Comparison

iWriteMusic SE vs Sheet Music Maker & Scanner

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

Head to head
About

iWriteMusic SE

Create professional music notation quickly and easily. Features fast note entry, extensive notation options, and playback for checking your work. Turn your musical ideas into finished scores without a steep learning curve.

Highlights
  • Fast note entry
  • Extensive notation options
  • Scores and individual parts
  • Flexible page layouts
  • Playback for checking and practice
  • Intuitive controls
Features
Read full description

Less learning. More music. Professional notation without the lengthy learning process. Fast note entry with OneFlick, extensive notation options, scores and individual parts, flexible page layouts, and playback for checking and practice. With clear, intuitive controls, iWriteMusic helps you turn inspiration into finished notation. If you’re getting started with iWriteMusic, we recommend the integrated version. The integrated version is free to download, with features available through one-time in-app purchases. Future new features will also be offered in the integrated version. This SE version remains available to support existing users. For the time being, it will continue to receive bug fixes and OS compatibility updates, but it will not receive new features or support in-app purchases. Limits on the number of saved songs and playback duration, along with watermarks, apply.

About

Sheet Music Maker & Scanner

This app helps musicians of all levels learn, create, compose, and write songs. It offers tools for editing PDFs, organizing lyrics with AI assistance, and digitizing paper music sheets. Sync your work across devices and share it easily.

Highlights
  • Compose and customize melodies with templates
  • Edit and annotate PDF sheet music
  • AI-assisted lyric writing
  • Digitize paper music sheets via scanning
  • iCloud synchronization across devices
  • Import PDF sheet music from external platforms
  • Organize music with folders and notebooks
Features
Read full description

Sheet Music brings score writing, PDF sheet music, practice tools and songwriting together on iPad and iPhone. Compose a piece and hear it played, mark up your part for rehearsal, practice with a metronome and tuner, and perform with hands-free page turns. WRITE AND EDIT SCORES Start from a blank score, from Piano Solo to Full Orchestra, or from more than 150 public-domain examples. Open MusicXML files from other notation apps and keep editing in the same file. Enter notes from the palette, drag symbols onto the staff, use keyboard shortcuts, play the on-screen piano or connect a USB or Bluetooth MIDI keyboard. Add slurs, tuplets, grace notes, dynamics, articulations, ornaments, lyrics, chord symbols, repeats and endings. Transpose by key or interval, view individual parts and rearrange instruments as your piece grows. HEAR EVERY NOTE Play your score with a grand piano recorded at 16 dynamic levels, plus strings, brass, flute, harp and drums. Playback follows dynamics, pedaling, ornaments, tempo changes and repeats, and highlights each part in its own color. Balance the parts in the Mixer, loop a passage, add a count-in or metronome, or turn on Wait for Me and the score waits for you to play each note. READ AND MARK UP Import PDF sheet music from the Files app or other apps, or scan paper music with your camera. Annotate PDFs and scores with Apple Pencil, highlight passages and record yourself as you play. Add notes, dynamics, articulations, bowings and other marks from Music Symbols; notes snap onto the staff. Find your way through long books with bookmarks and search. PERFORM WITH CONFIDENCE Performance Mode shows your music full screen. Turn pages with a tap, a keyboard or a page-turner pedal, and use half-page turns to see what comes next before you reach it. Add jumps for repeats, D.S. and Coda so the right page is always waiting. PRACTICE SMARTER Open Practice for a metronome with tap tempo, a chromatic tuner and a play-along track: add a recording, loop a passage and slow it down without changing the pitch. The Practice Log shows how much time you spend with each score. WRITE SONGS Write ChordPro chord sheets with chord diagrams, transposition, capo and auto-scroll for the stage. Find rhymes and check the syllable count of every line of your lyrics. Need a spark? Chat with the AI Assistant to brainstorm ideas, or ask it to rewrite, correct or translate your lyrics. STAFF PAPER AND TEMPLATES Choose from more than 200 templates for staff paper, piano, voice and choir, guitar tab, band and orchestra, and music theory. Or design your own staff paper with the clef, staff size, layout and number of staves you need. ORGANIZE AND SHARE Keep scores, chord sheets and lyrics in folders and find them with search. iCloud keeps your library in sync across your devices. Export scores as audio, MIDI or MusicXML, open MIDI files as editable scores, and share your music with your band, choir or students. From the first idea to the final bow, Sheet Music keeps all your music in one place. Privacy Policy http://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html EULA https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

