Comparison

Melody Scanner vs Note Recognition

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

Head to head
About

Melody Scanner

Convert audio recordings and YouTube videos into musical scores. View transcriptions as classical scores, piano rolls, or guitar tabs, and play them back. Download your creations in various formats or share them with friends.

Highlights
  • Transcribe audio to sheet music
  • Support for piano, flute, violin, and guitar
  • Multiple transcription views (score, piano roll, tab)
  • Playback functionality
  • Download sheet music (PDF, MIDI, MusicXML)
  • Share compositions
  • Desktop version synchronization
Read full description

Transcribe piano music recordings to scores and edit them online. SUPPORTED INSTRUMENTS: Piano, Flute, Violin (beta), Accoustic Guitar (beta) Currently only solo instruments are supported, no bands or orchestras. FUNCTIONS » Transcribe YouTube song covers, microphone recordings and audio files to sheet music » View the transcribed music as classical score, piano roll or guitar tab » Playback the sheet music and listen to the result » Download sheet as PDF, MIDI, or MusicXML » Share your compositions with your friends » Synchronize with the desktop version WHAT THIS APP DOESN'T OFFER » Separation of multiple instruments: The note recognition can't separate multiple instruments. If you record multiple instruments playing simultaneously you will get bad transcription results! » Live note recognition: This app is not able to show you live note recognition results. Instead, it will take some time to perform the frequency analysis and show you the results. » 100% match percentage: This app won't detect 100% of the played notes and there will also be wrong detections. But depending on the quality of the input signal, it will give you useful suggests! WHY DO I NEED AN ACCOUNT? You create an account to ensure that only you can access your created sheet music! A lot of computing power is necessary to generate the scores from the audio, so it needs to run on a powerful server in the cloud. Also, you can access your sheets from the desktop version, too, by signing in using the same account. FREE AND PREMIUM » Transcribing audio to sheet music is a computation expensive process and needs to be run on a powerful server in the cloud. Your PREMIUM purchase supports us paying our checks and developing new features for the app. » The FREE version of this app covers Microphone and YouTube transcriptions. Uploading your own files is a PREMIUM feature. » In the FREE version sheets are limited to 40 bars (about 2 minutes). Upgrading to PREMIUM will unlock the full sheet. » PREMIUM subscriptions can be cancelled at any time and you will continue to use PREMIUM features until the end of the subscription period. » All with PREMIUM transcribed songs will stay unlocked forever. REQUIREMENTS » Internet: active internet connection for server connectivity » Microphone (optional) DESKTOP VERSION » There is a desktop version of this app available, which you can access in your browser. » The desktop version covers even more features like editing your sheets, since there is more space available on a bigger screen » You can login with the same account and synchronize your scores between multiple devices Give music your personal note! SUMMARY Transcribe music recordings from YouTube, MP3 or microphone to sheet music and edit them online. With the Melody Scanner App you can create on-the-go recordings of your instrument. Those are uploaded to your personal cloud songbook and transcribed to score. You can record your instrument, import YouTube videos or upload MP3 files. It has never been so easy to create sheet music! CONTACT US  We're always happy to hear from you. No matter what comes to your mind, we want to hear it. Would you like another feature? Does something not work as expected? Send us an e-mail at: support@melodyscanner.com This app is actively developed and there are updates on a regular base The Apple Terms of Use apply: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Note Recognition

Transform audio recordings of melodies into editable sheet music using AI. Capture your singing or instrument playing, or import audio files, to generate readable music notation. Review, edit, and playback the transcribed notes to refine your musical ideas.

Highlights
  • AI audio to sheet music transcription
  • Manual note correction and editing
  • MIDI playback comparison
  • Sheet music and notation display
  • Chromatic tuner
  • Live pitch detector
  • Metronome
Features
Read full description

