Comparison

Notation Pad vs Piano2Notes

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Notation Pad

Create, edit, and play sheet music with this comprehensive notation editor. Compose original pieces, transcribe existing music, and even collaborate in real-time. Ideal for musicians of all levels, from beginners learning notes to experienced composers.

Highlights
  • Real-time collaborative editing
  • MusicXML, MIDI, PNG, and PDF export
  • High-quality playback sound
  • Support for up to 8 staves
  • Over 100 instrument sounds
  • Lyric editing
  • Multi-voice support
Features
Read full description

A sheet music creator and music notation editor on iOS. For any music lover or composer, Notation Pad gives you the ability to read, compose, edit, playback music scores and write lyrics. With it you can be a talented composer and great sheet music maker anywhere. As long as you have a little knowledge of sheet music, you can write music composition simply by touching and moving. You could use it as your songbook or scoresheet. It is also designed for a beginner who wants to learn music score, music notes and tablature. It can handle ensemble, choir or symphony score, also it supports for a single track piano score. With the help of it you could easily record the flashes of inspiration wherever they strike. Are you ready to compose music in a simple way? ----------------------- Features: -Realtime multi-person collaborative editing via SharePlay. -Export/Import the industry-popular MusicXML file format, allowing for exchanging sheet music with other software (Finale, Sibelius, Encore, MuseScore, etc). -Export MIDI file. -Export PNG image and PDF document. -High quality sound for playback. -Support editing up to 8 staff at the same time. -Support over 100 kinds of musical instrument. Piano, organ, guitar, violin, sax, flute, brass, bass, etc. -Support multi-voice. -A great lyric app. ----------------------- Supported notation: *A variety of music note types, from whole note to 128th note and dotted note *Chord, staff, track *Treble, alto and bass clef *Edit lyrics *A variety of time signatures *All standard key signatures *Adjustable tempo *All accidentals (sharps, flats, double sharps, double flats, and naturals) *Tie, slur, and tuplet *Many types of ornament *A wide range of dynamics ----------------------- UNLIMITED ACCESS SUBSCRIPTION - Support up to 8 staff - Config parts(add, delete, reorder) - Change key for each part - Change beat type and tempo - Config clef for each staff - Config sound for each part - No watermark image export - No Ads - Support 2nd voice part - Transpose instruments - Pickup bar - Import data file - Edit downloaded music score - Unlock all 100+ instruments - The subscription is $6.99 weekly with trial - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that service, where applicable - Terms of use: https://service.notationpad.com/terms_service.html

About

Piano2Notes

This app uses AI to convert piano recordings into sheet music. It provides playback of the transcribed score and allows export in various formats like PDF, MIDI, and MusicXML. Share your musical creations easily with others.

Highlights
  • Transcribe piano recordings to sheet music
  • View transcribed music as classical score
  • Playback sheet music
  • Download sheet as PDF, MIDI, or MusicXML
  • Share compositions
Read full description

» Transcribe piano recordings to sheet music » Transcribe piano MP3 files to sheet music » View the transcribed music as classical score » Playback the sheet music and listen to the result » Download sheet as PDF, MIDI, or MusicXML » Share your compositions with your friends HOW DOES IT FUNCTION? Once your music piece is uploaded, our artificial intelligence powered transcriber processes it to generate a sheet music based on what it hears. When the processing is finished, you get three outputs - a Midi file, a PDF engraved sheet, and a MusicXML digital note sheet. It has never been easier to convert piano pieces to sheet music! WHAT THIS APP DOESN'T OFFER » Separation of multiple instruments: The note recognition can't separate multiple instruments. If you record multiple instruments playing simultaneously you will get bad transcription results! As the name says, Piano2Notes will work only with piano recordings. » Live note recognition: This app is not able to show you live note recognition results. Instead, it will take some time to perform the frequency analysis and shows you the final sheet music. » 100% match percentage: This app won't detect 100% of the played notes and there will also be wrong detections. But depending on the quality of the input signal, it will give you more than useful sheet! REQUIREMENTS » Internet: active internet connection for server connectivity » Microphone SUMMARY Transcribe music recordings from your microphone to sheet music. With Piano2Notes you can create on-the-go recordings of your instrument. Those are uploaded to your personal songbook and transcribed to score. Musical note recognition for piano has never been so easy! CONTACT US We're always happy to hear from you. No matter what comes to your mind, we want to hear it. Would you like another feature? Does something not work as expected? Send us an e-mail at: support@piano2notes.com This app is actively developed and there are updates on a regular base The Apple Terms of Use apply: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Notation Pad4 screens
Piano2Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Piano2Notes at free with in-app purchases against Notation Pad's subscription. Notation Pad's advantage is review sentiment (56% vs 37%) and ratings volume (5.3K vs 294). On price, rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Notation Pad sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days and Piano2Notes sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Notation Pad against 4.3 for Piano2Notes. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notation Pad has 5.3K ratings behind it against 294, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 56% of Notation Pad's written reviews are positive against 37% of Piano2Notes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notation Pad ships an update monthly, Piano2Notes every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Notation Pad versus Piano2Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotation PadPiano2Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (5.3K ratings)4.3 (294 ratings)
Positive reviews55.9% of reviews — better36.6% of reviews
Number of ratings5.3K — better294
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size162 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer嵩 张Klangio GmbH

