SongbookPro review (2026): one-time chord charts on Android, iPad and Windows

SongbookPro is the chord chart app we point to when a band’s devices don’t match. It runs natively on Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Amazon Fire, handles ChordPro charts as capably as apps that cost far more, and a solo license is a one-time $5.99 to $6.99 per platform.

That is why it carries our best-value badge for chord charts and places ahead of OnSong in our worship team ranking. Our methodology rewards its platform reach and price; it loses points on reading, because PDFs are handled as images and there are no half-page or linked page turns.

What is SongbookPro?

SongbookPro is a digital songbook for chord charts, lyric sheets and PDF sheet music, with setlists, transposition and native apps for Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Amazon Fire. It is made by Songbook Systems Limited, a small English company registered in Impington, Cambridge, whose director Jonathan Salmon develops the app.

It started as a Windows app in September 2017, reached Android in 2018 and iPhone and iPad in September 2019. In November 2024 the developer launched SongbookPro Groups for bands and renamed the one-time purchase SongbookPro Solo. Version 26.0, a visual redesign, shipped in September 2026. The official site is songbook-pro.com; songbookpro.com is not the developer’s.

Who is SongbookPro for?

SongbookPro suits singer-songwriters, guitarists, worship teams and cover bands who play mostly from chord charts and lyric sheets, with some PDFs, and want a cheap one-time purchase on whatever device they own. Small bands get an inexpensive shared library through Groups.

It is the wrong choice for classical, orchestral or jazz players reading multi-page notation who need half-page turns or MusicXML, for ensembles that want a leader to turn everyone’s pages or push markings, and for Mac users who want a native desktop app.

How good is SongbookPro for chord charts?

Very good: the chord engine is SongbookPro’s core, and it covers what most chord chart players need. You write songs in ChordPro or as chords over lyrics, then change the key or capo with one tap.

It handles Nashville, Latin and German chord notation, ChordPro Grid syntax (added in 25.1), per-section colors and fonts, and chord diagrams for guitar, ukulele, banjo and mandolin, with a left-handed option. Imports cover ChordPro, OnSong, text, Word, PDF and zip files, images, and camera scans on Android and iOS since version 25.0. In-app search pulls songs from Ultimate Guitar (free content only), WorshipTogether and e-chords; no SongSelect integration is documented.

SongbookPro Manager, bundled with every version except Windows, lets you edit your library from a computer’s browser on the same Wi-Fi, which beats typing charts on a tablet. For PDFs, see our transposition guide.

How does SongbookPro handle PDFs and page turns?

SongbookPro shows PDFs cleanly but treats them as images: you can crop them, invert their colors for a dark stage and draw on them, but not transpose or reflow them. Page turning covers pedals and auto-scroll, not half-page or hands-free turns.

Any Bluetooth pedal that sends keyboard keys works, including AirTurn, PageFlip, Donner, iRig BlueTurn and STOMP models, with configurable actions, and Bluetooth MIDI pedals can navigate too. Auto-scroll has a start delay, and a teleprompter mode suits singers. Layouts are Auto, Scroll and Split into pages, plus Fit to page on Windows. Our pedal guide compares the hardware.

What’s missing matters to notation readers: no half-page turns, no face-gesture or listening turns, and no leader-controlled page turns across a band. In November 2024 the developer said leader control was “being considered” but “not currently in development”. If you mostly read notated scores, MobileSheets is the stronger cross-platform reader.

What live and practice tools does SongbookPro include?

SongbookPro puts the tools a gig needs in one place: setlists, a metronome, a tuner, backing tracks and MIDI, with no subscription.

Setlists carry full-page notes, timers, stopwatches, templates, total set duration, pinning, shuffle and printable overviews. The metronome is visual, with optional audio ticks, tap tempo and per-song tempo, and a chromatic tuner arrived in version 25.1. Backing tracks play local audio files, Spotify (with Spotify Premium and its app) or ambient pads that follow the song’s key; on Windows, only pads. Over Bluetooth MIDI, SongbookPro sends messages such as program changes when a song opens, several per song since 25.1.

Annotation is freehand with a stylus, Apple Pencil or finger (20 colors, highlighter, eraser, undo), plus typed notes shown inline or as an overlay. Since 25.1, handwritten notes sync between your own devices. No in-app recorder is documented.

