Comparison

NotationAI vs Note Names

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

Head to head
About

NotationAI

Features
Read full description

Turn musical ideas into editable scores with an AI assistant built directly into a professional notation editor. Ask NotationAI to continue a melody, add harmony, build accompaniment or arrange for an ensemble. Review every suggestion in the score, hear the result, and edit, undo or keep every note. KEY FEATURES β€’ AI Score Assistant β€” Develop melodies, harmony, accompaniment and arrangements without leaving the score. β€’ Piano Note Entry β€” Enter notes and chords quickly with a responsive on-screen piano. β€’ Professional Notation β€” Create and refine solo, ensemble and multi-staff scores with complete editing tools. β€’ HQ Instruments & Playback β€” Choose from a full General MIDI library, audition notes instantly, and follow highlighted notes across multiple parts. β€’ Live Collaboration β€” Share view or edit access and work together with live presence, cursors and selections. β€’ Import & Export β€” Start from MusicXML, MXL, MIDI, MuseScore files, a photographed score or a performed melody; export MusicXML, MIDI, PDF or PNG. Core notation, playback and local draft recovery work without an account. Sign in when you choose online AI features, cloud storage, private sharing or live collaboration. About Subscriptions: - Some features are only available to Pro users. - Payment will be deducted from your iTunes account after you confirm the purchase. - The subscription renews automatically unless auto-renewal is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. - After purchase, you can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Account Settings in the iTunes store. - You can cancel your subscription by entering: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202039 Terms of Service: https://notationai.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://notationai.app/privacy https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Note Names

This app helps musicians learn to read sheet music faster by automatically labeling notes with their names. Simply photograph your sheet music, and it will display the note names above each one. You can then print or share the annotated music, and even hear a playback of the piece.

Highlights
  • Photograph and scan sheet music
  • Automatic note name labeling
  • Print or share annotated music
  • Hear playback of the piece
  • Supports transposing instruments
  • Customizable note spelling (C D E F G, Do Re Mi)
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Music is meant to be played. But at the beginning, most of the practice hour goes somewhere else β€” working out which note is which, counting up from middle C, losing your place, starting the bar again. This app hands that hour back. Photograph a page of your own sheet music, and every note comes back with its name printed right above it β€” C D E F G, or Do Re Mi if that's how you learned. Print it, put it on the stand, and play. And the reading? It comes with the playing. It always has. WHY PEOPLE USE IT β€’ You're learning piano as an adult, and you know the piece faster than you can read it β€’ You sit with your kid at practice and can't read the music yourself β€’ You picked your instrument back up after twenty years β€’ You joined a choir or a community band and want to keep up at rehearsal IT WORKS ON YOUR MUSIC Not a retyped version of the song β€” your actual page, with the names added. The layout, the fingerings, your teacher's pencil marks: all still there. THREE STEPS 1. Photograph the page β€” just fit the whole page in the frame 2. Crop it (a finger in the shot? erase it) 3. Done. Every note named, ready to print or share as a PDF HEAR THE PAGE, TOO Once the names are on, tap play. It follows the note lengths and rests it read, so you can get a feel for how the piece goes. Drag the red line to start from anywhere on the page, or loop a single staff until the hard bar sits right. NAMES FOR YOUR INSTRUMENT Transposing instruments are supported β€” in B-flat, in E-flat, in F and more. Read the names as they sit on your part, or as they sound in concert pitch. Switch any time in Settings. PICK YOUR SPELLING C D E F G (letter names) Β· Do Re Mi (solfΓ¨ge) Β· γƒ‰γƒ¬γƒŸ (Japanese katakana). Change it any time in Settings. WHEN IT GETS ONE WRONG, YOU FIX IT Tap the note and pick the right name. Add a note it missed. Delete a mark that wasn't a note. Add a whole staff it didn't find. It takes seconds β€” and it beats penciling in every note by hand. YOUR MUSIC NEVER LEAVES YOUR PHONE Everything runs on your device. No account, no upload, no server. It works in airplane mode. PAY ONCE. NO SUBSCRIPTION. Try it free: 5 scans, one photo each, with the first 2 staves named β€” enough to see how it does on your own music before you spend anything. Full Version, one payment: unlimited scans, any number of pages, every staff named. A NOTE ON ACCURACY This is built for printed sheet music. Handwritten scores aren't supported, and faint printing, heavy shadows or a curled page will cost you accuracy. Anything it gets wrong you can fix in the app in a few taps.

Screenshots

NotationAI4 screens
Note Names4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Note Names at every 2 days against NotationAI's every 11 days. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. NotationAI sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Note Names sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NotationAI ships an update every 11 days, Note Names every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 7 level
NotationAI versus Note Names: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotationAINote Names
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviewsβ€”50.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 11 daysEvery 2 days β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetizationβ€”Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS1717.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size137 MB35 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerζ—‹η‚œ 李TETSUYA SAKAI

In-app purchases

3 purchases

NotationAI

Subscriptions3
  • NotationAI Pro Monthly$7.991 Month
  • NotationAI Pro Quarterly$20.993 Months
  • NotationAI Pro Yearly3 Days trial$39.991 Year
1 purchases

Note Names

One-time1
  • VersiΓ³n completa$8.99

Questions

Is NotationAI free?
NotationAI is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Note Names free?
Note Names is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do NotationAI or Note Names have ads?
Neither NotationAI nor Note Names shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NotationAI or Note Names?
NotationAI ships an update every 11 days, and Note Names every 2 days. Most recently, NotationAI was updated on October 31, 2026 and Note Names on November 8, 2026.

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