Comparison

Piascore vs Sibelius

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

Head to head
About

Piascore

This app allows musicians to digitally browse, annotate, and manage their sheet music. It offers features like free classical score downloads, automatic page turning, and integrated practice tools. Easily organize and access your entire music library from your device.

Highlights
  • Digital sheet music browsing
  • Score annotation with pens and stamps
  • Free classical sheet music search (IMSLP)
  • Automatic vertical scrolling and half page-turning
  • Page layout rearrangement and jump buttons
  • Integrated metronome and practice tools
  • Air Page Turning and Bluetooth pedal support
Features
Read full description

** More than 7,000,000 musicians around the world use Piascore! ** ** Fully optimized for iPad Pro and iPhone 18! ** Piascore is a digital sheet music reader for iPad and iPhone, made for pianists, guitarists and every other musician who plays from a score. The idea behind it is simple: all the world's sheet music, right there in your hands. It takes on the everyday problems every performer knows too well. No more hauling a bag of heavy binders to rehearsal, and no more digging through piles of paper for the one piece you need. ** Features ** : Annotate freely Six pens, each with its own color, thickness and nib, let you mark up a score exactly as you would on paper. Stamps for dynamics and other symbols, plus text boxes, make annotating quick. : Smart browsing Our own rendering engine gives you page turns among the fastest anywhere. Jump straight to the first or last page, preview a page before you turn to it, and crop pages to enlarge the staves for easier reading. Password-protected PDFs are supported. : Automatic vertical scrolling and half-page turns Let the score scroll by itself and forget about turning pages altogether. The scrolling speed is yours to set. : Over 130,000 classical scores to download for free Piascore connects to IMSLP (the International Music Score Library Project) / Petrucci Music Library, so you can download 131,000 public domain works by 16,200 composers, free of charge. : Plenty of ways to bring in your own scores Piascore reads PDF files. Transfer your own scores over iTunes File Sharing, import them from Dropbox, photograph printed music with the camera, or download a score you found in Safari. : Easy library management Tags and setlists keep even a large library in order, with powerful sorting and keyword search. : Metronome A metronome with a natural, realistic sound to keep your daily practice on track. : Piascore music tools Everything a musician needs beside the score: a keyboard, a chromatic tuner, a music player (iTunes) and a voice recorder. : Custom covers Use a photo or any image you like to give each score its own cover. : Editable table of contents Build your own table of contents, or import one from the PDF. : Reorder pages, jump between them Put the pages in whatever order suits you. For repeats, D.S. and the like, place a jump button on the page and go straight where the music takes you. : Export your scores Print an annotated score over AirPrint, or send it by email. : The Piascore Store Classical works, folk songs and easy arrangements, all in one store. Search by genre or by artist and find that piece you have been looking for. : Air Page Turning (iPhone required) Pair an iPhone running the companion app "Piascore Air" and turn pages more easily than ever, without touching the screen at all. : AirTurn Bluetooth pedal support Connect an AirTurn pedal and turn pages with your foot. ** Praise ** "This is a sheet music viewer that is genuinely worth having" - GRAMOPHONE "Very easy to use, a beautiful sound library" - appPicker "The most wonderful and convenient music sheet viewer you can't miss!" - Best10Apps.com "Impressed with the outstanding visibility!" - AppBank ** Award ** : 2011 International Business Awards - Consumer Entertainment / Information (Distinguished Honoree) : 2012 4th SF NewTech Japan Night Winner ** FAQ ** : https://help.piascore.com/ ** Contact ** : https://piascore.com/ : support@piascore.com

About

Sibelius

Professional music notation software is now available on mobile devices. Create, edit, and hear your compositions anywhere with a full suite of tools optimized for touch and stylus input. Seamlessly sync across platforms and access different feature tiers to suit your needs.

Highlights
  • Professional music notation
  • Cross-platform synchronization
  • High-quality sample library
  • Apple Pencil and touch optimization
  • Innovative note entry
  • Command Search functionality
  • Scalable subscription tiers
Features
Read full description

