OnSong alternative

    Switching from OnSong?

    Stage Friend is an OnSong alternative for bands where not everyone has an iPad: it runs on Android and in any browser, and the whole band can follow the same song live. Your songs come across as ChordPro, the open format OnSong exports.

    Try it with your songs

    No account needed to preview. Nothing is uploaded.

    Updated

    go.stagefriend.app
    Stage Friend in a browser on a computer: a song's chords and lyrics beside the song list
    Stage Friend on a phone: a song with its chords above the lyrics

    Android app iPhone and iPad in the browser Windows and Mac

    At a glance

    Switch if your band doesn't all play from Apple devices. OnSong runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac, so the bass player with an Android tablet or the keyboard player on a Windows laptop has no OnSong app to play from, while Stage Friend opens on all of them and the band can follow whoever leads to the same song. The free plan has no song limit, so you can bring all your OnSong songs across and play from them before you decide anything.

    Only here for OnSong on Android or Windows? OnSong for Android and Windows says what runs where.

    OnSong and Stage Friend, feature by feature

    What each app does as of October 2026, from OnSong's own pricing, feature pages and manual and from Stage Friend's plans. Where OnSong does more, the table says so. For OnSong next to SongbookPro, see OnSong vs SongbookPro, and for more apps, the best setlist apps for bands.

    OnSong and Stage Friend compared, as of October 2026
    FeatureOnSongStage FriendEdge
    Where it runsOnSong: iPhone, iPad and Mac. Android is listed as coming soonStage Friend: Android app, and the browser on iPhone, iPad, Windows and Mac. No App Store app yetEdge: Stage Friend
    Before you payOnSong: Free with up to 30 songsStage Friend: Free plan with as many songs as you like, 3 setlists per band and 2 bands of your ownEdge: Stage Friend
    The band on the same songOnSong: Connect on Premium: a leader sends the song to devices on the same Wi-Fi networkStage Friend: Live follow on every plan, free included, over the internet. Each device needs a connectionEdge: Even
    A shared library for the bandOnSong: Group plan with shared storage. The price isn't publishedStage Friend: Shared songs and setlists. Members on the free plan play from them, editors need ProEdge: Stage Friend
    AutoscrollOnSong: On PremiumStage Friend: On every plan, at the song's own pace. and when you practise, Voice Scroll follows the words as you sing (5 minutes a week on the free plan)Edge: Stage Friend
    Foot pedalOnSong: On Essentials and PremiumStage Friend: On every plan: press, double press and hold, each with its own commandEdge: Stage Friend
    Transpose and capoOnSong: Both, and it can transpose PDF chartsStage Friend: Transpose on every plan, and saving the new key changes it for the whole band. No capo settingEdge: OnSong
    PDF charts in the libraryOnSong: YesStage Friend: No, songs are text and chordsEdge: OnSong
    MIDI, backing tracks, lightingOnSong: Yes: MIDI automation, MultiTracks, DMX lightingStage Friend: NoEdge: OnSong
    Church toolsOnSong: Lyrics projection, Planning Center, SongSelectStage Friend: NoEdge: OnSong
    Audience votes and requestsOnSong: NoStage Friend: On Stage Pro: guests vote and request songs from their phones, with no app or accountEdge: Stage Friend
    Offline on stageOnSong: Yes, the library is on the deviceStage Friend: Yes. The Android app opens with no signal, and the browser keeps working once you've opened it online on that deviceEdge: Even
    Taking your songs out againOnSong: ChordPro, PDF, text and a full backupStage Friend: PDF of a song or a setlist. No ChordPro exportEdge: OnSong

    When OnSong is the better choice

    OnSong has been around much longer and does more on stage. If you play from PDF charts, OnSong keeps them as they are and can even transpose them, while Stage Friend only works with songs as text and chords. If your songs send MIDI to a keyboard or a modeller, start backing tracks or cue the lights, that is OnSong territory too, and Stage Friend doesn't do it.

    Worship teams have the strongest reason to stay. Lyrics projection for the congregation, Planning Center and SongSelect are built into OnSong, and nothing like them is in Stage Friend. And if you play alone on an iPad and only need charts and a pedal, OnSong Essentials at $29.99 a year costs less than Stage Friend's Solo Pro, which you need for more than three setlists in a band or for your songs on more than one device.

