Grip vs LinkEffekt
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Grip
Control Ableton Live remotely from your iOS device. Manage transport, recording, track settings, and clips wirelessly. Includes a built-in MIDI keyboard for on-the-go note input.
- Wireless Ableton Live control
- Voice control for transport and recording
- Track arming, soloing, and muting
- Clip launching and scene navigation
- Built-in MIDI keyboard
- Project saving and volume control
Read full descriptionHide full description
Grip is the missing app for Ableton Live. This app requires Grip Desktop to be running on the same computer as Ableton Live. Download that app first at www.gripforlive.com. Stay in creative flow with Grip: Remote control Ableton from anywhere in your studio, bedroom, or battlestation—at your synth, in the vocal booth, or from the couch. Grip connects to your computer over Wi-Fi as a native Live control surface. No MIDI mapping required. Stop running from your mic to the computer, or having to play guitar near your computer. With Grip, you can literally use your voice to say "record" and play directly into Ableton Live. Keep Grip with you at whatever instrument you're playing, to play, record, undo, redo, and even save from your phone or tablet. TRANSPORT & RECORDING • Control Live with your voice • Play, stop, record, and overdub • Undo and redo • Preview and record into scenes • Quickly loop between sections of your song in arrangement • Pre-roll recording before your locators • Toggle metronome • Save your project from your phone • Change volume • Arm, solo, and mute tracks MIXER & NAVIGATION • Record & launch clips, move and copy them between tracks and scenes on the session view • Jump to locators • Launch scenes • Scrub through your arrangement with your finger • Switch between session and arrangement view • Mixer controls for volume, sends, pan, and arm/solo • Insert, duplicate, or delete tracks or scenes • Rename locators and scenes MIDI PIANO & DRUM PAD • Built-in piano for playing notes into Live • Push-like drum pad for playing notes or drum kits • Requires the Mac version of Grip. (Windows support for MIDI forthcoming.)
LinkEffekt
Read full descriptionHide full description
LinkEffekt brings Ableton Link Audio to every AUv3 host. New in 2.0: it receives as well as sends. Stream any track between iPad and iPhone, from app to app on one device, into Ableton Live and back, or to a friend over the internet. Your host doesn't need to support Link Audio itself. ONLY IN LINKEFFEKT • Right on the beat across devices. Other streaming plugins leave the network delay to the receiving side: either the whole receiving app plays later, or the stream arrives behind the beat. LinkEffekt Send plays its track ahead instead, by exactly the trip over the network, using the delay compensation of AUM and Logic Pro for iPad. The audio lands right on the beat on the other device, in both directions at once, from the first play, with nothing to set. • Bar Sync for every other host. With any other sending app, and with Ableton Live, incoming audio locks to your bar: one bar late, but perfectly tight. Better late than never. • Link Audio over the internet. Share a room code and jam with a friend anywhere, locked to your bars, peer-to-peer and encrypted. If the connection drops, it comes back by itself. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Jam across devices: iPad and iPhone stream to each other over Wi-Fi, both ways at once • Route audio between apps on one device: AUM into Cubasis, or track to track inside one host. No network: on this direct path LinkEffekt adds under 1 ms, plus one audio buffer when iOS runs the receiving app first. Want it right on your metronome? Switch on Bar Sync, one bar later • Record in Ableton Live: every iOS track arrives in Live 12.4 as its own input, no interface, no cables. Live sends back, too. • Record Ableton Move and Note: both stream over Link Audio, so LinkEffekt Receive plays them in any host, ready to record in Logic Pro, AUM or Cubasis. • Monitor a band: sum several channels in one Receive, or give each its own track FEATURES • Three plugins: Send, Receive as an audio effect, Receive as an instrument • Local network over Wi-Fi, or by cable with Personal Hotspot for the steadiest connection • Ableton Live 12.4 and later in both directions • Ableton Move and Note 2.0 and later as sources • Send at 48 kHz for receivers that need it, like Ableton Live • Adjustable buffer against Wi-Fi gaps • Gain, stereo pan and click-free mute on every channel • Stereo level meters • Channel names carry the device, like "Channel 1 · iPad", and update live on every receiver • Mute Local Output, so a sent track isn't heard twice • Bypass all LinkEffekt Sends with one switch: your session plays on the device instead of streaming • Live Mode for playing live on the sending device • Nudge and Link Offset for fine timing • Ableton Link settings in every plugin • iPhone and iPad FREE TO START One Send and one Receive are free with no time limit: full quality, on the beat, Bar Sync included. A single in-app purchase unlocks unlimited Sends and Receives, several channels in one Receive, and Online mode. No subscription. IMPORTANT: OPEN THE APP ONCE After installing, open the LinkEffekt app once and allow Local Network access. Without it the plugins can't find each other and stay silent. REQUIREMENTS • An AUv3 host such as AUM, Cubasis, Loopy Pro, Drambo, GarageBand or Logic Pro • iOS 17 or later • For Ableton Live, Move or Note: Live 12.4, Move 2.0 or Note 2.0 or later on the same network • For Online mode: the in-app purchase on both sides
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Grip at none against LinkEffekt's 1. Grip also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). LinkEffekt's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads and device support 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. LinkEffekt sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Grip asks for nothing beyond the download.
Grip ships an update every 3 weeks, LinkEffekt every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Grip | LinkEffekt |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 54 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Adam Baker | Alexander Joannou |
In-app purchases
Grip
No in-app purchases
LinkEffekt
- Unlimited Channels$6.99









