Comparison

TranceXY vs Pixelsynth

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

Head to head
About

TranceXY

Features
Read full description

TranceXY is a trance synthesizer you play with your finger. Hold the pad, sweep across it, and the sound moves with you - the pitch glides without steps, the filter opens, the chords voice, the arpeggio accelerates. It is a theremin built for trance, on a touchscreen. THEREMIN MODE, BY DEFAULT The instrument opens in Theremin mode: one steady voice whose pitch you shape by hand across the pad's Y axis, quantised to the scale you choose or free to glide. Six more performance modes are a tap away - Note, Chord, Arp, Roll, Keys and Keys Chord - and the same finger movement plays leads, stacks chords, drives arpeggios or slides between notes. A FULL TRANCE ENGINE Under the pad: three oscillators with supersaw, a multimode filter, three LFOs, a noise source, sidechain ducking and a rhythmic trance gate, followed by nine effect pedals - distortion, chorus, flanger, phaser, delay, reverb, crush, OTT and gate. Eight performance knobs sit beside the pad for the moves you make while playing: cutoff, resonance, gate, pump, detune, delay, reverb and drive. PLAYS ANYWHERE Run it on its own, or load it as an AUv3 instrument inside GarageBand, AUM, Cubasis or any AUv3 host and record it straight into your track. REC captures your performance to WAV, AIFF or FLAC and shares it anywhere on your device. ALSO A CONTROLLER FOR THE MAC Switch it into controller mode and your iPhone or iPad becomes the XY surface for TranceXY on your Mac, over USB or Wi-Fi, with the pad, gain and all eight knobs mapped for you. FREE TO DOWNLOAD, WITH TRANCEXY PRO The download is free, and the free version is a complete instrument - every performance mode, every knob, every effect pedal, controller mode - together with the Uplifting Trance preset collection. TranceXY Pro is a one-time purchase, with no subscription, that unlocks all 773 presets across nine genres, every FX chain, REC and export, and saving your own presets. One purchase covers Mac, iPhone and iPad (Universal Purchase) and supports Family Sharing. Everyone who bought TranceXY while it was a paid app already has everything. - Theremin performance pad: stepless pitch, filters, chords and arpeggios from one gesture - 7 performance modes: Theremin, Note, Chord, Arp, Roll, Keys, Keys Chord - 3 oscillators with supersaw, multimode filter, 3 LFOs, noise, ducking, trance gate - 9 effect pedals with factory chains - 773 trance presets across 9 genres - Standalone and AUv3 - REC to WAV / AIFF / FLAC - Controller mode for TranceXY on Mac (USB or Wi-Fi)

About

Pixelsynth

This app transforms musical input into a vibrant visual experience, allowing users to see and shape their sound in real-time. It offers a playful and immediate way to create music, with all controls and feedback displayed on a single screen. Designed by a Deaf musician, it prioritizes visual feedback as an integral part of the instrument.

Highlights
  • Real-time visual sound shaping
  • Interactive 16-pad grid
  • Adjustable waveforms, filters, and envelopes
  • LFO, delay, and reverb effects
  • AUv3 instrument compatibility
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Make a sound in seconds—and shape it while it plays. Pixelsynth turns taps, drags, melodies, and chords into a colorful instrument you can understand by watching it. Everything you play lives on one screen. Touch a note and start exploring. FROM THE DEVELOPER OF PIXELBOOP Pixelsynth is a new visual instrument from the maker of Pixelboop. Both apps share a love of playful grids, immediate feedback, and musical ideas that begin with one touch. PLAY FIRST. LEARN BY WATCHING. Sixteen pads invite you to find a melody, hold a chord, or strum across the screen. Notes light up as you play, and every sound control moves in front of you. You can see what each gesture is doing while you hear the result. SHAPE THE SOUND LIVE • Switch waveforms to change the character of your sound. • Sweep the filter from bright and open to soft and focused. • Shape attack, decay, sustain, and release for crisp plucks, swelling notes, and long tails. • Add motion with LFO, repeating echoes with delay, and depth with reverb. Each control is a colorful tank. Touch higher or lower inside it to set the value directly. Values in the upper half stay where you leave them; notes in the lower half drain away after you lift. It feels immediate because the picture and the sound follow the same gesture. MADE TO BE SEEN Created by a Deaf musician, Pixelsynth treats visual feedback as part of the instrument. The entire musical surface is drawn on a 40 by 24 pixel grid—just 960 pixels—so every control stays visible and every change has a visual response. PLAY IT YOUR WAY Open Pixelsynth as a standalone instrument on iPhone or iPad, or load the included AUv3 instrument in a compatible iOS music host. Your host can send MIDI notes and save the instrument state with your project. A compatible host is available separately. FREE TO EXPLORE No account. No in-app purchases. No third-party ads. The instrument works offline. The standalone app may occasionally show developer news or an introduction to Pixelboop, which you can close immediately. Pixelsynth does not track you or collect the music you play. Open it. Touch a note. See where it takes you.

Screenshots

TranceXY4 screens
Pixelsynth4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pixelsynth at none against TranceXY's 1. On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. TranceXY sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pixelsynth asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TranceXY ships an update every 8 days, Pixelsynth every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
TranceXY versus Pixelsynth: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTranceXYPixelsynth
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—4 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.016.0
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTomocreate, Inc.de Bastion, Inc

In-app purchases

1 purchases

TranceXY

One-time1
  • TranceXY Pro$14.99
None

Pixelsynth

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is TranceXY free?
TranceXY is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pixelsynth free?
Pixelsynth is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do TranceXY or Pixelsynth have ads?
Neither TranceXY nor Pixelsynth shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TranceXY or Pixelsynth?
TranceXY ships an update every 8 days, and Pixelsynth every 9 days. Most recently, TranceXY was updated on October 25, 2026 and Pixelsynth on October 24, 2026.

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