Comparison

SideBand vs Sessioneer

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

Sessioneer

Features
Read full description

Sessioneer is a tune book for Irish traditional musicians, on iPad and iPhone. The full thesession.org database is built in and works offline: - Tens of thousands of tunes: jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas, slides, and more - Search by title, alias, composer, and submitter/transcriber - Multiple settings per tune - Build your own sets or browse thousands from the thesession.org community - Create Books of tunes, sets, PDFs and Images - Import Tunebooks and Bookmarks from thesession.org - Write notes with Apple Pencil directly on the music - Mark favorites, track your history - Import your own sheet music as PDFs or Images: read, search, and annotate with Apple Pencil - Add PDFs and Images to Books alongside tunes and sets - Tablature for fiddle, mandolin, and guitar with tuning and capo options - Favorite and share PDFs and Images Syncs through iCloud across your devices. No account, no email, no analytics, no data sold. Subscriptions are optional. The whole app is free. Subscribers remove a small support banner; nothing is gated. Tune database by thesession.org, used under Creative Commons. Built by an indie developer. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

SideBand4 screens
Sessioneer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Sessioneer at Free against SideBand's $2.99. Sessioneer also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 22 months). SideBand's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On 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

Sessioneer is free to download; SideBand costs $2.99 up front. Sessioneer sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. SideBand asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SideBand ships an update every 22 months, Sessioneer every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 8, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
SideBand versus Sessioneer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSideBandSessioneer
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 22 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB71 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWil MacaulayRUSSELL JAMES SCHICK

In-app purchases

None

SideBand

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Sessioneer

Subscriptions4
  • Supporter (Monthly)$0.991 Month
  • Patron (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Supporter (Annual)$6.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Patron (Annual)$39.991 Year

Questions

Is SideBand free?
SideBand costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sessioneer free?
Sessioneer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do SideBand or Sessioneer have ads?
Neither SideBand nor Sessioneer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SideBand or Sessioneer?
SideBand ships an update every 22 months, and Sessioneer every 3 weeks. Most recently, SideBand was updated on October 8, 2026 and Sessioneer on October 8, 2026.

Other comparisons