# VA vs Ember

The clearest difference is price: Ember at $1.99 against VA's $24.99. Ember also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

VA costs $24.99 and Ember $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

VA ships an update every 6 weeks, Ember monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | VA | Ember |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $24.99 | **$1.99** |
| Rating | — | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ember-overdrive-distortion/id6788960282/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | — | **2** |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | — | Paid |
| Size | 10 MB | 17 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Richard Gillespie](https://appshunter.io/developer/1887994349) | [Joshua Rideout](https://appshunter.io/developer/1862462443) |

## What reviewers say

### VA

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/va-1/id6763180976)

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Ember

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ember-overdrive-distortion/id6788960282)

This app offers a versatile guitar drive experience, combining overdrive, fuzz, and compression into a single unit. It provides three distinct sound profiles and extensive control over tone, bite, and bias for studio or stage use.

**Highlights:** Integrated overdrive, fuzz, and compression, Three distinct sound voices: Warm, Drive, Ravage, Adjustable drive, tone, bite, and bias controls, AUv3 support for hosts like GarageBand and Logic Pro, MIDI learn for hands-free control, Standalone app for practice and recording

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is VA free?

VA costs $24.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Ember free?

Ember costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Do VA or Ember have ads?

Neither VA nor Ember shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, VA or Ember?

VA ships an update every 6 weeks, and Ember monthly. Most recently, VA was updated on October 22, 2026 and Ember on October 10, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*