Comparison

Sheet Music Scanner vs Notation Scanner

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

Head to head
About

Sheet Music Scanner

Instantly listen to scanned sheet music with this app. It recognizes musical notation and plays it back on your device with various instruments and adjustable speeds. Learn music by hearing it come alive from the page.

Highlights
  • Scan printed sheet music with camera
  • Playback from photo library or PDF
  • Tap to play specific measures
  • Recognizes melody, harmony, and rhythm symbols
  • Supports multiple instruments and voices
  • Adjustable playback speed
  • Export as MIDI, MusicXML, and audio
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Scan sheet music and instantly listen with music with Sheet Music Scanner. Sheet Music Scanner makes it easy for you to scan or upload printed sheet music. Listen to the music printed on the page in a number of different formats and instruments, directly on your device. Ever wanted to know how that interesting-looking piece of sheet music actually sounds? Now you can know instantly. Just point your iPhone or iPad at the sheet and let it play the notes for you. Listen to the notes and help yourself learn along the way. Sheet Music Scanner lets you scan and playback from any part of the song, just tap the measure and listen to your sheet music. You can even choose the instrument, pick the speed and enjoy! Download Sheet Music Scanner and scan your sheet music today! 2 for 1 universal iOS app: iPhone / iPod touch and iPad - you get Sheet Music Scanner for all your iOS devices for the price of one. SHEET MUSIC SCANNER FEATURES - Scan the whole sheet instantly using your built-in camera - Scan and playback from any image in your Photo library or from a PDF * - Playback from anywhere in the song - simply tap the measure, the notes and symbols are highlighted as they're played - Reads and recognizes the following symbols of musical notation pertaining to melody, harmony, and rhythm: treble, bass, and alto (viola) clefs, notes, duration dots, rests, accidentals, note ties, triplets and other tuplets, repeat signs * - Support for voices played in tandem, e.g. both piano hands at the same time, or all the choir voices - Support for playing individual staffs separately, e.g. right or left piano hand - Support for multiple pages - Accommodates speeds between 50 and 330 beats per minute - Cloud synchronization. Access your music library on any iPhone, iPad, or Mac with iCloud Drive. * Some limitations apply - please see at the bottom of the page. EXPORT OPTIONS - Export as MIDI, MusicXML, audio (M4A / AAC, MP3, WAV), PDF to cloud storage, directly to other apps or via AirDrop - All major cloud storages supported: iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive, etc. Note that the appropriate cloud storage client app has to be installed for this to work. INSTRUMENTS - Accordion, Acoustic Bass, Alto Sax, Bagpipes, Banjo, Bass Guitar, Celeste, Cello, Choir, Clarinet, Double Bass, Flute, French Horn, Guitar - Classical, Clean, Distortion, Glockenspiel, Harp, Mandolin, Marimba, Oboe, Organ (Percussive, Pipe, Reed, Rock, Tonewheel), Piano, Recorder, Tenor Sax, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Vibraphone, Viola, Violin, Xylophone - Supports actual instrument pitch for transposing instruments - Change your pitch standard based on instrument, from standard 440Hz to 380-480 Hz SUBSCRIPTIONS - The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. - Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Limitations - Reads printed sheet music, not handwritten or mimicking handwriting, tablatures, etc. - Reads standard oval note heads only, no special symbols like shape notes. - The following symbols are not currently supported: codas, percussion notation, dynamics, double sharps, double flats, and grace notes. These are planned to come in the future updates. - Use high-quality printed sheet music and take photos under good enough light, when scanning from your camera, for optimal results. For scanning from a file, the recommended resolution is 300 DPI or 8-12 MPx per page. - Some older prints and unusual fonts may not be recognizable. If you experience any problems, please contact support at support@sheetmusicscanner.com Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Notation Scanner

This app allows users to scan and recognize sheet music using their device's camera or existing images. It functions as a sheet music reader and player, supporting over 100 instruments and offering playback controls. Users can also export their recognized scores in various formats.

