NML vs Henle Library
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NML
Access a vast library of classical music recordings with extensive metadata. Create personalized playlists and utilize study tools. Ideal for music enthusiasts and students seeking in-depth information.
- 2.73 million+ classical music tracks
- Rich metadata (composer bios, program notes)
- Customizable playlists
- Playlists created by educators
- Study tools and resources
- Latest releases from over 1000 labels
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Naxos Music Library (NML) offers over 2.73 million tracks of fine classical music recordings from more than a thousand labels with their latest releases. What sets NML apart from other streaming platforms comes down to metadata. Each piece of music comes with a rich set of information, from composers’ biographies to programme notes, instrumentation to publisher’s details, all authored by qualified musicologists. Individual subscribers and authorised users of institution subscribers can create their own playlists on top of having access to playlists created by their teachers and professors for their assignments. NML is more than just a huge classical music audio library available for streaming. The Resources section inside the library offers many valuable add-ons and study tools available through accessing the web version. Please send comments to customer.service@naxos.com to help us further improve our app.
Henle Library
Access high-quality digital Urtext editions of classical music scores on your tablet. Practice, rehearse, and perform with a range of interactive features designed for musicians of all levels. Enjoy annotations, metronome, playback, and more.
- Digital Urtext editions
- Customizable score purchases
- Print and export PDFs
- Score modification and annotations
- Metronome and recording
- Part and score switching
- Explanatory notes access
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“With the Henle Library app a new era begins for classical musicians.” Daniel Hope An indispensable app for professional musicians, amateurs, students and teachers. The Henle Library app delivers G. Henle Publishers’ reliable Urtext editions straight to your tablet. You can practise, rehearse and make music – whenever and wherever you like. And you can enjoy the many unique features of Henle’s digital scores. Features: - Filter Henle Urtext according to your individual needs and purchase as required (individual part, single movement, bundles etc.) - Free version available for music students (licences for music colleges) - Print, export PDFs, share - Modify the score to suit your needs - Superimpose alternative professional fingerings (or choose “No fingerings”) - Unlimited possibilities for your own annotations - Easily switch between the part and the score at exactly the same measure - Open explanatory notes (footnotes, Critical Report etc.) at the appropriate place in the score - Record and play back your own recordings - Use the integrated metronome - Navigate extremely rapidly - Create and use playlists Do you like our app? Please consider writing a review. Thank you!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: NML at none against Henle Library's 12. Henle Library's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.3). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Henle Library sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. NML asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.0 for NML against 2.9 for Henle Library. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 66 and 91 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 40% of NML's written reviews are positive against 34% of Henle Library's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 28, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NML | Henle Library |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (66 ratings) — better | 2.9 (91 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 39.5% of reviews — better | 34.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 66 | 91 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.3 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 70 MB | 54 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Naxos Digital Services Ltd. | Guenter Henle Verlag |
Customer experience
NML
Henle Library
User reviews
NML
From 66 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎵 Exceptional classical music library and selection
- 📚 Comprehensive coverage of albums and recordings
- 🎧 High-quality audio on web/browser version
- 📱 Offline listening capability
- 🎯 Easy search functionality when working
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and app instability
- 🔐 Session expires too quickly and frequent forced logouts
- 📱 iPad/tablet UI incompatibility and portrait-only orientation
- 🔊 Poor audio quality (robotic, glitchy, over-compressed)
- ⚠️ Offline access requires constant re-authentication
Henle Library
From 91 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📚 High-quality Henle urtext editions
- ✏️ Annotation and marking capabilities
- 🎵 Beautiful score formatting and rendering
- 🎚️ Customizable spacing and sizing options
- 🎹 Multiple fingering/bowing variants available
Room to improve
- 🐛 Annotations frequently disappear or get lost
- ✏️ Eraser function unreliable and non-intuitive
- 🖊️ Apple Pencil annotation tools difficult to use
- 📖 Multi-movement scores split into individual pieces
- 🖨️ Poor print quality with severe aliasing
Bugs and requests
NML
Reported bugs
16 issues- App crashes during playback or when switching apps
- Audio stops when screen goes to sleep
- Tracks cut off mid-movement or stop arbitrarily
- Login session expires too quickly despite 'remember me' option
- Cannot connect to internet via WiFi (requires VPN workaround)
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- Playlists disappear or fail to save
- Back button doesn't return to previous position in list
- Music pauses when notifications arrive
- App freezes or becomes unresponsive
- Search dialog has poor contrast making cursor invisible
- Saved playlists erased after updates
- Track information displays incorrectly during playback
- App cuts out at end of tracks when switching focus
- Shuffle button fails to function
- Hiccup at beginning of each track on iPadOS
- App only plays one track then stops
Requested features
15 requests- Dark mode support
- Interactive widgets
- Landscape orientation support for tablets/iPads
- Chromecast and AirPlay support
- Background music playback while using other apps
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- Track scrubbing/fast-forward capability
- Shuffle feature for favorites list
- Custom playlist and folder organization
- Ability to organize favorites into named categories
- Face recognition login
- Album-level saving instead of track-only playlists
- Better metadata display (composer, performer information)
- Retina display support
- iPad-specific app version
- Improved search with catalog number support
Henle Library
Reported bugs
20 issues- Annotations deleted after app updates or restarts
- Eraser function fails to remove marks consistently
- Marks don't record when crossing between staff lines
- App crashes when opening purchased scores
- Purchased scores disappear from library
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- Blank pages appear when turning pages
- App freezes during export to PDF
- Infinite loading screen in online store
- Confirmation emails for credit purchases don't arrive
- App takes 40+ seconds to start
- Scores don't load immediately after purchase
- Annotation dots appear randomly when lifting pen
- Fingering annotations shrink in upper ledger lines
- Score skips to random pages during performance
- Export PDF quality is low resolution and fuzzy
- Annotation layer prevents writing in certain areas
- Zoom function jumps back to start of page
- Eraser requires tapping far from annotation to delete
- Palm rejection fails with Apple Pencil
- Print layout produces single-line pages for multi-movement pieces
Requested features
20 requests- Undo/redo functionality for annotations
- Ability to print entire multi-movement pieces together
- Half-page turning option for performers
- Playlist or collection grouping system
- Individual score parts (not just full scores)
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- Better annotation layer management
- Improved Apple Pencil support and sensitivity
- Customizable eraser behavior
- Page turn animation or visual cues
- Ability to hide specific staves or parts
- Microphone-activated page turning commands
- Difficulty ratings visible before purchase
- Digital-physical score bundling/discounts
- Better search and filtering in store
- Support for foot pedal page turners
- Ability to import scores from other sources
- Multiple annotation layers with visibility toggle
- Customizable metronome settings
- Landscape orientation improvements
- Persistent user settings and preferences
In-app purchases
NML
No in-app purchases
Henle Library
- 10 Credits$0.99
- 22 Credits$1.99
- 55 Credits2 variants$5.99
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- 100 Credits2 variants$9.99
- 200 Credits2 variants$19.99
- 300 Credits$29.99
- 500 Credits$49.99
- 1000 Credits$79.99
Questions
Is NML free?
Is Henle Library free?
Which has better reviews, NML or Henle Library?
Do NML or Henle Library have ads?
Which is updated more often, NML or Henle Library?
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