Gig, band and website tools
OnSong on the iPad, GigTag on the mic stand
A lounge or restaurant gig asks you to read the room without stopping the music. GigTag lets the room tell you: one code on the mic stand for song requests, your next date and a booking enquiry form, opened in the browser. If you were looking at OnSong for your charts, this is the companion that sits beside the iPad and talks to the tables.
- No app for your audience
- Free to start
- One code that never changes
Why GigTag
What GigTag gives an OnSong player at the gig
OnSong is built for reading and performing music from a screen. GigTag is built for the people you are performing to. It needs no screen at all: a printed tag, one permanent code, and a page that handles requests, residencies, links and enquiries while your hands stay on the instrument.
- 1
Requests without leaving the piano
On Pro, guests scan the tag and choose from your song list, and each request joins a live queue on your phone. Nobody has to cross the room or interrupt a song. OnSong is built to put the chart in front of you. GigTag tells you which chart the table by the window is hoping for.
- 2
Regulars who know your night
A residency works when people come back. Your weekly residencies and one-off gigs are on your page, on the free plan, and guests add them to their calendars from the scan. The code is the same every week, so a regular can scan it again to see what else you are playing.
- 3
Private bookings from the tables
Hotel and restaurant audiences include people planning dinners, weddings and company events. The booking enquiry form on your page lets them ask from their seat, and GigTag takes no commission on bookings. On Pro, you can follow up with an invoice in your own design, paid online.
- 4
Tips with nothing taken
Guests can tip by card or Apple Pay from the same page, on Pro. The money goes into your own Ziina account in the UAE, or your own Stripe account elsewhere, and GigTag takes 0%. Tips and everything else on the page work wherever you play.
- 5
Nothing to charge or mount
The tag is print, not hardware. It shares the stand with your iPad holder and needs no power, pairing or attention during the set. You manage the page from the website or the GigTag phone app, so the iPad stays on OnSong the whole night.
In short
OnSong and GigTag, in four lines
- OnSong puts chord charts and sheet music on your iPad, iPhone or Mac for performing.
- GigTag gives the room one code: requests, your residency dates, your links and a booking form.
- Guests scan with a camera and the page opens in the browser, with no app or account.
- Our recommendation: charts on the iPad, a GigTag on the stand, at every gig you play.
Side by side
GigTag vs OnSong, topic by topic
Your charts
Keep OnSong for charts. GigTag adds the request list.
GigTag shows no charts. It holds a song list for the audience to request from, managed on the website or the app.
OnSongIts site describes storing and sorting songs in libraries and collections, with transposing, capo settings, chord diagrams and number systems.
Hands and feet
A printed tag with nothing to operate
There is nothing to operate on the tag. The audience does the scanning, and you look at the request queue when it suits you.
OnSongIts site lists foot pedals, navigation zones, hot corners, shortcuts and audio triggers for moving through the set without touching the page.
The rest of the band
One page for the whole act
Band members can join the band on GigTag, and the audience sees one page for the whole act, whoever is playing.
OnSongIts site describes sharing with a team and controlling other devices, so the players can all stay on the same song.
What the room sees
Requests, dates, links and a booking form
The room sees your page on their own phones: requests, your next gig and residencies, your links and a booking enquiry form.
OnSongLyrics can be sent to a projector, stage monitors or a cast screen, for audiences or players who sing along.
Being paid
Invoices on Pro, and tips with 0% taken
On Pro you can invoice clients in your own design and be paid online. Tips work in every country, and GigTag takes 0%.
OnSongSee its site for how it handles this.
The quick view
| GigTag | OnSong | |
|---|---|---|
| A QR code your audience scans | Yes, one that never changes | – |
| Song requests from the crowd | Yes, on Pro | – |
| Tips by card or Apple Pay | Yes, on Pro, into your own Ziina or Stripe. GigTag takes 0% | – |
| Booking enquiries | Yes, on the free plan | – |
| Your gigs and weekly residencies | Yes, on the free plan | – |
| Invoices for bookings | Yes, on Pro | – |
| A printed tag for your mic stand | Yes, in your own design | – |
| Works without an app for the audience | Yes, it opens in the browser | – |
A dash means we did not confirm it for OnSong, not that it is missing: see what OnSong offers above, or ask on its site.
