Comparison

SightReader vs Solfegissimo

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

Head to head
About

SightReader

Learn to read piano music effectively with real-time feedback on both notes and timing. Progress through grades with engaging exercises and track your development with a practice journal.

Highlights
  • Pitch & Rhythm mode with metronome scoring
  • Library of piano music across centuries
  • ABRSM-aligned exercises by grade
  • Note, chord, and scale drills
  • Practice journal for progress tracking
  • Daily practice streaks and certificates
Features
Read full description

A fun, effective way to learn piano sight reading, tested by piano teachers. Stop memorising every piece note by note. SightReader teaches you to play new music straight from the page, in just five minutes a day. From your first middle C to Grade 8. Most apps check which notes you play. SightReader also checks when. Switch on the metronome and Pitch & Rhythm mode grades your timing beat by beat, the part of sight reading that usually goes unmeasured. ON IPHONE AND IPAD, THE APP IS THE ONLY WAY No browser on iOS can reach a MIDI keyboard. Not Safari, and not Chrome, Edge or Firefox, because Apple requires them all to use Safari's engine. The app connects to your keyboard directly, over USB or Bluetooth. HOW IT WORKS Plug in a MIDI keyboard, or use the on-screen one. A note appears on the staff. You play it. SightReader listens in real time and shows you what you nailed and what you missed: notes turn green when you're right, red when you're not, and with the metronome on, blue when you're early and yellow when you're late. You see what you played and how you timed it. PITCH & RHYTHM MODE The metronome is the switch. Off, you're in Pitch Only and the score waits while you find each note. On, Pitch & Rhythm takes over: a count-in of at least four clicks, then the music moves at the beat with or without you, and every note is judged on when it lands as well as whether it's right. Early shades blue, late shades yellow, missed goes red. Each attempt ends with a timing breakdown: how much you played on time, how much early, how much late, and your average tendency in milliseconds, so "94ms early" names the habit you can work on. Play a piece start to finish in Pitch & Rhythm and you earn bonus XP. It works on every piece, free tier included. WHAT'S INSIDE • Pitch & Rhythm mode: turn on the metronome and every note is also scored against the beat, with a timing breakdown after each attempt • A library spanning four centuries of piano: Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern, from Bach and Mozart to Debussy and Bartók • ABRSM-aligned exercises, grade by grade, from Initial to Grade 8 • Note and chord drills, plus every type of scale • Levels for every stage, from first-time readers to late-grade repertoire • A practice journal logging every session, so you can see which keys, clefs and intervals trip you up, down to the individual note PRACTICE THAT STICKS Every piece scores up to three stars, and every star earns XP towards your next level. Practise each day and your streak grows. Finish a grade and earn a certificate to keep or share with your teacher. FOR LEARNERS Build real reading confidence instead of leaning on memory. Short sessions, feedback on every note, and music worth coming back to. FOR PARENTS Daily piano time as a five-minute game your child looks forward to. Progress you can read at a glance, and certificates worth putting on the fridge. FOR TEACHERS Assign the right exercises, track progress, and see where each student is stuck, all from one dashboard. Free for verified educators. FREE TIER Free forever: unlimited drills and scales, Lessons to the end of Grade 1's first unit, the first five levels of each grade to Grade 5, and 54 pieces. Go Pro for the full 3,700+ piece library, all ABRSM grades, curated daily practice, grade achievements, your own uploads, and offline practice. No MIDI keyboard? Use your microphone on any piano, the virtual piano, or play any instrument and report your results. Five minutes a day is enough to notice the difference within a few weeks. PRO TIER SightReader Pro is an auto-renewing subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at purchase. It renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings. • Privacy Policy: https://sightreader.app/privacy • Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Solfegissimo

Features
Read full description

Learn to read music and enjoy it. Take in the notes one by one in the lessons, then train on the exercises and earn stars to open the levels that follow. THE LESSONS: UNDERSTAND BEFORE YOU PRACTISE Six short illustrated lessons lay the groundwork, to read before playing and to revisit whenever you like: the staff, the treble clef, the bass clef, how to find a note, note values, and several notes played at once. Every new note is introduced before the exercise that uses it: shown alone on the staff, named, and located on the keyboard using the groups of black keys as landmarks. A beginner then knows where it sits under their fingers, not just what it is called. THE EXERCISES: READING IN TIME 34 exercises, across two clefs. The playhead moves, the metronome ticks if you want it, and you play each note as it passes. The octave has to be right — that is what really teaches reading, rather than guessing a name. Four families follow one another: - Note reading, one note at a time - Two notes in a row, the intervals - Two notes together, written one above the other - Chords, three notes at a time The treble clef runs from G-A up to the top of the staff, then comes the bass clef. Both meet on middle C, the bridge from one clef to the other. STARS OPEN WHAT COMES NEXT Every round shows the notes you hit, missed and got wrong. The more accurate you are, the more stars you earn, up to three — and a completed exercise opens the next one. Nothing is timed, and everything can be replayed as often as you like. FOUR WAYS TO ANSWER - The on-screen piano keyboard - Note-name buttons, in Do Re Mi or C D E - A MIDI piano connected over USB - The microphone, which detects the pitch from your instrument's actual sound Nothing is mandatory: everything can be completed on the on-screen keyboard alone, with no instrument. COMING BACK EVERY DAY A daily streak is kept just by showing up, and a quiet reminder rings at the time you choose — never on days you have already played. The progress report shows exercises completed, stars earned, average accuracy and flawless rounds, then the detail grouped by clef. EVERYTHING IS ADJUSTABLE French or international note naming, interface in French or English, adjustable tempo, metronome, note timbre and sound effects. OFFLINE, NO ACCOUNT Everything works without a connection. No sign-up, no ads, no personal data sent. Your progress stays on your device. PRICING The first seven exercises are free. A single purchase unlocks the rest of the treble clef and the whole bass clef, on iPhone, iPad and Mac. One payment, no subscription, Family Sharing included.

Screenshots

SightReader4 screens
Solfegissimo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: SightReader at 15.0 against Solfegissimo's 18.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. SightReader sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Solfegissimo sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
SightReader versus Solfegissimo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSightReaderSolfegissimo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBret CameronGerald Jakubczak

In-app purchases

2 purchases

SightReader

Subscriptions2
  • SightReader Pro$5.991 Month
  • SightReader Pro$57.991 Year
1 purchases

Solfegissimo

One-time1
  • All exercises$4.99

Questions

Is SightReader free?
SightReader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Solfegissimo free?
Solfegissimo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do SightReader or Solfegissimo have ads?
Neither SightReader nor Solfegissimo shows ads.

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