Comparison

SideBand vs Nota ABC

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

Head to head
About

SideBand

This app helps musicians learn songs by ear. It allows users to slow down music, loop sections, and change the key to match their voice or instrument. Import music from various sources like the Music app or iCloud.

Highlights
  • Adjust tempo
  • Transpose key
  • Change tuning
  • Loop sections
  • Import unprotected music
  • Supports iPhone and iPad
Features
Read full description

Learn tunes by ear - slow down and loop sections of a tune. Change the key to fit your voice or instrument. Import any unprotected music from the Music app, from the iCloud Files application or drag tunes from your desktop. Support for all iPhone screen sizes as well as iPad. Use slide-over while listening to your Music files to quickly import on iPad Use split screen to listen while viewing music • Adjust tempo - change the speed from half-speed to double speed • Transpose - change the key by semi-tones up to an octave higher or lower • Change the tuning - Adjust the pitch of an out-of-tune recording • Import from any other app that can export an audio file - wav, mp3 and AAC files are supported.

About

Nota ABC

Manage and browse a vast collection of traditional music tunes with this app. Features include a zoomable score, audio player, tune identification, and the ability to edit and organize your music.

Highlights
  • Manage ABC tunes collection
  • Zoomable score and audio player
  • Tune identification with Folkfriend
  • Organize tunes into sets and books
  • Edit and create new tunes
  • Offline archive of 40,000+ tunes
  • Automatic iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

Nota ABC, the simplest way to manage your ABC tunes collection Nota ABC is a new app that lets you manage and browser your ABC. It features a zoomable score, a rich audio player and many customizable options. A RICH ARCHIVE OF TRADITIONAL TUNES With an archive of +40.000 tunes, Nota ABC lets you pick and add tunes to your repertoire. If you know the name of a tune, you can probably find it in Nota ABC; most tunes are available with different settings and keys. The archive is available also offline. TUNE IDENTIFICATION WITH FOLKFRIEND INTEGRATION Fire up the Tune identifier, record some music at home or during a session, and you'll get a list of potential matches. Inspect each match in the archive to easily identify your tune. SETS AND BOOKS Group you tunes in Books for easy export. Use Sets for group of tunes usually played in sequence. EDIT YOUR TUNES Every tune can be edited: you can modify the ABC and adjust each tune to match your setting. Of course you can also add tunes from scratch, setting every ABC note and field to your liking. SCORE AND ABC PREVIEWS FOR A FAST REMINDER The tunes list can display a handy preview; choose a score if you're familiar with musical notation, or ABC if you're so inclined. The first few bars of the tune will be displayed, so you'll be able to identify tunes at a glance, without drilling into the detail view. AUDIO PREVIEW From the tunes list you can also play an audio preview; this is ideal for those who have a more aural-oriented memory. A FULL FEATURED AUDIO PLAYER Play your tunes at your chosen speed, modifying the player BPMs. For your audio playback, you can pick among a selection of traditional instruments. EASIER STUDY WITH DATES AND LEVELS Every time you add a tune a "learning date" is associated to it Use the Practice feature to track your learning, either automatically or manually. GROUP TUNES INTO BOOKS Group tunes into books for an easier access. TURN YOUR TUNE LIST INTO A FULL REPERTOIRE You can import your tune from a simple text list, and get their ABC content automatically. This was you can turn a simple text list into a full repertoire, with all melodies, keys and annotations. Of course you can also import ABC tune books or single tunes. There's also a CSV import option, for migrating easily from Excel or Numbers. AUTOMATIC SYNC Nota ABC uses iCloud to keep your data backed-up and synced. Use the iPhone or iPad interchangeably, see edits propagate almost in real time. YOUR DATA ARE SAFE, NO LOCK-INS Nota ABC makes it easier to browse you collection, but your data re always yours. A variety of always unlocked export options allow you to pull you data from Nota ABC. Every time you you edit a tune, Nota ABC generates a local backup copy that you can export. If you ever decide to stop using Nota ABC, you can download your backup straightaway, in a zipped file containing a full tune book, a simple list and a more granular export of each tune. CUSTOMIZE NOTA ABC You can tweak playback options, as well as the user interface: choose from an array of fonts and palettes. Hide the features you are not interested in. Info at https://notabc.app Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

SideBand4 screens
Nota ABC4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Nota ABC at Free against SideBand's $2.99. Nota ABC also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 22 months). SideBand's advantage is review sentiment (80% vs 38%) and in-app purchases (none vs 10). On rating, ratings volume, ads and device support 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

Nota ABC is free to download; SideBand costs $2.99 up front. Nota ABC sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. SideBand asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Nota ABC holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 6 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 80% of SideBand's written reviews are positive against 38% of Nota ABC's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SideBand ships an update every 22 months, Nota ABC weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
SideBand versus Nota ABC: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSideBandNota ABC
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (5 ratings)4.2 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews — better37.5% of reviews
Number of ratings56 — better
Update frequencyEvery 22 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB206 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWil MacaulayDavide Benini

Customer experience

SideBand

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

Nota ABC

All ratings6 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral16.7%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive37.5%
Neutral25.0%
Negative37.5%

In-app purchases

None

SideBand

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Nota ABC

Subscriptions8
  • 1 Month Subscription$0.991 Month
  • Base - 1 month - M$1.991 Month
  • 3 Months Subscription$2.493 Months
Show 5 more
  • 6 Months Subscription$3.996 Months
  • 3 Months Subscription$3.993 Months
  • 1 Year Subscription$5.991 Year
  • 6 Months Subscription$7.996 Months
  • 1 Year Subscription$10.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime subscription$14.99
  • Lifetime subscription$31.99

Questions

Is SideBand free?
SideBand costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Nota ABC free?
Nota ABC is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SideBand or Nota ABC?
Nota ABC is rated higher. SideBand averages 4.0 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Nota ABC averages 4.2 from 6 ratings.
Do SideBand or Nota ABC have ads?
Neither SideBand nor Nota ABC shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SideBand or Nota ABC?
SideBand ships an update every 22 months, and Nota ABC weekly. Most recently, SideBand was updated on November 6, 2026 and Nota ABC on November 3, 2026.

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