Comparison

Cymbal Builder vs Sibelius

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

Head to head
About

Cymbal Builder

Calculate cymbal weight ranges and visualize bow animations. This tool provides sonic guidelines based on weight, bow depth, and bell size, helping musicians understand cymbal design.

Highlights
  • Cymbal weight categorization
  • Sonic guideline based on design
  • Bow animation slider
  • Analysis of weight, bow depth, and bell size
  • Quantifiable design factors
Features
Read full description

The Cymbal Builder is a Cymbal Weight Calculator and Cymbal Bow Animation Slider that allows you to categorize a cymbal's weight range by its given weight in grams and provide a sonic guideline based on a cymbal's depth of bow and bell size. While there are many factors that effect a cymbal's overall sound such as hammering, lathing, and other manufacturing factors; weight, bow, and bell size are readily quantifiable factors in the design of a cymbal.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Professional music notation
  • Cross-platform synchronization
  • High-quality sample library
  • Apple Pencil and touch optimization
  • Innovative note entry
  • Command Search functionality
  • Scalable subscription tiers
Features
Read full description

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

Cymbal Builder2 screens
Sibelius4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Cymbal Builder at 5.0 against Sibelius's 4.2. Cymbal Builder also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2). Sibelius's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 42 months) and ratings volume (1.8K vs 17). On price, ads and device support 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. Sibelius sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Cymbal Builder asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cymbal Builder holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sibelius has 1.8K ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cymbal Builder ships an update every 42 months, Sibelius every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Cymbal Builder versus Sibelius: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCymbal BuilderSibelius
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (17 ratings) — better4.2 (1.8K ratings)
Positive reviews—35.7% of reviews
Number of ratings171.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 42 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB1.4 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperByrne CymbalsAvid®

Customer experience

Cymbal Builder

All ratings16 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Sibelius

All ratings1,796 ratings
Positive78.2%
Neutral5.3%
Negative16.5%
Written reviews591 reviews
Positive35.7%
Neutral11.3%
Negative53.0%

Bugs and requests

Cymbal Builder

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
Show 2 more
  • Export options like MusicXML and PDF
  • Customizable shortcuts and toolbars

In-app purchases

None

Cymbal Builder

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Sibelius

Subscriptions2
  • Sibelius Artist for iOS1 Month trial$5.991 Month
  • Sibelius Ultimate for iOS1 Month trial$12.991 Month

Questions

Is Cymbal Builder free?
Cymbal Builder is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sibelius free?
Sibelius is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Cymbal Builder or Sibelius?
Cymbal Builder is rated higher. Cymbal Builder averages 5.0 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while Sibelius averages 4.2 from 1.8K ratings.
Do Cymbal Builder or Sibelius have ads?
Neither Cymbal Builder nor Sibelius shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cymbal Builder or Sibelius?
Cymbal Builder ships an update every 42 months, and Sibelius every 2 months. Most recently, Cymbal Builder was updated on October 3, 2026 and Sibelius on October 25, 2026.

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