MidiBus vs ShowMIDI
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MidiBus
Synchronize MIDI clock signals between apps and devices with adjustable BPM and time signatures. Monitor the accuracy and stability of MIDI clock sources, including the app itself. Discover surprising performance metrics from your connected gear.
- MIDI clock sync generation
- Adjustable BPM and time signature
- Multiple MIDI destinations
- MIDI clock signal monitoring
- Accuracy and stability measurement
- iOS MIDI development library based
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MidiBus is a MIDI clock sync generator and monitor. Choose your bpm, time signature and MIDI destinations. Press the play button and all selected apps and devices will receive a synchronised, rock-solid MIDI sync clock source. On the flipside, monitor the MIDI clock signals of apps and devices (including MidiBus itself) and measure how accurate and stable they really are. You might be very surprised at the results. MidiBus is based on the iOS MIDI development library of the same name. Full details at http://midib.us
ShowMIDI
This application provides a real-time, glanceable view of all MIDI activity on your computer. It visualizes various MIDI messages and allows you to pause the flow for a data snapshot. It can be used as a standalone tool or an AUv3 plugin within your DAW.
- Real-time MIDI visualization
- Auto-hides irrelevant messages
- Pause and snapshot data
- Standalone application
- AUv3 plugin support
- Supports MPE configuration
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ShowMIDI is an open-source multi-platform GUI application to effortlessly visualize MIDI activity. Instead of wading through logs of MIDI messages to correlate relevant ones and identify what is happening, ShowMIDI visualizes the current activity and auto-hides what you don't care about anymore. It provides you with a real-time glanceable view of all MIDI activity on your computer. ShowMIDI is designed to be always on, using the spacebar or play/pause button you can pause the flow and focus on a data snapshot with the latest state of any MIDI entity. ShowMIDI can be ran as a standalone application that automatically detects all your MIDI devices, or as an AUv3 plugin in your DAW or host to visualize MIDI data in your sessions. ShowMIDI visualizes: * MIDI ports * channels * program change * note on/off * channel pressure * polyphonic pressure * continuous control change * pitchbend * RPN and NRPN * MPE configuration and channel modes ShowMIDI supports: * themes * standalone operation * AUv3 operation
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: ShowMIDI at Free against MidiBus's $2.99. ShowMIDI also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (18 vs 2). MidiBus's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and iOS requirement (5.1.1 vs 12.0). On review sentiment, 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
ShowMIDI is free to download; MidiBus costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
MidiBus holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ShowMIDI has 18 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of MidiBus's written reviews are positive against 88% of ShowMIDI's.
MidiBus ships an update every 5 months, ShowMIDI every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MidiBus | ShowMIDI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 4.8 (18 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 93.8% of reviews — better | 87.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 18 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 5.1.1 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Audeonic Apps | Uwyn, LLC |
Customer experience
MidiBus
ShowMIDI
In-app purchases
MidiBus
No in-app purchases
ShowMIDI
No in-app purchases
