Comparison

Bent Spool vs Octal

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

Head to head
About

Bent Spool

This music app offers creative audio effects for live performance or use within other music apps. Explore rhythmic tremolo, pitched repeats, and looping fragments of your audio. It includes built-in overdrive and tape effects for unique sound shaping.

Highlights
  • Rhythmic tremolo effects
  • Pitched repeat sequences
  • Overlapping audio loops
  • Built-in overdrive and fuzz
  • Vintage tape effects
  • Standalone and AUv3 host support
Features
Read full description

Bent Spool is a creative effect that can transform simple musical parts into unexpected rhythms and melodies, played live or as an effect in your favorite host app. Shape a tremolo pulse, turn a note into a run of pitched repeats, or build a moving layer from fragments of what you just played. Drive the input with built-in overdrive or fuzz, add a core effect, then finally layer in vintage analog tape effects. THREE MODES TREM: a pulsing volume effect, from a rounded sine through triangle and sawtooth to a hard square gate. Syncs to your host's tempo or runs free. REPEAT: up to 64 pitched copies with their own decay and feedback, across five pitch stations from two octaves down to two octaves up. LOOPS: up to six overlapping fragments of your recent audio, spread across pitch, direction, read position and the stereo field. CHARACTER CHAOS adds movement that suits each mode: octave jumps in REPEAT, held or stalled pulses in TREM, wandering reversals and pitch drift in LOOPS. WEAR adds tape wear, magnetic saturation and digital crush after the active mode. At the input, OD is a softer clip; FUZZ is a harder distortion that sputters as it decays. PRESETS 48 factory presets: 10 TREM, 15 REPEAT, 15 LOOPS and an 8-preset Fuzz Tremolo pack. Unlock to save your own. FREE TO TRY TREM plays in full on the OD voice with ten presets. No time limit, no interruptions. A single $9.99 in-app purchase unlocks REPEAT, LOOPS, FUZZ, the rest of the presets and preset saving. No subscription. Runs as a standalone app or as an AUv3 effect in AUM, Loopy Pro and other AUv3 hosts, on iPhone and iPad.

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

Bent Spool4 screens
Octal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Bent Spool at 17.0 against Octal's 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. Bent Spool sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Octal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 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 Bent Spool against 5.0 for Octal. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly daily. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Bent Spool versus Octal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBent SpoolOctal
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (5 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings5 — better2
Update frequencyDailyDaily
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPlastic Factory LLCRYAN JAMES,GALANG ELLIS

Customer experience

Bent Spool

All ratings5 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

1 purchases

Bent Spool

One-time1
  • Bent Spool Unlock$9.99
1 purchases

Octal

One-time1
  • Octal, the full version$9.99

Questions

Is Bent Spool free?
Bent Spool is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Octal free?
Octal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Bent Spool or Octal?
Bent Spool and Octal are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 5 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Bent Spool or Octal have ads?
Neither Bent Spool nor Octal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bent Spool or Octal?
Bent Spool ships an update daily, and Octal daily. Most recently, Bent Spool was updated on October 31, 2026 and Octal on October 31, 2026.

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