# Tabtify

Aiolum story: https://aiolum.com/story/tabtify/ · added 2026-11-06 · updated 2026-11-06

**In short.** Tabtify (AI guitar tab generator and online tab editor, Not stated): US$5K a month as listed by Arrfounder, August 2025. Evidence grade D: reported, not verified. Team: 1 named founder; headcount not published. Launched February 2025; still running.

AI guitar tab generator and online tab editor · Not stated · AI-native · solo founder · still running · group: Voice and audio

- Outcome: US$5K a month as listed by Arrfounder, August 2025 (evidence grade of the headline number: D; headline in US dollars: 60000)
- Launch: February 2025; months from launch to the outcome: 6
- Team: 1 named founder; headcount not published
- Outside funding: None reported
- Main factor: A free editor around a paid AI step
- Meters, 1 to 4: evidence strength 1, copyable pattern 2, capital needed 1
- Tags: AI-native, Solo founder, Bootstrapped, Running, B2C, Music

Links:

- Visit tabtify.com: https://tabtify.com/

**The product.** A web app that turns a recording, an audio file, a MIDI file or a public media link (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest) into guitar, bass or ukulele tab. The user then plays the tab back in the browser, corrects it in an editor and exports it to MIDI, Guitar Pro, alphaTex, PDF or MusicXML. The editor and every export are free; the AI conversion is the paid part.

**Why it worked.** Many players learn songs by ear, and many songs have no written tab. The home page sells a shortcut: paste a link or record a riff and get an editable tab "back in minutes", then fix the parts the AI got wrong in the same window. Free exports and a free editor bring people in; conversions beyond the free tier need the Pro or Max plan.

Evidence grades: A = disclosed by a public company, a filing or a payment processor, or verified by one; B = two or more independent reports agree, or a journalist confirmed it; C = a founder claim that no one else verified; D = reported, not verified: one founder claim or a third-party estimate with no second source; E = no revenue figure found, so the headline is a non-money fact and the other facts carry their own grades; calc = computed on this page from graded facts.

## Summary

Tabtify is an AI tab generator, a program that writes music as tablature (tab): a notation for string instruments that shows which string and which fret to play instead of notes on a staff. The user uploads audio, records a take, opens a MIDI file or pastes a public media link; the AI separates the instrument from the rest of the mix and writes the tab. The result opens in a browser editor built on the open-source notation library alphaTab, where it can be played, corrected and exported to Guitar Pro (the file format of a common commercial tab editor), PDF or MusicXML.

Arrfounder, a directory that collects revenue figures founders post, mainly on X, lists Tabtify at US$5,000 a month and US$60,000 a year, on a page marked "Last updated: Aug 9, 2025", with the founder as Vu (@TeeDevh). The earliest Internet Archive copy of tabtify.com is from 14 February 2025. On 6 November 2026 the home page claimed "476,492+ tabs, 79,414+ users", and the terms say payments go through Polar, a merchant of record.

The revenue figure rests on that one directory listing, so this page grades it D: reported, not verified. No payment-processor profile, interview or filing was found. The page also shows earlier companies that tried to make learning or making music easier and failed.

## Pricing

Tabtify prices read from the offer data in its home page on 6 November 2026 (grade C); the /pricing address returned 404

| Plan | Per month, billed yearly (US$) | Per month, billed monthly (US$) | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | 0 | tab editor and all exports, no AI conversion |
| Pro | 8.25 | 15 | 100 AI conversions and 10 PDF or photo pages in any 30 days |
| Max | 10.75 | 25 | unlimited AI conversions, fair use up to 300 in 30 days, 30 pages |

Yearly plans are shown as one price a year: US$99 for Pro (US$8.25 a month) and US$129 for Max (US$10.75 a month). The terms say Pro subscriptions that started before 26 October 2026 keep unlimited conversions up to a fair-use limit of 200, and that a Lifetime plan was sold earlier and is no longer sold. All paid plans have a 7-day money-back guarantee.

## How much revenue does Tabtify make? The numbers, graded

A tab editor with paid AI conversion, listed by a directory at US$5,000 a month in August 2025, with prices and user counts from its own pages

