Is BANDANA a free alternative to BandHelper?

BANDANA is free for bands and covers song libraries, chords and transposition, set lists, rehearsal recordings, scheduling, and stage plots. Check BandHelper's site for their current pricing and feature set.

Yes. Nothing about BANDANA requires you to move everything at once — many bands start by using it just for set lists or just for a gig advance.

Comparison

BANDANA vs BandHelper

Reviewed August 2026

BandHelper is an established band-management app focused on the performing side of a group's work — repertoire, set lists, and show logistics — with a paid subscription model. BANDANA covers the same band workflows for free and adds the venue half of the relationship: the room's booking calendar, the gig advance, and the ticket page all live in the same system, so a band and a venue are working from one page instead of two products and an email thread.

BANDANA dashboard on a phone listing a band and a venue the same person runs — One dashboard for every band you play in and every room you run.

BANDANA song library on a phone listing a band's songs with keys and recordings — The band's song library, with keys and recordings attached to each song.

Lyrics with chords positioned above the words on a BANDANA song page — Chords sit above the lyric they belong to, not in a separate document.

BANDANA set list on a phone showing the running order and a maybe section — Drag songs into order and park undecided ones in the "maybe" section.

BANDANA set list showing the offline banner while the phone has no connection — Set lists you have opened stay readable when the venue has no signal.

Transposition controls on a BANDANA song shifting every chord into a new key — Shift the whole song up or down and the key badge follows.

Downloading a lyrics and chords PDF from a BANDANA song page — Export the chart as a PDF in whatever key you just transposed to.

Rehearsal recordings listed underneath a song in BANDANA — Rehearsal takes live on the song itself, not in a group chat.

A rehearsal recording playing in BANDANA with playback controls — Playback keeps going when the screen locks on iOS.

Proposed rehearsal time slots listed on a BANDANA band event — Propose rehearsal times instead of polling the group chat.

Band members voting on rehearsal time slots in BANDANA — Everyone votes, and the winning slot is obvious at a glance.

A band's stage setup and input needs attached to a BANDANA gig page — Your stage plot and input list, attached to the show before load-in.

A top-down BANDANA stage plot showing drums, keys, bass, guitar, two saxes and amp positions — Save a band setup once, then attach its stage plot to any gig.

Guest list entries submitted by a band on a BANDANA gig page — Each band fills its own guest list quota — no spreadsheet at the door.

A band filling out a venue's booking request form in BANDANA — Bands submit dates, links and their bio in one pass.

A BANDANA gig advance page showing set times, backline and band details — One advance page the venue and every band on the bill share.

What BandHelper focuses on

A long-running, feature-dense app for organizing a working band's repertoire and shows.

BANDANA and BandHelper, side by side

Competitor details below are from their own public pages, checked August 2026. Pricing changes — confirm on their site before you decide. BandHelper pricing

Price for a band: BANDANAFree, with no per-member charge; BandHelperPaid — published tiers from $2.25 a month solo to $8 a month for 2-5 members
Song library with lyrics and chords: BANDANAYes, with AI import from pasted text or a file; BandHelperLyrics and set lists on every tier; import method not published
Transposition: BANDANAWhole-song, twelve semitones each way, slash chords handled; BandHelperNot named on their public feature pages — check their site
Auto-scroll: BANDANAHands-free lyric scrolling with a speed slider, on any read-only view; BandHelperYes, and deeper: auto-scroll plus MIDI and foot-switch remote control on stage
Set lists: BANDANADrag-and-drop, maybe section, public share link, PDF export; BandHelperSet lists distributed automatically to bandmates; no public no-account link published
Rehearsal recordings: BANDANARecorded or uploaded per song, background playback on iOS; BandHelperVoice memos and reference recordings are listed features
Scheduling: BANDANATime-slot voting with per-band availability; BandHelperAvailability requests, event reminders, and change notifications on the higher tiers
Stage plots: BANDANAReusable band setups attached to gigs; BandHelperStage plot builder, on their Pro tier
Venue side: BANDANABooking calendar, gig advances, open mics, ticketing; BandHelperNot published — band-side only
Offline: BANDANARead-only offline for opened content in the iOS app; BandHelperNot stated on their public pages

What you get	BANDANA	BandHelper
Price for a band	Free, with no per-member charge	Paid — published tiers from $2.25 a month solo to $8 a month for 2-5 members
Song library with lyrics and chords	Yes, with AI import from pasted text or a file	Lyrics and set lists on every tier; import method not published
Transposition	Whole-song, twelve semitones each way, slash chords handled	Not named on their public feature pages — check their site
Auto-scroll	Hands-free lyric scrolling with a speed slider, on any read-only view	Yes, and deeper: auto-scroll plus MIDI and foot-switch remote control on stage
Set lists	Drag-and-drop, maybe section, public share link, PDF export	Set lists distributed automatically to bandmates; no public no-account link published
Rehearsal recordings	Recorded or uploaded per song, background playback on iOS	Voice memos and reference recordings are listed features
Scheduling	Time-slot voting with per-band availability	Availability requests, event reminders, and change notifications on the higher tiers
Stage plots	Reusable band setups attached to gigs	Stage plot builder, on their Pro tier
Venue side	Booking calendar, gig advances, open mics, ticketing	Not published — band-side only
Offline	Read-only offline for opened content in the iOS app	Not stated on their public pages

Choose BandHelper if

You want a mature product with years of niche features for performing bands
Your workflow depends on a specific BandHelper capability you already rely on

Choose BANDANA if

You do not want another subscription for the band to split
You play rooms that could book and advance with you in the same place
Subs and fill-ins need to get up to speed from one link

Common questions

Is BANDANA a free alternative to BandHelper?: BANDANA is free for bands and covers song libraries, chords and transposition, set lists, rehearsal recordings, scheduling, and stage plots. Check BandHelper's site for their current pricing and feature set.
Can I use both?: Yes. Nothing about BANDANA requires you to move everything at once — many bands start by using it just for set lists or just for a gig advance.