Looking for a free online guitar tuner? There are bucket-loads of them out there, and most look pretty much the same until you actually try to use one.
So I tested the popular ones on my laptop and my phone to see which actually pick up your guitar through the mic, which work in a phone browser, and which are worth bookmarking.
Quick picks:
- Best all-rounder: Guitar-Tuner.org. Works with your mic on desktop and phone, detects which string you’re playing, offers 20 tunings, and has a tune-by-ear mode.
- Best for alternate tunings: ProGuitar. Over 100 tunings, all free, but it only works in a desktop browser.
- Best for tuning by ear: Fender. There’s no mic support, but it plays reference notes for 16 guitar tunings, plus tunings for bass and ukulele.
- Simplest: TrueFire. Pluck a string and wait for the green dot.
All eight are free and run in your browser. If you want something more reliable for gigs or noisy rooms, check out my guide to the best guitar tuners instead.
| Tuner | Mic on desktop | Mic in phone browser | Tune by ear | Tuning presets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guitar-Tuner.org | Yes | Yes | Yes | 20 |
| ProGuitar | Yes | No (app only) | Yes | 100+ |
| Fender | No | No (app only) | Yes | 16 for guitar |
| TrueFire | Yes | Yes | No | Chromatic |
| GuitarTuna | Yes | Yes | Yes | Standard only (more if you pay) |
| Guitar Tricks | Yes | Yes | No | Chromatic |
| Online Guitar Tuner | Yes | Yes | Yes (standard only) | Chromatic |
| Drumbot | Yes | Yes | No | Chromatic |
“Chromatic” means there are no presets, but the tuner reads any note, so it works with any tuning as long as you know the notes you’re aiming for.
The 8 Best Free Online Guitar Tuners
All you need for these is a web browser. Most of them listen through your device’s mic, and several also let you tune by ear instead. They’re a handy quick fix if you can’t use an app store, or just don’t want yet another app clogging up your phone.
I tested each one on my laptop, using its built-in webcam mic, and in my phone’s browser. They’re in the same order as the table above, starting with my quick picks.
Guitar-Tuner.org (Best All-Rounder)
Guitar-Tuner.org has a clean, modern look and does exactly what you need without any fuss. It works with your mic on desktop and in a phone browser, and it covers 6-string acoustic and electric guitar, bass, and ukulele.
Auto mode is the highlight. It listens through your mic, works out which string you’re playing, and gives you an audio alert when you hit the right pitch, so you don’t have to keep staring at the screen.
If your mic is being difficult, there’s also a “by-ear” mode that repeats each string’s note every couple of seconds so you can match it.
It now offers 20 tunings, including standard, which covers most of what you’re likely to need. If you want even more, ProGuitar has a much bigger list, although it only works on desktop.
Simple, accurate, and the one I’d bookmark first.
ProGuitar (Best for Alternate Tunings)
If you spend much time outside standard tuning, ProGuitar is the one to bookmark. It has over 100 tunings, and unlike some tuners on this list, none of them are hidden behind a paywall.
It works through your mic, and you can choose how you want to see the reading, with needle, digital, and note wheel displays. There’s also a by-ear mode if you’d rather tune to a reference note.
The catch is that it’s desktop only. It doesn’t work in a phone browser at all, so if you want it on your phone, you’ll need to download the ProGuitar app.
For alternate tunings on a laptop, nothing else here comes close.
Fender (Best for Tuning by Ear)
Fender’s online tuner doesn’t use your mic at all. You click a string, it plays the note, and you tune by ear until you match it.
That sounds like a step backward, but it’s actually really good at it. The notes sustain for a long time, and there’s a loop option so you can keep the note playing while you adjust the tuning peg, rather than clicking it over and over.
It has 16 tunings for guitar, plus 6 for bass and 8 for ukulele. There’s no custom option, but the presets cover most of the common ones.
If you want mic tuning, you’ll need to download the free Fender Tune app.
It’s the best option here for training your ear, and handy if your mic is too poor for the other tuners to pick up a clean signal.
TrueFire (Simplest)
TrueFire’s tuner is about as simple as it gets. Allow mic access, pluck a string, and the light goes green when you’re in tune. It works on desktop and in a phone browser, with no download or sign-up.
