Comparison

Relative vs ChordsVault

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

Head to head
About

Relative

Develop your musical ear with this solfege-based ear training app. Learn to recognize musical intervals and play by ear, essential for improvisation and jam sessions. Offers graduated training and pitch name input for absolute pitch practice.

Highlights
  • Relative-Do solfege training
  • Interval recognition
  • Absolute pitch practice
  • Customizable scale degrees and octaves
  • Multi-note training
  • Streak counter
Features
Read full description

**** Check out our new Sight-Singing app, on 25% off launch sale through September! https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sight-singing-trainer/id1028696567 **** ** Combined remove adds and unlock advanced features including multi-note and UI customization in-app purchase now only $2.99! ** This is an ear training app made by a musician for musicians. Whether you play jazz, pop, classical, or any other style, the relative-Do solfege approach is basically the only effective relative pitch approach that allows you to play anything you hear by ear. Interval training, while helpful in a way, is way too slow to apply extensively in a practical manner. The method of recognizing the 12 solfege syllables: do, di/ra, re, ri/me, mi, fa, fi/se, so, si/le, la, li/te, ti based on their characteristic sound against a tonal/key center is widely taught in conservatories. Short of having perfect pitch, this is basically the only way to keep up in improvisations and jam sessions. This training won't be easy. As anyone teaching this method will tell you, it will usually take at least months or even years of hard work, but once you succeed, you'll just be able to play anything by ear. This app aims to provide a graduated training ramp up that will hopefully make the process easier. This app can also help practice absolute pitch by using the pitch name input mode instead of relative-do solfege syllables. Features: · Play reference cadence in any key to train in any key, major or minor · Ramp up starting with one note and work up to eight notes together or played in series · Customizable settings to train specific scale degrees or octaves · Streak counter to track progress · Practice using solfege syllables, scale degree numbers, or pitch names

About

ChordsVault

Create, design, and share guitar and instrument chords and songs. This app offers flexibility for transcribers and performers, allowing on-the-fly chord design, reuse, sharing, and transposition to different keys, tunings, and instruments.

Highlights
  • Create and design chords
  • Share songs and chords
  • Reuse chords between songs
  • Transpose songs to different keys
  • Support for various instruments and tunings
Features
Read full description

ChordsVault is the mobile entry into the ChordsVault portal for creating, designing and sharing guitar (and other instruments) chords and songs. ChordsVault is easy to use but provides great flexibility for songs transcribers and song readers / performers. Unlike many other sites, ChordsVault lets you design chords on the fly, reuse chords between songs, share songs and chords, and transpose songs to different keys, tunings and instruments.

Screenshots

Relative4 screens
ChordsVault2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ChordsVault at 5.0 against Relative's 4.3. ChordsVault also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). Relative's advantage is ratings volume (66 vs 1). On price, ads, 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

Both are free to download. Relative sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ChordsVault asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ChordsVault holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Relative has 66 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Relative ships an update every 4 months, ChordsVault every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Relative versus ChordsVault: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRelativeChordsVault
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (66 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings66 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS7.16.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size127 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRichard FooVolicsoftware, Inc.

Customer experience

Relative

All ratings64 ratings
Positive82.8%
Neutral3.1%
Negative14.1%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative36.0%

ChordsVault

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Relative

One-time1
  • Unlock Advanced Features + Remove Ads$2.99
None

ChordsVault

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Relative free?
Relative is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ChordsVault free?
ChordsVault is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Relative or ChordsVault?
ChordsVault is rated higher. Relative averages 4.3 out of 5 from 66 ratings, while ChordsVault averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Relative or ChordsVault have ads?
Neither Relative nor ChordsVault shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Relative or ChordsVault?
Relative ships an update every 4 months, and ChordsVault every 6 weeks. Most recently, Relative was updated on October 24, 2026 and ChordsVault on October 18, 2026.

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