Maestro vs Tempo
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Maestro
Compose music quickly and easily with a comprehensive set of tools for writing musical notations, including notes, chords, articulations, and accidentals. Supports over 100 instruments for playback and allows export to image and audio files.
- Write musical notations
- Supports over 100 instruments
- Unlimited staves and music length
- Export to image and audio files
- Write lyrics and chord texts
- Change clef, tempo, and key signature
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Maestro - Music Composer Write sheet music with a wide range of notations and symbols. Compose music easily. Maestro is a next-generation music composition app. Hello, Maestro! We hope this is the perfect app for composers, songwriters, music students, and anyone who wants to write music with ease. Compose quickly and easily, like a maestro! Write and Learn Musical Notation - Notes, chord notes, and layered notes - Rests and multi-measure rests - Barlines - Repeat signs, Da Capo, Dal Segno, Segno, Coda, Fine, and alternate endings - Staccato, staccatissimo, accent, tenuto, fermata, trill, tremolo, mordent, and more articulations - Dots, double dots, beams, ties, slurs, duplets, triplets, quintuplets, grace notes, and more - Accidentals and quarter tones - Dynamics - Shift octaves up and down: 8va, 8vb, 15ma, 15mb, 22va, 22vb - Transpose - Change clef: treble, bass, alto, soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, drums, and monotone percussion - Change tempo - Change time signature - Change key signature - Write lyrics, chord symbols, and finger numbers Many Instruments - Play your music with over 100 instruments - Piano, organ, violin, cello, and other strings, guitar, brass, reed, pipe, drums, and percussion - Fun sound effects too, such as birdsong, helicopter, gunshot, seashore, telephone ring, scream, and more Unlimited Staves - Write orchestral music - Show or hide staves to manage many parts, or print each part on its own Unlimited Length - No limit on the number of measures or the length of the music Listen to Your Masterpiece - Play your music instantly - Set a playback section and repeat the parts Export Images and Print Your Sheet Music - Zoom in or out to fit more or fewer notes on a line - Save exactly what you see on the screen as an image - Save as JPG, PNG, or PDF - Change the page orientation Export to an Audio File - Send your music to friends - Set your composition as a ringtone Works on tablets, iPads, and devices of every size. We value your feedback and suggestions! - We are keen to make Maestro better - You are an artist creating music with Maestro, and we are digital artists creating Maestro We will do our best to keep improving Maestro. Happy composing!
Tempo
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The fastest way to write and save drum notation. Capture the bar you keep coming back to. Every drummer has that one part. The one that slows you down. The one you repeat over and over. Tempo lets you pull it out, keep it with you, and actually nail it. Built for real practice - Quickly input drum notation (including cymbals) - Save bars for later - Export and share as clean images - Play back and hear what you've written - Follow along for that consistent practice experience Perfect for: - Drummers working through tricky sections - Teachers sharing bite-sized exercises - Capturing ideas without friction No clutter. No learning curve. No timelines. No full compositions. Just fast, focused notation when you need it. Terms and conditions for Tempo Premium: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Tempo at none against Maestro's shown. Tempo also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Maestro sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Tempo sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $14.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Maestro ships an update every 2 months, Tempo every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Maestro | Tempo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (283 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 73.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 283 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 139 MB | 78 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Future Sculptor Pty Ltd | Dean Hetherington |
Bugs and requests
Maestro
Reported bugs
3 issues- Beam note function not working
- Playback cursor glitches when using short note setting
- Unable to save or export compositions in some cases
Requested features
6 requests- Add more percussion instruments (e.g., cymbals, snare, tambourine)
- Implement swing rhythm and advanced tuplets
- Allow multiple articulations on a single note
- Add support for grace notes and pedal effects
- Improve MIDI export and import functionality
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- Implement a Concert Hall feature to share compositions
Tempo
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Maestro
- Ad Free Licence & Tickets$9.99
Tempo
- Premium$14.991 Year









