Tapko Tuner vs Vagabond Synth
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tapko Tuner
A highly accurate chromatic tuner designed for bass and guitar, offering real-time pitch detection. It functions as a standalone app using your device's microphone or as an AUv3 effect within compatible music applications.
- High-accuracy chromatic tuning
- Real-time pitch detection
- Standalone microphone tuning
- AUv3 extension support
- Adjustable reference pitch
- Low-noise idle behavior
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Tapko Tuner is a precise chromatic tuner for guitar and bass, from 5-string low B up to the top frets of a guitar. Use it on its own with your device microphone, or load it as an AUv3 effect in AUM, GarageBand, Loopy Pro and other hosts. The audio passes through untouched. Features: - Accurate real-time pitch detection, steady even on low bass notes - Clean horizontal meter that shows flat, in tune and sharp at a glance - Large note name with octave and live frequency readout - Adjustable reference pitch (A4 = 420-460 Hz) - Adjustable indicator width and height - No ghost readings when the room is quiet - MIDI CC output in AUv3 hosts, one CC per tuning zone Notes: - Microphone permission is required for standalone tuning. - MIDI output is available when Tapko Tuner runs as an AUv3 plugin.
Vagabond Synth
This is a free wavetable synthesizer app that can be used standalone or as an AUv3 instrument. It offers 16 voice polyphony, multiple oscillators, a switchable filter, modulation, and effects. It also includes a MIDI processor for generating musical sequences.
- Standalone or AUv3 instrument
- 16 voice polyphony
- Multiple oscillators per voice
- Switchable filter
- Modulation and effects
- Generative MIDI processor
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Vagabond is an idiosyncratic wavetable synthesiser, running standalone or as an AUv3 instrument in compatible hosts such as GarageBand, AUM, Loopy Pro or Cubasis. It features 16 voice polyphony, 4 unison oscillators per voice plus a sub-oscillator, switchable filter, a bit of modulation and some effects. Also built in is a MIDI processor plugin, Twelve, a generative music toy that creates 12-bar blues sequences. Vagabond uses this for demo purposes, but you can load it in other hosts if you like. It's kind of a one trick pony, but one trick is better than none. As always, Vagabond is 100% free, no IAPs, no subs, no spyware, no nag screens. We don't want your money and we don't want your data.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Tapko Tuner at every 5 weeks against Vagabond Synth's every 3 months. Vagabond Synth's advantage is ratings volume (7 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On price, rating, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Tapko Tuner against 5.0 for Vagabond Synth. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Vagabond Synth has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Tapko Tuner ships an update every 5 weeks, Vagabond Synth every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tapko Tuner | Vagabond Synth |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 7 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | David Lars Guva | Matthew Caldwell |
Customer experience
Tapko Tuner
Vagabond Synth
In-app purchases
Tapko Tuner
No in-app purchases
Vagabond Synth
No in-app purchases








