OnSong vs SongbookPro

    OnSong is a subscription app for iPhone, iPad and Mac with the most stage tools, from MIDI automation and PDF transposition to lyrics projection for churches. SongbookPro is a one-time purchase that also runs on Android and Windows, and its Groups plan gives a band one shared library. Both keep your songbook on stage; which one suits you depends on the devices you and your band play from, and on whether you'd rather subscribe or pay once.

    Updated

    Side by side

    What each app does as of October 2026, from OnSong's and SongbookPro's own pricing, feature pages and manuals and their App Store and Google Play listings. Stage Friend, the app this site is about, is the third column, so you can see where a different kind of app fits.

    • Devices

      OnSong:
      iPhone, iPad and Mac. Android is listed as coming soon
      SongbookPro:
      Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Amazon Fire. The iPad app runs on Apple silicon Macs
      Stage Friend:
      Android app, and the browser on iPhone, iPad, Windows and Mac. No App Store app yet

    • How you pay

      OnSong:
      Subscription
      SongbookPro:
      One-time purchase in each app store, Groups for bands is a subscription
      Stage Friend:
      Subscription, with a free plan

    • Free to try

      OnSong:
      Up to 30 songs
      SongbookPro:
      A trial of 12 songs
      Stage Friend:
      Free plan with no song limit and 3 setlists per band

    • Full version for one player

      OnSong:
      Essentials $29.99 a year, Premium $59.99 a year
      SongbookPro:
      About $6 to $7 once, per app store
      Stage Friend:
      Solo Pro €42 a year

    • A shared library for the band

      OnSong:
      Group plan. The price isn't published
      SongbookPro:
      Groups from $30 a year for 6 people. Members don't buy the app
      Stage Friend:
      The band's owner needs Solo Pro, with room for 1 member on the free plan, or Stage Pro at €108 a year, with room for 5. Those members play from the band's songs and setlists

    • Following the leader on stage

      OnSong:
      Connect on Premium, on the same Wi-Fi network
      SongbookPro:
      Not offered
      Stage Friend:
      Live follow on every plan, over the internet, so each device needs a connection

    • Autoscroll

      OnSong:
      On Premium
      SongbookPro:
      Yes, with a start delay
      Stage Friend:
      On every plan, at the song's own pace

    • Foot pedal

      OnSong:
      On Essentials and Premium
      SongbookPro:
      Keyboard-style Bluetooth pedals and MIDI pedals
      Stage Friend:
      Keyboard-style Bluetooth pedals on every plan: press, double press and hold

    • PDF charts

      OnSong:
      Yes, and it can transpose them
      SongbookPro:
      Yes, shown as they are
      Stage Friend:
      No, songs are text and chords

    • MIDI and backing tracks

      OnSong:
      MIDI automation on Premium, backing tracks, MultiTracks
      SongbookPro:
      Bluetooth MIDI, backing tracks from files or Spotify, pads
      Stage Friend:
      No MIDI. On Solo Pro a song plays from Spotify or YouTube in the app

    • Church tools

      OnSong:
      Lyrics projection, Planning Center, SongSelect
      SongbookPro:
      No
      Stage Friend:
      No

    • Importing from other apps

      OnSong:
      OnSong, ChordPro, text, OpenSong, SongSelect, PDF and more
      SongbookPro:
      ChordPro, OnSong, PDF, Word, and chord sites such as Ultimate Guitar
      Stage Friend:
      ChordPro, SongbookPro backups, BandHelper, Setlist Helper and Spotify playlists

    • Taking the whole library with you

      OnSong:
      OnSong's own backup file, and ChordPro for the songs you select
      SongbookPro:
      A full backup file, or every song as ChordPro
      Stage Friend:
      PDF of a song or a setlist. No ChordPro export

    • Audience votes and requests

      OnSong:
      No
      SongbookPro:
      No
      Stage Friend:
      On Stage Pro: guests vote and request from their phones

    Choose OnSong if

    Everyone in your setup plays from Apple devices and you want the most an app does on stage. OnSong keeps PDF charts as they are and can even transpose them, sends MIDI to keyboards and modellers, plays backing tracks and cues lights. Worship teams get lyrics projection, Planning Center and SongSelect in the same app, which SongbookPro and Stage Friend don't list.

    The price is a subscription: Essentials at $29.99 a year covers the charts and a pedal, while autoscroll, Connect and MIDI come with Premium at $59.99 a year.

    Choose SongbookPro if

    Your devices are mixed, or you'd rather not subscribe. SongbookPro runs on Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Amazon Fire tablets, and one purchase of about $6 to $7 unlocks it on each store's devices. It shows PDFs, takes pen notes, sends MIDI and plays backing tracks, so most of what a solo player needs is there for a one-time price.

    For a band, Groups gives everyone the same library from $30 a year for six people, and members don't buy the app. What it doesn't do is follow a leader on stage: each player turns to the next song on their own device.

    A third option for bands: Stage Friend

    If what matters most is the whole band on the same song, Stage Friend is built around that. When one player leads, everyone following opens the song they open, on Android, iPhone, iPad or a computer, over the internet and on every plan, the free one included. Guests at a gig can vote for songs and send requests from their phones on Stage Pro, which neither OnSong nor SongbookPro offers.

    Stage Friend works with songs as text and chords, so it has no PDF charts, no MIDI and no backing tracks. Coming from one of these apps, see Stage Friend compared with OnSong or with SongbookPro, where each page also shows how your songs come across. For more apps side by side, see the best setlist apps for bands.

    OnSong or SongbookPro: questions

    Yes, for one player. SongbookPro is a one-time purchase of about $6 to $7 per app store, while OnSong is a subscription from $29.99 a year. For a band, SongbookPro's Groups costs $30 a year for 6 people, and OnSong doesn't publish its group price.

    SongbookPro. As of October 2026 it runs on Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Amazon Fire tablets, and its iPad app also runs on Apple silicon Macs. OnSong runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac and lists Android as coming soon. On Windows you can only edit an OnSong library in a browser, with OnSong Console on Premium.

    Yes. SongbookPro imports OnSong files as well as ChordPro, so you can export your songs from OnSong and open them in SongbookPro. Check your sets and any PDFs afterwards, since every app stores those its own way.

    OnSong, if the team uses Apple devices. It has lyrics projection, Planning Center and SongSelect built in, which SongbookPro and Stage Friend don't list. A team with Android or Windows devices is better served by SongbookPro's Groups, or by Planning Center Music Stand on Android and in the browser.

    Try your songs in Stage Friend

    Drop an export from OnSong or SongbookPro and look through your songs before you make an account.

    Try it with your songs