Song Cage

Song Cage brings chord, melody, lyric, and music theory tools together in a songwriting workspace. Its chord palette includes diatonic and borrowed chords, secondary dominants, extensions, and modulation routes, with suggestions ranked against a melody and neighboring chords. The lyric workspace offers rhyme, synonym, semantic, and verb/noun suggestions. The free web plan supports one song and includes playback, audio recording, and song-file export. A Song Cage licence costs $99, paid once and adds unlimited songs, PDF chord sheets, MIDI export, Mac and Windows desktop apps, an AU/VST3 plugin, phone captures in an Ideas inbox, collaborators, and web/desktop sync. The desktop app works offline and requires macOS 12 or later, or Windows 10 or later on 64-bit x64. The free iPhone and Android app captures voice memos, lyrics, and chord ideas offline without an account, but lacks the full editor, timeline, export, and DAW. The plugin streams chord and melody MIDI in time with DAW transport and saves songs in the DAW project. Song Cage says it does not use AI to write songs; chord suggestions follow music theory rules and word tools use dictionary lookups.

Song Cage offers songwriting tools across web, desktop, mobile, and supported DAW plugins, with the full licence priced at $99, paid once. The free web plan is limited to one song, and the mobile app is for idea capture rather than full editing.

It suits songwriters who want chord and lyric ideas in one workspace, with desktop and DAW options for composing. The free mobile app is for capturing ideas offline rather than using the full editor.

Overview

Song Cage is a songwriting workspace for shaping chords, melodies and lyrics together. It suits writers who want theory-aware chord suggestions and a path from sketching to work inside a supported DAW. Its strongest case is breadth across platforms; its main compromise is that mobile is for capturing ideas, not finishing songs.

Key features

Chord and lyric tools

The chord palette spans diatonic and borrowed chords, secondary dominants, extensions and modulation routes, with suggestions ranked against the melody and neighboring chords. That context makes it more useful for developing a progression than a bare chord list, especially for writers exploring harmonic options. Melody tools, playback and audio recording are also included.

The lyric workspace offers perfect and slant rhymes, synonyms, semantic suggestions, and a verb-and-noun generator. Song Cage does not use AI to write songs: chord suggestions follow music-theory rules, and the word tools use dictionary lookups. Writers looking for generated lyrics or songs should choose a different kind of tool.

Working with a DAW

The AU/VST3 plugin supports Logic Pro, GarageBand, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Cubase, Reaper and Studio One. It streams chord and melody MIDI in time with the DAW transport and stores songs in the DAW project, a practical bridge for writers who arrange or produce there. Pro Tools AAX is not supported, so this workflow is not an option for Pro Tools users.

Pricing

The free plan costs nothing, with no card required, and limits the web app to one song. It includes the chord palette, voicings and modulation, word tools, playback, audio recording, song-file export and view-only share links. That is a useful way to try the core writing tools, but the one-song cap makes it a poor fit for maintaining a growing catalogue.

The Song Cage licence costs $99, paid once, billed as a one-time $99 payment. It removes the song limit and adds PDF chord sheets, MIDI export, Mac and Windows desktop apps, the AU/VST3 plugin, phone captures in the Ideas inbox, collaborators and web/desktop sync. The one-time licence is suited to writers who need those production and collaboration features; the free tier is the narrower choice for someone working on a single song in the web app. A 14-day trial is offered, and purchases are covered by a full refund within 30 days by email.

Platforms

Song Cage runs on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows and the web, but platform scope matters. The free phone app captures voice memos, lyrics and chord ideas offline without an account; it does not include the full editor, timeline, export or DAW. The native desktop app works offline on macOS 12 or later with Apple Silicon or Intel, and Windows 10 or later on 64-bit x64.

Song content is excluded from diagnostic telemetry, and the privacy policy says it is not sold or used to train AI models. The maker uses services including Supabase, Stripe and PayPal, Google OAuth, PowerSync, Datamuse, Cloudflare, Sentry and optional PostHog usage statistics. For dormant accounts without an active subscription or trial, cloud audio recordings and captured Ideas inbox items may be removed after 12 months of inactivity with at least 30 days' warning; songs are not covered by that removal.

Who it's for

Song Cage is best for songwriters who want chord exploration, lyric prompts and melody work in one workspace, particularly those who also use a supported DAW or need desktop editing offline. It is less suitable for writers who need a full mobile editor, Pro Tools integration or AI-generated songwriting.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Chord suggestions account for melody and neighboring chords, giving writers more context than a standalone chord palette.
• Pros: The one-time licence combines unlimited songs, desktop apps, MIDI export and a DAW plugin without a recurring monthly charge.
• Pros: The mobile app captures ideas offline without requiring an account, useful for collecting sketches away from the main workspace.
• Cons: The free web plan allows only one song, limiting its usefulness as a long-term library.
• Cons: The mobile app lacks the full editor, timeline and export, so it cannot replace desktop or web work.
• Cons: The plugin does not support Pro Tools AAX, which excludes that DAW workflow.

Alternatives

Songwriting Software is the broader category to browse if Song Cage's particular mix of chord, lyric and DAW tools is not the right fit.

Songkeeper Studio is worth considering for mobile-first writing on Android or iOS: its free plan allows five songs, with two drafts and two recordings per song, while its paid plan is $0.99 a month.

Zoundroom offers Android, iOS and web access, with a free allowance of up to two active projects, limited files and sharing with up to two artists; it may fit writers prioritizing shared project work.

Suno is a mobile alternative with a free plan that provides 50 credits per day and an eight-minute audio upload allowance; consider it if those limits better match your needs.

Udio offers web and iOS access with 10 daily credits and 100 monthly credits on its free plan, making it an alternative to compare if those platforms and quotas suit you.

Hookpad is web-only and its free plan includes chords, melody and Smart Guides, with advanced features limited to one-minute previews; consider it for browser-based chord and melody work.

Songzap runs on iOS and macOS and its free plan includes multitrack recording and arrangement tools; it is an alternative for writers focused on recording and arranging on Apple platforms.

SundayMusic offers a free browser account and a £2.99, paid once Apple app, an option for writers who prefer its browser-and-Apple-app arrangement.

Chordbot is an Android and iOS alternative whose free Lite version disables saving and exporting; its $4.99, paid once Pro version enables both.

Verdict

Song Cage is a strong fit for songwriters who want theory-aware chord and lyric tools alongside offline desktop work and MIDI exchange with a supported DAW. The one-time licence makes the full workflow straightforward to buy, but mobile remains a capture companion rather than an editor, and Pro Tools users should look elsewhere.