Comparison

Guitar Buddy vs Spoolr

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

Head to head
About

Guitar Buddy

Master the guitar fretboard and train your musical ear with interactive lessons and real-time pitch detection. Learn notes, chords, and melodies through structured courses and practice modes designed for all skill levels.

Highlights
  • Fretboard note and chord recognition
  • Melodic ear training
  • Real-time pitch detection
  • Structured courses for learning
  • Practice streak tracking
  • AI-powered practice summaries
Features
Read full description

Guitar Buddy Master the Fretboard by Ear – Notes, Chords, Melodies & Real‑Time Pitch Detection Unlock the guitar fretboard and train your musical ear with Guitar Buddy – a focused practice companion for guitarists who want to really know what they're playing, not just where to put their fingers. Whether you're a beginner learning the notes on the neck or an experienced player sharpening your chord recognition, melodic ear, and intonation, Guitar Buddy guides you through structured, interactive training in a clean interface built to keep you focused. NEW – COURSES: NOTES ON THE FRETBOARD Learn to find any note on any string straight away, without counting frets, in a step-by-step guided course. • Learn one note at a time at a slow metronome tempo, so you remember positions instead of working them out • Short explanations with animated fretboard demos you can hear • Natural notes, then sharps and flats, the upper neck, and the whole neck • Graded Find It and Name It checkpoints • Advanced chapter: Octave Shapes and Fret Boxes • Play a Melody: play along with familiar tunes in their real rhythm • A three-minute Daily Mix, and Trouble Spots that target the notes you miss • Build Speed from 40 to 80 BPM, or set up your own practice session Try the course intro for free; the full course is an optional one-time in-app purchase. HOME: YOUR PRACTICE AT A GLANCE • Track your practice streak and keep it alive • Get a personalized AI practice summary of what's going well and what to work on next • Get smart recommendations based on weak spots and topics you haven't touched in a while • See a stats breakdown across every training mode • Set practice reminders for the days and times that suit you MELODY JOURNEY – 165 LEVELS A structured ear training path from beginner to expert: 165 levels in 33 topic groups, from simple intervals to chromatic melodies, melodic direction, scale degrees, and chord inversions. Track your progress and unlock new topics as you master the previous ones. FIVE FOCUSED TRAINING MODES • NOTES: Recognize notes across the whole fretboard or specific fret ranges • MELODIES: Identify melodic sequences based on different scales, at various lengths and difficulty levels • CHORDS: Build your chord vocabulary by ear and by shape, with optional inversions • CHORD PROGRESSIONS: Identify each chord in a progression, from two-chord patterns to four-chord sequences • INTERVALS: Recognize intervals played melodically or harmonically, or sing them and check your pitch – all 11 intervals, in any direction EXPLORE: SCALES, CHORDS & INTERVALS An interactive reference, all shown on the fretboard. See every chord shape with correct note names and play it back, browse intervals with famous reference melodies, and explore scale patterns across the full neck. INTERACTIVE FRETBOARD & AUDIO ANALYZER A beautifully designed virtual fretboard shows exactly where notes and chords sit on the neck. The microphone-based analyzer detects what you play in real time, showing the note name and octave so you can check intonation and pitch accuracy. Optimized for iPhone, iPad and Mac, in portrait and landscape, with layouts that adapt to iPad Split View, iPhone Duo and resizable Mac windows. Also includes a Tuner and a Metronome. DESIGNED FOR REAL PROGRESS Guitar Buddy is a focused training tool – not a game with distractions. It helps you: • Memorize every note on the neck • Recognize chords by name and structure • Develop your inner ear for intervals and melodies • Build a consistent habit with streaks, reminders, and personalized recommendations IDEAL FOR • Guitarists who know shapes but want to understand the actual notes • Self-taught players filling in fretboard and harmony gaps • Students preparing for music theory exams • Musicians developing melodic ear and interval recognition Take control of your fretboard knowledge and ear training.

About

Spoolr

Log and track all your live music experiences. Record details like artists, venues, dates, and your mood. View personalized statistics and countdowns to upcoming shows.

Highlights
  • Log shows with artist, venue, date, companions, mood, and notes
  • Search and filter concert history
  • Highlights dashboard with stats and milestones
  • Up Next countdown for upcoming shows
  • Share shows with friends via iMessage
  • Multiple visual themes
Features
Read full description

Every show tells a story. Spoolr is your personal concert journal — a place to log every live music experience, from your first show to your next one. Track the artists you've seen, the venues you've visited, and the friends who were there with you. Add notes about the night, tag your mood, and watch your live music history come to life. Highlights shows you the big picture: how many shows you've been to, your top artists, your most-visited venues, and your peak concert month. Up Next keeps your upcoming shows front and center with a countdown to the next one. Share any show with a friend through iMessage with a clean link card. If they have Spoolr, it opens right in the app. Features: Log shows with artist, venue, date, companions, mood, and notes Search and filter your full concert history Highlights dashboard with stats, top artists, and personal milestones Up Next countdown for upcoming shows Share shows with friends via iMessage Multiple visual themes: Cassette, Vinyl, Studio, Matinée, Broadside All data stored locally on your device — no account required No ads, no subscriptions — one-time purchase Built for the people who save their ticket stubs.

Screenshots

Guitar Buddy4 screens
Spoolr4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Spoolr at 5.0 against Guitar Buddy's 3.7. Spoolr also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 5). Guitar Buddy's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Guitar Buddy sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Spoolr asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Spoolr holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Guitar Buddy versus Spoolr: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGuitar BuddySpoolr
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (3 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size74 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThomas SempfTodd Gustafson

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Guitar Buddy

One-time5
  • Tip me a espresso$0.99
  • Tip me a mug of coffee$2.99
  • Buy me 2 cups of coffee$4.99
Show 2 more
  • Notes on the Fretboard$5.99
  • Buy me a cookie and a cup of coffee$9.99
None

Spoolr

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Guitar Buddy free?
Guitar Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Spoolr free?
Spoolr is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Guitar Buddy or Spoolr?
Spoolr is rated higher. Guitar Buddy averages 3.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Spoolr averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Guitar Buddy or Spoolr have ads?
Neither Guitar Buddy nor Spoolr shows ads.

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