It’s a chromatic tuner, so there are no tuning presets or “by-ear” mode. It reads whatever note you play, which means it’ll handle any tuning as long as you know the notes you’re aiming for.
If you’re just starting out and want something that won’t overwhelm you, this is a good pick. And if you want to learn something once you’re in tune, you can check out TrueFire’s lessons here.
GuitarTuna (Best for Alternate Tunings)
If you’ve used the GuitarTuna app, the web version will look familiar, but it’s a stripped-back taster. You get 6-string guitar in standard tuning, and that’s it.
Tap to tune, allow mic access, and pluck a string. It shows you which note it’s hearing and whether you’re too high or too low, with an audio cue when you’re spot on. If your mic isn’t cooperating, there are reference tones so you can tune by ear. There’s no sign-up needed either.
The catch is that it really, really wants you to pay. Over 100 tunings and a bunch of other features are locked behind a paid plan, and between the banners, the free trial buttons, and the upgrade prompts, it’s a lot busier than the other tuners here. It’s a bit like being followed around a guitar store by a salesperson.
If you only need standard tuning, it works fine, but there are less pushy options on this list.
Guitar Tricks
Try Guitar Tricks’ Online Tuner
Guitar Tricks has a clean, uncluttered chromatic tuner that works through your mic on both desktop and phone, and it scales nicely on a smaller screen.
Like TrueFire, it’s purely chromatic. There are no tuning presets and no by-ear mode, but it reads any note you play, so it works with any tuning if you know your target notes.
There’s honestly not much to separate it from TrueFire. If one doesn’t pick up your mic well, try the other.
Online Guitar Tuner
Online Guitar Tuner does exactly what the name says. It has a big, easy-to-read needle display that works through your mic on desktop and in a phone browser.
It’s a chromatic tuner, so it’ll handle any tuning as long as you know your target notes. If your mic isn’t playing along, you can switch to tuning by ear, although that only covers standard tuning.
It’s not fancy, but the large display makes it easy to read from a few feet away, which helps if your laptop is on a desk and you’re sitting back with the guitar.
Drumbot
Drumbot is a simple chromatic tuner with a large, readable display. It shows how many cents sharp or flat you are, and you can switch between showing notes as sharps or flats.
It works through your mic on desktop and in a phone browser, but there’s a small quirk. After allowing mic access, you may need to refresh the page before it starts picking anything up. If it seems dead, try that before giving up on it.
There’s no by-ear mode and no tuning presets, but as a chromatic tuner, it’ll handle any tuning as long as you know your target notes.
If you feel that a good option is missing from this list, please send me an email! You can find the contact form in the footer below.
PS – Ever wondered why standard guitar tuning is EADGBE? Find out here!
How to Get an Accurate Reading From an Online Tuner
An online tuner is never going to be as accurate as a decent clip-on or pedal tuner, because it relies on whatever mic your device has. That said, when I checked these against my Snark headstock tuner, they got surprisingly close, even with my laptop’s fairly awful webcam mic.
A few things make a big difference:
- Check your mic permissions. If the tuner isn’t hearing anything, your browser may have blocked mic access for the site. Allow it, then refresh the page.
- Cut the background noise. TV, fans, people talking, the dog. The tuner hears all of it.
- Play one string at a time and let it ring. Mute the other strings so they don’t confuse the reading.
- Don’t dig in too hard. A heavy pick attack pushes the note sharp for a moment, which makes the reading jump around.
- Get close to the mic. Hold an acoustic near your phone or laptop. With an electric, either play it unplugged right next to the mic or through your amp on a clean sound. Distortion and effects add extra harmonics that throw the tuner off.
- Tune up to the note. If you’re sharp, drop below the note and bring it back up. The string tends to hold its pitch better that way.
- Go round twice. Tuning one string changes the tension on the neck slightly, so check all of them again once you’re done. This goes double if you have a floating tremolo.
If your mic still won’t play ball, use Fender’s tuner and do it by ear instead.
And if a string keeps drifting out of tune no matter what you do, the tuner probably isn’t the problem. If you’ve just restrung, new strings take a while to settle in, so check out my guide to stringing and tuning a left-handed guitar. If not, your guitar might be due a proper setup.
