SongbookPro alternative

    Switching from SongbookPro?

    Stage Friend is a SongbookPro alternative for bands: everyone reads the same songs and setlists and can follow each other live to the same song. Moving takes a few minutes, and one backup file brings your songs, chords, keys and sets across.

    Try it with your backup

    No account needed to preview. Nothing is uploaded.

    Updated

    The whole move, start to finish. We guide you in the app too.

    • Songs & lyrics
    • Chords & keys
    • Setlists
    • The whole library at once

    At a glance

    Switch if you play with other people and want the whole band on the same songs and setlists, following each other live to the song you're on. Stage Friend's free plan has no song limit, so you can bring the whole library across and play from it before you decide anything.

    What comes across, and what stays behind

    The backup you make in SongbookPro holds the whole library in one file, and Stage Friend reads it right in your browser. In the preview, before anything is saved, you see every song it found, so you can open a few favourites and check them first. This is exactly what the import keeps:

    Comes across

    • Every song with its lyrics and chords, the chords still above the right words
    • The title, artist and key of each song
    • Section labels such as Verse, Chorus and Bridge
    • Your sets, as setlists in the same order. A song in several sets lands in all of them

    Stays behind

    • Folders: every song lands in one library
    • Handwritten pen markup
    • Tempo and capo settings
    • PDF charts, tags and your own chord diagram definitions

    The free plan holds three setlists per band, so if your backup has more sets than that, Solo Pro gives every one of them room. Songs have no limit on any plan.

    Three steps, two minutes

    1. 1

      Backup in SongbookPro

      Settings, then Backup & Sync.

    2. 2

      Save the file

      Tap Backup Library. One .sbpbackup file holds everything.

    3. 3

      Drop it in Stage Friend

      Your whole library lands in seconds.

    Every step with pictures from the app: Move from SongbookPro, step by step

    SongbookPro and Stage Friend, feature by feature

    What each app does as of October 2026, from SongbookPro's own site, pricing, manual and store pages and from Stage Friend's own plans. Where SongbookPro does more, the table says so.

    SongbookPro and Stage Friend compared, as of October 2026
    FeatureSongbookProStage FriendEdge
    How you paySongbookPro: One-time purchase, Groups for bands is a subscriptionStage Friend: Free plan, Solo Pro and Stage Pro are subscriptionsEdge: SongbookPro
    Before you paySongbookPro: A trial of 12 songsStage Friend: Free plan: as many songs as you like, 3 setlists per band, on the device you useEdge: Stage Friend
    Where it runsSongbookPro: Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Amazon Fire, the iPad app on M1 Macs, plus a web manager for editingStage Friend: Android app, and in the browser on iPhone, iPad and computersEdge: SongbookPro
    Sync between your own devicesSongbookPro: Through your own OneDrive, Dropbox or WebDAV, in the full versionStage Friend: Built in, on Solo ProEdge: Even
    A shared library for the bandSongbookPro: Groups: $30 a year for 6 users, members don't need to buy the app, you choose who editsStage Friend: Shared songs and setlists. Members on the free plan play from them, editors need ProEdge: SongbookPro
    The band on the same songSongbookPro: Not offered: Groups shares a library, but there is no follow-the-leaderStage Friend: Live follow on every plan, the free one includedEdge: Stage Friend
    Transpose, autoscroll, foot pedalSongbookPro: YesStage Friend: Yes, on the free plan tooEdge: Even
    Find a song's chords inside the appSongbookPro: Imports from Ultimate Guitar, e-chords and Worship TogetherStage Friend: Web search: 40 on the free plan, then 2 a month, no limit on ProEdge: SongbookPro
    PDF charts in the librarySongbookPro: YesStage Friend: No, songs are text and chordsEdge: SongbookPro
    Handwriting with a penSongbookPro: YesStage Friend: No, typed personal notes on Solo Pro insteadEdge: SongbookPro
    TunerSongbookPro: Yes, built inStage Friend: NoEdge: SongbookPro
    MIDI messages per songSongbookPro: YesStage Friend: NoEdge: SongbookPro

    When SongbookPro is the better choice

    If you mainly play from PDF charts, SongbookPro is the better home for them: it keeps the PDF as the song, while Stage Friend works with text and chords only. The same goes if you mark up your charts with a pen, if your songs send MIDI messages to your rig, or if you want a tuner in the same app. SongbookPro also has a Windows app and runs on Apple Silicon Macs, where Stage Friend runs in the browser.

    Price is the other reason. SongbookPro is a one-time purchase for one player, and that's hard to beat if you play alone and are happy syncing through your own Dropbox or OneDrive. Stage Friend's free plan covers a lot, but syncing between your devices and unlimited setlists come with Solo Pro, which is a subscription.

    What you gain by switching

    Phone, tablet and computer

    The Android app, and the browser on iPhone, iPad and computers. Synced between them on Solo Pro.

    Made for bands

    Shared library, shared setlists, live follow at rehearsal.

    Chords you can touch

    Tap a chord to see it on a piano or change it in the chord editor, and move the whole song a half step at a time.

    Format single words

    Bold, italics, underline, text colour and highlight on any word of the lyrics.

    Offline on stage

    The Android app opens with no signal, the browser after one visit online.

    Your audience in on it

    On Stage Pro, guests vote for songs and send requests from their phones.

    Prices side by side

    Prices as of October 2026, from each app's own pricing. Stage Friend's prices are shown in your currency, and its pricing page lists every feature plan by plan.

    SongbookPro

    • Solo: a one-time purchase of about $6 to $7, bought separately for iOS, Android and Windows, after a 12-song trial
    • Groups for bands: $30 a year for 6 users, $50 for 12, $80 for 20, with a 21-day trial. Members don't need to buy Solo

    Stage Friend

    • Jammer: free, with 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

    Import questions, answered

    No. You can drop your backup file and preview your whole library without an account, right in the browser and nothing is uploaded. When you like what you see, you create a free account and keep everything.

    No. Importing your SongbookPro library is free, songs from a backup never count against the free plan's web imports, and the free plan has no limit on songs. It keeps three setlists per band, so a library with many sets is where Solo Pro starts to matter.

    Yes, in the browser on iPhone and iPad. Open go.stagefriend.app in Safari and add it to the home screen: it then opens full screen from its own icon and works offline. There is no App Store app yet. On Android there is an app on Google Play.

    No. As of October 2026 SongbookPro Groups shares a library but has no follow-the-leader, and SongbookPro calls it an idea that isn't in development. In Stage Friend anyone in the band can follow a member to the same song on every plan, the free one included.

    The full backup (.sbpbackup) is the best option because it carries your whole library and all sets in one file. Individual song and set exports (.sbp files) and ChordPro files work too. One import takes up to 1000 songs, and a bigger library goes in a few rounds.

    Your songs with lyrics and chords, the title, artist and key of each song, and all of your sets, which become setlists in Stage Friend. A song that appears in several sets ends up in all of them, in the right order. Folders, pen markup, tempo, capo and PDFs stay in SongbookPro.

    No. Songs and sets import completely, but folders and handwritten pen markup stay in SongbookPro. Your sets come across as setlists, which is often what a folder was used for, and on Solo Pro you can add typed personal notes to any song instead.

    Your songs are ready to move

    Drop your backup and see your whole library first. Create the account when you like what you see.

    Try it with your backup