Comparison

ChordPolyPad vs MsyChords

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

Head to head
About

ChordPolyPad

This app is a versatile MIDI chord player that allows users to create and play complex chord sets. It offers extensive customization for pads, MIDI controls, and chord generation, functioning as a standalone app or an AUv3 MIDI effect plugin.

Highlights
  • Standalone app and AUv3 MIDI effect plugin
  • 128 pads per preset
  • Customizable X/Y MIDI controllers
  • Advanced random chord generator
  • Internal and external MIDI support
  • Chord filtering and quantizing
  • Preset manager with in-app purchases
Features
Read full description

"ChordPolyPad" is a MIDI chords player that lets you create chord sets using a large internal library, any custom combination of notes, or randomly generated chords. Each preset contains either 8 groups of 16 pads or 2 groups of 64 pads, for a total of 128 pads. In addition to playing chords, each pad can generate customizable MIDI controls on its horizontal and vertical axes, allowing expressive real-time modulation. "ChordPolyPad" can be used as a standalone application or as an AUv3 MIDI effect plug-in. The app supports full internal and external MIDI input and output. An internal sound bank is included for immediate use. The AUv3 MIDI effect plug-in supports multiple instances. A compatible host is required and must support the Audio Unit v3 (AUv3) MIDI effect format. Hosts supporting AUv3 MIDI effect on iOS: Logic Pro, Cubasis, Beatmaker, AUM, Audiobus, NanoStudio, Auria Pro, apeMatrix. Hosts supporting AUv3 MIDI effect on macOS: Logic Pro 10.7 or later. Features: • Standalone application and AUv3 MIDI effect plug-in • 8 groups of 16 pads or 2 groups of 64 pads per preset (128 pads) • Assignable MIDI port and MIDI channel for each pad • Customizable X/Y controller per pad • Per-note velocity control for each chord • Strumming configuration per pad • Copy and paste for pads and groups • Drag and drop chords directly from the library • Chord filtering and quantizing based on the selected scale • Predefined scales and possibility to create custom scales • Advanced random chord generator with diverse musical moods featuring voice leading and context-aware harmonic progressions for naturally flowing compositions • Stop "Audio Background" automatically after inactivity (15 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, or never) • Internal sound bank • Receive MIDI notes and control from external devices • Send MIDI to a virtual port usable as MIDI input by other "Core MIDI" compatible apps • Preset manager with support for in-app purchase packs • "Program Change" support • Preset sharing support by "AirDrop", "Mail", "Messages", and other supported services • Native iCloud support • "iCloud Drive" support in the "Files" app on iOS and "Finder" on macOS • Full support for "Windowed Apps" mode on iPad • Undo/Redo Supported MIDI connections: • Virtual "Core MIDI" connections between apps • Any compatible MIDI interface • MIDI over Wi-Fi • MIDI over Bluetooth

About

MsyChords

Create custom chord tables with precise tone control, including loudness, sustain, inversions, and arpeggios. Select from iCloud or transpose to any key. Offers five presets and intuitive performance controls for a personalized musical experience.

Highlights
  • Custom chord table creation
  • Adjustable loudness and sustain
  • Chord inversions and arpeggios
  • Preset performance controls
  • Transpose to any key
  • iCloud chord table selection
Features
Read full description