Turn audio into sheet music with AI music transcription. Record yourself singing or playing an instrument, or import an audio file, and turn clear melodies into readable music notation you can review, play back and edit. AI Note Recognition detects notes in your recording and creates a score you can refine. Compare the original audio with MIDI playback, correct individual notes and keep working with the result. AUDIO TO SHEET MUSIC Sing, hum or play a melody into your microphone and transcribe it into sheet music. The app works with vocals and melodic instruments such as piano, guitar, violin, flute, saxophone, trumpet and clarinet. For best results, use clear melodies and single-note lines rather than dense chords or full multi-instrument mixes. With Pro, you can also import WAV, MP3, M4A and AAC audio files and transcribe recordings up to 5 minutes long. REVIEW AND EDIT DETECTED NOTES Automatic transcription can require corrections. Review and edit detected notes directly in the score. Manual note correction is available in the free version. • Change pitch by semitone or octave • Adjust note start and end timing • Delete incorrectly detected notes • Listen to changes before saving • Reset individual notes or all manual edits • Adjust the confidence level to show more or fewer detected notes SHEET MUSIC AND MUSIC NOTATION View your transcription as readable sheet music with measures, rests, accidentals, beams and ties. Choose treble clef, bass clef or both, display note names and tap the score to jump directly to a position in the recording. COMPARE AUDIO AND MIDI Switch between the original recording and MIDI playback of the recognized notes. This makes it easier to hear where the transcription differs from what you actually played, sang or hummed. FREE VERSION • Record and analyze up to 20 seconds • Save up to 3 recordings • Preview the first complete measure of the generated score • Review and manually correct detected notes PRO FEATURES Unlock Pro for a more complete transcription workflow: • Record and analyze up to 5 minutes • Import WAV, MP3, M4A and AAC audio files • View the complete generated score • Export recognized notes as MIDI • Export recordings as WAV • Adjust playback speed from 0.25× to 2.00× • Save unlimited recordings TOOLS FOR MUSICIANS Chromatic Tuner Tune your voice or instrument while viewing the detected note, frequency in Hz and deviation in cents. See whether your pitch is sharp, flat or in tune. Live Pitch Detector Follow your detected pitch in real time while singing or playing. Use it for intonation practice, melody recognition and identifying the notes you hear or play. Metronome Practice rhythm from 30 to 240 BPM. Choose different time signatures, set beat accents and use eighth-note, triplet or sixteenth-note subdivisions. FOR SINGERS, MUSICIANS AND SONGWRITERS Capture musical ideas, transcribe melodies and turn clear recordings into editable sheet music without entering every note manually. AI Note Recognition is designed for singers, pianists, guitarists, violinists, wind players, music students and songwriters who want to move from audio to notation and MIDI in one workflow.

Screenshots

Melody Scanner4 screens
Note Recognition4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Melody Scanner at 1.7 against Note Recognition's 1.0. Melody Scanner also leads on review sentiment (28% vs 0%) and ratings volume (35 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Melody Scanner sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Note Recognition sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Melody Scanner holds the better App Store score, 1.7 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Melody Scanner has 35 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 28% of Melody Scanner's written reviews are positive against 0% of Note Recognition's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Melody Scanner ships an update fortnightly, Note Recognition every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Melody Scanner versus Note Recognition: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMelody ScannerNote Recognition
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.7 (35 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews27.5% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings35 — better1
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.4 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKlangio GmbHmystage.fm

Customer experience

Melody Scanner

All ratings35 ratings
Positive11.4%
Neutral2.9%
Negative85.7%
Written reviews69 reviews
Positive27.5%
Neutral2.9%
Negative69.6%

Note Recognition

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Melody Scanner

Reported bugs

20 issues
  • Upload function not working
  • App doesn't recognize stave lines/notation
  • App gives too many notes at once or notes octaves apart
  • Errors when generating sheet music
  • Premium features not unlocked after payment
Show 15 more
  • No sound from transcriptions
  • App jams on recording
  • White screen when uploading from YouTube
  • Cannot log back in after first use
  • Transcription errors
  • App doesn't detect volume/sound
  • Cannot open YouTube to transpose
  • Transcription not accurate
  • App doesn't work after payment
  • Record function jams
  • Errors prevent music creation
  • Doesn't transcribe music correctly
  • Doesn't work at all
  • App doesn't recognize simple melodies
  • Audio quality is lousy and scratchy

Requested features

10 requests
  • Single instrument mode on app
  • Full song transcription (not just 1 min)
  • Ability to export full transcriptions
  • More accurate transcription for complex music
  • Improved MIDI playback accuracy
Show 5 more
  • Ability to add YouTube songs
  • More instrument options (e.g., drums)
  • Better sound quality for transcriptions
  • Full song playback without blocking
  • Option for one-time purchase instead of subscription

Note Recognition

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Melody Scanner

Subscriptions2
  • Melody Scanner Premium Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Melody Scanner Premium Yearly$44.991 Year
1 purchases

Note Recognition

One-time1
  • AI Note Recognition Pro$7.99

Questions

Is Melody Scanner free?
Melody Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Note Recognition free?
Note Recognition is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Melody Scanner or Note Recognition?
Melody Scanner is rated higher. Melody Scanner averages 1.7 out of 5 from 35 ratings, while Note Recognition averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Melody Scanner or Note Recognition have ads?
Neither Melody Scanner nor Note Recognition shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Melody Scanner or Note Recognition?
Melody Scanner ships an update fortnightly, and Note Recognition every 2 months. Most recently, Melody Scanner was updated on October 18, 2026 and Note Recognition on October 3, 2026.

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