The Best Capo App Alternatives in 2026

Disclosure: I build StemConsole, one of the tools below. Details read from each vendor’s own pages in September 2026. Plans change, so confirm current terms before you pay.

What people want from a Capo alternative

Windows, Android or the web. Capo runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad only, and its developer says there are no plans for Windows or Android.

No yearly subscription. The full app is a yearly App Store subscription. The Free Edition has no time limit but does not save your chord and marker edits.

The part itself. Capo detects chords and shows a spectrogram, but its pages do not mention separating instruments. When you want to hear the guitar or piano on its own, you need a stem splitter.

At a glance

Details read from each vendor’s own pages in September 2026. Where a vendor does not publish a detail, the table says so.

The alternatives, one by one

1. Moises: chords, stems and speed on every platform

Moises is the closest all-round match for Capo that also runs on Windows and Android: web, desktop, iPhone and Android. It combines a chord finder (with transpose and capo modes) with AI stem separation, speed, pitch, loops and a metronome. The chord finder covers the first minute of each song for free; Premium and Pro unlock the whole song. Prices appear after login. See the best Moises alternatives.

Official reference: Moises chord finder.

2. Chord ai: chord detection on Android and iPhone

Chord ai listens to a song from YouTube, SoundCloud, your own files or the microphone and detects chords, beats, tempo, key and lyrics. Chords and beats are free without a limit. Pro, about $9 a month or $69 a year in the US, adds 700+ chord types and voicing recognition, a smart capo, alternate tunings, pitch shift, PDF export and stem export. See the Chordify alternatives.

Official reference: Chord ai.

3. Anytune: slow down and loop, including Android

Anytune runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android. The free iPhone app covers tempo and pitch from 0.3x to 2.5x, loops and 5 marks; the Pro pack adds unlimited marks, a count-in and fine tempo and pitch adjustment, and the Studio pack extends speed from 0.05x to 4x. See the Anytune alternatives.

Official reference: Anytune.

4. Transcribe!: the Windows answer for serious transcription

Transcribe! runs on Windows, Mac and Linux and does much of what Capo does on a Mac: slow down from one-twentieth to double speed, pitch in cents, any number of named loops, and a spectrum with note and chord guessing. It is a one-off $39 licence with a 30-day free trial, not a subscription. See the Transcribe! alternatives.

Official reference: Transcribe! overview.

5. Chordify: chords in a browser

Chordify shows the chords of a song as it plays, on the web and in its iPhone and Android apps. The free version has a daily limit on songs; Premium adds tempo change, transpose, loops, a digital capo and uploading your own files.

Official reference: Chordify.

6. AudioStretch: extreme slow-down on a phone

AudioStretch on iPhone and Android slows audio down to a frozen note, shifts pitch up to 36 semitones either way, loops, and shows a spectrum keyboard for spotting notes. There is a free Lite version on iPhone and a paid full version.

Official reference: AudioStretch.

7. StemConsole: hear the part itself, in any browser

StemConsole is the tool I built, and it does not detect chords. It splits a song into stems with AI in any browser, on Windows, Mac, Android or iPhone, and opens them in a live mixer, so you hear the guitar, bass, piano or vocal on its own. Pick your instrument under I’m practising and press Hear my part, loop the phrase, then Play with the band mutes it so you can play along. With Pro you slow the loop down with the pitch locked, change key, add a count-in and tap the tempo. Pair it with a chord app: the chords give you the harmony, the stem gives you the voicing.

Splitting, the live mixer, Hear my part, Play with the band and a basic A/B loop (with a free account) are free. Speed, key change, named loops, count-in and tap tempo are Pro. The plans are summarised at the end of this page, and the demo song unlocks every tool, so you can try them before you upload anything.

Where others win: no YouTube link import, no chord detection, no native phone app, and the slowest speed is 50%. Uploads are MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG, M4A, AAC or WMA up to 200 MB.

When to stay with Capo

If you are all Apple and want chord detection that works offline on your own files, Capo is very good at it: it detects 168 chord types, slows from 25% to 150%, loops regions with a count-in, and on Mac transcribes notes and exports MIDI and lead sheets. Try the Free Edition first: it includes transpose, slow-down and looping, but does not save your edits and, on Mac, does not export.

Official reference: Capo.

Getting the most from any learn-by-ear app

I have spent 20 years mixing and mastering records and a decade teaching audio. These are the things that make the biggest difference.

1. Get the chords first, then the voicing. A detector tells you the harmony. The recording tells you the shape the player used. Isolate the instrument to hear it.
2. Loop two bars, not the whole song. More repetitions per minute is what makes a part stick.
3. Slow down to 60 or 70% first. Go slower only for single fast notes, and check anything you only hear when very slow against the original, because time-stretching smears sound.
4. Use a count-in. A bar of clicks before each pass means you come in on time instead of chasing the first note.
5. Finish at full speed with the band. Mute your part and play along at the original tempo. That is the test.

Which should you pick?

• You want a Capo-style all-rounder on Windows or Android: Moises.
• You mainly want chords on Android: Chord ai.
• You mainly want slow-down and loops on a phone: Anytune or AudioStretch.
• You transcribe seriously on Windows and hate subscriptions: Transcribe!.
• You want chords in a browser: Chordify.
• You want to hear the part isolated, anywhere: StemConsole.

More: the best apps to learn songs by ear and the best apps to slow down music.

Try every practice tool on the demo song first: open the demo. No upload, no account and nothing to install.

StemConsole plans: free covers vocal removal and a 4-stem split (vocals, drums, bass, other), 5 splits a month, the live mixer, a basic A/B loop, a saved library and share links. Pro is US$6.99 a month or US$49 a year and adds 6 stems with guitar and piano, WAV, 100 splits a month, and the practice room: speed from 50% to 150% without changing pitch, key change up to 12 semitones, multiple named loops, tap tempo and count-in. A US$1.99 credit buys one 6-stem split with MP3 downloads and basic A/B looping. WAV, speed, key change and multiple named loops require Pro.

Frequently asked questions

Dan Murtagh is a Melbourne mixing and mastering engineer with 20 years making records and a decade teaching audio. He built StemConsole as a practice tool for his students. More about Dan.

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