Comparison

TC vs The Snail 3

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

Head to head
About

TC

This app acts as a versatile controller for music software and hardware, allowing users to create custom interfaces for sending MIDI and OSC messages. It translates touch gestures and device motion into musical commands without being a synthesizer itself.

Highlights
  • Customizable multi-touch controllers
  • Device motion control (gyroscope/accelerometer)
  • MIDI over Bluetooth (Mac)
  • OSC over Wi-Fi (Mac)
  • Inter-app control via CoreMIDI
  • Support for external MIDI interfaces
  • Virtual MIDI output
Read full description

TC-Data is a MIDI and OSC (Open Sound Control) controller that sends messages to other apps and hardware. The app has over 300 multi-touch and device motion controllers and triggers which can be assigned to any MIDI or OSC message output. TC-Data is not a synthesizer, but it is designed to control them, plus any other MIDI or OSC software. With TC-Data, you create your own interface to send the gestures and touch motions you choose. There are no sliders, knobs, or buttons. TC-Data directly connects your touch movements to the outputs you program. Create MIDI notes, CC, pitch bend, patch change, and aftertouch messages with totally unique multi-touch controllers. Or send values directly to your program of choice via OSC, where you can build your own project using TC-Data as the front-end. Features • MIDI over Bluetooth (Mac) • Inter-app control via CoreMIDI • OSC over Wi-Fi (Mac) • Support for external MIDI interfaces • MIDI input passthrough • Virtual MIDI output • Fully assignable touch controllers • Gyroscope and accelerometer motion control • 300+ controllers and triggers • 14-bit MIDI CC support TC-Data is based on TC-11, an all-in-one multi-touch synthesizer. TC-Data takes the multi-touch controllers from TC-11 and opens them up to any external software.

About

The Snail 3

Read full description

See the sound. Every sound has a hidden structure. The Snail reveals its beauty. Watch your music unfold in real time, in a luminous spiral of colour and movement. A voice, a plucked tanpura string, a single piano note: each reveals its own shapes, patterns and surprises. The Snail is a high-precision tuner, a window into sound, and a pleasure to watch. Explore the overtones that give an instrument its character, follow pitch and timbre through a musical phrase, or simply enjoy seeing what you hear. BEAUTY BUILT ON SCIENCE Developed at IRCAM, The Snail brings together years of advanced research in acoustics, physics and mathematics, alongside the study of temperament systems, musical cultures and musicians’ practices around the world. Its interface is unique, designed and built entirely in-house. Years of research into visual design and interaction make the complexity of sound visible, inviting and useful. Scientific depth meets the pleasure of discovery. Different traditions hear, name and organise pitch differently. The Snail gives you ways to explore those differences — and to work with the references that matter to your music. THREE WAYS TO SEE • Snail View reveals frequencies on an octave spiral, showing a note and its partials together. • Tuner View helps you make fine pitch adjustments with a rotating, colour-changing indicator. • Score View places frequency components on a musical staff, with optional quarter-tone notation. TUNE TO YOUR MUSICAL WORLD Go beyond equal temperament. Explore just intonation, Pythagorean tuning and scales from other musical traditions. Adjust the pitch reference and set the tonic to suit your instrument, ensemble or repertoire. LISTEN, LOOK, DISCOVER Sing, play, or open an audio file. See how a gentle touch differs from a strong attack, how a voice shapes a vowel, or why two instruments playing the same note sound so different. Choose Bubble or Classic presentation, adjust the display, and save your settings as presets. A left-handed layout keeps controls comfortable to reach. For musicians, singers, teachers, students, sound designers—and curious ears of every age. No specialist knowledge required. Just bring a sound. The Snail doesn’t judge your sound. It invites you to discover it.

Screenshots

TC4 screens
The Snail 34 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: The Snail 3 at $8.99 against TC's $19.99. The Snail 3 also leads on update cadence (every 11 days vs every 5 weeks) and review sentiment (100% vs 89%). 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

TC costs $19.99 and The Snail 3 $8.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TC ships an update every 5 weeks, The Snail 3 every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
TC versus The Snail 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTCThe Snail 3
Price$19.99$8.99 — better
Rating4.6 (14 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews89.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings14 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015 — better
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBit ShapeIrcamLab

Customer experience

TC

All ratings14 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral14.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive89.5%
Neutral10.5%
Negative0.0%

The Snail 3

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

TC

No in-app purchases

None

The Snail 3

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is TC free?
TC costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Snail 3 free?
The Snail 3 costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do TC or The Snail 3 have ads?
Neither TC nor The Snail 3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TC or The Snail 3?
TC ships an update every 5 weeks, and The Snail 3 every 11 days. Most recently, TC was updated on November 1, 2026 and The Snail 3 on November 5, 2026.

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