Comparison

Sibelius vs Composer Pro

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

Head to head
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.

About

Composer Pro

Compose music scores with ease using a familiar keyboard layout. This app supports multiple parts, a wide range of instruments, and various musical symbols, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced musicians.

Highlights
  • Keyboard-style note input
  • Support for up to 8 parts
  • Over 100 instruments
  • Variety of music symbols
  • Configurable parts and settings
  • Instrument transposition
  • Export without watermark
Features
Read full description

A handy sheet music writer app, make writing sheet music feels like typing notes. Tap on the keys with notation in a familiar keyboard layout. Provide a very easy way to compose music score. Support up to 8 parts, over 100 instruments, variety of music symbols and notations. It is very friendly for rookies while professional enough for experts. --------------------------------- UNLIMITED ACCESS SUBSCRIPTION - Support up to 8 parts - 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 - Change keyboard size - Import data file - Unlock all 100+ instruments - The subscriptions are $9.99 monthly and $49.99 yearly with free 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

Screenshots

Sibelius4 screens
Composer Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Sibelius at free with in-app purchases against Composer Pro's subscription. Composer Pro's advantage is review sentiment (72% vs 36%) and rating (4.5 vs 4.2). On price, ratings volume, 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. Sibelius sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Composer Pro sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Composer Pro holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.8K and 672 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 36% of Sibelius's written reviews are positive against 72% of Composer Pro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sibelius ships an update every 2 months, Composer Pro every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Sibelius versus Composer Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSibeliusComposer Pro
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (1.8K ratings)4.5 (672 ratings) — better
Positive reviews35.9% of reviews72.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.8K — better672
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.413.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.4 GB154 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAvid®嵩 张

Customer experience

Sibelius

All ratings1,760 ratings
Positive78.1%
Neutral5.2%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews587 reviews
Positive35.9%
Neutral11.2%
Negative52.8%

Composer Pro

All ratings672 ratings
Positive86.6%
Neutral5.7%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews255 reviews
Positive72.2%
Neutral7.8%
Negative20.0%

User reviews

Sibelius

From 1.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use and intuitive
  • 🚀 Useful for composing on the go
  • 💡 Good for making quick edits to existing scores
  • 🎨 Stylish and professional-looking app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes frequently
  • 🔒 Difficulty unlocking full version and accessing features
  • 💰 Subscription service is very expensive
  • 🔇 Limited sound library and poor playback quality
  • 📁 Unreliable saving and file management

Composer Pro

From 672 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 🎼 Helpful for composing music
  • 🎹 Good for beginners
  • 💡 Allows creating sheet music

Room to improve

  • 💰 Subscription model too expensive
  • 🔒 Limited features in free version
  • 📢 Too many ads
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches
  • 🔒 Forced to pay for basic functionality

Bugs and 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

Composer Pro

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Notes sometimes placed incorrectly
  • Measures and compositions randomly deleted
  • Inability to restore deleted content

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more instruments beyond piano
  • Allow changing time signatures and key signatures without subscription
  • Improve note editing and placement
  • Add export options to save/share compositions
  • Provide more music notation tools and dynamics

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
4 purchases

Composer Pro

Subscriptions4
  • Unlimited Access$6.997 Days
  • Pro Access$9.991 Month
  • Pro Access$49.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Pro Access7 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Sibelius free?
Sibelius is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Composer Pro free?
Composer Pro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sibelius or Composer Pro?
Composer Pro is rated higher. Sibelius averages 4.2 out of 5 from 1.8K ratings, while Composer Pro averages 4.5 from 672 ratings.
Do Sibelius or Composer Pro have ads?
Neither Sibelius nor Composer Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sibelius or Composer Pro?
Sibelius ships an update every 2 months, and Composer Pro every 6 weeks. Most recently, Sibelius was updated on September 22, 2026 and Composer Pro on September 24, 2026.

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