Comparison

Fugue Machine Rubato vs Circa Looper

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

Head to head
About

Fugue Machine Rubato

This app offers a unique musical canvas for creating and manipulating MIDI sequences. It features a nonlinear time engine that allows for expressive acceleration, deceleration, and directional changes of playheads, along with robust parameter automation for notes and other elements.

Highlights
  • Time-bending playheads
  • Parameter automation
  • Nonlinear time engine
  • Sculpt envelopes with curves
  • Up to eight playheads
  • Per-playhead note echoes
  • Multiple MIDI outputs
Features
Read full description

Bend time. Automate notes. A single grid as a multi-dimensional musical canvas — for iPad, iPhone, and Mac. Fugue Machine Rubato dives deeper into the multi-playhead piano roll concept of Fugue Machine Classic by adding time-bending playheads, parameter automation, and much more. At the heart of the sequencer is a nonlinear time engine that lets playheads move with a natural — or surreal — feel. Unlike conventional sequencers, where time advances at a constant rate, time in this engine can expressively accelerate, decelerate, freeze, and change direction. Playheads are now free to swing, strum, bounce, move elastically, and more. Built upon the time engine is a robust parameter automation system with time-bending automation playheads and envelopes sculpted with points, curves, and shapes. Nearly everything can be automated — even the notes. Eight years in the making, Fugue Machine Rubato is rock-solid and absolutely packed with features. HIGHLIGHTS • Bend time with curves, rates, and offsets • Automate notes and nearly everything else • Sculpt envelopes with curves and shapes • Position playheads anywhere on the grid • Play up to eight playheads at once • Apply note echoes per-playhead • Arpeggiate notes from multiple playheads • Blend notes from multiple playheads • Offset, stack, spread, and invert pitches • Clamp, compress, and expand velocities • Program drums via per-note Drum Trigs • Route notes to up to eight MIDI outputs • Organize patterns in nestable folders • Launch patterns quantized to the beat • Revert state via auto-saved Snapshots • Learn contextually via popovers • Explore ~150 built-in patterns • Control via touch, keyboard, and cursor • Resize Mac window at native resolution COMPATIBILITY Fugue Machine Rubato supports iPad, iPhone, Mac (Intel & Apple Silicon), Ableton Link, MIDI, and AUv3* MIDI. With the included AUv3 MIDI plugin, you can run multiple instances of Fugue Machine Rubato within AUv3 host apps — like AUM, Logic Pro for iPad, Loopy Pro, and Cubasis. UNIVERSAL APP — ONE-TIME PURCHASE Pay once and use on iPad, iPhone, and Mac. LEARN MORE — TRY A FREE DEMO To learn more or try a free demo via TestFlight, visit fuguemachinerubato.com.

About

Circa Looper

A powerful multi-channel looping instrument for iPad, designed for musicians and producers. It offers six independent stereo loop layers, deep modulation, precision syncing, and built-in effects for creating complex patterns and evolving soundscapes. Its touch-friendly interface allows for hands-on creative control and seamless DAW integration.

