Play Dead vs SetMate
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Play Dead
Access a vast library of officially remastered live Grateful Dead concert recordings. Discover previously unreleased shows every week, including rare CD-only releases now available in high-resolution audio. Listen across your devices with seamless playback.
- Official Grateful Dead live recordings
- Hi-res remastered audio
- Exclusive 'Dead Drops' weekly
- CD-only releases now streaming
- Vault organized by year
- Cross-device listening
- Apple CarPlay support
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Play Dead is the official Grateful Dead streaming app, offering unprecedented hi-res access to the Grateful Dead Vault of live recordings. For the first time, the band’s live legacy is brought together in a single official streaming service, with newly transferred and mastered recordings from the original sources. Previously unreleased shows - called Dead Drops - will be available every Tuesday, augmenting the catalog of official live Grateful Dead releases, many of which have never been available on any streaming service. The Vault Unlocked Exclusive Hi-Res Recordings Access new high resolution transfers, mastered for the first time and available exclusively on Play Dead. Dead Drops Every Tuesday Previously unreleased recordings added, every Tuesday, curated by Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager David Lemieux, mastered for the first time by David Glasser. CD-Only Releases, Now Streaming Shows previously available only on CD from box sets and Dave’s Picks are now streaming for the first time -only on Play Dead- in higher-than-CD-quality. The Vault by Year Live recordings are presented in order of performance date for the first time in the band’s history. Play Dead brings together three decades of live recordings into a single, evolving app designed for both longtime Dead Heads and those who just got on the bus. Listen Anywhere Listen and resume listening across devices, including Apple CarPlay. Subscription Subscriptions available starting at $9.99/month or $99.99/year. Official Access to the Grateful Dead Vault Created for Grateful Dead Productions and Rhino Entertainment, longtime stewards of the Grateful Dead catalog. Built by nugs, the leading platform for live music. For nugs Subscribers Play Dead is also available as an add-on to nugs. PlayDead Payment and Auto-Renewal Terms: Play Dead offers auto-renewing monthly and annual subscriptions to stream music from the Play Dead catalog. Two subscription types are available, monthly (30 days) and annual (365 days). All subscriptions auto-renew. A Play Dead monthly subscription is $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for new users. Plans auto-renew at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year after the first year. Payment will be charged to the iTunes Account at the time of your purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Accounts will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the users Account Settings after purchase. Terms of Use at http://nugs.net/terms.aspx Privacy Policy at http://nugs.net/privacy.aspx
SetMate
Organize your music library, practice effectively, and perform with confidence using this comprehensive toolkit for musicians. Import or create chord charts, customize song layouts with various widgets, and utilize practice modes for scales, chords, and more. Seamlessly build setlists and perform on stage with a dedicated full-screen view and hands-free scrolling.
- Import and create chord/lyric charts
- Customizable song layout with widgets
- Practice mode for scales, chords, and tabs
- Setlist builder and full-screen performance view
- Hands-free auto-scroll for lyrics
- Nashville Number System toolkit
- Guitar tab editor
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SetMate is the all-in-one guitar toolkit built for gigging musicians. Build setlists, organize chord charts, transpose songs, use Nashville numbers, and take everything you need on stage. From learning a song at home to playing it live, SetMate keeps your charts, setlists, tabs, notes, backing tracks, and guitar tools in one place. BACKING TRACKS & STEM SEPARATION Bring the recording on stage with you. Import a song you own and SetMate splits it into parts you control separately. • Separate any song into vocals, drums, bass, and instruments • Mute your own part and play it live over the rest of the band • Import from your music library, Files, or iCloud • Already have multitracks? Upload your own — WAV, AIFF, FLAC and more • Rename every stem to match your session • Volume, mute, and solo on each part • Scrubbing, restart, and 15-second skip • Floating mixer in perform mode — drag it anywhere, shrink it to a pill • Keeps playing in the background and from the lock screen SETLISTS & PERFORM MODE Turn every song into a stage-ready workspace. • Build setlists and arrange songs in any order • Add venue, set time, and performance notes • Set each song's key for the gig and SetMate remembers it • Full-screen stage view, portrait or landscape • Hands-free auto-scroll; tap lyrics to pause • One-tap transpose and capo display • Large, stage-friendly song controls • Screen stays awake throughout your set SONG LIBRARY • Import chords and lyrics or ChordPro • Create and edit chord charts • Edit lyrics, chords, key, BPM, and capo • Transpose any song with one tap • Duplicate songs for alternate arrangements • Keep your library available offline GUITAR TOOLS Add the widgets each song needs: • Backing Track — play the song's stems and mute any part • Lyrics & Chords — chords or Nashville numbers above lyrics • Chord Shapes — visualize every chord in the song • Scales — explore 20+ scales and modes across the fretboard • Triads — find diatonic triad shapes across the neck • Nashville Numbers — convert and create number charts • Note Finder — find any note across the fretboard • Guitar Tabs — create tabs for riffs, solos, and parts • Tuner — reference tones for each string • Notes and Images — cues, reminders, and attached chord sheets TABS & NASHVILLE NUMBERS • Build tabs or paste existing tablature • Hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, bends, vibrato, and muted notes • Convert song chords to Nashville numbers instantly • Build number charts with a dedicated keyboard • Save and share tabs and number charts with bandmates WORKSHOP Practice without creating a song. Pick any key and explore scales, modes, triads, chord shapes, Nashville numbers, and arpeggios. LEARN 49 interactive guitar lessons designed to help you understand what you're playing — not just memorize shapes. Six parts: Fretboard Fundamentals, Chord Anatomy, Harmony & Theory, Rhythm & Technique, Improvisation, and Jamming with Others — from the major scale and pentatonic vocabulary through chord construction, diatonic harmony, ii–V–I progressions, modes, and playing over changes. Interactive fretboards, chord diagrams, arpeggio explorers, and ChordMorph let you see concepts in any key. SHARING & COMMUNITY • Export clean chord charts • Publish charts and share them with a link • Browse charts shared by other musicians SETMATE PRO Unlock unlimited songs and setlists, stem separation for your songs, all 49 lessons, every scale and mode, and cloud sync across your devices. Pro includes 20 stem separations a month, and your stems stay in your library. Choose monthly, annual, or lifetime access. SetMate is free to download with up to 3 songs, 2 setlists, 2 backing tracks, one free stem separation, and 11 interactive guitar lessons. Build your library. Make the setlist. Hit the stage. Privacy Policy: https://setmateapp.com/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://setmateapp.com/terms.html
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Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: SetMate at 5.0 against Play Dead's 4.3. SetMate also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 64%) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 weeks). Play Dead's advantage is ratings volume (93 vs 3) and chart position (#117 vs unranked). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Play Dead sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and SetMate sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
SetMate holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Play Dead has 93 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Play Dead's written reviews are positive against 100% of SetMate's.
Play Dead ships an update every 4 weeks, SetMate every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Play Dead | SetMate |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (93 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 64.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 93 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #117 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 88 MB | 67 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | nugs.net enterprises, LLC | Noah Davison |
Customer experience
Play Dead
SetMate
In-app purchases
Play Dead
- Monthly$9.991 Month
- Yearly$99.991 Year
SetMate
- SetMate: Gig Sheets Pro Monthly14 Days trial$4.991 Month
- SetMate: Gig Sheets Pro Annual14 Days trial$39.991 Year
- SetMate Pro — Lifetime$99.99









