# Fretboard King vs FretCipher

The clearest difference is update cadence: FretCipher at daily against Fretboard King's every 4 days. On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Fretboard King sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $1.99 per month and FretCipher sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Fretboard King against 5.0 for FretCipher. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 4 respectively.

Fretboard King ships an update every 4 days, FretCipher daily. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Fretboard King | FretCipher |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [5.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fretboard-king-guitar-notes/id6795058772/reviews) | [5.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fretcipher/id6815352086/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 4 |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | **Daily** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 28 MB | 7 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Paul McCarthy](https://appshunter.io/developer/1890678546) | [Loggic Labs LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/6814299880) |

## What reviewers say

### Fretboard King

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fretboard-king-guitar-notes/id6795058772)

Master every note on the guitar fretboard with interactive drills and guided lessons. Improve your solos and overall playing by building instant recall of note locations and patterns across the entire neck. Practice anywhere, anytime, with or without your instrument.

**Highlights:** Note-find drill, Octave game, Mic note detection, Built-in tuner, Guided lessons, Fretboard Explorer, Progress tracking

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fretboard King Pro | $1.99 | per month |


### FretCipher

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fretcipher/id6815352086)

This app visually maps music theory concepts like scales, modes, and chords directly onto a guitar fretboard. It offers interactive training and customization to help guitarists understand and apply musical knowledge.

**Highlights:** Interactive fretboard visualization, Scale and mode exploration, Chord and triad visualization, Interactive training games and quizzes, Custom scale and note creation, Fretboard appearance customization, Save and export fretboard diagrams

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FretCipher Pro Unlock | $9.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Fretboard King free?

Fretboard King is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is FretCipher free?

FretCipher is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Fretboard King or FretCipher?

Fretboard King and FretCipher are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 4 ratings respectively.

### Do Fretboard King or FretCipher have ads?

Neither Fretboard King nor FretCipher shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Fretboard King or FretCipher?

Fretboard King ships an update every 4 days, and FretCipher daily. Most recently, Fretboard King was updated on November 1, 2026 and FretCipher on October 31, 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.*