| Fact | Value | Grade | Note | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue per month, August 2025 | US$5,000 | D | Arrfounder product page for Tabtify, "Monthly Revenue $5K", page marked "Last updated: Aug 9, 2025". Arrfounder says its data are "publicly disclosed by founders themselves and collected from various sources, primarily Twitter/X" and that it is not responsible for their accuracy. The founder's own post was not found. | [1] |
| Revenue per year, August 2025 | US$60,000 | D | Same Arrfounder page, "Annual Revenue $60K": the monthly figure times 12. | [1] |
| Time from the first archived copy to the August 2025 figure | 6 months | calc | Calculated: February 2025 to August 2025. February 2025 is the first Internet Archive copy, not a stated launch date. | [5, 1] |
| Founder | Vu (@TeeDevh) | D | Arrfounder product page. The Tabtify pages read for this story do not name a founder or a company. | [1] |
| Team | headcount not published | C | Only one founder is named, by Arrfounder. No source gives a number of employees. | [1] |
| First archived copy | 14 February 2025 | C | Internet Archive, title "Guitar Tab Editor with AI Conversion \| Tabtify". | [5] |
| Users and tabs claimed on the home page, November 2026 | 79,414+ users and 476,492+ tabs | C | Home page counter, read 6 November 2026. The company's own claim. | [2] |
| Prices, November 2026 | Pro US$15 a month or US$99 a year; Max US$25 a month or US$129 a year | C | Offer data in the home page. The free plan has the editor and exports but no AI conversion. | [2] |
| Payments | Polar, as merchant of record | C | Terms of service: Polar "issues your receipts and handles sales tax". | [3] |
| Plan limit change | Pro cut to 100 conversions in 30 days for subscriptions from 26 October 2026 | C | Terms of service. Older Pro subscriptions keep unlimited conversions up to a fair-use limit of 200. | [3] |
| Inputs | audio files, recordings, MIDI, PDFs or photos, and public links from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest | C | Home page FAQ. Sources can be up to 15 minutes long. | [2] |
| Outside funding | none reported | C | No source mentions a funding round. | [1, 2] |

How to read this table: a grade D value comes from one source that no one else confirms, here a directory listing. A grade C value is what the company states on its own pages. An "X" value was computed on this page.

## When did Tabtify launch, and how did it grow? Timeline

From the first archived copy of tabtify.com to a tab editor in 12 languages with tiered conversion limits, in about 21 months. Each entry carries its grade.

- **14 February 2025** (grade C [5]): First Internet Archive copy of tabtify.com, titled "Guitar Tab Editor with AI Conversion".
- **9 August 2025** (grade D [1]): Arrfounder's product page, last updated that day, lists Tabtify at US$5,000 a month and US$60,000 a year, founder Vu (@TeeDevh).
- **26 October 2026** (grade C [3]): New Pro subscriptions get a limit of 100 AI conversions in any 30 days; older Pro subscriptions keep the earlier fair-use limit of 200. A Lifetime plan sold earlier is no longer offered.
- **6 November 2026** (grade C [2]): The home page claims 79,414+ users and 476,492+ tabs, offers the site in 12 languages and links more than 50 conversion pages such as "YouTube to guitar tab" and "MP3 to bass tab".

## Why did Tabtify work?

### A free editor around a paid AI step

The editor, playback and every export format are free on any account, so a player can open a Guitar Pro file or write a tab by hand without paying. The AI conversion from audio or links is what the Pro and Max plans sell, with a monthly conversion limit.

### Correction is part of the product

The AI result is not presented as final. The home page and a blog post on cleaning up AI-generated tabs tell the user to review and fix the tab in the editor, which lowers the accuracy the AI needs to be useful.

### Many entry pages for one tool

The home page links more than 50 pages, each for one input and one instrument ("WAV to guitar tab", "YouTube Shorts to guitar tab", "MIDI to ukulele tab"), plus free tools such as a tuner and a fretboard. No source says how many customers arrive through them.

## How it was built

These details come from the product's own pages. They are grade C. No founder interview was found.

- Music notation, playback and the alphaTex format come from alphaTab, an open-source library; the footer says "Music notation powered by alphaTab".
- Conversion starts from audio, a recording, MIDI, PDF or photo pages, or a public media link; the user describes the instruments and whether someone is singing, and the AI separates the guitar part and writes tab for guitar, bass, 7-string guitar or ukulele.
- Exports to MIDI, Guitar Pro (GP5), alphaTex, PDF and MusicXML, and imports of GP3 to GP and MusicXML files.
- Payments, receipts and sales tax are handled by Polar as merchant of record, with monthly and yearly subscriptions and a 7-day refund promise.
- The site is published in 12 languages, with a blog and free tools such as a tuner, a chord library and a Guitar Pro to PDF converter.
- No source names the AI models used for source separation or transcription.

Sources: [2, 3]

## Who tried this before Tabtify, and why did they fail?

Three companies in our database of failed startups tried to make playing or making music easier for amateurs and failed. The values below are from that database and are not independently verified.

The failed startups come from our database of dead startups, retold here in our own words; Its entries are AI-assisted summaries of public sources, so they carry no evidence grade.