How does SongbookPro sync and share with a band?

Solo syncs your library through your own OneDrive, Dropbox or WebDAV account (not iCloud) once you’ve bought it. Groups adds a shared band library hosted by SongbookPro and managed from a web dashboard.

You can also send songs and sets as .sbp files by email, messaging or AirDrop for another user to import. Groups gives each member the full app on up to two devices on any platform, with Read-only, Editor and Admin roles. Since February 2026, Library Analytics reports play counts per period, exportable to Excel for copyright reporting, and PDFs can be cropped in the browser.

There are two limits. Groups deliberately doesn’t sync handwritten notes, so a bandleader can’t push markings to everyone’s charts, and it syncs the library, not the live page. Personal and Groups libraries both stay available offline.

How much does SongbookPro cost?

SongbookPro is free for up to 12 songs, with no stated time limit. SongbookPro Solo, a one-time in-app purchase, costs $5.99 on iPhone and iPad, $6.99 on Android and $5.99 on Windows in the US stores as of October 2026, and includes future updates.

Each platform is bought separately, and licenses don’t transfer between the Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon stores, so a singer with an Android phone and a Windows laptop pays $12.98 in total. The Microsoft Store license installs on up to ten Windows devices on one account. The Amazon Fire price isn’t shown on its listing.

SongbookPro Groups is sold on the Groups website, not in the app: $30 a year for 6 users, $50 for 12 and $80 for 20 (or $10, $15 and $25 a quarter), with extra users at $40 per 10 per year and a 21-day free trial. Members don’t need to buy Solo.

No chord chart app we compare scores higher on value. OnSong Essentials costs $29.99 every year for comparable chart features on Apple devices only, and an OnSong group plan for five members costs $240 a year.

Does SongbookPro work on Mac, Windows and Android?

SongbookPro runs natively on Android 7.0 and later, iPhone and iPad with iOS 15 or later, Windows 10 and 11, and Amazon Fire tablets. On Mac there is no native app: since version 25.0, the iPad version runs on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 15 or later.

The Windows version, rebuilt in 2023 to match the mobile apps, has gaps: backing tracks are limited to pads, there is no camera scanning, and SongbookPro Manager isn’t bundled. There is no web player either; the Manager and the Groups dashboard only edit songs and sets.

SongbookPro is the only chord chart specialist in our comparison with a native Windows app. It ranks second in our Windows ranking, behind MobileSheets, and also places in our Android ranking.

SongbookPro vs OnSong: which should you choose?

Choose SongbookPro if your band mixes Android, Windows and Apple devices or you want to pay once; choose OnSong if everyone is on Apple devices and you want to run the whole show from the iPad.

Both handle ChordPro, transposition, capo and Nashville numbers well, and SongbookPro imports OnSong files, so switching is straightforward. OnSong goes further on stage, with half-page scrolling, leader streaming to the band, multitrack backing tracks with click routing, deeper MIDI control and Planning Center and SongSelect imports, most of it in its $59.99/year Premium plan. SongbookPro wins on price, platforms, a metronome that needs no subscription and a far cheaper band plan. Our OnSong vs SongbookPro comparison goes criterion by criterion, and our OnSong review covers its plans.

What do SongbookPro users report?

SongbookPro rates well where most of its users are: 4.74 out of 5 from 2,701 ratings on the US App Store and 4.6 from 9,535 on Google Play, where it has more than 500,000 downloads, as of October 6, 2026. Smaller stores trail, with 4.3 from 247 ratings on the Microsoft Store and 3.6 from 888 on the Amazon Appstore.

It is a small developer’s app, and support reflects that: the support form promises replies within 10 working days. Release notes show steady fixes, including repairs to online song search and the importer in early 2026, and two quick follow-ups to the 26.0 redesign for file imports and backups.

Should you choose SongbookPro?

If you play from chord charts and lyric sheets on Android, Windows, an iPad or a mix of them, choose SongbookPro. Load your 12 most-played songs into the free version, then pay $5.99 to $6.99 once.

Choose OnSong if your band is all-Apple and wants backing tracks, MIDI and streaming under one subscription, Planning Center Music Stand if your church already plans in Planning Center, and MobileSheets, forScore or Piascore if you mostly read notated scores.