OnSong review (2026): the chord chart app for Apple-based bands, and what it costs

OnSong has been putting chord charts on iPads since April 2010, and its chord engine is still the deepest we’ve documented on Apple devices. One app holds your charts, transposes them and runs your set from a pedal; on Premium it also plays backing tracks, sends MIDI and keeps the band on the same song.

That depth comes with two costs: OnSong runs only on iPad, iPhone and Mac, and most of what sets it apart sits behind a subscription. Those are the reasons it places behind BandHelper, Planning Center Music Stand and SongbookPro in our worship team ranking, since our methodology weighs platforms and value alongside features.

What is OnSong?

OnSong is a subscription app for iPad, iPhone and Mac that stores, transposes and displays chord charts, lyrics and PDF sheet music for live performance. It is made by OnSong LLC of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, which says the app has more than 400,000 users.

The App Store listing is renamed with each major version and currently reads “OnSong 2026”. Development is active: 2026.0 shipped on December 25, 2025, 2026.1 in January and 2026.2 on August 17, 2026, with 2026.3 in progress. You sign in with an OnSong account, but the library lives on your device, so you can perform without an internet connection.

Who is OnSong for?

OnSong fits worship teams, cover and function bands, and singer-songwriters on Apple devices who play from chord-and-lyric charts and want set lists, pedals, backing tracks, MIDI and lyrics projection in one app.

It is a poor fit for bands with Android or Windows members, for classical and orchestral players who read standard notation, for anyone who needs MusicXML, notation playback or score scanning, and for anyone who wants unlimited free use.

How good is OnSong for chord charts?

The chord engine is OnSong’s core strength. It reads and writes ChordPro and its own OnSong format, converts OpenSong, SongSelect and SongShowPlus files, and transposes or sets a capo in letters, Nashville numbers, roman numerals or solfège.

Chord diagrams cover several instruments. Song Versions, added in 2026.0, keep different arrangements of one song, each with its own annotations. ChordFlow, from the same release, transposes the chords inside text-based PDFs, and draft notes for the unreleased 2026.3 extend that to scanned PDFs. Extract Text turns text in PDFs or images into editable charts, and a key finder suggests a key from your singing.

Charts come in from Planning Center, CCLI SongSelect, PraiseCharts and WorshipReady (you need your own accounts there), as well as Dropbox, Google Drive and websites. Our transposition guide covers the wider topic.

How does OnSong run a live show?

Premium turns OnSong into a show controller: more than 200 actions can be assigned to pedals, MIDI or your voice, and backing tracks, click, lyrics projection and lighting run from the same device.

Pedals work from Essentials up, including AirTurn, PageFlip, Coda and IK BlueTurn models over Bluetooth or USB; Gears (several actions per pedal) and MIDI pedals need Premium. A Half Page Scrolling setting moves the chart by half a page, and the scroll amount is adjustable from 25% to 100% of the screen. Autoscroll comes with Essentials and a recorded Timeline autoscroll with Premium. There are no face-gesture turns, but Premium’s Voice Control, in English only, moves between songs and sections by spoken command. Our pedal guide compares the hardware.

Premium adds backing tracks from Apple Music, Spotify or imported audio, multitrack stems with a mixer and click and cue routing, a metronome with count-in, Beat Sync and Ableton Link, and MIDI program and control changes per song or section. Premium also drives lyrics projection, stage monitors and DMX and Hue lighting, and OnSong can cast to Google Cast devices and control ProPresenter. OnSong Along, new in 2026.2, puts lyrics on audience phones and takes song requests and tips, and a tuner arrived in 2026.0.

How does OnSong work for a band or worship team?

OnSong links a band well, though streaming and beaming are Premium features. A leader can stream the current song, set and scroll position over local Wi-Fi with OnSong Connect, or peer to peer with OnCue for up to six devices.

Beam sends songs and sets to nearby devices or team members, and free users can receive shared sets without counting them against their 30 songs. Annotations are a Premium feature, and OnSong doesn’t document whether they travel with a beamed song. Group plans give each member Premium, with an admin join code and 25 GB to 200 GB of shared OnSong Drive storage, and Premium adds CCLI song reporting.

