Deadtapes vs Dead Sets
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Deadtapes
Identify the Grateful Dead concert your music tape originated from. Input a sequence of up to three songs, and the app will find shows from 1972-1995 that feature that exact song order.
- Song sequence search
- Grateful Dead show identification
- 1972-1995 show coverage
- Tape origin discovery
Read full descriptionHide full description
Finds which Grateful Dead show your dead tape was created from. You enter up to three songs, in sequence, that you hear on your tape. It reports which shows have that sequence played at the show. For all shows from 1972 through 1995.
Dead Sets
Read full descriptionHide full description
Every Grateful Dead setlist. And now, the music. Dead Sets is the fastest way to dive into the Dead's live catalog: 1,600+ shows from 1972 to 1995, every setlist searchable by song, venue, city, or year — entirely offline, no account, no ads. LISTEN — Almost every show links to its recordings in the archive.org Grateful Dead collection. Dead Sets auto-picks the best-rated soundboard and streams it right on the setlist page — or flip between every tape of the night, soundboards, audience recordings, and matrixes, even mid-song. The mini-player follows you through the app, and playback continues with the screen locked. SEARCH — Type "Scarlet Begonias" and see every performance. Filter by year, state, or country. Tap any song in a setlist to trace it across two decades. TODAY IN DEAD HISTORY — What did the band play on this date in '77? In '89? One tab, every year. SAVED — Heart your favorite shows, and mark the ones you attended with a ticket stub. Your whole trip, tallied, stored only on your device. CHAT WITH A DEAD HEAD (subscription) — A virtual dead head who's seen 300+ shows and followed the whole Europe '72 tour. Ask him anything — "best Dark Star of '73?", "what happened today in Dead history?" — and tap the shows he mentions to jump right to them. $1.99/month after a 7-day free trial, 30 messages a day, cancel anytime. Setlist data from the Grateful Dead Setlist Archive (cs.cmu.edu), cross-checked against archive.org and setlist.fm, with hundreds of hand-restored corrections. Recordings stream from the archive.org Grateful Dead collection, where the band has long blessed fan recordings. Not affiliated with Grateful Dead Productions. Just built by someone who gets it. Terms of Use: https://bowtiedjungle.dev/terms Privacy Policy: https://bowtiedjungle.dev/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Deadtapes at none against Dead Sets's 1. Dead Sets's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 46 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.2). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Dead Sets sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $1.99 per month. Deadtapes asks for nothing beyond the download.
Deadtapes ships an update every 46 months, Dead Sets every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Deadtapes | Dead Sets |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 46 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.2 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thomas Maher | Matt Selph |
In-app purchases
Deadtapes
No in-app purchases
Dead Sets
- Dead Sets7 Days trial$1.991 Month
