Comparison

Score Creator vs Notation Pad Pro

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

Head to head
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.

About

Notation Pad Pro

Compose, edit, and playback musical scores with lyrics. This app allows users to create music compositions using touch gestures and supports a wide range of notation elements. It's suitable for both beginners learning music theory and experienced musicians for songbooks or complex scores.

Highlights
  • Compose and edit sheet music
  • Write and integrate lyrics
  • Playback scores with high-quality sound
  • Export to MusicXML, MIDI, PNG, and PDF
  • Support for up to 8 staves
  • Over 100 musical instruments
  • Multi-voice support
Features
Read full description

A great sheet music notation app on iOS. For any music lover, Notation Pad gives you the ability to read, compose, edit, playback scores and write lyrics. With it you can be a talented composer and great musician anywhere. As long as you have a little knowledge of sheet music, you can write music composition simply by touch and move. 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: -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 -------------------------- - Terms of use: https://service.notationpad.com/terms_service.html

Screenshots

Score Creator4 screens
Notation Pad Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Score Creator at Free against Notation Pad Pro's $149.00. Score Creator also leads on ratings volume (495 vs 161). Notation Pad Pro's advantage is rating (4.2 vs 3.5) and in-app purchases (none vs 7). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and device support 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

Score Creator is free to download; Notation Pad Pro costs $149.00 up front. Score Creator sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Notation Pad Pro asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notation Pad Pro holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 495 and 161 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 60% and 61% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Score Creator ships an update every 11 days, Notation Pad Pro every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Score Creator versus Notation Pad Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScore CreatorNotation Pad Pro
PriceFree — better$149.00
Rating3.5 (495 ratings)4.2 (161 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.5% of reviews61.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings495 — better161
Update frequencyEvery 11 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS1511.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size307 MB165 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTRAN PHUONG嵩 张

Customer experience

Score Creator

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

Notation Pad Pro

All ratings159 ratings
Positive81.1%
Neutral5.7%
Negative13.2%
Written reviews135 reviews
Positive61.5%
Neutral13.3%
Negative25.2%

Bugs and requests

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

Notation Pad Pro

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

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
None

Notation Pad Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Score Creator free?
Score Creator is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notation Pad Pro free?
Notation Pad Pro costs $149.00, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Score Creator or Notation Pad Pro?
Notation Pad Pro is rated higher. Score Creator averages 3.5 out of 5 from 495 ratings, while Notation Pad Pro averages 4.2 from 161 ratings.
Do Score Creator or Notation Pad Pro have ads?
Neither Score Creator nor Notation Pad Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Score Creator or Notation Pad Pro?
Score Creator ships an update every 11 days, and Notation Pad Pro every 3 weeks. Most recently, Score Creator was updated on October 29, 2026 and Notation Pad Pro on October 24, 2026.

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