Hookpad vs Topline

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.

Topline is Abbey Road Studios’ multitrack recording app for songwriters who want to capture music ideas. A project can contain up to three audio layers, with lyrics, notes, tags and pictures available to keep material together. Import audio from Mail, iCloud, Google Drive or Dropbox; projects can also sync to those cloud services. Tags and a map feature help organize projects and identify where recordings were made. Users can export projects as M4A on iOS or MP3 on Android and share them by email. The help information also describes sharing a project WAV through the phone’s file-sharing system, and records audio at 44.1 kHz. iOS-specific tools include reverb with nine impulse responses, a mixer panel, Bluetooth headphone support and automatic mono-to-stereo conversion for imported tracks. Topline is free for personal, non-commercial use. Its terms require users to be at least 18 to accept them and download the app.