Circa Looper vs Outgrowth
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Outgrowth
This app is a sample-based instrument designed for creative audio manipulation. It offers five unique engines for processing samples and five audio effects for sound shaping, with extensive modulation capabilities. Explore a vast library of presets and samples to reimagine your audio.
- Sample processing engines (Stem, Retain, Reflect, Radiate, Delve)
- Audio effects (Subvert, Submerge, Strike, Ripple, Smear)
- Robust modulation matrix
- MPE compatibility
- 100+ presets and 200+ samples
- Preset system
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Outgrowth is a sample-based instrument built collaboratively by Aqeel Aadam Sound and BlankFor.ms. Designed with creativity, flexibility, and performance in mind, Outgrowth provides unique, multifaceted ways to reimagine audio with your mouse or keyboard. MPE compatible. Includes 100+ presets and 200+ samples built by BlankFor.ms. Outgrowth features five unique engines for processing samples: - Stem: A basic one-shot style player that repitches the sample - Retain: A granular stretching engine that sustains the sample indefinitely - Reflect: A looping algorithm that loops the sample at a consistent rate across all pitches - Radiate: An additive resynthesizer that maps each harmonic of the sample to a sine wave oscillator - Delve: A wavetable synthesizer in which the sample becomes the basis for a completely unique wavetable Outgrowth also features five standout audio effects for shaping your sounds further: - Subvert: A unique shaper that flattens or inverts the sample’s volume - Submerge: A singular effect for adding dimensional realism to sample repitching - Strike: A dynamic control for adding an acoustic-like response to sample playback and performance - Ripple: A one-knob tape emulation handcrafted by BlankFor.ms that can be subtle, deconstructive, and anywhere in between - Smear: A pre-ADSR reverb for congealing notes and blurring boundaries between pitch and texture And further still, Outgrowth offers a robust modulation matrix for generative or performative control over all parameters. Control every single parameter within Outgrowth via LFOs, unique random sources, velocity, note pitch, aftertouch, MPE control, and more. Finally, Outgrowth offers a robust preset system, including more than 50 bespoke presets and over 100 samples by BlankFor.ms. Explore ethereal ambient pads, haunted lofi keys, shimmering tape-infused plucks, gnarled percussive textures, and more.
Screenshots
Verdict
Circa Looper and Outgrowth both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 85% of Outgrowth's written reviews are positive against 33% of Circa Looper's. Outgrowth also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). Circa Looper's advantage is price ($7.99 vs $19.99). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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
Circa Looper costs $7.99 and Outgrowth $19.99 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 — 4.6 for Circa Looper against 4.7 for Outgrowth. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 20 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 33% of Circa Looper's written reviews are positive against 85% of Outgrowth's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Circa Looper | Outgrowth |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 — better | $19.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (10 ratings) | 4.7 (20 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 84.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 10 | 20 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 88 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Audio Damage, Inc. | Aqeel Aadam |
Customer experience
Circa Looper
Outgrowth
In-app purchases
Circa Looper
No in-app purchases
Outgrowth
No in-app purchases









