Comparison

forScore vs Essentially Ellington 2027

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

Essentially Ellington 2027

Explore jazz performances with interactive features. Isolate instruments, change camera angles, and learn from virtual orchestra members. This free app offers an immersive musical learning experience for students and educators.

Highlights
  • Isolate and mute individual instrument parts
  • Explore multiple camera angles
  • Zoom in on orchestra members
  • Interactive learning experience
  • Responsive media format
Read full description

Experience The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on the Myxstem Responsive Media format (formerly known as Tutti Music Player). Interact with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as they perform each of this year’s charts. With the free Essentially Ellington App, you can: * Zoom in on each member of the orchestra * Solo and mute individual parts and combine sections together * Explore multiple camera angles and perspectives The Myxstem format transforms rehearsal into an engaging, immersive learning experience for directors, students, and ensembles everywhere. Now available as a free native app on: * iPhone * iPad * Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or later) * Apple Vision Pro Bring the rehearsal room into your classroom, practice space, or home, and connect directly with the music. Download for free from the Apple App Store.

Screenshots

forScore4 screens
Essentially Ellington 20274 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Essentially Ellington 2027 at Free against forScore's $24.99. Essentially Ellington 2027 also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 11). forScore's advantage is ratings volume (43K vs 1) and chart position (#11 vs unranked). On rating, update cadence, ads and device support 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

Essentially Ellington 2027 is free to download; forScore costs $24.99 up front. forScore sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year. Essentially Ellington 2027 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Essentially Ellington 2027 holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: forScore has 43K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
forScore versus Essentially Ellington 2027: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterforScoreEssentially Ellington 2027
Price$24.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (43K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews49.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings43K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#11 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision ProiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperforScore LLCMyxstem

Customer experience

forScore

All ratings43,219 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral1.6%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews905 reviews
Positive49.8%
Neutral11.7%
Negative38.5%

Essentially Ellington 2027

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Essentially Ellington 2027

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

Essentially Ellington 2027

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is forScore free?
forScore costs $24.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Essentially Ellington 2027 free?
Essentially Ellington 2027 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, forScore or Essentially Ellington 2027?
Essentially Ellington 2027 is rated higher. forScore averages 4.8 out of 5 from 43K ratings, while Essentially Ellington 2027 averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do forScore or Essentially Ellington 2027 have ads?
Neither forScore nor Essentially Ellington 2027 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, forScore or Essentially Ellington 2027?
forScore ships an update every 9 days, and Essentially Ellington 2027 every 9 days. Most recently, forScore was updated on October 25, 2026 and Essentially Ellington 2027 on October 24, 2026.

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