Highlights
  • Scan sheet music via camera or image library
  • Recognize and playback music scores
  • Support for over 100 instruments
  • Adjust tempo and voice parts
  • Export as MusicXML, MIDI, PNG, PDF
Features
Read full description

A powerful scanner for sheet music lovers to recognize sheet music. A handy music OCR tool for you to scan and playback sheet music. Just try to take a photo on the printed sheet music and enjoy it. It dose the recognition process on server side, so it can recognize many more music stuffs than other apps. You could use it as a simple sheet music reader or player as you want. It supports more than 100 different types of instrument along with a very nice sound effect. ----------------------- Features: -Scan the whole sheet at once using the built-in camera or a picture from your image library. -Tap a bar to play the song from. -Support multi-page and reorder them as you wish. -Support up to 8 systems. -Support for changing tempo speed. -Turn up/down the voice of each part. -Export MusicXML, MIDI, PNG and PDF files.

Screenshots

Sheet Music Scanner4 screens
Notation Scanner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Sheet Music Scanner at Free against Notation Scanner's $2.99. Sheet Music Scanner also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and chart position (#147 vs unranked). Notation Scanner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On 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

Sheet Music Scanner is free to download; Notation Scanner costs $2.99 up front. Sheet Music Scanner sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Notation Scanner asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sheet Music Scanner holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sheet Music Scanner has 6.5K ratings behind it against 736, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of Sheet Music Scanner's written reviews are positive against 49% of Notation Scanner's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sheet Music Scanner ships an update every 3 weeks, Notation Scanner every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Sheet Music Scanner versus Notation Scanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSheet Music ScannerNotation Scanner
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.5 (6.5K ratings) — better4.1 (736 ratings)
Positive reviews61.0% of reviews — better49.5% of reviews
Number of ratings6.5K — better736
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
Best chart rank#147 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size77 MB168 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApp Sub 1 LLC嵩 张

Customer experience

Sheet Music Scanner

All ratings6,456 ratings
Positive88.8%
Neutral4.0%
Negative7.2%
Written reviews539 reviews
Positive61.0%
Neutral8.5%
Negative30.4%

Notation Scanner

All ratings730 ratings
Positive75.2%
Neutral7.1%
Negative17.7%
Written reviews461 reviews
Positive49.5%
Neutral7.4%
Negative43.2%

User reviews

Sheet Music Scanner

From 6.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Game changing app
  • 👍 Helpful for learning music
  • 💡 Useful for singers and musicians
  • 🚀 Accurate scanning and playback
  • 👍 Great value for the price

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Misses notes, rhythms, and symbols
  • 🐛 Struggles with complex music
  • 🔒 Requires subscription to fully use
  • 🐛 Inconsistent performance

Notation Scanner

From 736 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for learning and practicing music
  • 🚀 Works well when the sheet music is clear
  • 💡 Useful for choir and band members

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Struggles to recognize complex or low-quality sheet music
  • 🔒 Forces users to leave 5-star reviews to unlock features
  • 🔋 Slow scanning and processing times

Bugs and requests

Sheet Music Scanner

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Misses key signatures and accidentals
  • Struggles with handwritten or low-quality sheet music
  • Separates hands/voices incorrectly in multi-staff scores

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to manually edit scanned music
  • Improve support for repeats, codas, and complex rhythms
  • Allow selecting/isolating individual instrument/voice parts
  • Add count-in and metronome features
  • Improve export options (e.g. separate instrument tracks)

Notation Scanner

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Cannot recognize any photos or scans of sheet music
  • Playback skips notes and has timing issues
  • App crashes frequently when trying to scan music

Requested features

3 requests
  • Allow users to manually correct scanned music
  • Improve recognition accuracy for different sheet music styles
  • Add more instrument options beyond just piano

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Sheet Music Scanner

Subscriptions10
  • Notation Scanner$4.991 Month
  • Notation Scanner$9.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner$14.991 Year
Show 7 more
  • Notation Scanner$17.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner7 Days trial$22.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner14 Days trial$22.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner$24.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner$29.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner$34.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner7 Days trial$34.991 Year
None

Notation Scanner

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sheet Music Scanner free?
Sheet Music Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notation Scanner free?
Notation Scanner costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sheet Music Scanner or Notation Scanner?
Sheet Music Scanner is rated higher. Sheet Music Scanner averages 4.5 out of 5 from 6.5K ratings, while Notation Scanner averages 4.1 from 736 ratings.
Do Sheet Music Scanner or Notation Scanner have ads?
Neither Sheet Music Scanner nor Notation Scanner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sheet Music Scanner or Notation Scanner?
Sheet Music Scanner ships an update every 3 weeks, and Notation Scanner every 2 weeks. Most recently, Sheet Music Scanner was updated on November 6, 2026 and Notation Scanner on November 6, 2026.

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