Henle Library vs Sibelius
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Henle Library
Access high-quality digital Urtext editions of classical music scores on your tablet. Practice, rehearse, and perform with a range of interactive features designed for musicians of all levels. Enjoy annotations, metronome, playback, and more.
- Digital Urtext editions
- Customizable score purchases
- Print and export PDFs
- Score modification and annotations
- Metronome and recording
- Part and score switching
- Explanatory notes access
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“With the Henle Library app a new era begins for classical musicians.” Daniel Hope An indispensable app for professional musicians, amateurs, students and teachers. The Henle Library app delivers G. Henle Publishers’ reliable Urtext editions straight to your tablet. You can practise, rehearse and make music – whenever and wherever you like. And you can enjoy the many unique features of Henle’s digital scores. Features: - Filter Henle Urtext according to your individual needs and purchase as required (individual part, single movement, bundles etc.) - Free version available for music students (licences for music colleges) - Print, export PDFs, share - Modify the score to suit your needs - Superimpose alternative professional fingerings (or choose “No fingerings”) - Unlimited possibilities for your own annotations - Easily switch between the part and the score at exactly the same measure - Open explanatory notes (footnotes, Critical Report etc.) at the appropriate place in the score - Record and play back your own recordings - Use the integrated metronome - Navigate extremely rapidly - Create and use playlists Do you like our app? Please consider writing a review. Thank you!
Sibelius
Professional music notation software is now available on mobile devices. Create, edit, and hear your compositions anywhere with a full suite of tools optimized for touch and stylus input. Seamlessly sync across platforms and access different feature tiers to suit your needs.
- Professional music notation
- Cross-platform synchronization
- High-quality sample library
- Apple Pencil and touch optimization
- Innovative note entry
- Command Search functionality
- Scalable subscription tiers
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Sibelius brings professional music notation to iPad and iPhone, putting the workflows used by countless composers, orchestrators, and arrangers at your fingertips. Seamlessly move between iPad, iPhone and desktop, and from studio to coffeeshop to scoring stage, and write anywhere inspiration strikes. # Work on scores anywhere Sibelius for mobile puts the #1 selling music notation program at your fingertips—literally. Work with the same tools and features used by countless composers and production houses every day on your iPad and iPhone. Whether writing down ideas, creating full-blown compositions, or reviewing scores, you have the freedom to create wherever you’re comfortable. #Take your portfolio to go Forget having to bring and break out your laptop when meeting with clients and collaborators. Instead, you can conveniently take the world’s most powerful notation toolset and your entire music portfolio with you wherever you go—ideal for those unexpected opportunities. And for tandemly working through last-minute revisions. # Hear your music in stunning detail Sibelius includes a high-quality sample library filled with a variety of musical instrumentation, so you can hear what your music will sound like when performed by real musicians. The Espressivo advanced notation interpretation even lets you adjust rhythm and swing to create a more humanistic feel. # Speed your workflow Sibelius for mobile is designed to take full advantage of Apple Pencil and iPad touch capabilities. Its elegant, streamlined interface provides the most intuitive and efficient workflows possible while supporting the same keyboard shortcuts you know and love from working on the desktop version, so you’ll feel right at home. # Get innovative note entry Experience the pen and paper workflow reimagined. Enter notes with the onscreen Keypad or a keyboard, and Sibelius takes care of all note layout. Touch a note and drag up or down to change its value, or drag left or right to add a flat or sharp. With an Apple Pencil, tap a note and tilt up or down to add a flat or sharp, or tilt left or right to choose the note value. # Have everything you need In addition to the Keypad, Sibelius for mobile features a Create menu that’s optimized for iOS, making it easy to add clefs, key signatures, time signatures, barlines, symbols, text styles, and more to your score from searchable galleries. You can also quickly search through all Sibelius commands using the Command Search, putting the entire app at your fingertips. # Move tiers to meet needs Sibelius is designed to grow with you to support your creative aspirations and project needs. From the introductory (and free) Sibelius First to the industry-standard Sibelius Ultimate, you can add more notation capabilities and instrument parts to take on more creative opportunities by simply upgrading your subscription tier. # Have everything on one creative platform Seamlessly move from desktop to tablet and back without ever having to import or export files. That’s because whether on mobile or desktop, you’re always in Sibelius. With files saved to iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, or other iOS-supported cloud service, you have easy anywhere access to all your ideas and scores. # Enable a hybrid workflow While Sibelius for mobile is fully featured, providing many of the same tools as its desktop counterpart, there are some notation and layout features only available in the desktop version, making it an integral part of a complete workflow (compare versions). Plus, the mobile version comes free with the desktop version, enabling you to work where and how you want.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Sibelius at 4.2 against Henle Library's 3.0. Sibelius also leads on ratings volume (1.8K vs 94) and iOS requirement (13.4 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Henle Library sells 8 one-off in-app purchases and Sibelius sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Sibelius holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sibelius has 1.8K ratings behind it against 94, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 35% and 36% positive.
