Comparison

spool. vs Bounce

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

Head to head
About

spool.

Create full songs on your phone with this pocket music studio. It offers a variety of sound engines, sampling capabilities, step sequencing, and a 4-track tape recorder for recording and mixing your music. Effects and MIDI controller support enhance the creative process.

Highlights
  • Multiple sound engines
  • Sampling and sequencing
  • 4-track tape recording
  • Extensive effects rack
  • MIDI controller support
  • Step sequencer
Features
Read full description

Make a whole song on your phone. Spool is a pocket music studio inspired by the joy of hardware grooveboxes — play, sample, sequence, and record to tape, all in one playful instrument. Fourteen sound engines. From punchy FM and fat subtractive Pulse to shimmering Cluster, plucked String, granular Cloud, the TALK vocoder, the WIDE stereo engine, THUMP bass, a Sampler, and two drum machines — each with its own animated, touchable visualizer and four hands-on controls. Sample anything. Record straight from the mic into the sampler or drum kits, trim it, and play it across the keyboard. Drums & beats. Build kits, chop a sample into a playable kit, and lock in grooves with the step sequencer. Playful sequencers. Pattern and arpeggiator to start; unlock Stream, Taps, and the bouncing-ball Gumball machine for happy accidents. Six minutes of 4-track tape. Record, overdub, varispeed (including reverse), scrub, and bounce your jam to a finished mixdown — export to WAV. Your tape is saved with your project. Effects & mixer. A deep rack — delay, spring reverb, drive, compressor, chorus, multimode filter, phaser, tremolo/auto-pan, beat-repeat stutter, and a pitch-shifter/harmonizer — many tempo-syncable. Plus a master EQ and brickwall limiter so it always sounds finished. Plays with your gear. Connect a USB or Bluetooth MIDI controller and play Spool like hardware. AUv3 plugin support is planned for a future update. Free to download and make music with a starter set of engines and sequencers. A single one-time Spool Pro purchase unlocks the full instrument — all engines, sampling, every effect and sequencer, unlimited projects, export, and MIDI. No subscription. Spool is an original, independent work by a solo developer — affiliated with no hardware maker.

About

Bounce

Create music anywhere with a powerful mobile studio. Describe your desired sound or melody, and AI will generate it, providing editable tracks. Features include multitrack recording, clip editing, built-in instruments, and AUv3 hosting.

Highlights
  • AI-generated music from text prompts
  • Editable MIDI and audio clips
  • Multitrack recording with latency compensation
  • Built-in instruments and sampler
  • AUv3 plugin hosting
  • Stem export and auto-mastering
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Bounce is a full music studio in your pocket — start from a prompt, a sample, a song you want to flip, or a blank session, and every piece stays yours to edit. SHARE IT — NEW Turn any project into a link anyone can open and play — no app required. They tap to listen, then "Open in Bounce to remix" drops the whole editable project on their timeline. Export a vertical video for TikTok/Reels in one tap, with a reactive visualizer. Invite a friend and you both get credits. START BY TYPING A VIBE — NEW First launch: describe what you want — "dark drill in F minor," "sunny afrobeats" — and a full, editable project is waiting for you. FLIP IT — NOW IN TEMPO Pick any song and Bounce pulls it apart: vocals, drums, bass, and the rest, each an editable track. New in 2.9: Bounce detects the song's tempo, so the stems land in time and follow the project's BPM. (Flip music you have the rights to use.) PLAY & CHOP — NEW SAMPLER The Perform pads got a redesign: a waveform strip shows your sample, drag the chop points wherever the hits are, and each pad lights its slice as you play. SPARK — FROM PROMPT TO PROJECT Type what you want and Spark builds a full, editable project in seconds. Re-roll any part and it stays in key and in harmony — even after you close the app. TALK TO YOUR PROJECT "Make it darker." "Re-roll the drums." "More reverb on the melody." Every change undoable in one tap. BOOTH — RECORD VOCALS Lyrics on screen, takes, comping, punch-in, vocal tune, one-tap vocal chains. PLUS THE FULL STUDIO • Multi-track recording, tempo-synced loops, cycle playback • A real mixer with honest meters + auto-mix that listens • AUv3 instruments and effects, Bounce Sampler • Generate a Sound & Sing a Hook (editable AI clips, credits) • Export a finished mix, stems, a social video, or a shareable link What you make is yours.

Screenshots

spool.4 screens
Bounce4 screens

Verdict

The call

spool. and Bounce are too close to call on the numbers: across 8 compared parameters — price, rating, ratings volume and ads among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. spool. sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Bounce sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. 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 spool. against 5.0 for Bounce. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 4 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
spool. versus Bounce: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterspool.Bounce
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (7 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings7 — better4
Update frequency—Every 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKristopher YangCasey Olayos

Customer experience

spool.

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bounce

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

spool.

One-time1
  • Spool Pro$9.99
5 purchases

Bounce

One-time5
  • Essentials Vol. 1Free
  • Spark Pack$4.99
  • Studio Pack$9.99
Show 2 more
  • Bounce Pro$19.99
  • Producer Pack$24.99

Questions

Is spool. free?
spool. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bounce free?
Bounce is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, spool. or Bounce?
spool. and Bounce are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 7 and 4 ratings respectively.
Do spool. or Bounce have ads?
Neither spool. nor Bounce shows ads.

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