The MsyChords app let you create a table with chords with exactly the tones you like to hear. You can control the performance with loudness, sustain, chord inversions and arpeggios. The chord tables also can be selected from the iCloud directory. The tables can be transposed to the wanted key. Performance control Five presets, four buttons and two sliders allow to control the play performance. - Presets -- Five presets can be changed with one finger tip. The preset is configured by touching the white circle on the selector plane. A chord table is selected from a directory, the tone base (key) is set and a the sound can be chosen from a sound font. - Level control -- The sliders allow to adjust the volume at any time while playing. The slider on the left side and on the right side are synchronized and have the exact identical effect. - Play mode & arpeggiator -- The left top button allows to select different play modes by tapping or sliding the button. Mode 1 plays the chords exactly as they are denoted. Mode 2 supports to play inversions of the chord. Mode 3 to mode 7 provide different arpeggio patterns. - Speed control & help -- The right top button has two functions. For play mode 1 and 2, the button provides a help and settings page. In play mode 3 to mode 7, the button allows to control the speed of the arpeggios. The speed can be set by tapping or by sliding the button. - Sustain control -- The left bottom button provides a kind of a damper pedal. If pressed, the played chords continue to sound until the button is released. - Lock sustain and clear -- The right bottom button provides a lock sustain mode. The touched chord continues to sound until a next chord is played. The mode is enabled by pressing the right bottom button while the left bottom button is pressed. Chord tables A chord table is a collection of chords organized in rows and columns. The chord consists of arbitrary tones and a chord name chord. Further the table has an entry for a base tone (key). - Chord tones -- The tones are denoted as duodecimal MIDI numbers. Thereby we have two numbers for one tone. The first number is the octave, the second number is the semitone within the octave. As there are twelve semitones in an octave, the tone A#/Bb is denoted as 'X' and B is denoted as 'T'. ```|0:C|1:C#,Db|2:D| 3:D#,Eb|4:E|5:F|6:F#,Gb|7:G|8:G#,Ab|9:A|x:A#,Bb|t:B|``` - Chord name -- The name of the chords can be chosen arbitrary. But when the first letter is one of ABCDEFG, the letter is used to determine the musical function step in relation to the base tone. In that case the second letter is analyzed in addition if it is a # or b. Also transposing of the chord names is supported then. - Chord table selection -- The selection panel shows files of the MsyChords directory in alphabetical order. New chord tables can be created, renamed and deleted. Editing chord tables The edit mode is started by long pressing the preset selector button the selector button changes to red. - Editing chord tones -- Editing the chord tones is done with a dedicated keyboard showing the numbers 0 .. 9,X,T. - Editing chord names -- Editing the chord names is done with a keyboard providing text symbols supporting arbitrary text. - Add or delete rows or columns -- In edit mode rows and columns can be added or deleted by clicking on '⌑'. Also the position of the chord table button can be changed. - Move cell -- Chord table cells can be moved to other positions by touching '=' and moving the cell. - Save -- If a new table is loaded and the current table was modified, the user is asked to save the table or to ignore the changes. Saving is supported in the full version. - iCloud directory -- Chord tables a can be imported and exported via the MsyChords iCloud directory. Sound font files One sound font with 10 sounds is in-build (from FluidR3_GM.sf2 from Frank Wen). Other arbitrary .sf2 sound font files can be loaded via the MsyChords iCloud directory.

Screenshots

ChordPolyPad3 screens
MsyChords4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: MsyChords at Free against ChordPolyPad's $17.99. ChordPolyPad's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.0) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 11 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

MsyChords is free to download; ChordPolyPad costs $17.99 up front. ChordPolyPad sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and MsyChords 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

ChordPolyPad holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ChordPolyPad has 50 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 92% of ChordPolyPad's written reviews are positive against 75% of MsyChords's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ChordPolyPad ships an update every 2 months, MsyChords every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
ChordPolyPad versus MsyChords: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChordPolyPadMsyChords
Price$17.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (50 ratings) — better4.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews92.1% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings50 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 11 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.2
Further details — not scored
Size54 MB39 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLaurent ColsonBernhard Feiten

Customer experience

ChordPolyPad

All ratings50 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.0%
Written reviews114 reviews
Positive92.1%
Neutral3.5%
Negative4.4%

MsyChords

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

ChordPolyPad

One-time3
  • Retro Pop$4.99
  • Clubwave$4.99
  • Liminal Spaces$4.99
1 purchases

MsyChords

One-time1
  • MsyChords-StoreFeature$7.99

Questions

Is ChordPolyPad free?
ChordPolyPad costs $17.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is MsyChords free?
MsyChords is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ChordPolyPad or MsyChords?
ChordPolyPad is rated higher. ChordPolyPad averages 4.6 out of 5 from 50 ratings, while MsyChords averages 4.0 from 3 ratings.
Do ChordPolyPad or MsyChords have ads?
Neither ChordPolyPad nor MsyChords shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ChordPolyPad or MsyChords?
ChordPolyPad ships an update every 2 months, and MsyChords every 11 months. Most recently, ChordPolyPad was updated on September 23, 2026 and MsyChords on June 1, 2026.

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