StrumForge vs StrumGuitar
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
StrumForge
This app helps guitarists expand their playing with over 1,000 riffs, exercises, and chord progressions. It features animated fretboard diagrams, synchronized TAB, and customizable backing tracks for improvisation and songwriting. Explore scales, triads, and arpeggios with dedicated trainers.
- 1,000+ riffs and exercises
- Theory-based chord progressions
- Animated fretboard diagrams
- Synchronized TAB
- Customizable backing loops
- Scale and triad trainers
- 23 sampled drum grooves
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Expand your playing vocabulary with over 1,000 riffs and exercises in StrumForge Pro, from blues and rock phrases to focused technique drills. Explore scales, triads, and arpeggios with dedicated trainers, using synchronized TAB and animated fretboard diagrams to connect the notes you hear with the shapes you play. Put those ideas into practice with over 1 million unique, theory-based chord progressions across every key. Choose your guitar sound, customize the rhythm, and build a backing loop for improvisation, songwriting, or exploring something new. No ads. No account required to get started. CHORD PROGRESSIONS • Choose 2, 4, 8, 12, or 16 chords for focused loops or longer sessions • Set your key, mode, chord types, tempo, and guitar sound • Lock chords, change voicings, or build your own progression • Browse roots, chord families, and exact types, and choose which chord colors Generate can use • Explore open chords, barre chords, triads, and power chords • Explore major, minor, diminished, augmented, suspended, sixth, seventh, ninth, 11th, and 13th chords—including add9, 6/9, and maj7#11 • Get helpful suggestions for compatible chord options and musical styles • See chord shapes outlined on the fretboard during playback or preview EXERCISES & RIFFS • Explore over 1,000 riffs and technique drills, from beginner to advanced • Practice picking, legato, slides, bends, blues, country, jazz, and more • Follow synchronized TAB and an animated fretboard • Hear ringing notes, sustained chord tones, bends, and prebends • Adjust tempo and key, loop with a count-in and metronome, and save favorites • Search by name or reference, and filter by difficulty, technique, and type • Use All keys for variety and triad or interval colors to highlight chord tones RHYTHM & DRUMS • Play along with 23 sampled drum grooves, including Rock, Jazz Swing, Driving Rock, Half Shuffle, and Pocket Funk • Explore rhythms in 4/4, 3/4, and 6/8 with the full Pro collection • Customize drum parts from light to busy and add fills • Choose guitar strumming patterns independently of the drum groove • Balance guitar and drum volumes, and save rhythm settings with favorites TRIADS & ARPEGGIOS • Explore triad inversions and how shapes connect across the fretboard • Practice with the Triad Trainer and Arpeggio Trainer • Practice nine arpeggio types across all five CAGED positions • Follow animated TAB and adjust tempo, direction, and rhythm SCALES & FRETBOARD • Improvise with matching mode and pentatonic scale diagrams • Choose a scale manually with separate root and scale selections • Explore individual CAGED shapes or the full fretboard • Show note or interval labels and highlight triads or characteristic intervals • View suggested chord fingerings and move diagrams along the fretboard • Use left-handed diagrams in portrait or landscape MAKE IT YOUR OWN • Preview a collection of light and dark themes • Create and save custom color themes with Pro UNLOCK STRUMFORGE PRO Unlock unlimited progression generation, longer progressions, musical styles, the full drum collection, trainers, exercises, and advanced scale tools. Pro also includes: • Save, revisit, and share favorite progressions • Sync favorites and preferences across devices with an account • Automatic practice tracking, session stats, and streaks • Guitar tuner with alternate tunings and reference tones • Metronome with tap tempo, subdivisions, swing, and saved presets • Additional 12-string, overdrive, and arpeggiated guitar sounds • Saved practice preferences Put music theory into practice and discover ideas for your own songs with StrumForge. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
StrumGuitar
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Strum Guitar turns your phone into a hands-on strumming trainer. WHY IT EXISTS Most guitar apps test your chords. Strum Guitar trains the thing beginners actually struggle with — the strumming hand. No sheet music, no metronome to fight: you swipe, you feel the groove, and you get honest timing feedback. WHAT IT DOES (FREE) • Swipe down/up across six strings to play down- and up-strokes • Follow a looping chord progression — match the pattern to advance • After each bar, see which strokes were early, on, or late • Hear the target groove with the built-in Example playback • Edit your two chord progressions and two stroke patterns (8 or 16 steps of rest / down / up) NEW IN 2.0 — STRUM GUITAR PRO For players ready to play their own songs: • Capo — shift the whole progression by semitones. Your fingering stays the same; the song moves into any key. • Extended chord palette — 7th, maj7, m7, sus, dim voicings on top of the basics. • Unlimited chord loops and unlimited saved slots — build a library of your own progressions and strokes. One-time purchase. No subscriptions. No ads. Family Sharing off. WHO IT'S FOR • Beginners who can hold chords but can't keep a steady strum • Players drilling a new strumming pattern • Anyone who wants honest timing feedback without a metronome • Players who want to capo into the key of their song without a real capo nearby WHAT IT DOESN'T DO • It does not listen to a real guitar — you strum on screen • It's not a tuner, chord dictionary, or song library PRIVACY-FIRST DESIGN • Works fully offline • Collects no data — no analytics, no tracking • Your settings stay on your device REQUIREMENTS • iPhone, iOS 17.0 or later
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: StrumForge at every 2 days against StrumGuitar's every 5 weeks. StrumForge also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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. StrumForge sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and StrumGuitar sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
StrumForge ships an update every 2 days, StrumGuitar every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | StrumForge | StrumGuitar |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (62 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 62 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 70 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | Adam Spain | Jun-seob Byun |
In-app purchases
StrumForge
- StrumForge Pro Weekly7 Days trial$2.997 Days
- StrumForge Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
- StrumForge Pro Annual$24.991 Year
- Lifetime Pro$49.99
StrumGuitar
- Strum Guitar Pro$2.99
Questions
Is StrumForge free?
Is StrumGuitar free?
Do StrumForge or StrumGuitar have ads?
Which is updated more often, StrumForge or StrumGuitar?
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