Comparison

Prelude vs Score Creator

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

Head to head
About

Prelude

Create and edit sheet music on your iPhone or iPad with a redesigned, modern interface. This intuitive score editor allows for quick composition anytime, anywhere.

Highlights
  • Score editor
  • Sheet music viewer
  • Create custom scores
  • Intuitive interface
  • Mobile composition
Features
Read full description

** In version 3.0 of Prelude the app has been completely redesigned. Now better and more modern, Prelude will give you a completely new experience! ** Prelude is a score editor that allows you to create your own scores the way you want. Developed especially for iPhones and iPads, it has a simple and intuitive interface, allowing you to write your scores quickly. With Prelude you can compose anytime, anywhere.

About

Score Creator

Easily compose and edit sheet music on your mobile device. This app simplifies music creation with a text-keyboard-like interface for notes and chords, supports multiple instruments and clefs, and allows for lyric and chord symbol writing. It's ideal for songwriters, teachers, and students.

Highlights
  • Compose music scores with various clefs and symbols
  • Write lyrics and chord symbols
  • Multi-track support for different instruments
  • Playback sound for each instrument
  • Transpose songs and import/export MIDI/MusicXML
  • Export to PDF and audio files
  • Editing assistant features
Features
Read full description

Score Creator is a music composition application that is specially designed for mobile platforms. It's a simple but powerful music creation tool that caters to your need to write music on the go. *** The app's user experience is completely optimized to make composing music on mobile devices easier and faster than ever. No more "tapping and zooming" the screen just to add a music note or a chord symbol. No more "dragging and dropping" from the palette just to add a sharp/flat sign. All you need to do to write a song is tap the keyboards (notes and chords) that are designed like a text keyboard. COMPOSING MUSIC IS NOW AS SIMPLE AS TEXTING YOUR FRIENDS! *** Apart from being a songwriting app for songwriters, Score Creator also functions as a music teaching and learning tool for music teachers and students. Teachers can teach students how to read music notation by directly entering music notes into the app and playing back the song, while music students can practice by themselves by notating their favorite songs in the app and playing along with their own musical instruments. *** The app is a perfect tool for writing different types of sheet music, including lead sheets, solo instrument scores, SATB choir scores, sheet music for brass & woodwind bands, and more. *** FEATURES: - Compose music scores. The app supports treble, alto, bass and neutral clefs, with a wide range of notes and music symbols: note lengths, time signatures, key signatures, slurs, ties, dynamics, articulations & ornaments, and more. - Write lyrics. - Write chord symbols. - Multiple tracks with different instruments: piano, guitar, violin, saxophone, drums, flute, horn, tuba, ukulele, mandolin, and more. - Scores for transposing instruments: saxophone (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone), Bb clarinet, Bb trumpet, and more. - Playback sound for each instrument. - Transpose songs into any key. - Import songs from MIDI & MusicXML files. - Change clef, time/key signature and tempo in the middle of a song. - Export songs to MIDI or MusicXML files so that they can be imported into other apps such as Finale, Encore, MuseScore, and Sibelius. The files can be copied to your computer or sent via email. - Send exported MIDI files to other apps on your current device. - Import MIDI files from other apps. - Export songs to PDF files. - Export songs to audio files (.wav, .mp3). - Editing features: multi-note selection, copy & paste, undo & redo, and more. - SCAN SHEET MUSIC FROM PHOTOS. - SCAN SHEET MUSIC FROM PDF FILES. *** End User License Agreement: https://www.termsfeed.com/eula/c6cf438c81097acbfd5a7d51600b6bba *** Privacy policy: The app does not collect or store any kind of personal information.

Screenshots

Prelude4 screens
Score Creator4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Score Creator at 60% against Prelude's 17%. Score Creator also leads on rating (3.5 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (495 vs 4). On price, update cadence, 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. Prelude sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Score Creator sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Score Creator holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Score Creator has 495 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 17% of Prelude's written reviews are positive against 60% of Score Creator's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Prelude ships an update every 9 days, Score Creator every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Prelude versus Score Creator: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPreludeScore Creator
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (4 ratings)3.5 (495 ratings) — better
Positive reviews17.4% of reviews60.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4495 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 11 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB307 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFelipe Braunger Valio Desenvolvimento de Sistemas LtdaTRAN PHUONG

Customer experience

Prelude

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews109 reviews
Positive17.4%
Neutral16.5%
Negative66.1%

Score Creator

All ratings495 ratings
Positive59.8%
Neutral14.9%
Negative25.3%
Written reviews615 reviews
Positive60.5%
Neutral15.6%
Negative23.9%

User reviews

Prelude

From 4 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Simple interface
  • 💡 Good for basic notation
  • 💡 Potential for improvement
  • 💡 Useful for teaching
  • 💡 Easy to write notes

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes
  • 🐛 Incorrect playback
  • 🐛 Difficult editing
  • 🐛 Limited features
  • 🐛 Unintuitive controls

Score Creator

From 495 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Great for composing music on the go
  • 💡 Useful for learning and practicing music
  • 👍 Intuitive interface
  • 🚀 Helpful for arranging and transcribing music

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🔇 Poor sound quality of instruments
  • 🔇 Lack of dynamics and articulation support
  • 🔇 Limited range of instruments
  • 💰 Paywall for advanced features

