Comparison

By Ear PRO vs Muse Forge

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

Head to head
About

By Ear PRO

This app helps musicians transcribe songs by automatically analyzing chords from audio. It allows for slow playback of difficult phrases and visualizes chords on a piano roll for accurate copying. Users can also create their own transcriptions from scratch.

Highlights
  • AI chord analysis from audio
  • Pitch-preserving slow playback
  • Piano roll visualization of chords
  • Freehand transcription with chord insertion
  • Project saving and loading
  • MIDI export
Read full description

"How do they play that part?" โ€” this app answers it. Every musician hits the same wall sooner or later: working a song out by ear. A song with no sheet music. A phrase you love. That intro. By Ear PRO takes that wall down with four tools. 1. A head start on the chords Import a track and you get a first reading of the chord progression. Your ears still decide โ€” you just don't have to start from nothing. 2. Slow playback that keeps the pitch Play a fast phrase slowly without it dropping in pitch. Combine it with AB repeat and you can loop the hard part as long as you like. 3. Work it out while you watch the piano roll The chords sit on a piano roll in front of you. See it, hear it, and correct it until it matches what you heard. 4. Start from a blank roll and write it yourself Enter notes at your own pace from nothing at all. Insert chords as you go and build the structure while you work. ABOUT THE PRO PLAN A one-time purchase with a permanent licence. Buy it once and there is nothing more to pay. No subscription and no renewal. PRO unlocks: - Saving and opening projects (.csp) - MIDI export (.mid) - Everything added to PRO in the future RESTORING AFTER A NEW DEVICE OR REINSTALL If you bought it before, tap "Restore purchase" in the app to get it back at no cost. As long as you are signed in with the same Apple ID, PRO works on the new device with nothing more to pay. PAYMENT - Charges are billed to your Apple ID. - PRO is enabled as soon as the purchase is confirmed. - Payment is handled through Apple's In-App Purchase. PRIVACY AND TERMS Privacy policy: https://tenmais.jp/privacy.php?lang=en Terms of use (Apple standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ This app does not sell or pass your personal information to anyone. See the privacy policy above for details. SUPPORT Questions and requests are welcome: https://tenmais.jp/contact/?lang=en Working a song out by ear is the best training there is for understanding music. We hope this app makes your musical life richer.

About

Muse Forge

Features
Read full description

Muse Forge is an AI music studio for people who want to play, remix or study a song โ€” not just listen to it. Upload a track and Muse Forge does the listening for you: pull it apart into separate stems, read out the chord chart, or turn it into piano sheet music you can actually follow. Or start from nothing and generate a new track from a written prompt. WHAT YOU CAN DO Stem Separation Split a song into vocals, drums, bass and other tracks. Play each stem on its own, mute what you don't need, and download the ones you want. Chord Recognition Get the full chord progression along with the detected key and tempo. Follow a synced chart while the song plays, transpose to any key, and read guitar and ukulele fingerings. PopPianoAI Turn a song into a piano arrangement and read it as sheet music โ€” in portrait, or full-screen landscape when you want to prop the phone on the piano. Export as PDF, MIDI or MusicXML to open in your notation software. Music Generation Describe the mood, style or instrumentation you want and get an original track back โ€” usually in 30 seconds to 2 minutes. No upload needed. Forge One upload, the whole pipeline. Pick a template โ€” for example, strip the vocals from a song and turn the accompaniment into a piano score โ€” and get a finished result in one step, with PDF and MIDI downloads. SUPPORTED FILES MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG, AAC, M4A, OPUS and WebM, up to 100 MB per file. SUBSCRIPTIONS Muse Forge is free to download and comes with a monthly allowance of processing time. Starter and Creator add more processing seconds each month; the allowance is shared across music generation, stem separation and chord recognition. Piano sheet music is free and does not use your allowance. A subscription also unlocks lossless downloads. Subscriptions renew automatically. You can manage or cancel them in your Apple ID settings at any time. Subscription options: Muse Forge Starter (auto-renewable, monthly) and Muse Forge Creator (auto-renewable, monthly). Current prices are shown in the app and in the In-App Purchases list on this page. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase, and renews at the same price unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Terms of Use (EULA): https://dwave.cc/en-US/terms Privacy Policy: https://dwave.cc/en-US/privacy-policy Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

By Ear PRO4 screens
Muse Forge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: By Ear PRO at none against Muse Forge's 2. Muse Forge's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Muse Forge sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. By Ear PRO asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

By Ear PRO ships an update every 3 months, Muse Forge every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 5 level
By Ear PRO versus Muse Forge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBy Ear PROMuse Forge
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews100.0% of reviewsโ€”
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 4 weeks โ€” better
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
MonetizationPaidโ€”
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS16.415.1 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size44 MB120 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKenichi AndoDeepWave Co., Ltd.

In-app purchases

None

By Ear PRO

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Muse Forge

Subscriptions2
  • Muse Forge Starter Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Muse Forge Creator Monthly$7.991 Month

Questions

Is By Ear PRO free?
By Ear PRO is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Muse Forge free?
Muse Forge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do By Ear PRO or Muse Forge have ads?
By Ear PRO shows ads; Muse Forge does not.
Which is updated more often, By Ear PRO or Muse Forge?
By Ear PRO ships an update every 3 months, and Muse Forge every 4 weeks. Most recently, By Ear PRO was updated on October 24, 2026 and Muse Forge on October 25, 2026.

Other comparisons