OnSong or GigTag
Where GigTag is different from OnSong
Reading the chart, reading the room
OnSong tells you what the next chord is. GigTag tells you what the audience wants next. On the Pro plan, people scan the tag, pick from your song list, or ask for anything if you open requests, and the request joins a live queue on your phone. If the song is in your OnSong library, the chart is already there. You only have to say yes.
No app for the audience
OnSong is an app you install and set up with care, because you rely on it for the whole show. Your audience will not do that for one evening. A GigTag asks nothing of them: scan the code and the page opens in the browser. No download, no account. That matters when the person scanning is at table six with a drink in one hand.
Bookings from the people watching
A good chart gets you through the song. The next job comes from the people listening. Your GigTag page carries a booking enquiry form, so the guest who likes your second set can ask about their own event before they leave. It also lists your next gig and weekly residencies, which they can add to their calendar. Enquiries wait for you on the GigTag website or app.
A night with GigTag
A duo's Thursday in a Dubai hotel lounge
You play the same lounge every Thursday, piano and voice, with charts on the iPad. The tag sits on the vocal mic stand, facing the tables. Guests come and go, so you mention it once an hour. They scan it, your page opens in the browser, and they look through the song list. On Pro, each request joins the live queue on your phone. The page also lets them leave a tip by card or Apple Pay, which here in the UAE goes to your own Ziina account. GigTag takes 0% of it.
A hotel guest on a short stay scans the tag to follow you and listen to your music links later. A regular adds your Thursday residency to their calendar so they stop missing it. Near the end of the night someone planning a private dinner sends a booking enquiry from their table. You see it in the GigTag app after the last song. The tag stays in your gig bag with the iPad, and it comes out again next Thursday with the same code.
About OnSong
What is OnSong?
OnSong puts interactive chord charts and sheet music on an iPad, iPhone or Mac, in place of the paper binder. Its site speaks to singers and songwriters, worship musicians, music therapists and entertainers. Songs are kept in libraries and collections, and each chart can be transposed, given a capo setting, reformatted and marked up with notes and drawings, so the page you read on stage is the one you prepared.
On a gig you move through the set with a foot pedal or a tap on the screen. The app can run backing tracks, a click or a visual metronome, and send lyrics to a projector or stage monitor. For bigger shows its site describes MIDI automation and lighting cues tied to songs. A library can also be viewed and edited in a web browser, and one device can control others in the band.
- Where
- Worldwide
- Website
- onsongapp.com
How OnSong works
- 1
Bring your charts in. You import songs or write them in the app's own editor, then file them in libraries and collections. Its site describes it as the digital form of the paper binder musicians used to carry.
- 2
Shape each chart. Each song can be transposed, given a capo position and reformatted to read clearly. Sticky notes, clips and drawings mark the things you need to remember on stage.
- 3
Perform from the screen. During the set you move between songs with foot pedals, on-screen navigation zones or shortcuts. Backing tracks, a click and a visual metronome can run from the same app.
- 4
Share with the band. Its site describes team sharing, control of other devices in the band, lyrics sent to projectors and stage monitors, and a library you can view and edit in a web browser.
Who OnSong is for
Singers and songwriters. Performers who write and play their own material. Its site points to built-in editors for getting a song down quickly and then performing it from the same screen, with charts that can be reshaped as the song changes.
Worship teams. Church music teams choosing songs and preparing for a service together. Its site names worship musicians as one of its main groups and describes tools for selecting songs and working as a team from one week to the next.
Entertainers with a full show. Acts running lights, tracks and lyrics video. Its site describes MIDI control, lighting integration and lyrics projection for entertainers, so the technical side of a show can be tied to each song in the set.
The verdict
GigTag or OnSong: which should you choose?
The bottom line
If you perform for an audience, add GigTag to the stand that already holds your iPad. The strongest reason is that it lets guests take part without interrupting you: a scan, a request in your live queue, a residency saved to a calendar, an enquiry sent from a table. OnSong remains the right tool for charts, tracks and stage control, and GigTag does none of that. They are two halves of one well-run gig.
Most acts who use OnSong would lose nothing and gain a channel to the audience by adding a GigTag. OnSong stays on the iPad for charts and tracks. GigTag stays on the stand for requests, dates, links and enquiries. Keep the song list on your GigTag page to songs you have charts for and every request stays playable.
