iWriteMusic SE vs CalmusNotation
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Fast note entry
- Extensive notation options
- Scores and individual parts
- Flexible page layouts
- Playback for checking and practice
- Intuitive controls
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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.
CalmusNotation
Create and visualize musical compositions using AI-powered graphical notation. This app leverages advanced AI, inspired by NASA's Lisp programming, to generate original music based on user input and can display music from other compatible apps for live performance.
- AI-powered music composition
- Graphical notation display
- Real-time performance visualization
- Lisp-based AI engine
- User input-driven music creation
- Integration with CalmusComposer and CalmusPlay
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Graphical Notation is an app for music creation and graphical notation using Artificial Intelligence. The coreof Graphical Notation is the CalmusAI brain where the modern composing methods are programmed into the brain using Lisp programming language. NASA has historically used Lisp for artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, most notably in the 1990s Remote Agent project, the first AI system to control a spacecraft. CalmusNotation does not collect or use any musical material from the internet but creates new music based on the input from the user. In addition - CalmusNotation can also receive composed music from CalmusComposer and CalmusPlay - and present the music as graphical notation for live performance - in real-time. CalmusComposer composes music with Artificial Intelligence and can send the musical result to GraphicalNotations to be presented for life performance. CalmusComposer is connected to GraphicalNotation through WiFi local network - by selecting CalmusNotation in Settings. GraphicalNotation is connected to CalmusComposer, through WiFi local network - by selecting the MacOS device in the settings of GraphicalNotation. CalmusNotation needs Internet connection.
Screenshots
Verdict
iWriteMusic SE and CalmusNotation both sit at 4.4 stars, but that hides the real split: 57% of iWriteMusic SE's written reviews are positive against 0% of CalmusNotation's. iWriteMusic SE also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (148 vs 5). CalmusNotation's advantage is device support (4 vs 1). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for iWriteMusic SE against 4.4 for CalmusNotation. 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 are what separate them: 57% of iWriteMusic SE's written reviews are positive against 0% of CalmusNotation's.
iWriteMusic SE ships an update every 2 weeks, CalmusNotation every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iWriteMusic SE | CalmusNotation |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (148 ratings) | 4.4 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 56.8% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 148 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 294 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | iWriteMusicProject | Erki-tonlist sf |
Customer experience
iWriteMusic SE
CalmusNotation
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
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- 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
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- 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
CalmusNotation
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
iWriteMusic SE
No in-app purchases
CalmusNotation
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is iWriteMusic SE free?
Is CalmusNotation free?
Which has better reviews, iWriteMusic SE or CalmusNotation?
Do iWriteMusic SE or CalmusNotation have ads?
Which is updated more often, iWriteMusic SE or CalmusNotation?
Other comparisons
