Comparison

Flat vs AI Note & Chord Recognition

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

Head to head
About

Flat

Create, edit, and play sheet music and guitar tabs with this intuitive composer app. It offers a wide range of instruments, notation tools, and collaboration features. Import and export in various formats, and share your creations with a large community.

Highlights
  • Compose and edit sheet music
  • Create guitar tabs
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Import MusicXML, MIDI, PDF
  • Export to PDF, MIDI, MP3, WAV
  • Large community library
  • 90+ instruments
Features
Read full description

Write, play and share music, anywhere! Flat is the sheet music app trusted by 5M+ musicians worldwide. Compose, notate, and collaborate on scores for any instrument, from guitar tabs to full orchestras, across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and your web browser. Free features include: → Quick notation input via touch piano, guitar fretboard, or drum pads → 90+ instruments including piano, guitar, violin, saxophone, drums, voice, and more → 100K+ original scores in the community → Edit music scores on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and in your web browser → Hundreds of notation symbols: articulations, dynamics, measures, text, and more → Autocompletion when adding chords → Transposition by key, interval, or tone → Import MusicXML and MIDI files → Import PDF sheet music and convert it into fully editable scores → Keyboard shortcuts for iPad keyboard and fretboard → Share scores publicly or privately Collaborate in real-time: → Real-time collaboration for a dynamic experience → Inline comments for live feedback → Find collaborators in the Flat community Share your music: → Join the monthly Flat community challenge and win prizes → Explore hundreds of thousands of original scores from composers worldwide → Get featured and connect with fellow musicians Subscribe to Flat Power to unlock the full experience across all your devices. Flat Power, premium features: → Unlimited cloud storage → Automatic sync so your full library stays connected on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and web browser → 180+ instruments including high-quality audio → Advanced export: individual parts, multi-rest print, remove Flat branding → Layout and styles: page dimensions, spacing, chord style, Jazz and Handwritten fonts → Custom note heads: Boomwhackers colors, Note Names, Shape-Note (Aiken) → Version history: view and revert to any past version of your scores → Advanced audio: per-part volume and reverb controls → Input notes with MIDI devices (USB and Bluetooth) → Autosave with full version history → Customizable keyboard shortcuts → Priority support → PDF and photo import pages included with every plan: - Monthly plan: 10 PDF import pages/month + full premium features - Yearly plan: 20 PDF import pages/month + full premium features (best value) - Lifetime plan: full premium features + 20 PDF import pages (one-time purchase, no renewal) Terms for in-app payments: Payment will be charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage and cancel subscriptions in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial, if offered, will be forfeited when a subscription is purchased. Our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy: https://flat.io/help/en/policies Questions or feedback: ios@flat.io

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Flat4 screens
AI Note & Chord Recognition4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Flat at 68% against AI Note & Chord Recognition's 0%. Flat also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (7K vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Flat sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and AI Note & Chord Recognition sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Flat holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Flat has 7K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Flat's written reviews are positive against 0% of AI Note & Chord Recognition's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flat ships an update fortnightly, AI Note & Chord Recognition monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Flat versus AI Note & Chord Recognition: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlatAI Note & Chord Recognition
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (7K ratings) — better3.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews67.8% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings7K — better2
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
Best chart rank#134 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.415.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size219 MB56 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperTutteo Limitedmystage.fm

Customer experience

Flat

All ratings6,980 ratings
Positive90.8%
Neutral3.7%
Negative5.5%
Written reviews946 reviews
Positive67.8%
Neutral13.4%
Negative18.8%

AI Note & Chord Recognition

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Flat

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • Notes and rests disappear
  • Playback issues and audio glitches
  • Difficulty selecting and editing notes
  • Syncing and saving problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more percussion instruments
  • Improve note entry and editing
  • Allow custom soundfonts
  • Implement measure repeat signs
  • Add more advanced notation options

AI Note & Chord Recognition

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Flat

Subscriptions4
  • Flat Power (Monthly)$9.991 Month
  • Flat Power (Yearly)$29.991 Year
  • Flat Power (Yearly)$39.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Flat Power (Yearly)$49.991 Year
One-time6
  • PDF import 30 credits$9.99
  • PDF import 70 credits$17.99
  • Flat Power (Lifetime)$119.00
Show 3 more
  • Flat Power (Lifetime)$179.99
  • Flat Power (Lifetime)$199.00
  • Flat Power (Lifetime)$299.99
1 purchases

AI Note & Chord Recognition

One-time1
  • AI Note Recognition Pro$7.99

Questions

Is Flat free?
Flat is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is AI Note & Chord Recognition free?
AI Note & Chord Recognition is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Flat or AI Note & Chord Recognition?
Flat is rated higher. Flat averages 4.6 out of 5 from 7K ratings, while AI Note & Chord Recognition averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Flat or AI Note & Chord Recognition have ads?
Neither Flat nor AI Note & Chord Recognition shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flat or AI Note & Chord Recognition?
Flat ships an update fortnightly, and AI Note & Chord Recognition monthly. Most recently, Flat was updated on November 6, 2026 and AI Note & Chord Recognition on November 5, 2026.

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