Comparison

Drillbook Next vs Dorico

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

Head to head
About

Drillbook Next

This app provides marching band and drum corps directors with a digital tool to visualize and manage marching show drills. It allows for the creation and import of coordinate sheets, enabling step-by-step playback and individual marcher tracking for enhanced rehearsal efficiency.

Highlights
  • Visualize marching show drills
  • Import coordinate sheets
  • Step-by-step show playback
  • Individual marcher tracking
  • Customizable set colors
  • Printable set cards
Features
Read full description

Marching band and drum corps drill at your fingertips. See how every count and every set fits into your marching show. Add Pyware™, EnVision™ or Field Artist 3™ coordinate sheets or create shows on your device. Tap an existing show to follow. It's that easy. "Game Changer - This app is one of the most amazing tools I have used in my years of teaching marching band. So much you can do with it, no more carrying around paper charts trying to explain what a move should look like, students can watch, step-by-step, and see their coordinates the entire way. A total game changer for my band!" - SHS Drumline "Simply the best drillbook app on the App Store - As a band director, I've fallen victim to carrying around the "large binder of charts" that the profession demands. Not any more!! Upon seeing what this app can offer, it's well worth the price, both for students and directors. Seeing every dot on the field in motion and, at any time, having the ability to click on a member and see their dot book coordinate is a massive timesaver and makes rehearsals infinitely more efficient." - NBRFWooo! "Wonderful tool for drill - Beautiful, well polished, feature rich, prefect for quickly knowing what the drill should look like and the exact coordinates for any student." - Wooky "This is the best app for reading drill - I seriously can't say enough about how well this app works. Uploading a show is simple, it updates easily, it's excellent and the developer is very responsive to issues." - Roskoski Marchers Follow your dot as your marching show develops. See how you contribute to the big picture for every count. Know your show forwards and backwards. Use a dotbook for any marcher in the show. Instructors Pinpoint each marcher for every count. View marcher names and color coded drill. Help students get up to speed faster. Features: Coordinates for every set and count of your marching show. Move forward and backward by counts and sets. Pinch and zoom in and out. Import coordinate sheets to create a show or follow a show from DrillbookNext.com. Publish shows for marchers to follow. Jump to any set or song. Custom section colors. Play the show with tempos entered by the show creator. Marcher View flips the field. Personalized set book for each marcher. Print set cards with Set Book Mode. Custom Fields - Center X and endzones Custom notes for each marcher. Add marchers and sets. Edit any marcher on the field. Support for coordinate sheets with back hash and back sideline adjusted back one step.

About

Dorico

Create professional music notation and compositions with this powerful app. Easily input notes, edit performances, and share your work in various formats. It's suitable for beginners and professionals alike.

Highlights
  • Compose music notation
  • On-screen keyboard, drum pads, fretboard
  • MIDI editing tools
  • PDF, audio, MusicXML export
  • Print to AirPrint
  • Read mode with annotation
  • Automatic engraving
Features
Read full description

