Comparison

Music Reader vs Music Calculator

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

Head to head
About

Music Reader

This app is a comprehensive tool for sheet music. It allows users to view, learn, listen, mark, and play musical scores. It supports various music genres and instruments, acting as a portable songbook and powerful player.

Highlights
  • View and play sheet music
  • Mark and annotate scores
  • Import MusicXML and NotationPad files
  • Supports dark mode
  • Transposition (PRO)
  • Change instrument parts (PRO)
Features
Read full description

Music Reader provides all you need about sheet music. You could view, learn, listen, mark and play music notes and notations as you want. it is your portable songbook and a powerful sheet music reader & player. A easy-to-use painting system for you to draw any marks on sheets. From classic to popular, from rock to country, from piano to symphony, all kinds of music played well in Music Reader. *Compatible with dark mode *Supports importing MusicXML(.xml) and NotationPad(.ecz) file PRO ACCESS SUBSCRIPTION - No Ads - Transposition - Change instrument for parts - Support layers for painting marks - The subscription price is $4.99/monthly, $14.99/yearly - 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/sheetmusicplus/terms_service.html

About

Music Calculator

This app allows musicians to input musical notation and instantly hear it played back with accurate pitch and timing. It's designed for practicing difficult passages, improving sight-reading, and building musical confidence through features like slowing down playback and looping sections.

Highlights
  • Input and play back musical notation
  • Accurate pitch, timing, and tempo playback
  • Slow down and loop passages for practice
  • Calculator-style interface for intuitive input
  • Supports complex rhythms and tuplets
  • 25 realistic instrument sounds
  • Save and load musical passages
Features
Read full description

A sketchpad for music, for practice and for composing. Notes go in on a keypad as quick as a calculator, and play back exactly as written. FOR PRACTICE Copy out what you're learning: an exercise, a few difficult measures, the piece your teacher assigned. Hear how it should sound, then slow it down, loop it, and raise the tempo as you improve. Pianists can write both hands on a grand staff, and choirs can write out all four parts and hear them together. Check your rhythm counting or your harmony homework by ear. The keypad is simple enough for children to use, and the selected note's name, such as F#, shows on its key as you write. FOR COMPOSING Write down a melody, a chord progression or a four-part harmony before you forget it, and hear every part played back with real instrument sounds. Use one instrument or several, with up to four voices on each staff, and keep every idea in your library. HOW IT WORKS Tap a note value to add a note, drag up or down to set its pitch, and drag sideways for sharps and flats. The keys are large, so there are no toolbars of tiny icons and no stylus. WRITE IT • Notes and rests from double whole notes to 128th notes, with up to three dots • Chords, and up to four voices per staff, each in its own color with stems placed for you • Several parts, each with as many staves as it needs: a piano grand staff, SATB on two staves, a duet, a small group • Treble, bass, alto and tenor clefs, with clef changes anywhere • Every key signature, chosen from an interactive circle of fifths, with key changes anywhere • Simple and compound time signatures, and a pickup measure where a piece starts with one • Ties, accidentals, staccato, accents and tenuto • Triplets, quintuplets and nested tuplets • Automatic beaming HEAR IT • Precise playback in pitch, rhythm and tempo, looping continuously • Long-press play to set the tempo, from 30 to 240 BPM, even while the music plays: slow a passage down as far as you need, then raise the tempo as your playing improves • 25 instrument sounds, from grand piano and harpsichord to strings, brass, woodwinds, harp and guitar • Two metronome channels and a volume for every part • The score glides along as it plays and each note lights up as it sounds KEEP AND SHARE IT Every passage is saved to your library and named for you. Import MusicXML (.musicxml, .xml, .mxl) from other notation apps, with its notes, rhythms, keys and clefs, and export MusicXML to finish a piece in desktop notation software. Built for iPhone, one-handed, and for iPad, with a full-width keypad and a library sidebar. Pinch or double-tap to zoom. There are no ads and no account to create, and your music stays on your device. WHAT IT ISN'T Music Calculator is built for short passages and ideas, not symphonies. It doesn't do dynamics, slurs, lyrics or chord symbols, print or export PDFs, export audio or MIDI, or scan sheet music. If you need those, a desktop engraving program is the right tool. If you want to write a passage down and hear it in seconds, this is. TRY IT FREE To use Music Calculator, choose a monthly or annual subscription, each with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers, or a one-time lifetime purchase. The subscription is called Music Calculator Pro on Apple's purchase sheet and in your Apple Account settings. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase, or at the end of the free trial. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. You can manage or cancel subscriptions in your Apple Account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you buy a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://music-calculator.app/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Music Reader4 screens
Music Calculator4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Music Reader at freemium against Music Calculator's subscription. Music Reader also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (192 vs 2). Music Calculator's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 4 months). On price, in-app purchases 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. Music Reader sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Music Calculator sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Music Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Music Reader has 192 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 51% of Music Reader's written reviews are positive against 67% of Music Calculator's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Music Reader ships an update every 4 months, Music Calculator every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Music Reader versus Music Calculator: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMusic ReaderMusic Calculator
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (192 ratings) — better4.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews51.0% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings192 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size183 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer嵩 张JET Powered Apps Ltd.

Customer experience

Music Reader

All ratings188 ratings
Positive88.3%
Neutral2.7%
Negative9.0%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive51.0%
Neutral4.1%
Negative44.9%

Music Calculator

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Music Reader

Subscriptions3
  • Pro Access$2.991 Month
  • Pro Access7 Days trial$14.991 Year
  • Pro Access$14.991 Year
3 purchases

Music Calculator

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Annual7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Music Calculator Pro$49.99

Questions

Is Music Reader free?
Music Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Music Calculator free?
Music Calculator is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Music Reader or Music Calculator?
Music Reader is rated higher. Music Reader averages 4.5 out of 5 from 192 ratings, while Music Calculator averages 4.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Music Reader or Music Calculator have ads?
Music Reader shows ads; Music Calculator does not.
Which is updated more often, Music Reader or Music Calculator?
Music Reader ships an update every 4 months, and Music Calculator every 10 days. Most recently, Music Reader was updated on October 26, 2026 and Music Calculator on October 30, 2026.

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