iWriteMusic SE4 screens
Sheet Music Maker & Scanner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: iWriteMusic SE at 4.4 against Sheet Music Maker & Scanner's 2.6. iWriteMusic SE also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and review sentiment (57% vs 33%). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Sheet Music Maker & Scanner sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. iWriteMusic SE asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iWriteMusic SE holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iWriteMusic SE has 148 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of iWriteMusic SE's written reviews are positive against 33% of Sheet Music Maker & Scanner's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iWriteMusic SE ships an update every 2 weeks, Sheet Music Maker & Scanner every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
iWriteMusic SE versus Sheet Music Maker & Scanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriWriteMusic SESheet Music Maker & Scanner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (148 ratings) — better2.6 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews56.8% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings148 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB498 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperiWriteMusicProjectKairoos Solutions SL

Customer experience

iWriteMusic SE

All ratings148 ratings
Positive85.1%
Neutral4.7%
Negative10.1%
Written reviews139 reviews
Positive56.8%
Neutral18.0%
Negative25.2%

Sheet Music Maker & Scanner

All ratings5 ratings
Positive40.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative60.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

iWriteMusic SE

Reported bugs

20 issues
  • App crashes when adding rests at beginning of measure
  • App crashes when adding/removing notation
  • App freezes when entering notes on certain pitches
  • App randomly quits during composition
  • Note placement inaccuracy on iPhone with retina display
Show 15 more
  • Notes appear in wrong location despite correct placement
  • Playback cuts off after 30 seconds
  • Playback audio not working despite phone not being muted
  • Incorrect note playback (different octave than entered)
  • Lyric input not functioning
  • Crashes after large file operations
  • Data loss when closing without saving
  • Crashes when using multiple staves
  • Crashes during save operation
  • Crashes when reinstalling after purchase
  • Watermark reappears after reinstall
  • App becomes laggy over time
  • Staccatos, crescendos, and accents not played back
  • Ritards and accelerandos ignored in playback
  • Trill notation not functioning properly

Requested features

20 requests
  • Auto-save functionality
  • MusicXML file transfer support
  • Guitar tablature (TAB) notation
  • Ability to change time signature mid-composition
  • Better grace note controls
Show 15 more
  • Slur and tie playback support
  • Crescendo and diminuendo playback
  • More instrument templates (duets, trios)
  • Audio sharing/export capability
  • Arpeggio playback support
  • Individual grace note value assignment
  • Pianissimo (ppp) dynamic marking
  • Bracket notation for grouped instruments
  • More percussion instruments (Baritone, Euphonium, Mellophone)
  • Text formatting (bold, italic)
  • Customizable bottom navigation bar
  • iPad-native version
  • MIDI export to Logic Pro and Sibelius
  • Searchable help guide with index
  • Ability to extend bar lines across measures

Sheet Music Maker & Scanner

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

iWriteMusic SE

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Sheet Music Maker & Scanner

Subscriptions2
  • Sheet Music Monthly3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Sheet Music Annual3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Full Pro Unlock$14.99

Questions

Is iWriteMusic SE free?
iWriteMusic SE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sheet Music Maker & Scanner free?
Sheet Music Maker & Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, iWriteMusic SE or Sheet Music Maker & Scanner?
iWriteMusic SE is rated higher. iWriteMusic SE averages 4.4 out of 5 from 148 ratings, while Sheet Music Maker & Scanner averages 2.6 from 5 ratings.
Do iWriteMusic SE or Sheet Music Maker & Scanner have ads?
Neither iWriteMusic SE nor Sheet Music Maker & Scanner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iWriteMusic SE or Sheet Music Maker & Scanner?
iWriteMusic SE ships an update every 2 weeks, and Sheet Music Maker & Scanner every 9 days. Most recently, iWriteMusic SE was updated on November 10, 2026 and Sheet Music Maker & Scanner on November 4, 2026.

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