Customer experience

Notation Pad

All ratings5,264 ratings
Positive81.4%
Neutral5.7%
Negative12.9%
Written reviews465 reviews
Positive55.9%
Neutral8.6%
Negative35.5%

Piano2Notes

All ratings294 ratings
Positive81.3%
Neutral7.1%
Negative11.6%
Written reviews71 reviews
Positive36.6%
Neutral9.9%
Negative53.5%

User reviews

Notation Pad

From 5.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🎼 Good for basic music notation
  • 🎹 Helpful for piano/keyboard players

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Many features locked behind paywall
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🐛 Buggy and unstable at times
  • 📱 Limited functionality compared to desktop apps
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate and find features

Piano2Notes

From 294 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Dream come true app
  • 🎶 Accurate music transcription
  • 🎹 Converts music to piano sheet
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 💡 Great for composing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes frequently
  • ❌ PDF export issues
  • 📉 Inaccurate transcriptions
  • 💸 Subscription costs are high
  • 🚫 Cannot download anything

Bugs and requests

Notation Pad

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Subscription popup that cannot be closed
  • Instruments turning into drums unexpectedly
  • Inability to delete or modify certain elements

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more instrument options
  • Improve editing capabilities
  • Allow changing key signatures and time signatures without premium
  • Provide better tutorials and documentation
  • Fix issues with note placement and playback

Piano2Notes

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • App stops working
  • Desktop website doesn't work
  • App crashes when creating PDF
  • Subscription not recognized
  • App crashes when tapping download button
Show 12 more
  • Key not changing
  • Cannot download anything
  • PDF export issues
  • Subscription restore function doesn't work
  • Customer service not responding
  • App logs out and loses info
  • YouTube links not working
  • App crashes on PDF creation
  • Cannot fast forward
  • App doesn't open
  • Transcription speed mismatch
  • PDF export changes notes

Requested features

9 requests
  • Ability to edit notes
  • Improve general accuracy
  • Add enharmonic transposition option
  • Allow editing of transcribed music
  • Fix PDF export issues
Show 4 more
  • Add ability to use alternative sources (file, YouTube url)
  • Improve speed of transcription
  • Add dark mode
  • More flexible ticket system

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Notation Pad

Subscriptions2
  • Unlimited Access7 Days trial$6.997 Days
  • Unlimited Access Monthly$14.991 Month
One-time8
  • Guitar Instrument Group$0.99
  • Ensemble Instrument Group$0.99
  • Brass Instrument Group$0.99
Show 5 more
  • Reed Instrument Group$0.99
  • Pipe Instrument Group$0.99
  • Strings Instrument Group$1.99
  • All Instruments Pack$4.99
  • Extras Package$19.99
8 purchases

Piano2Notes

Subscriptions4
  • Piano2Notes Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Klangio Universe Monthly$24.991 Month
  • Piano2Notes Pro Yearly$99.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Klangio Universe Subscription$149.991 Year
One-time4
  • Single Token$2.99
  • 3 token package$5.99
  • 10 tokens package$9.99
Show 1 more
  • 50 Tokens Package$24.99

Questions

Is Notation Pad free?
Notation Pad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Piano2Notes free?
Piano2Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Notation Pad or Piano2Notes?
Notation Pad and Piano2Notes are both rated 4.3 out of 5 on the App Store, from 5.3K and 294 ratings respectively.
Do Notation Pad or Piano2Notes have ads?
Neither Notation Pad nor Piano2Notes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notation Pad or Piano2Notes?
Notation Pad ships an update monthly, and Piano2Notes every 6 weeks. Most recently, Notation Pad was updated on October 17, 2026 and Piano2Notes on October 14, 2026.

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