Sibelius brings professional music notation to iPad and iPhone, putting the workflows used by countless composers, orchestrators, and arrangers at your fingertips. Seamlessly move between iPad, iPhone and desktop, and from studio to coffeeshop to scoring stage, and write anywhere inspiration strikes. # Work on scores anywhere Sibelius for mobile puts the #1 selling music notation program at your fingertips—literally. Work with the same tools and features used by countless composers and production houses every day on your iPad and iPhone. Whether writing down ideas, creating full-blown compositions, or reviewing scores, you have the freedom to create wherever you’re comfortable. #Take your portfolio to go Forget having to bring and break out your laptop when meeting with clients and collaborators. Instead, you can conveniently take the world’s most powerful notation toolset and your entire music portfolio with you wherever you go—ideal for those unexpected opportunities. And for tandemly working through last-minute revisions. # Hear your music in stunning detail Sibelius includes a high-quality sample library filled with a variety of musical instrumentation, so you can hear what your music will sound like when performed by real musicians. The Espressivo advanced notation interpretation even lets you adjust rhythm and swing to create a more humanistic feel. # Speed your workflow Sibelius for mobile is designed to take full advantage of Apple Pencil and iPad touch capabilities. Its elegant, streamlined interface provides the most intuitive and efficient workflows possible while supporting the same keyboard shortcuts you know and love from working on the desktop version, so you’ll feel right at home. # Get innovative note entry Experience the pen and paper workflow reimagined. Enter notes with the onscreen Keypad or a keyboard, and Sibelius takes care of all note layout. Touch a note and drag up or down to change its value, or drag left or right to add a flat or sharp. With an Apple Pencil, tap a note and tilt up or down to add a flat or sharp, or tilt left or right to choose the note value. # Have everything you need In addition to the Keypad, Sibelius for mobile features a Create menu that’s optimized for iOS, making it easy to add clefs, key signatures, time signatures, barlines, symbols, text styles, and more to your score from searchable galleries. You can also quickly search through all Sibelius commands using the Command Search, putting the entire app at your fingertips. # Move tiers to meet needs Sibelius is designed to grow with you to support your creative aspirations and project needs. From the introductory (and free) Sibelius First to the industry-standard Sibelius Ultimate, you can add more notation capabilities and instrument parts to take on more creative opportunities by simply upgrading your subscription tier. # Have everything on one creative platform Seamlessly move from desktop to tablet and back without ever having to import or export files. That’s because whether on mobile or desktop, you’re always in Sibelius. With files saved to iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, or other iOS-supported cloud service, you have easy anywhere access to all your ideas and scores. # Enable a hybrid workflow While Sibelius for mobile is fully featured, providing many of the same tools as its desktop counterpart, there are some notation and layout features only available in the desktop version, making it an integral part of a complete workflow (compare versions). Plus, the mobile version comes free with the desktop version, enabling you to work where and how you want.

Screenshots

Piascore4 screens
Sibelius4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Piascore at 82% against Sibelius's 36%. Piascore also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.2) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). Sibelius's advantage is iOS requirement (13.4 vs 26.0). On price, ratings volume, 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

Both are free to download. Piascore sells 11 one-off in-app purchases and Sibelius sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Piascore holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.9K and 1.8K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of Piascore's written reviews are positive against 36% of Sibelius's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Piascore ships an update weekly, Sibelius every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Piascore versus Sibelius: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPiascoreSibelius
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (1.9K ratings) — better4.2 (1.8K ratings)
Positive reviews81.7% of reviews — better35.7% of reviews
Number of ratings1.9K — better1.8K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.013.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size76 MB1.4 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPiascore, Inc.Avid®

Customer experience

Piascore

All ratings1,886 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral2.5%
Negative5.1%
Written reviews1,374 reviews
Positive81.7%
Neutral6.6%
Negative11.7%

Sibelius

All ratings1,796 ratings
Positive78.2%
Neutral5.3%
Negative16.5%
Written reviews591 reviews
Positive35.7%
Neutral11.3%
Negative53.0%

User reviews

Piascore

From 1.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Convenient digital sheet music management
  • 💡 Useful features like annotation, metronome, and tuner
  • 👍 Seamless integration with cloud storage
  • 👍 Affordable paid version with additional functionality

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and glitches
  • 🔋 Battery drain issues
  • 🔒 Concerns about syncing and backup capabilities
  • 👎 Limitations in editing and organizing sheet music

Sibelius

From 1.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use and intuitive
  • 🚀 Useful for composing on the go
  • 💡 Good for making quick edits to existing scores
  • 🎨 Stylish and professional-looking app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes frequently
  • 🔒 Difficulty unlocking full version and accessing features
  • 💰 Subscription service is very expensive
  • 🔇 Limited sound library and poor playback quality
  • 📁 Unreliable saving and file management

Bugs and requests

Piascore

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unreliable facial gesture page turning
  • Issues with downloading and importing files
  • Inconsistent behavior when making edits

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to add/insert pages to existing scores
  • More customization options for annotations and page turning
  • Improved syncing across devices
  • Better support for guitar tablature and chord charts

Sibelius

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Scores disappearing or not saving properly
  • Subscription issues and inability to log in
  • Crashes when performing basic actions
  • Compatibility problems with newer iPad OS versions

Requested features

7 requests
  • Ability to enlarge chord symbols
  • More time signature options
  • Support for MIDI input
  • Better Apple Pencil integration
  • Autosave and improved file management
Show 2 more
  • Export options like MusicXML and PDF
  • Customizable shortcuts and toolbars

In-app purchases

11 purchases

Piascore

One-time11
  • Music Sheet$0.99
  • Music Sheet$1.99
  • piaScore music tools$1.99
Show 8 more
  • Music Sheet$2.99
  • Music Sheet$3.99
  • Music Sheet$4.99
  • Piascore Full Upgrading$5.99
  • Music Sheet$5.99
  • Music Sheet$6.99
  • Music Sheet2 variants$9.99
  • Music Sheet$22.99
2 purchases

Sibelius

Subscriptions2
  • Sibelius Artist for iOS1 Month trial$5.991 Month
  • Sibelius Ultimate for iOS1 Month trial$12.991 Month

Questions

Is Piascore free?
Piascore is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sibelius free?
Sibelius is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Piascore or Sibelius?
Piascore is rated higher. Piascore averages 4.6 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while Sibelius averages 4.2 from 1.8K ratings.
Do Piascore or Sibelius have ads?
Neither Piascore nor Sibelius shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Piascore or Sibelius?
Piascore ships an update weekly, and Sibelius every 2 months. Most recently, Piascore was updated on October 30, 2026 and Sibelius on October 29, 2026.

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