Today there are 69 different songwriting software. We spent 83 hours comparing the top 50 to find the seven best you can use to write your music with.
What is the Best Songwriting Software?
- Hookpad — best of the best
- MasterWriter — best for professional songwriters
- BandLab — best for beginners
- Hum On — best for iOS
- Chordbot — best for Android
- Noteflight — best for teachers
- Finale by Makemusic — best for Mac
1. Hookpad
Our Verdict — Best Of The Best
Price: Starts at $4.99/month
Hookpad is an incredible piece of software that simplifies the songwriting process. We think it's the best songwriting software because of it's visual chord palette that allows you to test with several ideas with your song harmony.
The Best Part:
- Intuitive chord palette. Hookpad's visual chord palette enables you to experiment with creative ideas, and create unexpected, rich harmonies.
The Worst Part:
- Limited sound library. HookPad's sound library is not as extensive as some of its competitors.
Get it if you want a user-friendly tool to help you compose captivating songs and chord progressions, even without prior music theory knowledge.
I recommend you start with the free plan, then get a paid Hookpad subscription for $4.99/month.
(free plan)
Best For
Hookpad is best for songwriters who want a user-friendly tool to get inspired and write unique songs.
Top Features
- Intelligent suggestions. Leverage Hookpad's AI-powered visual cues for chords, melodies, and harmonies to inspire your compositions.
- Customizable instruments. Choose from a selection of virtual instruments, including piano, guitar, and strings, to infuse your song with personality and flair.
- Band templates. Kickstart your songwriting process with pre-built bands, instruments, and rhythms in many styles and genres.
- Tempo and time signature control. Customize your song's tempo and time signature to create your groove just like you envisioned it.
- MIDI export. Export your songs as MIDI files to continue refining your masterpiece in your go-to digital audio workstation (DAW).
Pricing
Hookpad offers three pricing plans:
- Hookpad Free: Free forever, for songwriters who want to explore Hookpad’s basic songwriting features.
- Hookpad: $4.99/month for songwriters who want a comprehensive songwriting solution with a full range of features.
- Hookpad + Books: $4.99/month + $34.98 one-time payment for the Hooktheory Book Series, for songwriters aiming to advance their songwriting skills while using a powerful songwriting software.
Annual plans provide an 18% discount.
Try Hookpad today with the free plan.
2. MasterWriter
Our Verdict — Best For Professional Songwriters
Price: Starts at $9.95/month
MasterWriter is a beast of a songwriting toolkit. We think it's the best for pro songwriters because of its rhyme 'thesaurus' tool, which helps you polish up your lyrics, phrasing, and rhymes.
The Best Part:
- Powerful rhyme and thesaurus tools. MasterWriter enables you to easily find the perfect words for your lyrics using powerful rhyme, phrase, and synonym lookup tools.
The Worst Part:
- English only. MasterWriter’s dictionary and vocabulary lookup features are limited to the English language.
Get it if you want a powerful and straightforward songwriting software to help you write the best lyrics for your songs in the shortest time possible.
I recommend you start with the 10-day free trial, then get the MasterWriter 2 Year plan for $119.95/two years.
(10-day free trial)
Best For
MasterWriter is best for professional songwriters and lyricists who want a tool that quickly finds the perfect words for their songs.
Top Features
- Advanced speech types. Venture into word families and different parts of speech to create captivating and diverse lyrics for your songs.
- Song organization. Keep your songwriting projects neat and tidy with MasterWriter's easy-to-use project management features
- It keeps your work handy. Store your projects safely and automatically sync them across multiple devices.
- Copyright guardian. Safeguard your intellectual property by timestamping your songs within MasterWriter, to avoid potential copyright battles.
- 24/7 access. Be able to work whenever inspiration hits, no matter where you are, with MasterWriter's iOS and Android mobile apps.
Pricing
MasterWriter offers three pricing plans:
- MasterWriter Monthly: $9.95/month for professional songwriters who want a flexible, cancel-anytime payment option.
- MasterWriter 1 Year: $79.95/year for seasoned lyricists and songwriters who want a cost-effective annual subscription.
- MasterWriter 2 Year: $119.95/two years for committed songwriters who want to save even more with a longer subscription period.
The annual plan provides a 33% discount.
Try MasterWriter today with a free 10-day trial.
