Chordbot vs Hookpad
Chordbot
chordbot.com
Hookpad
hooktheory.comSide by side
| Figure | Chordbot | Hookpad |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $7.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 4 |
| Spec score · Songwriting tools | 8.5 (#3) | 8.4 (#5) |
| Commercial use | The maker grants a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use creations in commercial recordings and performances. | Hooktheory says users own music made in Hookpad and may release it commercially, but may not resell or redistribute its sounds as standalone sounds. |
| Support | The FAQ directs users to [email protected] for questions and problems. | Hooktheory says Dave Carlton personally handles its software and book support emails. |
| What it does | Chordbot is a songwriting app and backing track generator for creating and playing chord progressions in different musical styles. | Hookpad is songwriting software with integrated music theory tools for composing musical ideas, chord progressions, melodies, and songs. |
Plans
Hookpad
- FreeFree
- Standard$7.99 a month
- Aria AI add-on$14.99 a month
- Standard$199, paid once
In their own words
Chordbot
Chordbot is a songwriting app and backing-track generator for creating and playing chord progressions in different musical styles. It is available on Android and iOS. Its library includes more than 60 chord types in all inversions, with over 70 comping-style presets and the option to build styles from more than 400 instrument tracks. An automatic or manual inversion selector helps shape chord transitions, while repeatable song sections can each use a different comping style or arrangement. Song-O-Matic can generate progressions when users need ideas. Songs can be exported as MIDI for DAW editing or as WAV for sharing. Song files use JSON and can be shared through file-sharing apps; only JSON files can be imported back into Chordbot. Lite is free, but saving and exporting are disabled. Pro costs $4.99, paid once and enables both. The maker permits commercial use of creations in recordings and performances under a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free license.
Hookpad
Hookpad is browser-based songwriting software for composing chord progressions, melodies and songs with integrated music theory tools. Its chord suggestions draw on music theory and data from 75,000 songs. The free plan includes Smart Guides, transposition, tempo and looping, piano playback and cloud saving; advanced chord palettes and search are limited to one-minute previews. Standard adds more than 500 instruments, 11 band templates, up to four melody voices, lyrics, mixing, recording and MIDI input, along with MIDI and MP3 export. Users can also export sheet music, guitar tablature and lead sheets. MIDI exports can be imported into digital audio workstations such as GarageBand, Logic and Pro Tools. Audio import supports WAV and MP3; MIDI input requires a browser with Web MIDI API support. Optional Aria can suggest chords, melodies or both. Hookpad works in a browser and offers tablet touch mode, but is not suitable for smartphone editing. Standard costs $7.99 a month, billed monthly; the optional Aria add-on costs $14.99 a month, billed monthly.