Henle Library ships an update every 3 months, Sibelius every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 22, 2026.
| Parameter | Henle Library | Sibelius |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (94 ratings) | 4.2 (1.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 34.7% of reviews | 35.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 94 | 1.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 54 MB | 1.4 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Guenter Henle Verlag | Avid® |
Customer experience
Henle Library
Sibelius
User reviews
Henle Library
From 94 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📚 High-quality Henle urtext editions
- ✏️ Annotation and marking capabilities
- 🎵 Beautiful score formatting and rendering
- 🎚️ Customizable spacing and sizing options
- 🎹 Multiple fingering/bowing variants available
Room to improve
- 🐛 Annotations frequently disappear or get lost
- ✏️ Eraser function unreliable and non-intuitive
- 🖊️ Apple Pencil annotation tools difficult to use
- 📖 Multi-movement scores split into individual pieces
- 🖨️ Poor print quality with severe aliasing
Sibelius
From 1.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use and intuitive
- 🚀 Useful for composing on the go
- 💡 Good for making quick edits to existing scores
- 🎨 Stylish and professional-looking app
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes frequently
- 🔒 Difficulty unlocking full version and accessing features
- 💰 Subscription service is very expensive
- 🔇 Limited sound library and poor playback quality
- 📁 Unreliable saving and file management
Bugs and requests
Henle Library
Reported bugs
20 issues- Annotations deleted after app updates or restarts
- Eraser function fails to remove marks consistently
- Marks don't record when crossing between staff lines
- App crashes when opening purchased scores
- Purchased scores disappear from library
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- Blank pages appear when turning pages
- App freezes during export to PDF
- Infinite loading screen in online store
- Confirmation emails for credit purchases don't arrive
- App takes 40+ seconds to start
- Scores don't load immediately after purchase
- Annotation dots appear randomly when lifting pen
- Fingering annotations shrink in upper ledger lines
- Score skips to random pages during performance
- Export PDF quality is low resolution and fuzzy
- Annotation layer prevents writing in certain areas
- Zoom function jumps back to start of page
- Eraser requires tapping far from annotation to delete
- Palm rejection fails with Apple Pencil
- Print layout produces single-line pages for multi-movement pieces
Requested features
20 requests- Undo/redo functionality for annotations
- Ability to print entire multi-movement pieces together
- Half-page turning option for performers
- Playlist or collection grouping system
- Individual score parts (not just full scores)
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- Better annotation layer management
- Improved Apple Pencil support and sensitivity
- Customizable eraser behavior
- Page turn animation or visual cues
- Ability to hide specific staves or parts
- Microphone-activated page turning commands
- Difficulty ratings visible before purchase
- Digital-physical score bundling/discounts
- Better search and filtering in store
- Support for foot pedal page turners
- Ability to import scores from other sources
- Multiple annotation layers with visibility toggle
- Customizable metronome settings
- Landscape orientation improvements
- Persistent user settings and preferences
Sibelius
Reported bugs
4 issues- Scores disappearing or not saving properly
- Subscription issues and inability to log in
- Crashes when performing basic actions
- Compatibility problems with newer iPad OS versions
Requested features
7 requests- Ability to enlarge chord symbols
- More time signature options
- Support for MIDI input
- Better Apple Pencil integration
- Autosave and improved file management
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- Export options like MusicXML and PDF
- Customizable shortcuts and toolbars
In-app purchases
Henle Library
- 10 Credits$0.99
- 22 Credits$1.99
- 55 Credits2 variants$5.99
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- 100 Credits2 variants$9.99
- 200 Credits2 variants$19.99
- 300 Credits$29.99
- 500 Credits$49.99
- 1000 Credits$79.99
Sibelius
- Sibelius Artist for iOS1 Month trial$5.991 Month
- Sibelius Ultimate for iOS1 Month trial$12.991 Month









