Sheet Music Scanner vs Solfa
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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/
Solfa
This app is a quiz game designed to help beginners and children learn to read sheet music and identify musical notes. It supports various clefs and note naming systems, making it versatile for different instruments and learning styles.
- Learn musical notes
- Read sheet music
- Supports multiple clefs
- Train sight-reading
- Learn tonality and chords
- Multiple note naming systems
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How to learn notes? How to read sheet music? How to remember note names? "Solfa" helps you learn notes for piano, guitar or singing. "Solfa / Musical Notes" is a quiz game for kids and beginners that helps you learn simple music theory. - train sight-reading - read notes of alto, bass, tenor, treble clef staff - learn tonality and chord names - switch between English, German note names You can use "Solfa" for ear training and basics of solfège. List of musical instruments: - singing - piano - guitar - flute - clarinet Types of musical notations: - C D E F G A B - C D E F G A H - Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si - До Ре Ми Фа Соль Ля Си - Ντο Ρε Μι Φα Σολ Λα Σι - ハ ニ ホ ヘ ト イ ロ - 다 라 마 바 사 가 나 - स रे ग म प ध नि - ด ร ม ฟ ซ ล ท
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Solfa at none against Sheet Music Scanner's 13. Solfa also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Sheet Music Scanner's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (61% vs 48%). On price, rating, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. Sheet Music Scanner sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Solfa asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Sheet Music Scanner against 4.6 for Solfa. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sheet Music Scanner has 6.4K ratings behind it against 789, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 61% of Sheet Music Scanner's written reviews are positive against 48% of Solfa's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sheet Music Scanner | Solfa |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (6.4K ratings) | 4.6 (789 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 61.0% of reviews — better | 47.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6.4K — better | 789 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Subscription | Ad-supported — better |
| Best chart rank | #128 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 68 MB | 75 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | App Sub 1 LLC | Alexey Ovod |
Customer experience
Sheet Music Scanner
Solfa
User reviews
Sheet Music Scanner
From 6.4K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Solfa
From 789 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple but effective
- 👍 Great for guitar players
- 👍 Teaches fundamentals well
- 👍 Helps improve musicianship
Room to improve
- 🔍 Too many ads
- 🐛 Crashes with MIDI connection
- 🐛 Glitchy and buggy
- 🔍 Limited features and options
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)
Solfa
Reported bugs
4 issues- Displaying notes outside instrument range
- Incorrectly identifying notes
- Sound not working
- Unable to advance past first screen
Requested features
6 requests- Option to remove note names
- Thicker lines for guitar frets
- Sight reading component
- Mezzo soprano, baritone clefs
- Ability to choose number of notes per round
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- Purchasable ad-free version
In-app purchases
Sheet Music Scanner
- Notation Scanner$4.991 Month
- Notation Scanner$9.991 Year
- Notation Scanner$14.991 Year
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- Notation Scanner$17.991 Year
- Notation Scanner7 Days trial$22.991 Year
- Notation Scanner1 Month trial$22.991 Year
- Notation Scanner$22.991 Year
- Notation Scanner14 Days trial$22.991 Year
- Notation Scanner$24.991 Year
- Notation Scanner2 variants$29.991 Year
- Notation Scanner7 Days trial$34.991 Year
- Notation Scanner7 Days trial$44.991 Year
Solfa
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Sheet Music Scanner free?
Is Solfa free?
Which has better reviews, Sheet Music Scanner or Solfa?
Do Sheet Music Scanner or Solfa have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sheet Music Scanner or Solfa?
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