    When Stage Friend is the better choice

    Stage Friend is made for the whole band rather than one player. Everyone reads from the same songs and setlists on their own phone, tablet or computer, whatever it runs, and when someone taps Spotlight me, every screen that follows them opens the song they open. It works on the free plan and goes over the internet rather than one Wi-Fi network, so the drummer who never has the setlist can't be on the wrong song.

    In a band's rehearsal room, a bass player and a guitarist seen from behind each read the same song in Stage Friend on a tablet on a music stand, while the keyboard player across the room leads from his own tablet.
    Every tablet in the room on the same song. The room is an illustration, the screens are the app.

    It also reaches the people in front of you, which OnSong doesn't. On Stage Pro your gig gets a public page: guests open it on their phones, vote for the songs they want and send requests, with no app and no account, and you see the votes from the stage.

    Voting, as guests see it in the Stage Friend app on a phone
    Guests tap the count by a song to vote.

    The everyday tools come on every plan: autoscroll at the song's own pace, a foot pedal with up to three commands per pedal, and transpose that changes the key for the whole band. See how live follow works and how audience voting works in the help center.

    What comes across, and what stays behind

    OnSong exports songs as ChordPro, an open format for songs with chords, and Stage Friend reads it. Before anything is saved you see every song it found, so you can open a few favourites and check them first. This is what the move keeps:

    Comes across

    • Every song with its lyrics and chords, the chords still above the right words
    • The title, artist, key and length of each song
    • Every song you export, in one go, and single songs later the same way

    Stays behind

    • Sets: the export holds songs, not sets, so you rebuild them as setlists
    • Recordings, backing tracks and PDF charts
    • Tempo and capo settings
    • OnSong's own backup file, which Stage Friend doesn't read

    Sets are the one thing you rebuild by hand, and it goes quickly because the songs are already there. The free plan holds three setlists in a band, so if you play from more than that, Solo Pro gives every one of them room.

    Three steps, a few minutes

    1. 1

      Export from OnSong

      Select your songs, then Share and Export, with ChordPro as the format.

    2. 2

      Keep it as one zip

      If the files land in a folder, press and hold it and choose Compress.

    3. 3

      Drop it in Stage Friend

      Choose ChordPro or text files, look through the songs, then keep them.

    Every step, and what to do about your sets: Move from OnSong, step by step

    Prices side by side

    Prices as of October 2026, from each app's own pricing. Stage Friend's pricing page shows the price in your currency and every feature plan by plan.

    OnSong

    • Free: up to 30 songs
    • Essentials: $3.99 a month or $29.99 a year, on up to 2 devices
    • Premium: $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year, on up to 4 devices, adding autoscroll, Connect and MIDI
    • Group plan for teams: the price isn't published

    Stage Friend

    • Jammer: free, with no song limit, no time limit and no card
    • Solo Pro: €4.90 a month, or €42 a year
    • Stage Pro: €13 a month, or €108 a year, adding gigs, audience voting and song requests
    • Each person has their own plan. Members on the free plan can play from the band's songs and setlists

    Questions about leaving OnSong

    Yes, through OnSong's ChordPro export. In OnSong you select your songs and export them as ChordPro, then drop the zip into Stage Friend's import under ChordPro or text files. Every song comes over with its lyrics, chords, title, artist and key. OnSong's own backup file isn't read, so use the export.

    For one player on one iPad, no: OnSong Essentials costs $29.99 a year and Stage Friend's Solo Pro $42 a year. Stage Friend's free plan has no song limit where OnSong's stops at 30, and live follow is free on every plan, while OnSong's Connect needs Premium at $59.99 a year.

    No. Members on the free plan can open the band's songs and setlists, play from them and follow the leader live. Editing the band's songs needs Solo Pro or Stage Pro, and the band's owner needs a Pro plan to invite members.

    Yes, in the browser. Open go.stagefriend.app in Safari and add it to the home screen: it then opens from its own icon without the browser bar, and keeps working offline once you've opened it online. There is no App Store app yet.

    Yes. Drop your OnSong export at go.stagefriend.app/try and you see your songs as they will look in Stage Friend. Nothing is uploaded until you create an account and keep them.

    See your OnSong songs in Stage Friend

    Drop your ChordPro export and look through your library first. Create the account when you like what you see.

    Try it with your songs