Comparison

Pixelboop vs CronSequitur

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

Head to head
About

Pixelboop

Create music visually by drawing on a colorful grid. This app transforms your device into a visual sequencer where notes become pixels, making music production accessible without prior theory knowledge. Explore melodies, basslines, chords, and rhythms with intuitive gestures and automatic key correction.

Highlights
  • Visual music creation by drawing on a grid
  • Four independent tracks for melody, bass, chords, and rhythm
  • Automatic key correction with interval modes
  • Intuitive gesture controls for note placement and editing
  • MIDI I/O for connecting external hardware
  • Designed for accessibility with a visual-first approach
Features
Read full description

Make music as visual as it is audible. Pixelboop turns your iPhone or iPad into a visual sequencer where every note becomes a colored pixel on screen. No music theory required: tap, draw, and see the sounds. DRAW YOUR MUSIC Create beats by painting on a colorful grid. Each row is a note, each column is a moment in time. Tap to place notes, drag to draw melodies or chords, and watch your music come alive as patterns scroll across the screen. Music production that feels like a game. 4 TRACKS, INFINITE POSSIBILITIES Layer across four independent tracks: • Melody, expressive lead lines and hooks • Chords, rich harmonic backing • Bass, deep and driving low end • Rhythm, punchy drums and percussion Each track has its own color palette, so you can read a whole arrangement at a glance. 48 INSTRUMENT SOUNDS Sixteen sounds each for melody, chords and bass, from electric piano and glass pads to growling bass and bell leads. Hold a track's control column to audition and switch sounds while the loop keeps playing. EFFECTS YOU PLAY ON THE GRID Every track has its own effects column. Tap to switch between reverb and delay, compression and distortion, or a filter sweep, then slide to set the amount. No menus to dig through, and the column animates with what you hear. ALWAYS SOUNDS GOOD Pixelboop keeps you in key automatically. Choose major or minor and every note you place sounds musical. Note colors follow the circle of fifths, so harmonious notes look alike and clashing ones stand out. Interval modes let you explore different note relationships: • Pentatonic, classic 5-note scales that always work • Thirds, fourths and fifths, stack notes in musical intervals GESTURES THAT FEEL NATURAL • Tap an empty cell to place a note, tap the note again to erase it • Double-tap a note for an accent • Drag right to draw long, sustained notes • Move up and down as you drag across to build arpeggios • Hold a chord to cycle through the diatonic options ON IPAD The grid has no labels by design. On iPad, tap ? and it names itself: every control, every lane, and the note each row plays. Change key or scale and the names follow. It fades while you play and returns when you stop. EXPORT YOUR MUSIC (PIXELBOOP PRO) Bounce a finished jam to audio, export per-track stems to mix elsewhere, or send MIDI straight to your DAW. One purchase, no subscription, yours forever. SAVE, REPLAY AND SHARE JAMS Every session is saved as you play. Browse and reload any jam, set one as your starting template, or send it to a friend. Open a shared jam link and it loads straight into the grid. TEMPO AND TIMING Adjust BPM from ambient textures to driving dance beats. A visual playhead shows exactly where you are in the loop. Variable grid lengths plus 8 banks of 8 sections cover everything from a 4-bar loop to an extended arrangement. Loop one bank while you build it, or run the whole song. AUv3 PLUGIN Load Pixelboop inside AUM, Logic Pro or any Audio Unit host as a MIDI plugin. The same scale-locked grid becomes the brain of your studio, following your host's transport and tempo. MIDI AND HARDWARE Connect hardware synths and drum machines over USB or Bluetooth MIDI, with per-track send channels. Pixelboop also plays from an Erae Touch controller, with the grid mapped across its surface. DESIGNED FOR ACCESSIBILITY Pixelboop was created by a deaf musician who believes music should be visual first. The interface relies on color, position and visual feedback rather than requiring you to hear every nuance. Whether you are deaf, hard of hearing, or simply prefer a visual approach, Pixelboop meets you where you are. PERFECT FOR • Beginners who want to make music without learning theory • Producers looking for a fresh creative tool • Anyone who thinks visually and wants music to match • Educators teaching music through visual patterns • Deaf and hard of hearing musicians seeking accessible tools Music creation reimagined for the visual mind. Paint your first beat in seconds.

