Comparison

Score Creator vs Staff Editor

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

Staff Editor

Learn music notation by interactively placing and editing notes on a musical staff. This app offers an educational and recreational way for beginners to explore the fundamentals of music composition and hear their creations.

Highlights
  • Interactive music staff
  • Drag and drop note placement
  • Edit note pitch by dragging
  • Remove notes easily
  • Play composed melodies
  • Beginner-friendly music education
Features
Read full description

Staff Editor leads you to the world of music notation by allowing you to work interactively with a predefined set of music notes on the staff. It offers an opportunity for beginners to understand the fundamentals and feel the beauty of music in both an educational and a recreational manner. Simply drag different notes and place them on different positions of the staff as you wish to hear them. If you wish to edit a note, drag it upward or downward to alter the pitch, or you can remove it directly. Once you are satisfied with the note combinations that are placed on the staff, play the melody to enjoy the creational work you just composed.

Screenshots

Score Creator4 screens
Staff Editor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Score Creator at 3.5 against Staff Editor's 3.0. Score Creator also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 11 days vs every 12 months). Staff Editor's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

Both are free to download. Score Creator sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Staff Editor sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. 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 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Score Creator's written reviews are positive against 33% of Staff Editor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Score Creator ships an update every 11 days, Staff Editor every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Score Creator versus Staff Editor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScore CreatorStaff Editor
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (495 ratings) — better3.0 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews60.5% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings495 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 11 days — betterEvery 12 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS1511.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size307 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTRAN PHUONGYang Zhao

Customer experience

Score Creator

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

Staff Editor

All ratings8 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative37.5%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral66.7%
Negative0.0%

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

Staff Editor

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
4 purchases

Staff Editor

One-time4
  • Instruments Pack$0.99
  • Choirs Pack$0.99
  • Fun Voices Pack$0.99
Show 1 more
  • Remove Advertisements$1.99

Questions

Is Score Creator free?
Score Creator is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Staff Editor free?
Staff Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Score Creator or Staff Editor?
Score Creator is rated higher. Score Creator averages 3.5 out of 5 from 495 ratings, while Staff Editor averages 3.0 from 8 ratings.
Do Score Creator or Staff Editor have ads?
Staff Editor shows ads; Score Creator does not.
Which is updated more often, Score Creator or Staff Editor?
Score Creator ships an update every 11 days, and Staff Editor every 12 months. Most recently, Score Creator was updated on October 26, 2026 and Staff Editor on October 10, 2026.

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