Notation Pad vs AI Note & Chord Recognition
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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
AI Note & Chord Recognition
Transform audio recordings of melodies into editable sheet music using AI. Capture your singing or instrument playing, or import audio files, to generate readable music notation. Review, edit, and playback the transcribed notes to refine your musical ideas.
- AI audio to sheet music transcription
- Manual note correction and editing
- MIDI playback comparison
- Sheet music and notation display
- Chromatic tuner
- Live pitch detector
- Metronome
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Turn audio into sheet music with AI music transcription. Record yourself singing or playing an instrument, or import an audio file, and turn clear melodies into readable music notation you can review, play back and edit. AI Note Recognition detects notes in your recording and creates a score you can refine. Compare the original audio with MIDI playback, correct individual notes and keep working with the result. AUDIO TO SHEET MUSIC Sing, hum or play a melody into your microphone and transcribe it into sheet music. The app works with vocals and melodic instruments such as piano, guitar, violin, flute, saxophone, trumpet and clarinet. For best results, use clear melodies and single-note lines rather than dense chords or full multi-instrument mixes. With Pro, you can also import WAV, MP3, M4A and AAC audio files and transcribe recordings up to 5 minutes long. REVIEW AND EDIT DETECTED NOTES Automatic transcription can require corrections. Review and edit detected notes directly in the score. Manual note correction is available in the free version. • Change pitch by semitone or octave • Adjust note start and end timing • Delete incorrectly detected notes • Listen to changes before saving • Reset individual notes or all manual edits • Adjust the confidence level to show more or fewer detected notes SHEET MUSIC AND MUSIC NOTATION View your transcription as readable sheet music with measures, rests, accidentals, beams and ties. Choose treble clef, bass clef or both, display note names and tap the score to jump directly to a position in the recording. COMPARE AUDIO AND MIDI Switch between the original recording and MIDI playback of the recognized notes. This makes it easier to hear where the transcription differs from what you actually played, sang or hummed. FREE VERSION • Record and analyze up to 20 seconds • Save up to 3 recordings • Preview the first complete measure of the generated score • Review and manually correct detected notes PRO FEATURES Unlock Pro for a more complete transcription workflow: • Record and analyze up to 5 minutes • Import WAV, MP3, M4A and AAC audio files • View the complete generated score • Export recognized notes as MIDI • Export recordings as WAV • Adjust playback speed from 0.25× to 2.00× • Save unlimited recordings TOOLS FOR MUSICIANS Chromatic Tuner Tune your voice or instrument while viewing the detected note, frequency in Hz and deviation in cents. See whether your pitch is sharp, flat or in tune. Live Pitch Detector Follow your detected pitch in real time while singing or playing. Use it for intonation practice, melody recognition and identifying the notes you hear or play. Metronome Practice rhythm from 30 to 240 BPM. Choose different time signatures, set beat accents and use eighth-note, triplet or sixteenth-note subdivisions. FOR SINGERS, MUSICIANS AND SONGWRITERS Capture musical ideas, transcribe melodies and turn clear recordings into editable sheet music without entering every note manually. AI Note Recognition is designed for singers, pianists, guitarists, violinists, wind players, music students and songwriters who want to move from audio to notation and MIDI in one workflow.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Notation Pad at 56% against AI Note & Chord Recognition's 0%. Notation Pad also leads on rating (4.3 vs 1.0) and ratings volume (5.3K vs 1). AI Note & Chord Recognition's advantage is monetization model (freemium vs subscription). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Notation Pad sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days and AI Note & Chord Recognition sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Notation Pad holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notation Pad has 5.3K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of Notation Pad's written reviews are positive against 0% of AI Note & Chord Recognition's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Notation Pad | AI Note & Chord Recognition |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (5.3K ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 55.9% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5.3K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Freemium — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 162 MB | 56 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 嵩 张 | mystage.fm |
Customer experience
Notation Pad
AI Note & Chord Recognition
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
AI Note & Chord Recognition
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Notation Pad
- Unlimited Access7 Days trial$6.997 Days
- Unlimited Access Monthly$14.991 Month
- Guitar Instrument Group$0.99
- Ensemble Instrument Group$0.99
- Brass Instrument Group$0.99
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- Reed Instrument Group$0.99
- Pipe Instrument Group$0.99
- Strings Instrument Group$1.99
- All Instruments Pack$4.99
- Extras Package$19.99
AI Note & Chord Recognition
- AI Note Recognition Pro$7.99
Questions
Is Notation Pad free?
Is AI Note & Chord Recognition free?
Which has better reviews, Notation Pad or AI Note & Chord Recognition?
Do Notation Pad or AI Note & Chord Recognition have ads?
Which is updated more often, Notation Pad or AI Note & Chord Recognition?
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