Compose your own music for free with Dorico. Create beautiful music notation for up to eight instruments quickly and easily with the on-screen keyboard, drum pads and fretboard. Play back instantly with the included sounds and shape the performance with powerful MIDI editing tools. When your piece is finished, share it as PDF, audio or MusicXML, or print directly to your AirPrint-enabled printer. Perform using the built-in read mode, and annotate with your Apple Pencil. Dorico is the award-winning music notation and composition software from Steinberg for macOS, Windows, and iPadOS. It’s easy enough to learn and use that it is used by students in schools, and deep enough that it satisfies the needs of the most demanding professionals in the worlds of concert music, music for film and TV, and music publishing. Dorico for iPad is fully compatible with Dorico for macOS and Windows, so you can work on your projects on the move on your iPad and in your studio on your desktop or laptop computer, or share projects with musicians using Dorico on any platform. Dorico’s interface is split into four modes. In Setup mode, you can add and change instruments, create and reorder sections of music (called “flows”), and choose how your music will be formatted for your musicians into layouts. In Write mode, you can input and edit music and other notations using simple, well-organized toolboxes and panels. In Engrave mode (included if you buy a paid subscription to Dorico’s advanced features), you can make graphical tweaks to every item in your project. Finally, in Play mode, you have access to powerful sequencer-style MIDI editing tools, including piano roll and velocity editors. Dorico includes built-in virtual instruments and effects to allow you to play back your compositions, and you can also easily use any compatible Audio Unit plug-in or external MIDI device (with optional subscription or Lifetime Unlock in-app purchase), and tweak playback using the on-screen Mixer. Input music using an on-screen piano keyboard, or by connecting a MIDI keyboard to your iPad directly via USB or using a compatible USB-to-Lightning adaptor. If you have a Magic Keyboard or other external keyboard, you can make use of extensive keyboard shortcuts to work quickly and efficiently. Dorico is free to use, allowing you to write for ensembles of up to four players. Register with your free Steinberg ID to increase the player limit to eight, allowing you to write for ensembles like string or wind quartet, or SATB choir. If you want to take your composition and arranging to the next level, you can buy an optional subscription or Lifetime Unlock in-app purchase to access more features and power: write for ensembles of any number of players, and gain access to Engrave mode, allowing you to make graphical tweaks to individual items anywhere in your project. HIGHLIGHTS • Best automatic engraving of any software • Easy note input using on-screen keyboard, MIDI keyboard, or external keyboard • Intelligently adjusts notation as you write • Any number of movements or pieces in a single project • Automatic layout of instrumental parts • Expressive playback using included sounds and effects • Supports Audio Unit virtual instruments and effects processors • Sequencer-style piano roll MIDI editor • Sophisticated chord symbols, unpitched percussion and drum set notation • Unbarred music, tuplets across barlines, etc. all handled correctly — no workarounds • Transfer to and from other apps via MusicXML, MIDI, PDF, etc. For support, please visit www.dorico.com/forum If you like Dorico, please support us by rating this app in the App Store. Thank you!

Screenshots

Drillbook Next4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Dorico at Free against Drillbook Next's $9.99. Dorico also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.4) and ratings volume (2.3K vs 19). Drillbook Next's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and review sentiment (69% vs 55%). On update cadence 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

Dorico is free to download; Drillbook Next costs $9.99 up front. Dorico sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Drillbook Next asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Dorico holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dorico has 2.3K ratings behind it against 19, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 69% of Drillbook Next's written reviews are positive against 55% of Dorico's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drillbook Next ships an update every 2 weeks, Dorico every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Drillbook Next versus Dorico: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrillbook NextDorico
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating3.4 (19 ratings)4.6 (2.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews69.2% of reviews — better55.4% of reviews
Number of ratings192.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS6.0 — better17
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB975 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperScott RundellSteinberg Media Technologies GmbH

Customer experience

Drillbook Next

All ratings18 ratings
Positive61.1%
Neutral5.6%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive69.2%
Neutral3.8%
Negative26.9%

Dorico

All ratings1,908 ratings
Positive91.1%
Neutral3.6%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews294 reviews
Positive55.4%
Neutral12.9%
Negative31.6%

Bugs and requests

Drillbook Next

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Dorico

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes when opening or editing projects
  • Corrupted/lost files after app crashes
  • Unresponsive keyboard and note input issues
  • Scrolling and UI glitches, especially in Engrave mode
  • Incompatibility with certain iPad models and iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Support for Apple Pencil and handwriting input
  • Improved file management and organization
  • Expanded audio unit/plugin integration
  • More customization options for layout and engraving
  • Ability to export/import flows and projects between iPad and desktop

In-app purchases

None

Drillbook Next

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Dorico

Subscriptions2
  • Dorico Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Dorico Annual Subscription14 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • Dorico Lifetime Unlock$119.99

Questions

Is Drillbook Next free?
Drillbook Next costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dorico free?
Dorico is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Drillbook Next or Dorico?
Dorico is rated higher. Drillbook Next averages 3.4 out of 5 from 19 ratings, while Dorico averages 4.6 from 2.3K ratings.
Do Drillbook Next or Dorico have ads?
Neither Drillbook Next nor Dorico shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drillbook Next or Dorico?
Drillbook Next ships an update every 2 weeks, and Dorico every 3 weeks. Most recently, Drillbook Next was updated on November 1, 2026 and Dorico on November 3, 2026.

Other comparisons