Comparison

Sequencer Pal vs Octal

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

Head to head
About

Sequencer Pal

Create musical patterns like beats, melodies, and bass lines with a touch-first interface. Offers multiple creation modes, detailed note shaping, and flexible tempo controls. Save, share, and export your musical ideas as MIDI.

Highlights
  • Touch-first beat and melody creation
  • Pads, Piano Roll, and Drum modes
  • Adjust note velocity and length
  • Tempo, time signature, and division control
  • Save, duplicate, and import sessions
  • Export as MIDI
  • Customizable themes and sounds
Features
Read full description

Turn musical ideas into playable patterns with Sequencer Pal, a fast, expressive step sequencer made for iPhone and iPad. Build beats, melodies, chords, and bass lines with touch-first controls that keep you focused on the music. THREE WAYS TO CREATE • Pads makes it quick to sketch patterns with assignable notes. • Piano Roll gives you a focused view for melodies and chords. • Drums provides a dedicated grid with punchy kits for building grooves. SHAPE EVERY PATTERN Adjust the velocity of individual notes, drag note edges to change their length, and control the volume of each row. Mute and solo parts to hear how everything fits together. Choose the tempo, tap in a BPM, set a time signature, and work with straight or triplet divisions from quarter notes to 32nd notes. Expand your pattern from one measure up to 16 whenever an idea needs more room. SAVE IT. SHARE IT. KEEP CREATING. Save and duplicate sessions, import patterns shared by other Sequencer Pal users, or export your work as a standard MIDI file. Connect a USB, Bluetooth, network, or virtual MIDI destination and send your sequence to external instruments and music apps. MAKE IT YOURS Choose from 16 colorful themes, follow light or dark mode, or create a custom palette. Pick from five melodic sounds and three drum kits, then shape the workspace to match your style. Whether you are learning how patterns work, sketching a song, or programming a groove, Sequencer Pal makes it easy to start—and satisfying to go deeper.

About

Octal

This app transforms your phone into a musical instrument with eight intuitive buttons that always create harmonious chords or notes. Easily record loops, layer beats, and arrange them into full songs. Explore a variety of sounds and share your creations.

Highlights
  • Eight-button chord/note interface
  • Loop recording and editing
  • Song arrangement
  • Diverse sound library
  • Undo/history functionality
  • Audio file sharing
Features
Read full description

Octal turns your phone into an instrument. The eight buttons play chords or notes that always go together, so whatever you press sounds like music. The bead under your other thumb changes their mood or behavior as you play. MAKE A LOOP Press record and play a few bars. Open the wheel, pick drums or a bass, and play over the top. Swipe over to the Loop Deck to see your loop and change it bar by bar. TURN LOOPS INTO A SONG Pinch the Loop Deck and chain your loops into a song. SOUNDS Synths, keys, drum kits, textures and acoustic instruments, a tap away on the wheel. NEVER LOSE AN EDIT Every edit is kept. The history tool lets you wind back to any of them. SHARE IT Send the mix as an audio file, or send the loop or song itself to a friend who has Octal. Making music in Octal is free, with four saved loops and one song. THE FULL VERSION One purchase, no subscription. MIDI and stems to finish your song in a DAW, MIDI out to play other synths, the bead lab to make and keep sounds of your own, and as many loops and songs as you like. PRIVACY Octal collects no data. The microphone is only on while you record a sound or play a Vocoder.

Screenshots

Sequencer Pal4 screens
Octal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sequencer Pal at none against Octal's 1. Sequencer Pal also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Octal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sequencer Pal asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Sequencer Pal against 5.0 for Octal. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sequencer Pal ships an update every 2 days, Octal daily. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Sequencer Pal versus Octal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSequencer PalOctal
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings12 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 daysDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoshua Escribano FontanetRYAN JAMES,GALANG ELLIS

Customer experience

Sequencer Pal

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Octal

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Sequencer Pal

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Octal

One-time1
  • Octal, the full version$9.99

Questions

Is Sequencer Pal free?
Sequencer Pal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Octal free?
Octal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sequencer Pal or Octal?
Sequencer Pal and Octal are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Sequencer Pal or Octal have ads?
Neither Sequencer Pal nor Octal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sequencer Pal or Octal?
Sequencer Pal ships an update every 2 days, and Octal daily. Most recently, Sequencer Pal was updated on October 31, 2026 and Octal on October 31, 2026.

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