3. BandLab
Our Verdict — Best For Beginners
Price: Starts at $14.99/month
BandLab is a beginner-friendly tool for songwriters. We think it’s the best for beginners because of its free plan, along with its user-friendly interface.
The Best Part:
- User-friendly interface. BandLab's beginner-friendly design features a drag-and-drop workspace, color-coded tracks, and easily accessible menus.
The Worst Part:
- Limited pro features. BandLab may not have all the professional tools and features that seasoned songwriters require for complex projects, such as advanced audio editing capabilities, comprehensive plugin support, and extensive automation options.
Get it if you want a beginner-friendly songwriting platform that provides a creative environment to experiment, learn, and collaborate with fellow songwriters.
I recommend you get started with BandLab’s free plan.
(free plan)
Best For
BandLab is best for beginner songwriters who want a user-friendly platform to develop their songwriting skills.
Top Features
- Virtual instruments. Experiment with BandLab’s assortment of over 200 virtual instruments, such as keyboards, drums, and guitars.
- Collaboration tools. Team up with friends or fellow songwriters to collaborate on your BandLab projects and albums.
- Free cloud storage. Store your projects in the cloud for free and work on them on Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS devices.
- Automated mastering. Make your sound sound professional with BandLab's unlimited free algorithmic mastering.
- Unlimited free plan. Enjoy unrestricted access to BandLab’s suite of songwriting tools, music storage space, and collaboration features, completely free of charge.
Pricing
BandLab offers two pricing plans:
- BandLab Free: Free forever, for beginner songwriters who want access to a user-friendly platform to learn, create, and share music.
- BandLab Boost Membership: $14.99/month for beginner songwriters who want to increase their visibility and reach more people by turning their profile or posts into featured ads within the BandLab community.
Annual plans provide a 17% discount.
Try BandLab today with the free plan.
Our Top Three Picks
Here’s a quick summary of our top three picks:
- Hookpad — best of the best
- MasterWriter — best for professional songwriters
- BandLab — best for beginners
Here’s a quick comparison of our top seven picks:
Tool | Entry Offer | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
Hookpad | Free plan | Starts at $4.99/mo |
MasterWriter | 10-day free trial | Starts at $9.95/mo |
BandLab | Free plan | Starts at $14.99/mo |
Hum On | 30-day money-back guarantee | $2.99 |
Chordbot | Free plan | $4.99 |
Noteflight | Free plan | Starts at $7.95/mo |
Finale by Makemusic | 14-day free trial | $299 |
Here are the top 50 songwriting software we considered in this review:
- Hookpad
- MasterWriter
- BandLab
- Hum On
- Chordbot
- Noteflight
- Finale by Makemusic
- GarageBand
- IO-808
- RhymeZone
- Ableton Live
- Guitar Pro
- MuseScore
- Reverse Chord Finder
- Songwriter's Pad
- TuneSmith
- Cubasis
- Tracktion Waveform
- Audio Tool
- Scale in Ableton
- Scaler
- Rhythmiq
- Songwriting Apps
- Suggester
- Simple Songwriter
- Rhyme Genie
- Writer's Session
- SoundGym
- Rhyme Brain
- Circle of Fifths
- Song Topic Generator
- Theorytab
- Magic Chord
- Pitch Journal
- Songcraft
- Autochords
- LANDR Collaboration
- Chord Miner
- Chord Progressions
- Ludwig
- Song Sharpener
- Verse Perfect
- Chordwizard Songtrix
- OpenSong
- Four Chord Songs
- Easy Song Writer
- Jammer Songmaker
- Crescendo Music Notation Software
- Audiotool
- Metronome
What to look for when buying songwriting software?
- Helpful tools like chord suggestions, virtual instruments, and other tools to simplify the creative process
- Simplified music theory lessons, applied to the songwriting process
- The ability to quickly generate and test song ideas with different grooves, chord voicings, and melody lines
- Drum machines, bass synthesizer, and other quality instruments
- Chord charts and a library of sounds, to help with harmonic paths
The Bottom Line
To recap, here are the best songwriting software to try this year:
- Hookpad — best of the best
- MasterWriter — best for professional songwriters
- BandLab — best for beginners
- Hum On — best for iOS
- Chordbot — best for Android
- Noteflight — best for teachers
- Finale by Makemusic — best for Mac
