SongbookPro vs onsong for songlist/setlist management and performance

[sublro]

Hi folks - I've narrowed my search to these two and am looking for as much opinion and insight as you've all got. Ideal is if you've used both, but fanboys/girls of either can chime in. What feature(s) are awesome/indispensable or critically lacking in one or the other.

Please don't chime in re other platforms you like.

I'm using an iPad and possibly additionally a PC (not Mac) for editing and management

[Slothead56]

I’ve been using OnSong for probably 10 years. I like the simplicity of uploading (or is it downloading) chord charts and lyrics and being able to manipulate the final product.

Great scroll timing, easy key changes if needed. I currently have about 400 ready to go songs in all kinds of styles and genres to fit my needs. Set list creation and editing is very simple as well.

Call me a fanboy….

[Jamolay]

It looks like onsong has some more bells and whistles than songbook pro. But I have used a songbook pro for a few years and it does work well as a sync-able pdf music book with notation, scroll and metronome abilities.

Main difference is a sync-able version of Onsong is a $48 per year subscription and a sync-able version of Songbook Pro is a $6.99 one time fee for lifetime ownership. That is not a small difference.

[raysachs]

I switched a few years ago to On Song after a few years with Guitar Tapp Pro, which has since been discontinued. I bought a one time lifetime subscription for $100 a couple years ago. It’s got way more power than I need - its emphasis is for worship teams and I’m not a worshipper or a team member, so there’s a lot of stuff I don’t use. But I’ve never wanted to do anything with it that I couldn’t figure out how to do easily. Last I checked I had about 300 songs on it, about 100 of which I’m fairly proficient with, 100 of which I’m sort of working on, and 100 “maybe someday” tunes. I can organize stuff anyway I want, turn pages with a Bluetooth foot pedal (scrolling has always been an unmanageable PIA for me), I can draw notes and page turn cues and solo breaks on the songs. In short, it works insanely well for me, I hope I never have to switch to anything else. Once I have a workflow that’s second nature to me, I hate to change it unless there’s a REALLY compelling reason to - the last time it was Guitar Tapp Pro was going away. I switched to On Song because it seemed well enough established that I didn’t think that was likely to happen to it. I hope I was right…

-Ray

[YamahaGuy]

I like the ease of printing chord/lyrics sheets, setlists, sharing lists, sets, importing files, sharing libraries with Songbook Pro. The one time fee is nice too. It gets my vote.

You do have to "buy" the app separately for the computer. Again, just a one time fee.

[martingitdave]

OnSong was my choice a few years ago. I purchased a "lifetime" subscription for the app. They, of course, just released a new app with a different lifetime subscription. I get it. It costs money to keep these things updated. But, Songbook Pro now gets my money. They were able to keep their Ultimate Guitar search and download function, whereas OnSong did not.

[bkepler]

I was originally a huge proponent of OnSong and bought it for a one-time $20 fee (which was insane for apps at the time but definitely worth it!). I had a first generation iPad and it was the only app that ran on it. When I upgraded my iPad a few years ago I discovered that OnSong had gone to a subscription model so I started investigating other apps. I’m now a huge proponent of SongBook Pro. It’s what I would go with if I wasn’t trying to integrate into somebody else’s established system (like a worship team).

[srbell]

I also started with OnSong long enough ago that I was able to pay one time for the app. When they changed to a subscription based model I could no longer get updates. I refuse to go the subscription route so I switched to Songbook Pro. It seems to work just as well for my needs. My needs are pretty simple (I don't use it to play backing tracks or control any external devices) so I can't speak to a comparison of those features, but for general use - scrolling, transposing, grouping songs into playlists, sharing with others, etc. I don't see any features missing that I had in OnSong.
I understand the developers reasons for switching to a subscription business model (I'm an IT person myself) but it becomes a no-go for me when that decision is made. Doesn't matter if it's an app on my tablet or my PC (like MS Office). I refuse to do subscriptions for software.

[sublro]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

OnSong was my choice a few years ago. I purchased a "lifetime" subscription for the app. They, of course, just released a new app with a different lifetime subscription. I get it. It costs money to keep these things updated. But, Songbook Pro now gets my money. They were able to keep their Ultimate Guitar search and download function, whereas OnSong did not.

So you can't move songs from ultimate guitar at all? Or are you talking about it just being "baked in" to the UI's search function?

[campfireplayer]

I’m using songbook pro and it works great for me. I just simply need chords and words to songs and the ability to transpose. Also like that it’s a one time inexpensive fee.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by sublro

So you can't move songs from ultimate guitar at all? Or are you talking about it just being "baked in" to the UI's search function?

Baked into the UI. The OnSong workaround is to include a “add to OnSong” function in Safari. Its clunky. Songbook Pro is faster and you don’t have to leave the app.

[Jaimoe]

SongBook Pro. Rock solid, flexible, easy to use, and cheap. I’m always paranoid that I’ll come to rely on software that then stops being supported (or starts charging surprise fees). Hasn’t happened with Songbook, for nearly a decade!

[Skarsaune]

+1 on Songbook, for at least the last 10 years.

Does what I need it to, for sure.

[fpuhan]

So, SongbookPro has only an iOS version but not a macOS version? I typically organize and format my material on a Mac (Ultimate Guitar) and then use my iPad when I'm performing. It would appear this is not possible with SongbookPro, although their web site claims, "Connect SongbookPro to any laptop or desktop allowing you to manage your song library quickly and easily." The web site also does not indicate pricing.

[sublro]

Originally Posted by fpuhan

So, SongbookPro has only an iOS version but not a macOS version? I typically organize and format my material on a Mac (Ultimate Guitar) and then use my iPad when I'm performing. It would appear this is not possible with SongbookPro, although their web site claims, "Connect SongbookPro to any laptop or desktop allowing you to manage your song library quickly and easily." The web site also does not indicate pricing.

I believe with sbp there is included a url it will make available where you can use a browser on whatever computer you want to hook in and use a management console to control sbp content on the iOS device.