Comparison

forScore vs NotateMe

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

NotateMe

Compose and edit music notation using handwritten input. This app recognizes a wide range of musical symbols, allowing for creation of scores for various ensembles. Export your work in multiple formats or share it via email.

Highlights
  • Handwritten music recognition
  • Compose for solo instruments and ensembles
  • Edit and playback scores
  • Export as PDF, MusicXML, MIDI
  • Import MusicXML files
  • Dropbox synchronization
  • PhotoScore Add-In for printed music
Features
Read full description

Ground-breaking music composition and notation software from Neuratron, featuring handwritten music recognition. Top 10 Music App in 62 countries! iPad Pro & Apple Pencil recommended for best results. - Quickly and accurately enter music notation with your finger or stylus. - Write music on the train, in a plane, by a lake, or just sitting comfortably on your sofa! - Simple, intuitive interface with little to distract you from your creativity - similar to writing with pen and paper, but with instant playback, editing and a score suitable for publishing at the end! - Write music for solo instruments (including voice and piano), drums or ensembles from string quartets and choirs to full orchestral scores. Includes support for transposing instruments. - PhotoScore Add-In (In-App Purchase): Take photos of printed sheet music with your device's camera, so you can play back and edit them with NotateMe! Recognizes 5-line staves and most markings including chords, flags, beams, rests, accidentals, articulation marks, clefs, key signatures, time signatures, tuplets, slurs, ties, hairpins and text including lyrics, dynamics and instrument names. Note: Requires 5MP camera & 1 GB RAM - so not for iPad 2, iPhone 4S, iPad Mini (1st gen) or earlier. - Email PDF, MusicXML and MIDI files of your scores to friends or other musicians. Open in other apps and desktop notation packages. Print to paper. - Import and edit MusicXML files (most music symbols supported). - Automatically sync your scores to Dropbox so you can edit them on your phone whilst you are out, and then on your tablet when you get back. - Great when learning or teaching music notation. - NotateMe recognises a wide range of music symbols, including notes (with solid, open, and slanted noteheads), flags, beams (even cross-staff*), leger lines, multiple voices per staff, chords, rests, accidentals (natural, sharp, double sharp & flat), articulation marks, augmentation dots, ties, slurs, hairpins, clef changes, key signatures. Barlines, clefs, time signatures and tuplets are added automatically. - Drag and drop (or set selected drawings to) further music symbols including cross noteheads, pedal markings, ornaments and appoggiatura. - Add chord-symbols, dynamics, technique, tempo changes and lyrics to your score. Write comments or ideas in 'red pen'. - If NotateMe doesn’t recognize your style immediately, keep at it, as it will adjust. Leave clear space between symbols and make markings clearer with further strokes if any transcription errors occur. If you experience problems, tap 'Help Improve NotateMe' from the Export menu and we will analyze your handwriting to help us improve NotateMe further. * Cross-staff beaming requires an iPad DEVICE REQUIREMENTS MINIMUM RECOMMENDED: iPhone 5/s/c, iPad (3rd gen onwards, iPad mini (2nd gen onwards), iPod Touch 5 onwards Screen size - 4 inches diagonal Writing implement - Finger or stylus PhotoScore Add-In: 5MP rear facing camera with auto-focus, 1 GB RAM. Good lighting conditions. Note: It may take a short while for you to become accustomed to aligning parts of musical symbols when writing using a finger, particularly on a smaller screen. WILL NOT RUN ON iPhone 3GS OR iPod Touch 4th Gen or earlier. RECOMMENDED: iPad Pro with Apple Pencil Screen size - 9.7+ inches diagonal PhotoScore Add-In: 5MP rear facing camera with auto-focus, 1 GB RAM. Good lighting conditions.

Screenshots

forScore4 screens
NotateMe4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: forScore at $24.99 against NotateMe's $39.99. forScore also leads on rating (4.8 vs 2.6) and ratings volume (43K vs 26). NotateMe's advantage is iOS requirement (6.0 vs 18.0). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

forScore costs $24.99 and NotateMe $39.99 up front. forScore sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year and NotateMe sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 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 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: forScore has 43K ratings behind it against 26, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of forScore's written reviews are positive against 45% of NotateMe's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

forScore ships an update every 9 days, NotateMe every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
forScore versus NotateMe: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterforScoreNotateMe
Price$24.99 — better$39.99
Rating4.8 (43K ratings) — better2.6 (26 ratings)
Positive reviews49.8% of reviews — better44.5% of reviews
Number of ratings43K — better26
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#11 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.06.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperforScore LLCNeuratron Ltd

Customer experience

forScore

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

NotateMe

All ratings26 ratings
Positive38.5%
Neutral3.8%
Negative57.7%
Written reviews173 reviews
Positive44.5%
Neutral12.1%
Negative43.4%

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

NotateMe

From 26 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent handwriting recognition
  • 🎼 Convenient for jotting down musical ideas
  • 💾 Good integration with Dropbox and other apps
  • 🎹 Useful for piano teachers and students
  • 🎨 Creative tool for composers and arrangers

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • 🤔 Steep learning curve and not very intuitive
  • 🖋️ Struggles with complex notation and articulations
  • 🔍 Inaccurate recognition of accidentals and ledger lines
  • 💰 Expensive for the current feature set

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

NotateMe

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Photoscore feature crashes frequently
  • Notes and rests sometimes get misplaced or lost
  • Inconsistent recognition of handwritten input

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to import and export MusicXML files
  • More customization options for layout and formatting
  • Support for additional articulations and notation symbols
  • Improved palm rejection and stylus compatibility
  • Transposition and chord symbol features

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

NotateMe

One-time1
  • NotateMe PhotoScore IAP$29.99

Questions

Is forScore free?
forScore costs $24.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is NotateMe free?
NotateMe costs $39.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, forScore or NotateMe?
forScore is rated higher. forScore averages 4.8 out of 5 from 43K ratings, while NotateMe averages 2.6 from 26 ratings.
Do forScore or NotateMe have ads?
Neither forScore nor NotateMe shows ads.
Which is updated more often, forScore or NotateMe?
forScore ships an update every 9 days, and NotateMe every 2 weeks. Most recently, forScore was updated on October 21, 2026 and NotateMe on October 17, 2026.

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