Hook vs Hookpad vs Captain Chords: Songwriting Tools Compared (2026)

Hookpad is a browser sketchpad where you write chords and melody by scale degree, with a free tier and a deep library of song analyses (TheoryTab). Captain Chords is a plugin inside Mixed In Key's Captain Plugins bundle that builds chord progressions in your DAW, with sister plugins for melody, bass and drums. Hook starts from a melody you hum or play and writes chords, bass, a counter-melody and drums around it in one of twelve genres, for €59. Pick Hookpad to learn and sketch theory-first, Captain Chords to build progressions inside your DAW, and Hook to turn an idea you can sing into a full loop.

Hook vs Hookpad vs Captain Chords at a glance

What Hookpad does well

Hookpad is the best of the three for learning why songs work. You write in scale degrees and Roman numerals on a colour-coded grid, so you see the function of every chord, and smart guides suggest what fits next. It's connected to TheoryTab, a large library of popular songs transcribed in the same notation, so you can open a hit, see its chords and melody, and borrow the idea. The free tier includes chords and melody, transposition and unlimited cloud saves; Standard adds export and more tools, and an optional AI assistant (Aria) is available as an add-on.

What Captain Chords does well

Captain Chords lives in your DAW. Choose a key, build a progression from chords in that key, and use its variation and rhythm tools to change voicings and patterns quickly. As part of the Captain Plugins bundle it links with Captain Melody, Deep (bass), Beat and Play, so melodies and basslines follow your chords, and it comes with a large set of built-in instruments. It suits producers who want to build a progression first and stay inside their session.

What Hook does well

Hook starts with your idea instead of theory. Tap Hum and sing two to four bars, play it on a keyboard, or let Hook write a hook for you. It finds the key, picks chords that fit your melody in the language of your genre (pop, trap, R&B and neo-soul, EDM and house, lo-fi, drill, afrobeats, cinematic, rock, dubstep, jazz or gospel), and writes a bassline, a counter-melody and drums around it. Draw the emotion curve from calm to peak and the harmony and energy follow. It plays through our own instrument engines, and every part drags into your DAW as MIDI.

Where Hookpad and Captain Chords are stronger

• Hookpad: learning and analysis. TheoryTab shows how real songs are built, which Hook doesn't offer.
• Hookpad: a free tier that runs in any browser with no install.
• Captain Chords: hands-on progression building with chord variations and rhythm tools, chord by chord.
• Captain Plugins: a bundle of melody, bass, drum and performance plugins that work together.

Where Hook is stronger

• Hum to song: it harmonises a melody you sing, so you don't need to know any chord names.
• A whole band in one step: chords, bass, counter-melody and drums written around your melody, not on top of it.
• Genre language: each of the twelve genres has its own progressions, voicings, bass style and drums.
• Emotion curve that shapes verse-to-chorus lift.
• Try it free: our chord progression generator runs the same engine in your browser.

Which should you choose?

• You want to learn music theory and study hit songs: Hookpad.
• You want to build progressions chord by chord inside your DAW: Captain Chords.
• You hear melodies in your head and want a full loop around them: Hook.

Whatever you use, the songwriting process in how to write a hit song applies, and our chord pages by mood, such as emotional and sad progressions, give you starting points.

Try Hook in your browser