# Symphony Pro vs Crescendo Masters Edition

The clearest difference is price: Crescendo Masters Edition at Free against Symphony Pro's $14.99. Crescendo Masters Edition also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13.5). Symphony Pro's advantage is ratings volume (473 vs 7). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Crescendo Masters Edition is free to download; Symphony Pro costs $14.99 up front. Symphony Pro sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Crescendo Masters Edition sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.8 for Symphony Pro against 3.9 for Crescendo Masters Edition. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Symphony Pro has 473 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 56% of Symphony Pro's written reviews are positive against 50% of Crescendo Masters Edition's.

Symphony Pro ships an update every 4 weeks, Crescendo Masters Edition fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Symphony Pro | Crescendo Masters Edition |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $14.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [3.8 (473 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/symphony-pro-music-notation/id412380315/reviews) | **[3.9 (7 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crescendo-masters-edition/id1641673402/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **473** | 7 |
| Positive reviews | **55.9% of reviews** | 50.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 365 MB | 19 MB |
| Requires iOS | 13.5 | **11.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Xenon Labs, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/327764518) | [NCH Software](https://appshunter.io/developer/349888537) |

## What reviewers say

### Symphony Pro

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/symphony-pro-music-notation/id412380315)

Compose music notation on your iPad with intuitive handwriting recognition or traditional input methods. Create scores for various ensembles, import and export in multiple formats, and utilize a wide range of notational elements. Enjoy built-in instruments for playback and auditioning.

**Highlights:** Handwriting recognition for Apple Pencil and touch, Compose for various ensembles, Import/export MusicXML, MIDI, and more, On-screen instrument input, Real-time recording and transcription, Wide range of notational elements, Print via AirPrint

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Version 4: Complete Features Bundle | Free | one-time |
| Handwriting Recognition Tool | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Handwriting recognition is great
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 🎨 Flexible for composing and arranging
- 💰 Good value for the price
- 🎹 Works well with Apple Pencil

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Clunky and unintuitive interface
- 🔊 Poor sound quality of instruments
- 🔒 Issues with saving and exporting files
- 🤔 Steep learning curve for some features

**Reported bugs**

- Project menu disappears unexpectedly
- Ties and tuplets not working correctly
- Inconsistent behavior when zooming and panning
- Instruments not transposing properly
- Frequent crashes when editing complex scores

**Requested features**

- Add guitar metronome
- Improve text and lyrics handling
- Allow more customization of page layout
- Implement better transposition and chord features
- Provide more orchestral percussion instruments


### Crescendo Masters Edition

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crescendo-masters-edition/id1641673402)

Easily arrange professional-quality sheet music, guitar tabs, and percussion notation. Add notes, accidentals, text, and lyrics, then listen back to your compositions with MIDI playback. This tool is ideal for composers to write, save, and print their musical ideas.

**Highlights:** Create sheet music, guitar tabs, percussion notation, Change time and key signatures, Add whole to thirty-second notes with accidentals, Drag notes to adjust pitch and placement, Add text for titles, tempo, dynamics, lyrics, MIDI playback for compositions, Save and print music

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full Features (Monthly) | $2.99 | per month |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Symphony Pro free?

Symphony Pro costs $14.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Is Crescendo Masters Edition free?

Crescendo Masters Edition is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Symphony Pro or Crescendo Masters Edition?

Crescendo Masters Edition is rated higher. Symphony Pro averages 3.8 out of 5 from 473 ratings, while Crescendo Masters Edition averages 3.9 from 7 ratings.

### Do Symphony Pro or Crescendo Masters Edition have ads?

Neither Symphony Pro nor Crescendo Masters Edition shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Symphony Pro or Crescendo Masters Edition?

Symphony Pro ships an update every 4 weeks, and Crescendo Masters Edition fortnightly. Most recently, Symphony Pro was updated on October 24, 2026 and Crescendo Masters Edition on October 25, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*