it depends on performance of the device it is running. Operate as monophonic or polyphonic. Patch points for modulation. Support MIDI 2.0 User Interface built by SwiftUI for improved performance. Built-in Sequencer. 16 bar patterns per clip. Total 8 clips. Piano Roll and Parameter automation. Support Audio Unit Extension (AUv3) Works on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Support iCloud Drive to share project files between the platforms. Audio Export. Linear PCM format (AIFF, WAV and CAF) and compressed format (AAC) Support Ableton Link, Bluetooth MIDI, MIDI In / Out. 360 bitimbral presets and more. - System Requirements - A13 Fusion or above is recommended. AudioUnit Extension (AUv3) requires host application which support AudioUnit Extension. AudioUnit Extension is supported by Apple Logic and Apple Garage Band on iOS and macOS. For any other DAW, it depends on the application and some of them don’t support AudioUnit Extension. Sound may be distorted if CPU of the device doesn't have enough power. If it happens reduce number of voices.

Screenshots

AxeModes3 screens
VAMonoMkII4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: AxeModes at every 4 days against VAMonoMkII's every 11 months. VAMonoMkII's advantage is price ($3.99 vs $4.99). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

AxeModes costs $4.99 and VAMonoMkII $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for AxeModes against 5.0 for VAMonoMkII. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AxeModes ships an update every 4 days, VAMonoMkII every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
AxeModes versus VAMonoMkII: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAxeModesVAMonoMkII
Price$4.99$3.99 — better
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews—0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings24 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 11 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.2 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoseph SvantnerRyo Togawa

Customer experience

AxeModes

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

VAMonoMkII

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

AxeModes

No in-app purchases

None

VAMonoMkII

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AxeModes free?
AxeModes costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is VAMonoMkII free?
VAMonoMkII costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AxeModes or VAMonoMkII?
AxeModes and VAMonoMkII are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 4 ratings respectively.
Do AxeModes or VAMonoMkII have ads?
Neither AxeModes nor VAMonoMkII shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AxeModes or VAMonoMkII?
AxeModes ships an update every 4 days, and VAMonoMkII every 11 months. Most recently, AxeModes was updated on October 24, 2026 and VAMonoMkII on October 26, 2026.

Other comparisons