The Best Guitar Tuner Apps

Tune your guitar using your phone or tablet with our selection of powerful and convenient guitar tuner apps.

The days of the tuning fork are long gone, there are now a big number of apps that will turn your smart devices into real tuners. The only downside to this accessibility is the sheer number of apps to choose from, so we have narrowed down the list to the few that are most accurate, fast and feature packed. We cover both free and paid apps and feature two of the most prominent phone and tablet operating system platforms: iOS and Android.

Free Guitar Tuner Apps

You don’t have to spend a single dime to get basic guitar tuner apps because there are tons of them available. Unfortunately, some of them lack accuracy and are slow while some even come with annoying spam and ads. So to make it easier, we have listed here the free apps that are worth downloading.

	GuitarTuna More info:	GuitarTuna is a free, no-frills tuner that is incredibly accurate. It comes from the same company that developed “Wild Chords”, a fun guitar game that listens to your actual guitar playing via the built-in mic of your device. Built on the same technology, this tuner listens to your guitar, accurately measures if the strings are in tune, and provides a clear visual feedback that include a signal history graph to make tuning more intuitive. Players that require alternate tuning can get advanced tuning sets via in-app purchases. This is a straightforward and reliable app for both beginner and experienced players.
	HT-6 FastTune app More info:	The HT-6 FastTune app is based on an actual stompbox tuner from DigiTech that costs $99, and for some reason they are giving away this technology for free! Note that this app provides polyphonic tuning, an impressive feature that other commercial tuners could not even provide. Polyphonic tuning lets you tune all six strings in one strum by listening to all strings simultaneously. The interface also provides a clear visual of the intonation of each string. With this app, you literally do “one strum and you’re done”.
	Martin Tuner More info:	This tuner comes with a nice interface that is easy on the eyes and it works reliably well. It also comes with other features like a nifty ear trainer that is helpful for both beginners and pros, and it gives you access to Martin’s many acoustic guitar care tips. Caution: this free app from C.F. Martin & Co is a cunning advertising campaign, luring us players with its freebies, while silently filling our subconscious with G.A.S. (gear acquisition syndrome) and thoughts of buying an expensive Martin guitar!
	PitchLab Guitar Tuner More info:	The sad thing about free Android apps is that they are littered with intrusive spam and ads that bog down the app, or worse still, your phone or tablet. Others put in annoying sales pitches and ask for permissions that seem out of context. Fortunately there’s PitchLab Guitar Tuner, providing great tuner functionality and more without these annoyances. Aside from tuning, this app will let you figure out the notes of any instrument including your voice and provides grid-based estimation of chords. A great free app for all Android toting guitar players.

Paid Guitar Tuner Apps

Commercial apps offer premium features and are expected to be more efficient to use. They are also more reliable in terms of bugs and compatibility. If you utilize multiple tunings or play various instruments, then investing on these powerful tuners is a no-brainer.

	PolyTune More info:	The TC Electronic PolyTune pedal wowed the guitar world with its intuitive interface and impressive polyphonic tuning. This app is a 1:1 port of the technology behind the popular pedal, providing the same speed, intuitiveness and accuracy all done in the comfort of your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Just strum your guitar and the app will reliably pickup the tuning of all your strings at once with a 0.5 cent accuracy. I was quite lucky to get this app for free when it was being introduced, now it has a tag price of $4.99, which in my experience is well worth it.
	GuitarToolkit More info:	GuitarToolKit is one of the most popular guitar app in the appstore today, thanks to its wealth of useful features packed in one software package. The accuracy of its chromatic tuner has helped build up its reputation, giving the app an impressive number of high ratings for something that is priced relatively higher. Aside from a reliable tuner, you also get a huge library of chords, scales and arpeggios and a flexible metronome that aids in practice. This highly recommended app gives you all this for $9.99.
	gStrings More info:	gStrings is an easy to use, affordable and reliable chromatic guitar tuner for Android platform devices. It works great for guitars and it is sensitive enough to let you tune various other instruments including violins, bass, piano and even wind instruments. Experienced musicians will appreciate its extra features like the ability to set mic sensitivity, temperaments and it even comes with orchestra tuning. This app could easily beat many of the expensive physical tuners on the market today. With gStrings, your four bucks ($3.88) are well spent.
	DaTuner Pro More info:	DaTuner is another affordable Android guitar tuner app that is worth its tag price. It features a simplistic but easy to use interface and its chromatic tuning operation is applauded by its users for being responsive and accurate with <0.3 cents accuracy! Advanced settings are also available, you can change temperaments, set the reference frequency in case your playing with a group, transpose the tuning and more. A nifty feature called screen lock filters out unwanted sounds for tuning in noisy environments. Great bargain for only $2.87.