Tonaly review
A harmony-focused songwriting app for Apple devices, with playback and MIDI/PDF export.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Tonaly is a songwriting and music-practice app for musicians, songwriters, and producers working on iOS or macOS. Its circle-of-fifths interface helps explore chords within and outside a key, while context-aware suggestions support progression building. The free plan makes it possible to start without a paid commitment. For songwriters who want to investigate harmony and develop ideas on Apple devices, Tonaly brings chord exploration and composition together; it is less suited to people whose main need is identifying a chord from a recording or working outside Apple platforms.
The harmonic tools go beyond basic chord selection. Chords can be edited with extensions, slash chords, and alternate bass notes, and songs can include multiple chords per bar. Borrowed chords and modal interchange add options for moving beyond a key’s standard harmony. Tonaly also supports scale and progression practice with playback, and displays instruments including piano, guitar, bass, ukulele, violin, viola, and cello. This makes it useful for exploring and rehearsing ideas across several instruments, though its emphasis remains on building and practicing progressions rather than reverse lookup.
For carrying an arrangement forward, songs can be saved and shared through song links, with MIDI and PDF lead-sheet export available. iCloud is the listed integration, and the app covers mobile and desktop through iOS and macOS. The published product details describe a freemium model with a free plan, but do not provide plan-by-plan prices or paid-tier differences, so the choice is clearer on workflow than on upgrade value. Tonaly is a good fit for solo songwriters and small creative setups that want harmony tools and composition in one Apple app; musicians needing reverse chord identification or a non-Apple option should look elsewhere.
Tonaly pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Context-aware suggestions include borrowed chords and modal interchange
- Compose songs with multiple chords per bar and detailed chord edits
- Practice with playback; export MIDI and PDF lead sheets
- Where it doesn't
- Does not support reverse chord lookup
- Available on iOS and macOS, limiting fit for other platforms
- Its focus is composition and practice rather than reverse lookup
Tonaly fact sheet, pricing and score →
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