Fender Play vs Pickup Music
Quick take: Fender Play — Polished, bite-size lessons for complete beginners. Pickup Music — Modern, structured pathways — details to verify. Confirm all “to verify” items before paying.
Fender Play
| Price (monthly) | $19.99/month |
|---|---|
| Price (annual) | $149.99/year ($12.50/month billed annually); annual members get 10% off Fender gear |
| Lesson count | Thousands of lessons (product page; no exact count stated) and 1,000s of songs |
| Trial | 7-day free trial on monthly plan; 14-day free trial on annual plan (new members; auto-rolls to paid unless cancelled) |
| Refund | No refunds for partial subscription periods — monthly and annual terms state refunds cannot be claimed for a partial period; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing cycle (Fender Play Terms of Use) |
| Styles | beginner fundamentals, songs and riffs — genre list to verify |
| Levels | beginner, intermediate |
| Instruments | guitar, bass, ukulele (per Fender Play annual-plan page) |
| Best for | beginners, kids (with parent check — to verify) |
Pickup Music
| Price (monthly) | $29.99/month charged monthly |
|---|---|
| Price (annual) | $179.99 charged yearly ($14.99/month, 'Save 50%') |
| Lesson count | 1,000+ lessons (gift page; older Pickup pages stated 500+ — library grows, count checked 2026-10-17) |
| Trial | 14-day free trial ('Try free for 14 days. Easy to cancel any time.') |
| Refund | 60-day satisfaction guarantee ('Improve your playing or get your money back') |
| Styles | beginner pathways, jazz, rock, neo soul, funk (pathway names on homepage) |
| Levels | beginner, late beginner, intermediate, late intermediate |
| Instruments | guitar, bass, piano |
| Best for | structured learners (to verify) |
Which should you pick?
- Pick Fender Play if you are: beginners, kids (with parent check — to verify).
- Pick Pickup Music if you are: structured learners (to verify).
Our verdict
Fender Play to begin cheaply and simply; Pickup Music for structured progression with feedback as you improve.
Fender Play costs less ($19.99/$149.99 vs $29.99/$179.99) and targets beginners, but offers no partial-period refunds. Pickup trials longer (14 days vs 7 on Fender monthly), guarantees 60 days, and adds graded pathways plus 1-on-1 feedback for guitar, bass and piano with 1,000+ lessons. Editorial recommendation based on price/features only - not hands-on testing.