Comparison

Sheet Music Scanner vs capella score reader

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

capella score reader

This app allows musicians to read, listen to, and practice music scores on their mobile devices. It offers features like solo voice playback, voice muting, and tempo control for efficient practice and study.

Highlights
  • Read and listen to music scores
  • Practice individual parts
  • Mute specific voices
  • Extract single voices
  • Two-finger zoom for scores
  • One-finger page turning
  • Adjustable tempo control
Features
Read full description

capella score reader Read and listen to music scores anywhere at any time Open your scores and read, listen, practice, study, perform when and where you like. Practice your part for choir or orchestra. As choir director or conductor study scores. Use capella score reader as digital music stand. capella score reader is the most recent offshoot of the capella family. With many practicing musicians, capella is known to be THE notation software which has been around for more than 25 years. capella is available for Windows and for Mac. Several additional programs, for example for scanning sheet music, complement the capella family – and now it’s capella score reader. Solo - tutti Select the Solo button to listen to one single voice. Solo on/off – this can be done during playback at any position in the piece. This way you learn your part efficiently. Voice filter When you’re almost there: Mute one or several voices to sing or play along yourself. Voice extraction Select a voice extraction for one or several voices – all others are hidden. Two-finger zoom With two-finger scroll zoom single spots or get an overview of the entire page. Page turning with one finger Slide across the screen as if you would turn pages – the notes will follow. Change tempo Control the tempo according to your needs for rehearsal: Slower at the beginning, next time faster. Navigation Open your own files. The last used files will be displayed. Exchange of scores Receive scores from other musicians, for example via WhatsApp or eMail. Share your scores with other musicians as capella file or PDF. capella score reader reads these score formats: - capXML (capella format) - cap (older capella format) - MusicXML - MIDI Video introduction A short video introduction shows the most important features. It’s really simple! We are looking forward to your feedback. Please use the feedback button in the help menu for questions about the app or error reports.

Screenshots

Sheet Music Scanner4 screens
capella score reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sheet Music Scanner at 61% against capella score reader's 0%. Sheet Music Scanner also leads on rating (4.5 vs 2.0) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 18 months). capella score reader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Sheet Music Scanner sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. capella score reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sheet Music Scanner holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sheet Music Scanner has 6.5K ratings behind it against 6, 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 0% of capella score reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sheet Music Scanner ships an update every 3 weeks, capella score reader every 18 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Sheet Music Scanner versus capella score reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSheet Music Scannercapella score reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (6.5K ratings) — better2.0 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews61.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6.5K — better6
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 18 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
Best chart rank#130 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size77 MB59 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApp Sub 1 LLCcapella-software AG

Customer experience

Sheet Music Scanner

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

capella score reader

All ratings5 ratings
Positive20.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative60.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral66.7%
Negative33.3%

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)

capella score reader

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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

capella score reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sheet Music Scanner free?
Sheet Music Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is capella score reader free?
capella score reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sheet Music Scanner or capella score reader?
Sheet Music Scanner is rated higher. Sheet Music Scanner averages 4.5 out of 5 from 6.5K ratings, while capella score reader averages 2.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Sheet Music Scanner or capella score reader have ads?
Neither Sheet Music Scanner nor capella score reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sheet Music Scanner or capella score reader?
Sheet Music Scanner ships an update every 3 weeks, and capella score reader every 18 months. Most recently, Sheet Music Scanner was updated on November 6, 2026 and capella score reader on November 2, 2026.

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