Comparison

Fretboard Sessions vs ShedSpace

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

Head to head
About

Fretboard Sessions

Visualize chord tones and scales on a guitar fretboard with customizable keys and tunings. Practice soloing and phrasing over a library of high-quality backing tracks that adapt to the music.

Highlights
  • Fretboard visualization
  • Chord tone and scale display
  • Customizable keys and tunings
  • Library of backing tracks
  • Adaptive fretboard with tracks
  • Practice exercises
  • Randomized practice routines
Features
Read full description

Visualize chord tones and scales in different keys and tunings, and practice phrasing or soloing over a growing library of high-quality backing tracks. Fretboard Sessions is a companion app for guitarists focused on taking their playing to the next level, whether they are working with a teacher, taking a course, or studying on their own. Easily Visualize the Fretboard Instead of having to go through pages of charts and diagrams, you can quickly configure the fretboard to show you exactly what you want. Select a key, show chord tones, scales, or both, and choose to show notes or degrees on the fretboard. You can select from different tunings and even focus the fretboard on specific strings or scale degrees. Play Along With Backing Tracks
To help you get better at melodic phrasing and soloing, Fretboard Sessions comes with a library of high-quality backing tracks. There are single-chord grooves, two-chord vamps, common progressions, and more complex backing tracks with extended and non-diatonic chords. The fretboard automatically changes as the backing track plays, making it easy for you to try out different melodies and licks. Each backing track is available in all 12 keys. Practice With Exercises
When you want to review your scales, arpeggios, triads, or intervals, simply select an exercise from the Fretboard Sessions library. Each exercise has a specific focus; for example, there are separate exercises for each of the CAGED shapes. Exercises are also available in all 12 keys. Randomize Your Routine When it comes time to practice or just noodle around, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut. Tap the shuffle button or shake your iPhone to get a random backing track or exercise. You can shuffle between favorites and even get the backing track or exercise in a random key. Support Fretboard Sessions I created Fretboard Sessions to help me visualize the fretboard in different ways, practice over a variety of backing tracks, and use it as a reference when creating my own music. Fretboard Sessions is helping me become a better player, which is why I want to share it with others. All the app functions, along with a set of backing tracks and exercises, are completely free. For a single one-time purchase, you can unlock all current and future backing tracks and exercises. Your purchase will help support continued development of Fretboard Sessions . Thanks in advance! Feedback Appreciated The app is a work in progress, and I'm still learning, so if you have ideas for making it better, you can provide feedback right from within the app. Also, if Fretboard Sessions is helping you become a better player, consider submitting a review on the App Store.

About

ShedSpace

This app provides musicians with a practice toolkit, including a metronome, a drone for intonation practice, and a real drummer for playing along. It offers customizable tempos, time signatures, and drum grooves, all synchronized to a single clock.

Highlights
  • Real drummer grooves
  • Customizable metronome
  • Drone in any key
  • Tempo ramp and gap trainer
  • Chord progressions
  • Background playback
  • iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

ShedSpace is a practice room in your pocket: a metronome, a drone, and a drummer, all on one clock. Set a tempo and everything follows it. Start the drone under the click to work on intonation, or start the drummer and play along with a real kit at the tempo you need. A REAL DRUMMER, AT YOUR TEMPO Pocket plays grooves recorded for ShedSpace by a real drummer on a real kit. Rock, funk, pop, and latin feels, with more on the way. Each groove was recorded at several tempos, and the drums keep their pitch and feel wherever you set the ruler. Filter by style, mark favourites, and switch grooves while you play. A METRONOME THAT DOES THE WORK Tempo from 20 to 300, by ruler, keypad, or tap. Forty time signatures with the beat length honoured. Accents you tap per beat. Six subdivisions drawn as notation: quarter, eighths, triplets, shuffle, sixteenths, and sixteenth swing. A tempo ramp that raises the tempo every few bars. A gap trainer that drops the click for whole bars so you have to keep time yourself. A practice timer with a count-in. A DRONE IN ANY KEY A sustained note or chord in seven characters, from clean to organ. Single notes, fifths, triads, sevenths, sus chords, and more. Changes: cycle through keys automatically or play a chord progression on the shared clock, from built-in progressions or your own custom progressions. EVERYTHING TOGETHER One clock. Start any tool from any tab and the others fall in on the one. A mixer sets how loud each tool sits, and an output picker sends the sound to AirPlay or Bluetooth from inside the app. Plays in the background with lock screen controls. On iPad, a console layout puts all three tools on one screen. Presets and your own progressions sync through iCloud between iPhone, iPad, and Mac. TWO WAYS TO PAY Subscribe for a year at a time, or buy it once and keep it for good. Both include everything, and new grooves arrive as they are recorded. Try it free for seven days, with no card and no account. Terms of Use: https://shedspaceapp.com/mobile-terms/ Privacy Policy: https://shedspaceapp.com/mobile-privacy/

Screenshots

Fretboard Sessions4 screens
ShedSpace4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: ShedSpace at every 5 days against Fretboard Sessions's every 2 weeks. ShedSpace also leads on ratings volume (15 vs 3). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. Fretboard Sessions sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and ShedSpace sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. 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 — 5.0 for Fretboard Sessions against 5.0 for ShedSpace. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ShedSpace has 15 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fretboard Sessions ships an update every 2 weeks, ShedSpace every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Fretboard Sessions versus ShedSpace: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFretboard SessionsShedSpace
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (15 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings315 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB61 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperFretboard Buddy LLCSprung Interactive

Customer experience

Fretboard Sessions

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ShedSpace

All ratings15 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Fretboard Sessions

One-time1
  • All Backing Tracks and Exercises$4.99
2 purchases

ShedSpace

Subscriptions1
  • ShedSpace Yearly$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • ShedSpace Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is Fretboard Sessions free?
Fretboard Sessions is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ShedSpace free?
ShedSpace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Fretboard Sessions or ShedSpace?
Fretboard Sessions and ShedSpace are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 15 ratings respectively.
Do Fretboard Sessions or ShedSpace have ads?
Neither Fretboard Sessions nor ShedSpace shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fretboard Sessions or ShedSpace?
Fretboard Sessions ships an update every 2 weeks, and ShedSpace every 5 days. Most recently, Fretboard Sessions was updated on October 31, 2026 and ShedSpace on November 9, 2026.

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