When user-submitted tabs aren't enough
THE TAB IS MISSING.
USE THE
RECORDING.
Ultimate Guitar is the right first stop when the exact tab already exists. Audio2Guitar is for the moment search fails: live versions, new releases, demos, worship recordings, AI songs, and any audio file you need turned into playable guitar tabs.
3 full songs free. No credit card. Use the exact recording you want to play.
When user submissions aren't enough
BIG LIBRARY,
EXACT RECORDING.
User-submitted catalogs are useful, but they stop at what someone else has already tabbed. Upload-first transcription solves a different job.
Quality is submitter dependent
UG tabs come from volunteers. Some are immaculate, some are wrong on the very first chord. There is no standard QA pass before a tab goes live.
Popular songs only
User submissions cluster around hits. New releases, indie, worship, regional, and niche genres get few or zero tabs because no one in the community has bothered.
Mostly chord and strum diagrams
A large share of UG's library is chord-and-lyrics, not full tab notation. If you want note-by-note for the riff, intro, or solo, you're often out of luck.
No audio source separation
UG can't isolate guitar from the mix. You can't slow down the audio with the guitar emphasized. You're stuck reading a tab of someone else's interpretation.
No synced lyrics
Chord names sit above static lyric text. Nothing scrolls or highlights as the song plays. Practicing vocals plus chord changes together is harder.
Chord diagrams locked behind Pro
The basic UG tier shows chord names. Visual diagrams (where to put your fingers) are part of the paid Pro tier. Audio2guitar ships 170+ diagrams on every output.
The takeaway
UG's strength is library size. Audio2guitar's strength is consistent transcription from the actual audio. Two different tools, two different jobs.
Why people use both
UG FOR THE STANDARDS.
US FOR EVERYTHING ELSE.
INDIE AND NEW RELEASES
Songs that just dropped, indie artists with no community contributors, regional music. UG's catalog can't keep up. Audio2guitar reads the audio directly.
CONSISTENT QUALITY
UG community tabs vary from perfect to wildly wrong. Audio2guitar produces consistent AI output benchmarked at 97.8% string assignment on GuitarSet.
ONE UPLOAD, EVERY OUTPUT
Tabs, chords with diagrams, synced lyrics, section markers, MIDI export. UG fragments these across separate tools and tiers.
Head to head
AUDIO2GUITAR vs
ULTIMATE GUITAR
| Feature | audio2guitar | Ultimate Guitar |
|---|---|---|
| Library size | Unlimited (audio in) | 1.3M+ submissions |
| Source | AI transcription from your audio | User submissions |
| Consistent tab quality | Varies by submitter | |
| Note-by-note tab notation | Some songs only | |
| Chord + strum diagram | ||
| Chord diagrams (170+ types) | Pro tier | |
| Hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, bends | Submitter dependent | |
| Word level synced lyrics | ||
| Multi track stem separation | ||
| MIDI export | Pro tier only | |
| Section markers (verse, chorus, bridge) | ||
| GuitarSet benchmark string assignment | 97.8% | N/A (human submitted) |
| Free tier | 3 full songs | Existing tabs only |
| Paid price | $8.99/mo or $59.99/year ($5.00/mo) | UG Pro pricing varies by offer |
Pricing comparison: see full pricing
How it works
NO LIBRARY.
JUST AUDIO.
Upload audio
Mp3, wav, m4a, flac. Use your own recording, licensed file, export, or audio you have permission to process.
AI transcribes
Stem separation isolates the guitar. Beam search detects notes, articulations, chords, sections, and lyrics.
Play it
Tab, chord chart, synced lyrics in 3 minutes. Loop, slow down, export to MIDI on Pro.
FAQ
How big is Ultimate Guitar's library?
Ultimate Guitar publicly states 1.3M+ tabs. The catch is that the library is user submitted, so quality varies wildly and many entries are chord-and-lyrics rather than note-by-note tabs.
Does audio2guitar replace UG entirely?
No. UG is great for popular songs that have been in the library for years. The moment you want a new release, indie, worship, regional, AI generated, or your own recording, UG is the wrong tool. Use both. UG for the standards, audio2guitar for everything else.
How is tab quality compared to UG community submissions?
UG quality is submitter dependent. Some tabs are perfect, many are wrong. Audio2guitar produces consistent AI output benchmarked at 97.8% string assignment on GuitarSet. You can compare on any song you upload (3 free) and judge for yourself.
What about chord libraries and chord finder tools?
Audio2guitar renders 170+ chord types with diagrams in every output, including extensions, slash chords, and inversions. UG's chord diagrams are part of the Pro tier; ours are included on every transcription.
Can I get bass tab too?
Multi instrument support with stem separation is built in. Guitar tab is the primary output, with bass and other parts available as separate tracks.
What if a song has multiple UG tabs with different versions?
That's the user-submission problem in one sentence. Different submitters disagree on the right notes. Audio2guitar produces one transcription from the actual audio, so there's a single source of truth grounded in the recording.
Does audio2guitar support tablature articulations?
Yes. Hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, and bends are detected from the audio and rendered into the tab. UG's articulation rendering depends on whether the submitter included them.
Is there a mobile app?
The web app works on iOS Safari and Android Chrome with full playback, scrubbing, and section practice. Native apps are on the roadmap.
Related comparisons
KEEP EXPLORING
Songsterr alternative
Catalog tabs are great when the song exists. Audio upload works when the exact recording does not.
Chordify alternative
Get guitar tabs and chord diagrams, not just chord names above lyrics.
Read: Tabs not on Ultimate Guitar
Why UG's library ends where new releases, indie tracks, and AI music begin.
TURN THE RECORDING
INTO TABS.
3 full songs free. No credit card. About 3 minutes per song.