Xylophone! vs Vagabond Synth
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Xylophone!
Read full descriptionHide full description
12 different instrument sounds. 36 familiar first songs and nursery rhymes 9 bright and colourful backgrounds Listen to the song first, then play it yourself Toddler-friendly buttons and navigation Teaches early note recognition. Explore their own musical creativity with any instrument in Creative Play.
Vagabond Synth
This is a free wavetable synthesizer app that can be used standalone or as an AUv3 instrument. It offers 16 voice polyphony, multiple oscillators, a switchable filter, modulation, and effects. It also includes a MIDI processor for generating musical sequences.
- Standalone or AUv3 instrument
- 16 voice polyphony
- Multiple oscillators per voice
- Switchable filter
- Modulation and effects
- Generative MIDI processor
Read full descriptionHide full description
Vagabond is an idiosyncratic wavetable synthesiser, running standalone or as an AUv3 instrument in compatible hosts such as GarageBand, AUM, Loopy Pro or Cubasis. It features 16 voice polyphony, 4 unison oscillators per voice plus a sub-oscillator, switchable filter, a bit of modulation and some effects. Also built in is a MIDI processor plugin, Twelve, a generative music toy that creates 12-bar blues sequences. Vagabond uses this for demo purposes, but you can load it in other hosts if you like. It's kind of a one trick pony, but one trick is better than none. As always, Vagabond is 100% free, no IAPs, no subs, no spyware, no nag screens. We don't want your money and we don't want your data.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Vagabond Synth at none against Xylophone!'s 1. Vagabond Synth also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 9 months). On price, ads, device support 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
Both are free to download. Xylophone! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Vagabond Synth asks for nothing beyond the download.
Xylophone! ships an update every 9 months, Vagabond Synth every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Xylophone! | Vagabond Synth |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 7 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 92 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Grant Strickland | Matthew Caldwell |
In-app purchases
Xylophone!
- Xylophone Full Access$1.99
Vagabond Synth
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Xylophone! free?
Is Vagabond Synth free?
Do Xylophone! or Vagabond Synth have ads?
Which is updated more often, Xylophone! or Vagabond Synth?
Other comparisons