Highlights
  • Six independent stereo loop layers
  • Deep modulation control
  • Precision syncing
  • Built-in reverb and delay
  • Touch-friendly interface
  • Full MIDI mapping
  • Drag-and-drop audio export
Features
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Circa runs as a standalone app, or as an AUv3 plugin in hosts such as GarageBand, Logic, AUM and Cubase. Equal parts workhorse and abstract creative tool, Circa is a six track multi-layer looping environment that can do most of the things your popular floor pedal looper can while also paying homage to the serendipitous world of ambient looping. Each layer can sync to the host, a master loop, or free run, and can be triggered in sync, with an audio signal, or freely. Circa has seven stereo outputs (including a dedicated cue output for monitoring) and built-in reverb and delay. Add in a complete MIDI control and LFO modulation system and Circa is a full looping workstation. Features -- Multi-Layered Looping Circa has six layers that can operate independently or in sync with each other and/or the host. Circa can record from the stereo input, or self-record via an internal buss for interesting feedback possibilities. -- Standalone Or Plugin As a standalone app, Circa has its own audio and MIDI settings: choose your audio interface, sample rate and buffer size, pick the input pair, send each of Circa's seven outputs to any output pair on your interface, and select a MIDI input. Sync to incoming MIDI clock, or let Circa set the tempo from your first loop. As an AUv3 plugin, it lives inside your host and syncs to its transport. -- Designed To Be Touched And Played Circa's user interface is made for tactile manipulation, with touch strips for speed and position (including dedicated pages). The position strip can be further subdivided with slices. All this works together to turn a looping effect into a playable instrument. -- Easy To Get Along With Circa's layers each have an undo for destructive edits like recording, overdubbing, and erasing. -- Controllability And Modulation Circa has 30 modulation slots. Each one can map a MIDI controller to any of Circa's looping functions, or run an LFO: seven shapes, free-running or tempo-synced, with rate, phase and level, modulating speed, start and end position, level, panning, delay and reverb sends, filter frequency and resonance, or the slice the play head is on. LFOs swing around wherever each control is set, so the knobs stay in charge. -- Self-Contained Circa has a full internal mixer, filtering on each layer, and studio-quality send reverb, send delay, parametric EQ and compressor taken directly from Audio Damage's extensive effect library. -- Expandable And Performance-Ready Circa has 7 outputs in all: six assignable stereo outputs and a cue output for monitoring. Send any layer to any of the six stereo outputs, while keeping the cue for soloing, recording, and editing, unheard by the audience. In the standalone app, each output can go to its own pair of outputs on your audio interface. -- Ecosystem-Aware Circa's user presets are cross-platform compatible, and work on any instance of Circa, whether on macOS, Windows, Linux, or iOS. In addition, sessions created in GarageBand or Logic on iOS will open in the desktop version on macOS if you have purchased a license to that version.

Screenshots

Fugue Machine Rubato4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Circa Looper at $7.99 against Fugue Machine Rubato's $39.99. Fugue Machine Rubato's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 33%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and iOS requirement 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

Fugue Machine Rubato costs $39.99 and Circa Looper $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Fugue Machine Rubato holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Fugue Machine Rubato has 68 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Fugue Machine Rubato's written reviews are positive against 33% of Circa Looper's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fugue Machine Rubato ships an update weekly, Circa Looper every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Fugue Machine Rubato versus Circa Looper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFugue Machine RubatoCirca Looper
Price$39.99$7.99 — better
Rating4.8 (68 ratings) — better4.6 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews74.6% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings68 — better10
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB66 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlexandernautAudio Damage, Inc.

Customer experience

Fugue Machine Rubato

All ratings68 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral1.5%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews63 reviews
Positive74.6%
Neutral6.3%
Negative19.0%

Circa Looper

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

Bugs and requests

Fugue Machine Rubato

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Doesn't work with Logic Pro
  • Compatibility issues with older macOS versions

Requested features

2 requests
  • Add a parameter randomizer feature
  • Improve documentation and provide a complete manual

Circa Looper

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Fugue Machine Rubato

No in-app purchases

None

Circa Looper

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Fugue Machine Rubato free?
Fugue Machine Rubato costs $39.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Circa Looper free?
Circa Looper costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Fugue Machine Rubato or Circa Looper?
Fugue Machine Rubato is rated higher. Fugue Machine Rubato averages 4.8 out of 5 from 68 ratings, while Circa Looper averages 4.6 from 10 ratings.
Do Fugue Machine Rubato or Circa Looper have ads?
Neither Fugue Machine Rubato nor Circa Looper shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fugue Machine Rubato or Circa Looper?
Fugue Machine Rubato ships an update weekly, and Circa Looper every 3 weeks. Most recently, Fugue Machine Rubato was updated on October 16, 2026 and Circa Looper on October 14, 2026.

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