Comparison

RealPlay vs Sessionography

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

Head to head
About

RealPlay

Practice music with authentic backing tracks performed by professional musicians. Customize tempo, key, and mix for focused learning. Features over 100 standard chord progressions with an expanding library.

Highlights
  • Authentic backing tracks
  • 100+ standard chord progressions
  • Real-time tempo adjustment
  • Instrument isolation and mixing
  • Instant transposition to all keys
Features
Read full description

RealPlay lets you practice with real music—not midi tracks, AI, or loops. Play along with authentic backing tracks performed by world-class rhythm sections, featuring an expanding library of over 100 essential standard chord progressions. Easily customize your practice with real-time controls for tempo, key, and mix—so you can focus on exactly what you need. Features: • World-class rhythm sections • 100+ essential jazz standards and chord progressions (expanding library) • Real-time tempo adjustment • Instrument isolation and mixing (ideal for rhythm section players) • Instant transposition to all 12 keys Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Sessionography

Explore the complete careers of jazz musicians, discovering every album, session, and sideman appearance. Link artists, albums, and tunes to trace musical connections and build custom playlists with natural language commands.

Highlights
  • Full artist career exploration
  • Detailed session and personnel data
  • Linked albums, labels, and tunes
  • Musician collaboration tracking
  • Interactive player orbit graph
  • Smart playlists via Siri
  • Label and studio browsing
Features
Read full description

Sessionography is the best way to explore and listen to jazz. • See any artist's full career as leader and sideman — every date, in true session order • Full personnel on every album — tap any name to explore their career • Everything is linked: albums, labels, recording sessions, even the tunes themselves • Pick two musicians and see everything they ever recorded together • Interactive player orbit graph Go deep on a tune- Every recording of a standard in one place. Filter by instrument, artist, era, or group size. Explore labels and studios- Browse Blue Note or Impulse! like a discography. Step inside Van Gelder's studio and see the stable of session regulars. Smart Playlists via Siri- Ask in natural language to get your perfect playlist- instantly. "Play Miles Davis quintets from the 50s" "Play John Coltrane deep cuts as a sideman" "Play Michael Brecker essentials" For more control over your smart playlists you can adjust the filters on device. Everywhere you listen- iOS, Mac, VisionOS, CarPlay support, an Apple Watch app- all supported natively. Sessionography requires an Apple Music subscription for playback. Terms of Use: https://dynamicappdesign.com/tos.html

Screenshots

RealPlay4 screens
Sessionography4 screens

Verdict

The call

RealPlay and Sessionography both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Sessionography's written reviews are positive against 73% of RealPlay's. Sessionography also leads on device support (5 vs 2). RealPlay's advantage is ratings volume (161 vs 12) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. RealPlay sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.29 per month and Sessionography sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for RealPlay against 4.9 for Sessionography. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RealPlay has 161 ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of RealPlay's written reviews are positive against 100% of Sessionography's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RealPlay ships an update every 5 days, Sessionography weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
RealPlay versus Sessionography: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRealPlaySessionography
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (161 ratings)4.9 (12 ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings161 — better12
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size113 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRealPlay LLCDynamic App Design LLC

Customer experience

RealPlay

All ratings161 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral1.9%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews40 reviews
Positive72.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative15.0%

Sessionography

All ratings12 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

RealPlay

Subscriptions2
  • RealPlay Pro Monthly$3.291 Month
  • RealPlay Pro Yearly$21.991 Year
3 purchases

Sessionography

Subscriptions2
  • Unlock Sessionography$0.997 Days
  • Unlock Sessionography$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Sessionography Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is RealPlay free?
RealPlay is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sessionography free?
Sessionography is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, RealPlay or Sessionography?
Sessionography is rated higher. RealPlay averages 4.8 out of 5 from 161 ratings, while Sessionography averages 4.9 from 12 ratings.
Do RealPlay or Sessionography have ads?
Neither RealPlay nor Sessionography shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RealPlay or Sessionography?
RealPlay ships an update every 5 days, and Sessionography weekly. Most recently, RealPlay was updated on October 15, 2026 and Sessionography on October 8, 2026.

Other comparisons