Comparison

forScore vs IMSLP

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

Head to head
About

forScore

This app digitizes sheet music, offering organization, annotation, and playback tools for musicians. It allows for easy import, library management, and hands-free navigation, enhancing the performance experience.

Highlights
  • PDF sheet music reading
  • Cloud sync and import
  • Library organization and search
  • Annotation tools
  • Hands-free page turning
  • Integrated metronome and tuner
Features
Read full description

Go paperless. Get organized. Download and play something new in seconds. With forScore for iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS, your scores have never been better—it’s everything you can do with paper and so much more. As seen in Apple keynote addresses and retail stores worldwide! On your music stand or on the go, it's the complete PDF sheet music reading experience that has wowed musicians all over the world for years: CONNECT • Copy PDFs from other apps like Safari and Mail and sync them to all of your devices with iCloud • Import scores from popular cloud storage services and content providers like Musicnotes.com • Share scores and setlists with colleagues, whether or not they use forScore ORGANIZE • Add metadata to your scores for a perfectly browsable, instantly searchable library • Create smart bookmarks to manage longer files containing multiple parts or pieces • Group scores manually with Setlists to play through them from start to finish PLAY • View full pages in portrait orientation and crop them to better fit your device's screen • Turn your device sideways for bigger scrolling pages or view two pages side by side instead • Use Reflow on smaller screens to lay out systems of music end-to-end like a horizontal teleprompter REFINE • Annotate by drawing, typing text, or placing common symbols onto the page • Separate your annotations into layers and show or hide them at any time • Open scores and setlists in multiple windows or tabs to multitask with ease SIMPLIFY • Create links and buttons to handle repeats or perform common actions with a single tap • Rearrange and duplicate pages of a score to play without jumping back and forth • Connect your Bluetooth page turner for hands-free navigation EXTEND • Access integrated utilities like our metronome, pitch pipe, tuner, and piano keyboard • Link tracks to scores to loop regions, adjust pitch, and even use them to record and play back your page turns • Connect wirelessly to nearby devices and coordinate your page turns and program changes effortlessly There's much more than those highlights, though, so be sure to visit forscore.co to learn all about forScore's incredible features and find out why so many musicians agree that forScore is simply the best! Note: forScore also offers an optional, annual auto-renewing subscription called forScore Pro that unlocks additional features and content (visit forScore.co/pro for complete details). forScore Pro is a 1-year subscription that renews automatically until canceled. Should you choose to subscribe, payment will be charged to your iTunes Account upon confirmation of purchase. Your subscription will then automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage your subscriptions in your iTunes Account Settings after purchase. Complete terms of service are available on our website at: forScore.co/terms-of-serviceGo paperless.

About

IMSLP

Access a vast digital library of classical music scores on your iOS device. Enjoy full access to commercial recordings, instant downloads, and new uploads with a membership subscription. Support the music community while exploring a comprehensive collection.

Highlights
  • Browse IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library
  • View musical scores
  • Access commercial recordings
  • Instant downloads
  • Access new uploads instantly
  • Membership subscription benefits
Features
Read full description

Browse IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library and view scores from the comfort of your iOS device. IMSLP Membership Subscription Length of subscription: 1 month. Benefits include: • Full access to commercial recordings • Access all features in this app • No waiting for downloads • Access new uploads instantly • Knowing that you helped keep IMSLP running and serving the music community 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 publication, where applicable. Terms of Service and Privacy policy - https://imslp.org/wiki/IMSLP:Terms_of_Service_and_Privacy_policy_(app)

Screenshots

forScore4 screens
IMSLP4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: IMSLP at Free against forScore's $24.99. IMSLP also leads on review sentiment (70% vs 50%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). forScore's advantage is ratings volume (43K vs 507) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

IMSLP is free to download; forScore costs $24.99 up front. forScore sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year and IMSLP sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

forScore holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: forScore has 43K ratings behind it against 507, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of forScore's written reviews are positive against 70% of IMSLP's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

forScore ships an update fortnightly, IMSLP every 10 days. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
forScore versus IMSLP: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterforScoreIMSLP
Price$24.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (43K ratings) — better4.6 (507 ratings)
Positive reviews49.5% of reviews70.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings43K — better507
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#11 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB232 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperforScore, LLCProject Petrucci LLC

Customer experience

forScore

All ratings43,041 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral1.6%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews878 reviews
Positive49.5%
Neutral11.7%
Negative38.7%

IMSLP

All ratings507 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral3.7%
Negative7.9%
Written reviews297 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral11.4%
Negative18.5%

User reviews

forScore

From 43K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Efficient navigation
  • 🔒 Reliable performance
  • 👍 Intuitive interface
  • 👍 Excellent organization
  • 👍 Seamless annotation

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Sync issues
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes
  • 🔋 Battery drain concerns
  • 👎 Unintuitive settings/features
  • 👎 Lack of customization options

IMSLP

From 507 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Integrated IMSLP library
  • 👍 Well-made app
  • 👍 Game changer for musicians
  • 👍 Indispensable for professionals and amateurs
  • 👍 Fantastic offering

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes when zooming in and annotating
  • 💰 Money grabbing with constant subscription prompts
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🐛 Annotation issues and lost data
  • 🐛 Battery drain on iPad

Bugs and requests

forScore

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Disappearing annotations
  • Unreliable page turning
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • Unresponsive touch controls

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to cut and paste sections of scores
  • More flexible page turning controls
  • Customizable metronome
  • Improved backup and restore functionality
  • Easier sharing of annotated scores

IMSLP

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Crashes when opening scores
  • Scores disappearing from library
  • Login issues and lost data
  • Incompatibility with older devices after updates
  • Annotation issues causing loss of data
Show 1 more
  • Inability to edit file information after import

Requested features

11 requests
  • Predictive text for score annotations
  • Ability to restore original zoom settings
  • Metric to indicate device performance during page turns
  • Folder-like organization system
  • Color wheel and custom pen/highlighter options
Show 6 more
  • Ability to rename music files
  • Different color folder options
  • Split view support
  • Easier way to import scores from other sources
  • Instrumentation information for scores
  • Sorting by instrumentation

In-app purchases

10 purchases

forScore

Subscriptions1
  • forScore Pro$14.991 Year
One-time9
  • Brahms: The Mutopia CollectionFree
  • Haydn: The Mutopia CollectionFree
  • Händel: The Mutopia CollectionFree
Show 6 more
  • Liszt: The Mutopia CollectionFree
  • Satie: The Mutopia CollectionFree
  • Schumann: The Mutopia CollectionFree
  • Tchaikovsky: The Mutopia CollectionFree
  • Beethoven: The Mutopia Collection$0.99
  • forScore Pro 30-Day Pass$2.99
1 purchases

IMSLP

Subscriptions1
  • Membership Subscription$3.991 Month

Questions

Is forScore free?
forScore costs $24.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is IMSLP free?
IMSLP is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, forScore or IMSLP?
forScore is rated higher. forScore averages 4.8 out of 5 from 43K ratings, while IMSLP averages 4.6 from 507 ratings.
Do forScore or IMSLP have ads?
Neither forScore nor IMSLP shows ads.
Which is updated more often, forScore or IMSLP?
forScore ships an update fortnightly, and IMSLP every 10 days. Most recently, forScore was updated on September 24, 2026 and IMSLP on September 24, 2026.

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