About

CronSequitur

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CronSequitur is a step sequencer with a grid layout that feels like real hardware, not a menu system with deeply nested functions you may never find. Every step can carry more than a note. Program changes and control changes sit right beside the note, not in a separate menu. A 2 to 64 step grid and full time-signature control make odd meters and unusual pattern lengths part of the design, not an afterthought. The core app needs no purchase. Two optional in-app purchases add more: Standard, a one-time purchase, and Pro, a one-time purchase or an annual subscription. If you already own Standard, Pro's one-time purchase is offered to you as an upgrade. Each paid feature is listed below under the purchase that includes it; everything else described here is part of the core app. CORE APP • The step sequencer and step editor: program changes and control changes on any step, 2 to 64 steps per pattern, full time-signature control • MIDI output to your external gear • The built-in synth, with a tempo-synced delay and a two-band EQ • Transpose: shift a pattern to another key without rewriting its notes, saved with the preset • Undo and redo for every edit, with no limit until you save • Unlimited presets • The metronome's audio click, visual beat indicators and count-in, and tap tempo • Export, import and back up your presets and songs in CronSequitur's own file format • Build and edit songs from your patterns, with sections, repeats and tempo changes • Full playback of the demo songs in the Library's Factory section • A preview of the first section of each song in My Songs, which holds the songs you build and any demo song you copy or edit. Full playback of these songs requires Pro (Song Playback, below). • Daylight mode, a high-contrast display for direct sun STANDARD IN-APP PURCHASE (ONE-TIME) • Virtual MIDI Output: send MIDI to other apps on the same device, no cables • Tags: tag your presets and filter them by tag • MIDI File Import & Export: standard MIDI files, to and from your DAW and other gear • Device Profiles: built-in and custom profiles that show your gear's own controls and labels • Screen Flash: a full-screen flash on each metronome beat • Metronome Haptics: a vibration on each metronome beat (iPhone only) • Tap Tempo Guard: TAP must be armed with one tap before it changes the tempo, so a stray touch mid-set does nothing • Performance Octave: shift your pattern up to three octaves up or down, live, while you perform PRO IN-APP PURCHASE (ONE-TIME OR ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION) Pro includes everything in Standard, plus: • Song Playback: full playback of the songs in My Songs, start to finish, with every section, repeat and tempo change, a countdown to the next section and your own stage cues on screen • Section Pads: jump to or loop any song section live • Audio Backing Tracks: import audio files to play along with your songs • Tempo-Locked Playback: backing tracks detect their tempo and stretch to match your song • Group Sync: many musicians, one song. Each player runs their own part on their own device, and the whole band starts, stops, changes tempo and moves through the song together over local Wi-Fi. Every device in the session needs Pro. • Section Audio Tracks: give each song section its own backing track Independently made in Maine. Fair pricing, no dark patterns, no surprises, built by a musician who wanted this to exist.

Screenshots

Pixelboop4 screens
CronSequitur4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: CronSequitur at Free against Pixelboop's $7.99. Pixelboop's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

CronSequitur is free to download; Pixelboop costs $7.99 up front. CronSequitur sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. Pixelboop asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pixelboop ships an update fortnightly, CronSequitur monthly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Pixelboop versus CronSequitur: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPixelboopCronSequitur
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerde Bastion, IncFortyFourSquirrels

In-app purchases

None

Pixelboop

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

CronSequitur

Subscriptions1
  • CronSequitur Pro (Annual)7 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time3
  • CronSequitur Standard$7.99
  • CronSequitur Pro Upgrade$22.00
  • CronSequitur Pro$29.99

Questions

Is Pixelboop free?
Pixelboop costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is CronSequitur free?
CronSequitur is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Pixelboop or CronSequitur have ads?
Neither Pixelboop nor CronSequitur shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pixelboop or CronSequitur?
Pixelboop ships an update fortnightly, and CronSequitur monthly. Most recently, Pixelboop was updated on October 31, 2026 and CronSequitur on October 31, 2026.

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