Bugs and requests

Prelude

Reported bugs

70 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • Playback is incorrect (wrong notes, wrong rhythms)
  • Notes don't line up correctly
  • Accidentals are placed incorrectly
  • Key signatures are incorrect
Show 65 more
  • Cannot delete notes
  • Paid version has issues
  • Instruments sound out of tune
  • Notes switch octaves unexpectedly
  • Timing is not respected
  • App freezes or becomes unresponsive
  • Save function is unreliable
  • Touch controls are difficult and inaccurate
  • App closes automatically on playback
  • Notes don't play back at the correct pitch
  • Notes don't play back with the correct duration
  • Measures have incorrect beat capacity
  • Notes are placed on top of bar lines
  • App doesn't adjust for note types
  • Sound takes forever to load or doesn't work
  • Notes don't stick when trying to place them
  • Cannot get notes below middle C in treble clef
  • App deleted saved work
  • Cannot drag notes to the stave
  • Playback doesn't play treble and bass together
  • App doesn't recognize accidentals
  • Cannot change keys
  • Notes don't sound properly
  • App doesn't play the right notes
  • Note values on playback are incorrect
  • Soft and loud symbols appear in the wrong place
  • Sharps are in the wrong areas
  • Difficult to move notes
  • Key signatures don't work properly
  • Adding accidentals individually doesn't work
  • App doesn't adjust for note types
  • App doesn't play back compositions in the free version
  • App doesn't beam quavers
  • App places sharps incorrectly
  • Measure isn't large enough for notes
  • Cannot adjust measures
  • Notes don't beam
  • Quavers are written incorrectly
  • Playback doesn't respect timings correctly
  • Editing of notes is not precise
  • App doesn't play notes as they are composed
  • Cannot undo actions
  • Cannot start playback from various places
  • App is unresponsive
  • App crashes on playback
  • App doesn't respect metronome, pauses, etc.
  • Acoustic feedback is misleading and wrong
  • Hard to hit correct note to move
  • Hard to find correct places for notes
  • Buggy with time signatures other than 4:4
  • Notes are not visible due to finger
  • Cannot hear notes in the free version
  • App doesn't play back compositions
  • App doesn't have sound unless paid for
  • App is useless without sound
  • App is a ripoff
  • App doesn't work
  • App is disappointing
  • App is bare bones
  • No way to save anything
  • App blocks at every step
  • App is fake and useless
  • App is faulty, pointless, and not intuitive
  • Cannot delete a note
  • App skips notes but doesn't allow deletion

Requested features

43 requests
  • Add repeat signs
  • Add ledger lines
  • Add words to music
  • Add slurs and ties
  • Add beams for notes
Show 38 more
  • Add more instrument options
  • Add glissando signs
  • Add harp notes
  • Add crescendo and decrescendo
  • Add accents
  • Add key signatures
  • Add time signatures
  • Add magnifying glass for note placement
  • Add more note values (eighth, sixteenth)
  • Add rests (whole, half, eighth, sixteenth)
  • Add ability to write on music
  • Add double bar lines, repeat signs, da capo
  • Add chord bank
  • Add ability to change note values
  • Add sharps and flats to key signatures
  • Add ability to adjust measure size
  • Add undo/redo button
  • Add ability to choose playback start point
  • Add ability to save/export
  • Add harp instrument
  • Add more note range (higher and lower)
  • Add C note
  • Add more symbols
  • Add metronome
  • Add in-app keyboard
  • Add more than two staves
  • Add annotations
  • Add tuplets
  • Add staccato and other accents
  • Add tie or slurs
  • Add beamed notes
  • Add ability to specify key
  • Add ability to delete any note
  • Add dark mode
  • Add advanced analytics dashboard
  • Add 8va
  • Add wider note range
  • Add lines connecting notes

Score Creator

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Sudden loss of data and unsaved work
  • Playback issues, including notes not playing correctly
  • Instrument key signatures not working as expected
  • App crashing on launch or when opening certain scores
  • Inability to edit or modify existing compositions

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add more percussion instruments
  • Implement dynamics, articulations, and expression markings
  • Allow for more than 2 instruments in the free version
  • Improve the drum notation and playback
  • Add support for chords, trills, and other advanced notation
Show 2 more
  • Implement a swing/shuffle feature
  • Improve the transposition and key signature handling

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Prelude

One-time1
  • Extended Version$2.99
7 purchases

Score Creator

Subscriptions5
  • One-month full version$4.991 Month
  • Basic user - one year$6.993 Months
  • Three-month full version$10.993 Months
Show 2 more
  • Basic user - one year$20.991 Year
  • One-year full version$32.991 Year
One-time2
  • Basic user - full version$69.99
  • Lifetime full version$98.99

Questions

Is Prelude free?
Prelude is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Score Creator free?
Score Creator is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Prelude or Score Creator?
Score Creator is rated higher. Prelude averages 3.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Score Creator averages 3.5 from 495 ratings.
Do Prelude or Score Creator have ads?
Neither Prelude nor Score Creator shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Prelude or Score Creator?
Prelude ships an update every 9 days, and Score Creator every 11 days. Most recently, Prelude was updated on October 6, 2026 and Score Creator on October 26, 2026.

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