- Step 1
List what you chart
Look through your OnSong library and note the songs you would play on request. Add those titles, and only those, to your GigTag song list.
- Step 2
Set the stand up once
Put the iPad holder and the tag on the same stand, with the tag facing the audience. Keep your phone within reach for the request queue.
- Step 3
Check between songs
After each song, look at the queue, pick a request and open its chart in OnSong. Mention the tag again when new people arrive in the room.
Choose GigTag if
You want one permanent code that lets the audience request songs, follow you and book you. GigTag does not display charts.
Start freeOnSong may still suit you if
You read chord charts or sheet music from an iPad, iPhone or Mac while you play.
GigTag FreeYour page, your tag design, every gig and residency, a booking form. One act.
GigTag ProSong requests, tips, invoices, more than one act. AED 30, £11.99 or $15.99 a month.
GigTag Printed tagFrom AED 100 in the UAE, £24.99 in the UK or €28.99 in the EU, delivered free, with a large size for more; $32.99 elsewhere, plus postage from the UK. Or print your own, anywhere, for free.
Is GigTag better than OnSong for a duo with a residency?
They do different jobs, and a residency needs the one OnSong is not built for: contact with the audience. GigTag shows guests your weekly residency to save, takes requests into a live queue on Pro and carries a booking enquiry form. Keep OnSong for the charts. Add GigTag so the people at the tables can respond.
Why put a GigTag next to my iPad when OnSong already runs my set?
Because running the set and reaching the audience are separate things. OnSong looks after what you play. GigTag gives listeners one scan, with no app, to request a song, follow your links, save your next date or ask about a booking. The free plan covers the tag, page, gigs and enquiry form for one act.
Is GigTag an OnSong alternative?
No. If you are searching for another chord chart or sheet music app, GigTag is not one. It is a QR tag for your mic stand that opens your act's page for the audience: song requests, next gigs, links and a booking enquiry form. It works beside OnSong, not in place of it.
Can I take song requests while using OnSong?
Yes, with GigTag running alongside. Requests are part of GigTag Pro. Fans scan your tag and choose from your song list, or request anything if you open requests. You see them in a live queue on the GigTag app or website, then call up the chart in OnSong as usual. The two are separate products.
OnSong is on my iPad. What does GigTag run on?
You manage GigTag from its website or the GigTag phone app, so it can sit on your phone while OnSong has the iPad. The audience needs nothing installed: the QR code opens your page in their browser. The tag itself is a small printed piece for the mic stand, in your own design.
I use OnSong with two different acts. Can GigTag cover both?
Yes. GigTag's free plan covers one act. Pro adds more than one act on one account, so a solo set and a band can sit side by side. Pro is AED 30 a month in the UAE, £11.99 in the UK and $15.99 elsewhere. The printed code never changes, even if you rename the act.
What should a duo with a hotel residency put on the mic stand?
Something guests can act on without interrupting you. A GigTag gives them one code: they can request a song on Pro, see that you are back every week and save the date, follow your links or send a booking enquiry. They can also tip by card or Apple Pay, and GigTag takes 0%.
Can I show a weekly residency so regulars know when I play?
Yes. GigTag lists weekly residencies as well as one-off gigs, and both are included on the free plan. Anyone who scans your tag sees them on your page and can add a date to their phone's calendar. The code on the tag stays the same, so regulars can scan it any week.
Is OnSong only for iPad?
Its site presents OnSong for iPad, iPhone and Mac, and says a library can also be viewed and edited in a modern web browser. For anything beyond that, see its site. GigTag is not tied to a device in the same way: you manage it on the website or the phone app, and the audience uses a browser.
Do tips through GigTag work outside the UAE?
Yes. Outside the UAE, tips go into the performer's own Stripe account, and in the UAE into their own Ziina account. GigTag takes 0% of them. Everything else works in every country too: the tag, your page, song requests, gigs and residencies, links, booking enquiries and invoices.
Looking for OnSong itself?
This page is GigTag's. OnSong's sign-in, prices, reviews and support are on its own site.
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OnSong is the name of its owner's product; GigTag is not connected with it. What is said about OnSong here comes from its own public website, checked on 7 October 2026. Products change: if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
For musicians
One code on your stand. Requests, tips and the next gig behind it.
No app for your audience, nothing to download. Free to start.