LumaFretsUltimate Guitar Pro Alternatives for Playing Tabs
Published 4 November 2026. Details of other products were checked on their own sites on 4 November 2026.
Ultimate Guitar Pro is the paid membership of the Ultimate Guitar tab site. It adds a tab player with tempo control and backing tracks. Some players want the same practice tools without a membership, on the desktop, or with tabs they already have. This page sets out what each option does, so you can choose.
What Ultimate Guitar Pro Includes
Ultimate Guitar's Pro page lists tab playback, multiple tracks for each instrument part, tempo control, a virtual fretboard and multitrack backing tracks. It also lists its Tonebridge tones and a library of more than 30,000 of its own tabs. It's a membership, with a free trial and an annual plan (Ultimate Guitar Pro).
The tabs come from Ultimate Guitar's library, and you play them in its apps and site.
What to Look For in an Alternative
- Where the tabs come from: a site's library, or files you already have.
- Whether you hear the real recording, a backing track or a synth.
- Speed control that keeps the pitch, and loops for the hard bars.
- A way to hear your own guitar with a tone, in the same app.
- How you pay: a membership, or once.
- Which computers it runs on.
The Alternatives
LumaFrets
LumaFrets is a desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux. It shows a tab as a 3D note highway in time with the real song, from a YouTube video or your own audio file. You bring the tab: it opens Guitar Pro (3 to 7), MusicXML and TuxGuitar files. It has no tab library of its own.
You can slow the song from 25% to 100% with the pitch kept, loop a section, and use the speed trainer, which plays the loop a little faster each time round. The app has a built-in amp with cabinets and pedals, a tuner that follows the tab's tuning, a count-in and click, and scoring.
LumaFrets is free. Pro is a one-time $39, with no subscription. Pro splits your audio file into vocals, guitar, bass, drums and piano, so you can solo the guitar, or mute it and play the part yourself. It also plays your own VST3 and Audio Unit plugins, amp captures and impulse responses. Songs are separated on your computer, and nothing is uploaded.
Songsterr Plus
Songsterr is a tab site with a player in the browser. Its Plus plan plays tabs in sync with the original audio, a backing track or a playthrough, without the pause every 10 bars of the free player. Plus adds speed control that keeps the pitch, loops, solo and mute for each track, printing, downloads in MIDI, Guitar Pro, MP3 and WAV formats, and AI transcription of 50 full tabs a month. It's pay as you go, and you can cancel any time (Songsterr). A Guitar Pro file downloaded from it opens in LumaFrets.
TuxGuitar
TuxGuitar is a free, open-source tab editor and player. It opens Guitar Pro, Power Tab Editor, TablEdit and MIDI files, and has packages for Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD and Android. Its site notes the packages aren't signed (TuxGuitar). It plays tabs with a synth, not the recording.
Which One Fits
- You want a large tab library with backing tracks on your phone or in the browser: Ultimate Guitar Pro.
- You want tabs synced to the original audio in the browser, with transcription and downloads: Songsterr Plus.
- You want to write or edit tabs for free: TuxGuitar.
- You have your own tab files and want to play them over the real song on Mac, Windows or Linux, with the amp in the same app, and pay once: LumaFrets.
Questions
Is There a Free Ultimate Guitar Pro Alternative?
For tabs you already have, yes. LumaFrets and TuxGuitar are both free. TuxGuitar plays a tab with a synth. LumaFrets plays it over the real song, with speed control and loops.
Does LumaFrets Have a Tab Library?
No. You open a Guitar Pro, MusicXML or TuxGuitar file you already have.
Is LumaFrets a Subscription?
No. The app is free, and Pro is a one-time payment of $39.
Related: Songsterr alternatives, Guitar Pro alternatives and free guitar tab players.