Comparison

Sibelius vs Piano2Notes

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

Piano2Notes

This app uses AI to convert piano recordings into sheet music. It provides playback of the transcribed score and allows export in various formats like PDF, MIDI, and MusicXML. Share your musical creations easily with others.

Highlights
  • Transcribe piano recordings to sheet music
  • View transcribed music as classical score
  • Playback sheet music
  • Download sheet as PDF, MIDI, or MusicXML
  • Share compositions
Read full description

» Transcribe piano recordings to sheet music » Transcribe piano MP3 files to sheet music » View the transcribed music as classical score » Playback the sheet music and listen to the result » Download sheet as PDF, MIDI, or MusicXML » Share your compositions with your friends HOW DOES IT FUNCTION? Once your music piece is uploaded, our artificial intelligence powered transcriber processes it to generate a sheet music based on what it hears. When the processing is finished, you get three outputs - a Midi file, a PDF engraved sheet, and a MusicXML digital note sheet. It has never been easier to convert piano pieces to sheet music! WHAT THIS APP DOESN'T OFFER » Separation of multiple instruments: The note recognition can't separate multiple instruments. If you record multiple instruments playing simultaneously you will get bad transcription results! As the name says, Piano2Notes will work only with piano recordings. » Live note recognition: This app is not able to show you live note recognition results. Instead, it will take some time to perform the frequency analysis and shows you the final sheet music. » 100% match percentage: This app won't detect 100% of the played notes and there will also be wrong detections. But depending on the quality of the input signal, it will give you more than useful sheet! REQUIREMENTS » Internet: active internet connection for server connectivity » Microphone SUMMARY Transcribe music recordings from your microphone to sheet music. With Piano2Notes you can create on-the-go recordings of your instrument. Those are uploaded to your personal songbook and transcribed to score. Musical note recognition for piano has never been so easy! CONTACT US We're always happy to hear from you. No matter what comes to your mind, we want to hear it. Would you like another feature? Does something not work as expected? Send us an e-mail at: support@piano2notes.com This app is actively developed and there are updates on a regular base The Apple Terms of Use apply: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Sibelius4 screens
Piano2Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Sibelius at 1.8K against Piano2Notes's 294. Sibelius also leads on iOS requirement (13.4 vs 15.1). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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 Piano2Notes sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.2 for Sibelius against 4.3 for Piano2Notes. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sibelius has 1.8K ratings behind it against 294, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 36% of Sibelius's written reviews are positive against 37% of Piano2Notes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sibelius ships an update every 2 months, Piano2Notes every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Sibelius versus Piano2Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSibeliusPiano2Notes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (1.8K ratings)4.3 (294 ratings) — better
Positive reviews35.9% of reviews37.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.8K — better294
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.4 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size1.4 GB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAvid®Klangio GmbH

Customer experience

Sibelius

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

Piano2Notes

All ratings294 ratings
Positive81.3%
Neutral7.1%
Negative11.6%
Written reviews70 reviews
Positive37.1%
Neutral10.0%
Negative52.9%

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

Piano2Notes

From 294 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Dream come true app
  • 🎶 Accurate music transcription
  • 🎹 Converts music to piano sheet
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 💡 Great for composing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes frequently
  • ❌ PDF export issues
  • 📉 Inaccurate transcriptions
  • 💸 Subscription costs are high
  • 🚫 Cannot download anything

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

Piano2Notes

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • App stops working
  • Desktop website doesn't work
  • App crashes when creating PDF
  • Subscription not recognized
  • App crashes when tapping download button
Show 12 more
  • Key not changing
  • Cannot download anything
  • PDF export issues
  • Subscription restore function doesn't work
  • Customer service not responding
  • App logs out and loses info
  • YouTube links not working
  • App crashes on PDF creation
  • Cannot fast forward
  • App doesn't open
  • Transcription speed mismatch
  • PDF export changes notes

Requested features

9 requests
  • Ability to edit notes
  • Improve general accuracy
  • Add enharmonic transposition option
  • Allow editing of transcribed music
  • Fix PDF export issues
Show 4 more
  • Add ability to use alternative sources (file, YouTube url)
  • Improve speed of transcription
  • Add dark mode
  • More flexible ticket system

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
8 purchases

Piano2Notes

Subscriptions4
  • Piano2Notes Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Klangio Universe Monthly$24.991 Month
  • Piano2Notes Pro Yearly$99.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Klangio Universe Subscription$149.991 Year
One-time4
  • Single Token$2.99
  • 3 token package$5.99
  • 10 tokens package$9.99
Show 1 more
  • 50 Tokens Package$24.99

Questions

Is Sibelius free?
Sibelius is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Piano2Notes free?
Piano2Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sibelius or Piano2Notes?
Piano2Notes is rated higher. Sibelius averages 4.2 out of 5 from 1.8K ratings, while Piano2Notes averages 4.3 from 294 ratings.
Do Sibelius or Piano2Notes have ads?
Neither Sibelius nor Piano2Notes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sibelius or Piano2Notes?
Sibelius ships an update every 2 months, and Piano2Notes every 6 weeks. Most recently, Sibelius was updated on September 22, 2026 and Piano2Notes on September 21, 2026.

Other comparisons