For a church that already plans services in Planning Center, Planning Center Music Stand gives every musician their charts and keys for one team add-on ($5/month for teams of up to 50), with no per-person subscriptions.

How much does OnSong cost?

OnSong has a free 30-song viewer and two subscriptions: Essentials at $3.99/month or $29.99/year, and Premium at $5.99/month or $59.99/year, US prices as of October 2026.

The free tier lets you import and read up to 30 songs, but you can’t edit, build sets, transpose or use pedals; watching an ad opens a paid feature for a limited time. Essentials adds unlimited songs, sets and books, editing, transposition and capo, pedals, autoscroll, export and automatic cloud backup, on up to 2 devices. Premium adds the live-show and band tools above, plus annotations, a document scanner and library sync, on up to 4 devices.

Premium has a 30-day free trial on annual billing and 7 days on monthly; Essentials has none. Group plans cost $2 to $5 per user per month, or $18 to $48 per user per year, falling as the team grows. OnSong Charts, a separate $10/month subscription to more than 1,000 licensed chord charts, is sold only in the US and its territories. Owners of the old one-time OnSong 2020 must subscribe to get new features.

Is OnSong Premium worth it?

Premium is worth $59.99 a year if you use what it adds: backing tracks, MIDI, band streaming or lyrics projection. If you only need charts, transposition and a pedal, Essentials covers that for $29.99 a year, and SongbookPro does it for a one-time $5.99 to $6.99 per platform.

For a band, the cost scales per person. Five members on an annual group plan pay $48 each, or $240 a year. A six-user SongbookPro Groups plan costs $30 a year, with fewer live-show tools.

Is OnSong available on Android or Windows?

Not yet on Android, and not on Windows. OnSong’s website lists Android 9 and later (Google Play and Samsung Galaxy Store) and Kindle Fire as “coming soon” with no release date, and there was no OnSong app on Google Play as of October 6, 2026.

There is no Windows app either. Premium’s OnSong Console lets a computer’s browser edit songs, sets and books, but your iPad, iPhone or Mac serves it over the local network, so it is not a standalone web app.

The Mac version is a real Mac app for Intel and Apple silicon, included in the same purchase and subscription since OnSong 2022. Apple Vision Pro runs the iPad app. On iPad and iPhone, the App Store lists iOS 14.5 or later, while OnSong’s site says 15.0.

If your band mixes devices, SongbookPro runs on Android and Windows and imports OnSong files. Our Android and Windows rankings list more options.

What are the best OnSong alternatives?

The best alternative depends on why you’re leaving OnSong: SongbookPro for mixed devices and a one-time price, Planning Center Music Stand for churches on Planning Center, and BandHelper for bands that also manage schedules.

• SongbookPro has a comparable ChordPro engine, with transposition, capo and Nashville numbers, on Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Fire tablets. It lacks OnSong’s half-page scrolling and leader streaming, and its live tools are simpler. Our OnSong vs SongbookPro comparison goes criterion by criterion.
• Planning Center Music Stand works only inside a church’s Planning Center Services account, but one team fee covers every musician.
• BandHelper is a per-band subscription for iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and the web, with schedule, contact and finance modules in its higher plans. It has no Windows app.
• MobileSheets suits bands that read both notation and ChordPro charts, on Android, Windows and iPad, for $15.99 once per platform.

What do OnSong users report?

OnSong rates 4.51 out of 5 from 5,600 ratings on the US App Store as of October 6, 2026. The documented complaints are about complexity, bugs after updates and support.

The menus and settings are dense, with a real learning curve. Version 2026.1 added TalkThrough, a voice-guided walkthrough, and 2026.0 lets you switch between the 2020, 2024 and 2026 interfaces. Some App Store reviews from 2023 and 2024 report bugs after updates and slow replies from support.

Should you choose OnSong?

Choose OnSong if everyone in your band uses an iPad, iPhone or Mac, you play from chord charts, and you’ll use Premium’s backing tracks, MIDI and streaming. Start the 30-day Premium trial on annual billing and build a real set before it ends.

Pick SongbookPro if your band mixes Android, Windows and Apple devices or you’d rather pay once, Planning Center Music Stand if your church already plans in Planning Center, and forScore or MobileSheets if you mostly read standard notation. Our iPad ranking compares the readers.