Comparison

iWriteMusic Pro SE vs Notation Pad

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

Head to head
About

iWriteMusic Pro SE

Create professional music notation quickly and easily. Features fast note entry, extensive notation options, and playback for practice. Turn your musical ideas into finished scores with intuitive controls.

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

Notation Pad

Create, edit, and play sheet music with this comprehensive notation editor. Compose original pieces, transcribe existing music, and even collaborate in real-time. Ideal for musicians of all levels, from beginners learning notes to experienced composers.

Highlights
  • Real-time collaborative editing
  • MusicXML, MIDI, PNG, and PDF export
  • High-quality playback sound
  • Support for up to 8 staves
  • Over 100 instrument sounds
  • Lyric editing
  • Multi-voice support
Features
Read full description

A sheet music creator and music notation editor on iOS. For any music lover or composer, Notation Pad gives you the ability to read, compose, edit, playback music scores and write lyrics. With it you can be a talented composer and great sheet music maker anywhere. As long as you have a little knowledge of sheet music, you can write music composition simply by touching and moving. You could use it as your songbook or scoresheet. It is also designed for a beginner who wants to learn music score, music notes and tablature. It can handle ensemble, choir or symphony score, also it supports for a single track piano score. With the help of it you could easily record the flashes of inspiration wherever they strike. Are you ready to compose music in a simple way? ----------------------- Features: -Realtime multi-person collaborative editing via SharePlay. -Export/Import the industry-popular MusicXML file format, allowing for exchanging sheet music with other software (Finale, Sibelius, Encore, MuseScore, etc). -Export MIDI file. -Export PNG image and PDF document. -High quality sound for playback. -Support editing up to 8 staff at the same time. -Support over 100 kinds of musical instrument. Piano, organ, guitar, violin, sax, flute, brass, bass, etc. -Support multi-voice. -A great lyric app. ----------------------- Supported notation: *A variety of music note types, from whole note to 128th note and dotted note *Chord, staff, track *Treble, alto and bass clef *Edit lyrics *A variety of time signatures *All standard key signatures *Adjustable tempo *All accidentals (sharps, flats, double sharps, double flats, and naturals) *Tie, slur, and tuplet *Many types of ornament *A wide range of dynamics ----------------------- UNLIMITED ACCESS SUBSCRIPTION - Support up to 8 staff - Config parts(add, delete, reorder) - Change key for each part - Change beat type and tempo - Config clef for each staff - Config sound for each part - No watermark image export - No Ads - Support 2nd voice part - Transpose instruments - Pickup bar - Import data file - Edit downloaded music score - Unlock all 100+ instruments - The subscription is $6.99 weekly with trial - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that service, where applicable - Terms of use: https://service.notationpad.com/terms_service.html

Screenshots

Notation Pad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: iWriteMusic Pro SE at none against Notation Pad's 10. iWriteMusic Pro SE also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly). Notation Pad's advantage is ratings volume (5.3K vs 207) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, review sentiment and ads 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. Notation Pad sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days. iWriteMusic Pro SE asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iWriteMusic Pro SE holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notation Pad has 5.3K ratings behind it against 207, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 53% of iWriteMusic Pro SE's written reviews are positive against 56% of Notation Pad's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iWriteMusic Pro SE ships an update every 2 weeks, Notation Pad monthly. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
iWriteMusic Pro SE versus Notation Pad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriWriteMusic Pro SENotation Pad
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (207 ratings) — better4.3 (5.3K ratings)
Positive reviews53.2% of reviews55.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2075.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB162 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperiWriteMusicProject嵩 张

Customer experience

iWriteMusic Pro SE

All ratings207 ratings
Positive89.4%
Neutral5.3%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews111 reviews
Positive53.2%
Neutral10.8%
Negative36.0%

Notation Pad

All ratings5,264 ratings
Positive81.4%
Neutral5.7%
Negative12.9%
Written reviews465 reviews
Positive55.9%
Neutral8.6%
Negative35.5%

User reviews

iWriteMusic Pro SE

From 207 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 💡 Helpful for music writing
  • 👍 Useful for music teachers
  • 🚀 Functional free version
  • 👍 Good for small-scale composition

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes frequently
  • 🔧 Unintuitive interface
  • 🔧 Difficult to navigate
  • 🐛 Playback issues
  • 🔧 Fiddly note placement

Notation Pad

From 5.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🎼 Good for basic music notation
  • 🎹 Helpful for piano/keyboard players

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Many features locked behind paywall
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🐛 Buggy and unstable at times
  • 📱 Limited functionality compared to desktop apps
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate and find features

Bugs and requests

iWriteMusic Pro SE

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Incorrect transposition of notes
  • Inability to save compositions
  • Overlapping/unreadable menu text
  • Freezing when trying to copy/paste
  • Inconsistent behavior when adding new measures

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more music notation options (e.g. glissando, ghost notes)
  • Improve playback to follow dynamics and expressions
  • Allow multiple key signatures in the same piece
  • Provide an undo/redo function
  • Implement a chord entry mode for guitarists

Notation Pad

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Subscription popup that cannot be closed
  • Instruments turning into drums unexpectedly
  • Inability to delete or modify certain elements

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more instrument options
  • Improve editing capabilities
  • Allow changing key signatures and time signatures without premium
  • Provide better tutorials and documentation
  • Fix issues with note placement and playback

In-app purchases

None

iWriteMusic Pro SE

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Notation Pad

Subscriptions2
  • Unlimited Access7 Days trial$6.997 Days
  • Unlimited Access Monthly$14.991 Month
One-time8
  • Guitar Instrument Group$0.99
  • Ensemble Instrument Group$0.99
  • Brass Instrument Group$0.99
Show 5 more
  • Reed Instrument Group$0.99
  • Pipe Instrument Group$0.99
  • Strings Instrument Group$1.99
  • All Instruments Pack$4.99
  • Extras Package$19.99

Questions

Is iWriteMusic Pro SE free?
iWriteMusic Pro SE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notation Pad free?
Notation Pad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, iWriteMusic Pro SE or Notation Pad?
iWriteMusic Pro SE is rated higher. iWriteMusic Pro SE averages 4.5 out of 5 from 207 ratings, while Notation Pad averages 4.3 from 5.3K ratings.
Do iWriteMusic Pro SE or Notation Pad have ads?
Neither iWriteMusic Pro SE nor Notation Pad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iWriteMusic Pro SE or Notation Pad?
iWriteMusic Pro SE ships an update every 2 weeks, and Notation Pad monthly. Most recently, iWriteMusic Pro SE was updated on November 6, 2026 and Notation Pad on November 6, 2026.

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