Ranking updated
Best guitar chords and songbook apps in 2026
For your own songbook of chords and lyrics that stays on the phone, with transpose, a performer mode and a built-in tuner, CampChords. For chords to almost any song, played along with the recording, Chordify. For a band library with set lists, PDF charts and planning tools, OnSong. For replacing a paper songbook on a tablet, SongbookPro. Full breakdown below.
How we picked: a chord app has to show the song clearly when you are holding the guitar. We read each developer’s own App Store description for where the songs come from, whether you can change the key, how songs are organised for a set and whether they are available offline.
A guitar songbook app that works offline
CampChords keeps your songs ready to play: you store chords and lyrics in a personal library, search songs online and save them, and sort them with favourites, tags and collections for rehearsals, campfire sets, worship or casual jams. You can transpose a song to fit your voice or instrument, switch to performer mode while playing, tune with the built-in tuner, and export or import the whole library. The songbook stays on your device and works offline.
Chords for any song
Chordify works out the chords for the song you search and shows them with animated guitar, ukulele or piano diagrams while the song plays, with YouTube integration and a library that syncs across desktop and mobile. Transposing, a capo setting, slowing songs down and looping tricky parts come with Premium.
A digital songbook for gigs and rehearsals
OnSong builds a library of chord charts and lyrics from Dropbox, Google Drive, SongSelect, Planning Center, PDFs and scanned paper charts, pulls set lists together for the band, and lets you transpose and use a capo; the free version holds a limited number of songs. SongbookPro replaces a paper songbook on a tablet or laptop: it shows chords and lyrics clearly, opens PDF sheet music, groups songs into sets, changes key and capo, lets you write notes on the music and shares songs and sets with other users. To tune before you play, see guitar tuner apps.
| App | Best for | Platforms | Where songs come from |
|---|---|---|---|
| CampChordsCensuusApp Store | campfire, rehearsal and jam songbook | iOS | your own songs plus online search, saved on the device |
| ChordifyApp StoreGoogle Play | learning chords to songs you love | iOS, Android | chords worked out for songs, with YouTube playback |
| OnSongApp Store | bands and worship teams | iOS | imports from Dropbox, Google Drive, SongSelect, Planning Center and PDF |
| SongbookProApp Store | a paper songbook on a tablet | iOS | ChordPro, OnSong, PDF and Word imports, plus chord sites |
Frequently asked questions
Is there a chord app that works offline?
CampChords keeps your songbook of chords and lyrics on the device so it works offline, and lets you export and import the library.
Which app can transpose chords to a different key?
CampChords, OnSong and SongbookPro change key, and Chordify transposes with Premium.
Which songbook app is best for playing live?
OnSong and SongbookPro group songs into set lists for gigs and rehearsals, and CampChords has a performer mode for playing.