Hookpad

What Hookpad does

• Smart chord guides. Color-coded harmonic guides that keep chords in the selected key.
• Chord suggestions. Magic chord suggestions drawn from 80,000 songs plus chord and progression browsers.
• Aria AI add-on. Generative AI that suggests chords, melodies, or both for a song.
• Band instruments. A band tool with 500+ instruments for arranging.
• MIDI and audio. MIDI input, audio track import and MIDI/MP3 export on the paid plan.

Who it’s for

• Songwriters who want chord and melody help grounded in theory
• Hobbyists sketching song ideas without a full DAW
• Writers who want optional AI chord and melody suggestions

Hookpad pricing

Free plan; Standard $7.99/mo or $199 lifetime; Aria AI add-on $14.99/mo

As listed on November 9, 2026. Check hooktheory.com for current prices.

Things to know

• Aria generative AI is a separate add-on at an extra monthly cost
• Instruments, mixing, MIDI/MP3 export and audio import require the Standard plan
• Supported platforms are not listed; only a web app link is shown

Quick answers

What is Hookpad?

Hookpad is a browser-based songwriting tool from Hooktheory, a company based in California, that helps writers build chords and melodies using music theory.

Is Hookpad free?

Hookpad has a free plan. Paid plans start at $7.99 a month. (As listed on November 9, 2026.)

Who makes Hookpad?

Hookpad is made by Hooktheory.

Where can you use Hookpad?

Hookpad is available on the web.

What are some alternatives to Hookpad?

Other tools filed in the same section include AIVA, ElevenLabs and Murf AI.

Tags

#songwriting#chords#melody#midi#generative-ai