Main Act vs Ultimate Guitar, Chord Charts or Structured Music Practice?
Ultimate Guitar is a large tab, chord, and lyric platform with user-contributed and licensed material plus current Pro and learning features. Catalog size, availability, and feature access should be checked on the official product.
Free daily practice is available. No card required. After signup, we’ll open the recommended school.
How they differ
Start with how you prefer to learn.
Main Act's Repertoire school does something different: it manages your personal song library with spaced-repetition scheduling, pitch tracking on phrases, and structured daily practice on the songs you already know (or are learning). It doesn't compete with UG's tab catalog, it sits on top of whatever chord chart you got from UG and turns 'I know this song kind of' into 'I have this song memorized.'
The two products solve completely different problems. UG answers 'what are the chords to this song?' Main Act answers 'how do I make sure I still know this song six months from now?'
What we compared
Product format, published features, and Main Act’s current price. Teacher fit, taste, and individual results will vary.
Features
Compare the products, line by line.
Main Act Artist prices match the current checkout price. Check the competitor’s official site for its latest price.
| Decision | Main Act Artist | Ultimate Guitar |
|---|---|---|
| Primary scopeThe products solve different parts of the song-learning job. | Maintain a repertoire inside a connected Artist practice record | Find and play tabs, chords, lyrics, and current learning material |
| Primary purpose | Maintain a personal repertoire with spaced repetition | Database of tabs/chords for any song |
| Catalog size | A starter song library plus your own additions | A large user-contributed and licensed catalog; check current coverage |
| Spaced repetition scheduling | Yes: songs scheduled by recall difficulty | No dedicated recall-based song schedule is presented on the current official surface |
| Pitch tracking | Real-time pitch on phrases | Playback and instrument tools are presented, not vocal pitch scoring |
| Backing tracks | Synthetic backing tracks for practice | Tab playback |
| Chord charts | Stored per song | A large searchable chord and tab catalog |
| Tablature | Not included | Yes: extensive guitar/bass tabs |
| Multi-discipline | Vocals, songwriting, repertoire included | Guitar focus, some other instruments |
| Belt progression | 9 belts across three disciplines | Uses library, favorites, and learning features rather than a published belt model |
| Pricing | One system: $7.92/mo billed yearly ($95/yr), $16.95 monthly, $249 lifetime. Everything starts at $11.83/mo billed yearly. | See Ultimate Guitar's official source for current pricing. |
Primary scope
- Main Act Artist
- Maintain a repertoire inside a connected Artist practice record
- Ultimate Guitar
- Find and play tabs, chords, lyrics, and current learning material
The products solve different parts of the song-learning job.
Primary purpose
- Main Act Artist
- Maintain a personal repertoire with spaced repetition
- Ultimate Guitar
- Database of tabs/chords for any song
Catalog size
- Main Act Artist
- A starter song library plus your own additions
- Ultimate Guitar
- A large user-contributed and licensed catalog; check current coverage
Spaced repetition scheduling
- Main Act Artist
- Yes: songs scheduled by recall difficulty
- Ultimate Guitar
- No dedicated recall-based song schedule is presented on the current official surface
Pitch tracking
- Main Act Artist
- Real-time pitch on phrases
- Ultimate Guitar
- Playback and instrument tools are presented, not vocal pitch scoring
Backing tracks
- Main Act Artist
- Synthetic backing tracks for practice
- Ultimate Guitar
- Tab playback
Chord charts
- Main Act Artist
- Stored per song
- Ultimate Guitar
- A large searchable chord and tab catalog
Tablature
- Main Act Artist
- Not included
- Ultimate Guitar
- Yes: extensive guitar/bass tabs
Multi-discipline
- Main Act Artist
- Vocals, songwriting, repertoire included
- Ultimate Guitar
- Guitar focus, some other instruments
Belt progression
- Main Act Artist
- 9 belts across three disciplines
- Ultimate Guitar
- Uses library, favorites, and learning features rather than a published belt model
Pricing
- Main Act Artist
- One system: $7.92/mo billed yearly ($95/yr), $16.95 monthly, $249 lifetime. Everything starts at $11.83/mo billed yearly.
- Ultimate Guitar
- See Ultimate Guitar's official source for current pricing.
Recommendation
Which one should you choose?
Ultimate Guitar is the clearer fit when the immediate need is finding or playing a tab or chord chart from a large catalog.
Main Act's Repertoire school assumes you already have a song (UG gave you the chart, or you transcribed it yourself, or you bought sheet music). What it adds is the practice infrastructure: spaced-repetition scheduling so you don't lose songs to time, daily session structure so you actually practice, and pitch tracking so you can verify you're still hitting the notes.
The two are a natural stack: get charts from Ultimate Guitar, build your repertoire and maintain it with Main Act. Neither replaces the other.
If your problem is 'I don't know what chords this song uses,' use Ultimate Guitar. If your problem is 'I learn songs but forget them within months,' use Main Act.
Keep researching
Frequently asked questions
Does Main Act have chord charts like Ultimate Guitar?
Yes: its starter song library includes chord progressions and structures, and you can add your own material. The catalog is much smaller than Ultimate Guitar's because Main Act is not trying to compete on catalog breadth.
Can I import songs from Ultimate Guitar?
Not automatically. You can manually create a song in Main Act using a chord chart you got from UG. Direct import isn't supported.
Does Main Act teach guitar like UG's lessons?
No. Main Act covers vocals, songwriting, and repertoire, not instrument lessons. Use UG (or a guitar-specific app) for guitar instruction.
Method and sources
Sources and review date
Reviewed August 29, 2026 using the provider page below and Main Act’s current product information. Features and third-party offers can change. This comparison is written by Main Act.
Pricing
The button opens pricing for the Main Act product recommended on this page. You can compare the Everything plan there too.
View current pricing