SplitFire vs VU Studio
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SplitFire
This app uses AI to separate any song into its individual components like vocals, drums, and bass directly on your device. It offers various AI models for different separation needs and saves extracted stems to iCloud Drive for easy access. Process audio privately and offline after an initial model download.
- AI audio stem separation
- On-device processing
- Offline functionality
- Multiple AI models
- iCloud Drive syncing
- Support for various audio formats
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SplitFire splits any song into stems, right on your iPhone or iPad. Vocals, drums, bass, and more, extracted by AI that runs entirely on your device. No upload, no cloud, no queue. Your audio never leaves your machine. HOW IT WORKS - Pick any audio file: MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A, AAC, or OGG - Choose an AI model: fast 4-stem, fine-tuned, or 6-stem separation - Get clean stems as WAV files, accelerated by your device's GPU WHAT YOU CAN MAKE - Karaoke tracks: remove the vocals from any song - Practice tracks: mute your instrument and play along - Backing tracks for bass, drums, or guitar - Acapellas, remixes, samples, and DJ edits PRIVATE BY DESIGN - 100 percent on-device processing - Works offline after a one-time model download - No account needed to separate audio SYNCED BY YOUR ICLOUD - Stems save to a SplitFire folder in iCloud Drive and sync across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Real files: open them in the Files app or drag them into your DAW on the Mac, no app needed - Sync runs through your own iCloud account, never through our servers - iCloud off? Everything still works, stored locally on your device AND MORE - History: browse everything you have separated on any device, with per-stem sync state - Optional free SplitFire AI account - Made by Splitfire AB in Sweden Support: https://splitfire.ai/contact
VU Studio
Create music on the go with a portable beatmaking workstation. Build beats, shape samples, and arrange full tracks with a structured yet fast workflow. Import and edit audio, then organize your ideas into complete songs.
- Portable project workflow
- Sample shaping and editing
- Pattern and sequence building
- Full track arrangement timeline
- Dedicated editing views
- Mixer for balancing tracks
- Live performance effects
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VU Studio is a beatmaking workstation built for creating ideas, shaping samples, and arranging full tracks in one portable project workflow. Start with pads and sounds, build patterns per group, combine those patterns into sequences, then arrange patterns, sequences, and audio tracks on the song timeline. The workflow is direct enough for sketching beats quickly, but structured enough to grow an idea into a finished arrangement. Import audio into pads, preview waveforms, edit sample regions, and use CHOP to split samples into playable slices. VU Studio keeps imported audio inside the project package, so your songs stay portable instead of depending on temporary file picker paths. Use dedicated views for the way you want to work: - PADS for samples, pad settings, and sound preparation - STEPS for fast pattern programming - PIANO for detailed note and event editing - SEQUENCE for building song sections from patterns - SONG / Timeline for arranging the full track - MIXER for balancing groups, pads, audio tracks, sends, inserts, and master output - LIVE for performance effects and quick sound manipulation - BROWSER for finding and loading audio sources VU Studio projects are saved as managed .vustudio packages. Export creates a portable .vustudio archive for transfer or backup, with project data and assets kept together. On iOS, projects live in Documents so they remain visible in Apple Files. You're a fan of my previous VU202 app? That's great - VU Studio supports .vu202 project file - move your project and keep 100% edit possibilities! Whether you are chopping drum breaks, programming patterns, building sections, importing samples, or moving a project between iOS and desktop, VU Studio is designed around a simple idea: keep the beatmaking flow fast, organized, and portable.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: VU Studio at 56% against SplitFire's 0%. VU Studio also leads on price (Free vs $7.99) and rating (4.4 vs 1.0). SplitFire's advantage is device support (5 vs 2). On ads 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
VU Studio is free to download; SplitFire costs $7.99 up front. SplitFire sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. VU Studio asks for nothing beyond the download.
VU Studio holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: VU Studio has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of SplitFire's written reviews are positive against 56% of VU Studio's.
SplitFire ships an update fortnightly, VU Studio every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SplitFire | VU Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) | 4.4 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 55.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 7 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 171 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Splitfire AB | Dariusz Chynek |
Customer experience
SplitFire
VU Studio
In-app purchases
SplitFire
- A thousand Semitones$7.99
- Five thousand Semitones$39.99
VU Studio
No in-app purchases