### Magic Instruments (2016 to 2019; funding US$4M; cause: No Market Need)

- Promise: A digital guitar with buttons and lights so that beginners could play without learning chords.
- Why it died: Hardware was expensive to make, and learners preferred apps that teach a real guitar.
- Record: 

### Guitar Hero Live (2015 to 2019; funding US$50M; cause: No Market Need)

- Promise: A rhythm game with a new guitar controller and filmed live crowds.
- Why it died: Custom controllers cost too much, and players moved to mobile and online games.
- Record: 

### Jamglue (2006 to 2009; funding US$200K; cause: Product/Tech Failure)

- Promise: Remix and share music in the browser without a studio.
- Why it died: Audio in the browser was too slow at the time, music rights were unclear, and SoundCloud took the audience.
- Record: 

## What changed

Magic Instruments and Guitar Hero Live needed custom hardware to make guitar easier, and both died on hardware cost. Jamglue tried to process audio in a 2006 browser and could not make it fast enough. Tabtify needs no hardware: the player's own guitar and a phone recording are the input, and the browser plays the result.

Two things are newer. Open models for source separation and transcription can pull a guitar line out of a mixed recording, and an open-source notation library gives a full tab editor without building one. What stays the same is Jamglue's open question: much of what users want to convert is other people's recorded music, and the rights to tab of a published song belong to its publisher.

## Can one person copy Tabtify now?

**Verdict: The structure, yes. The niche is crowded.**

A free editor with a paid AI step, built on an open-source notation library and sold by subscription through a merchant of record, is a pattern one developer can build. Several AI tab tools already compete for the same search terms, so a copy needs a different instrument, a different input or a better editor.

1. Find an open-source library that already renders and plays the format your users need.
2. Make the editor and exports free, and charge for the AI step with a clear monthly limit.
3. Show the AI result in an editor so that users fix errors instead of leaving.
4. Use a merchant of record so that sales tax in many countries is not your work.

**What is still open.** Other instruments and formats: drum notation, piano sheet music from recordings, and parts for brass or strings from a band recording.

## What could go wrong for Tabtify?

- **What is not verified.** The revenue figure of US$5,000 a month (US$60,000 a year) rests on one source: the Arrfounder product page for Tabtify, last updated 9 August 2025. Arrfounder says it collects figures that founders post, mainly on X, and does not check them; its list of products from US$10,000 to US$100,000 a year shows the same US$5,000 a month for 11 products, so the figure may be a rounded value. The founder's own post was not found, and X could not be read. No payment-processor profile (for example on TrustMRR), interview or filing was found. The Tabtify pages read for this story name no founder and no company; the solo label rests on Arrfounder naming one founder. A reader could look for a verified revenue profile or a founder update.
- **Other people's music.** The product converts public links from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest, and its pages show users pulling songs from YouTube. The sources do not say how the audio of a link is fetched or whether the platforms allow it. Tab of a published song can be covered by the song's copyright; the site has a DMCA page with a designated copyright agent and says it terminates repeat infringers.
- **Testimonials without names.** The home page shows short quotes under usernames and roles such as "leo_t, Bedroom producer" and "tommy_and_dad, Beginner", not linked reviews. The user and tab counters are the company's own claims. One quote, from a busker, says the product "Paid for itself in one busy afternoon"; no income figure is given.
- **Depends on unnamed AI models.** No source names the models that separate the guitar from the mix or write the tab, so the cost per conversion and the risk of a provider change are unknown. The cut of the Pro limit to 100 conversions for new subscriptions from 26 October 2026 suggests conversions have a real cost.
- **Competition.** AI tab tools are many and easy to find; on this site ToneAdapt (a guitar tone-matching app) and SoundBoost.ai (AI audio mastering) sell to the same players, and free tab archives and the paid Guitar Pro editor serve the same need.

## Sources

1. Arrfounder product page: Tabtify, $5K/mo, last updated 9 August 2025 — https://arrfounder.com/product/tabtify (grade D). Read in full, 6 November 2026. A directory of founder-posted figures. Source for the monthly and yearly revenue and the founder name and handle.
2. Tabtify home page, read 6 November 2026 — https://tabtify.com/ (grade C). Read in full, including its embedded offer data. Source for the product, inputs, exports, prices, user and tab counters, testimonials and conversion pages.
3. Tabtify terms of service, read 6 November 2026 — https://tabtify.com/terms (grade C). Read in full. Source for Polar as merchant of record, the refund promise, the plan limits, the 26 October 2026 change and the former Lifetime plan.
4. Tabtify Copyright and DMCA policy, read 6 November 2026 — https://tabtify.com/dmca (grade C). Read the section on notices and the designated agent.
5. Internet Archive copy of tabtify.com, 14 February 2025 — https://web.archive.org/web/20250214153041/https://tabtify.com/ (grade C). Read the title; the page loads its content by script. The earliest archived copy, used as the launch date.
6. Arrfounder list: products from US$10K to US$100K ARR — https://arrfounder.com/products/10k-to-100k-arr (grade D). Read in full, downloaded 6 November 2026 by the pipeline. Shows the same US$5K a month value for 11 listed products.
7. Database of failed startups, local export — /method/#dead (grade C). Local export. AI-written summaries, not independently verified. Source for the failed predecessors.

Contact: aiolum@livyden.com. Run Tabtify? Send corrections or a verified figure to aiolum@livyden.com (subject: Correction: Tabtify).