Best free online tuners: how to choose one

The best online tuner is the one that gives a steady reading for your instrument on the device you practise with. Most free browser tuners work the same way, so try two or three in your own room and keep the one whose needle settles fastest.

How a browser tuner works

A browser tuner listens through your device's microphone. Your browser asks for permission first, and the page needs that permission to hear anything. The tuner estimates the pitch of the note you play, names the nearest note and shows how many cents sharp or flat you are. A cent is a hundredth of a semitone.

Because it relies on the microphone, background noise, a quiet instrument or a phone held far away can make the reading jump. A clip-on tuner, which senses vibration through the headstock, copes better with a noisy room or a stage.

What to check before you pick one

• Low notes: play your lowest string and see whether the reading holds still. Low E on a guitar is about 82 Hz and on a bass about 41 Hz, and a small phone or laptop microphone often picks these up weakly.
• Instrument presets: a guitar, bass, ukulele or violin preset shows the target note for each string, which is quicker than reading a chromatic display.
• A cents display: a needle or number that shows how far off you are, not just a sharp or flat light.
• Reference tones: a held note you can tune to by ear, which helps when the room is too noisy for the microphone.
• Adjustable A4: useful if your band or recording uses A = 442 Hz or another reference instead of 440.
• What it asks of you: whether you need an account, and whether ads cover the display.

Free online tuners to try

SuperTime Ultra makes the first tuner below, so treat this as our description of our own tool. Instruments and features on other sites change, so check them directly.

• SuperTime Ultra tuner: microphone pitch detection with a cents meter; presets for guitar, bass, ukulele and violin plus a chromatic mode; reference tones that keep sounding until you stop them; A4 adjustable from 420 to 460 Hz; and a printable tuning sheet. No account and no ads.
• Fender online tuner: a free guitar tuner on the Fender website.
• musicca tuner: a free tuner on the musicca site, which also has other music tools.

Getting an accurate reading

1. Find the quietest spot you can and turn off fans or music.
2. Hold the phone or laptop close to the soundhole or amp.
3. Play one string at a time and let it ring.
4. Tune up to the note from below. If you go sharp, drop below and come back up.
5. Check every string again once you have been round them all, because changing one can pull the others slightly.

Prefer a tuner in your pocket?

Tune Right is our private, offline iPhone tuner with Guided Tuning, alternate tunings and a high-contrast Stage Mode.

Practise your timing too

The same toolkit also includes a browser metronome, polyrhythm generator, ear-training games and shareable drills.