Comparison

Sheet Music Scanner vs Score Reader Lite

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

Score Reader Lite

Features
Read full description

Reading orchestral or band scores to an advanced level takes years to master. With so many instruments and their specific clefs and transpositions, it’s not straightforward to identify what the notes actually are! This app is a handy tool for checking how written notes translate to sounding notes. - Intended for music students, conductors, composers and anybody who wants to get quicker at sight reading scores - Choose from over 50 instruments to explore - many with configurable transposition options - Includes guidance on the fundamentals of reading transposing instruments - Supports dark and light themes If you find this app useful and want to take your transposing skills to the next level, please check out Score Reader Pro! - Test yourself by transposing randomly generated notes - Unlocks over 50 extra instruments - Supports 4 clefs, double flats/sharps, and key signatures with up to 7 flats/sharps - Includes options to set instrument ranges, and the training session length - See how much you’ve improved on the detailed session history page - Completely ad free!

Screenshots

Sheet Music Scanner4 screens
Score Reader Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Score Reader Lite at none against Sheet Music Scanner's 14. Sheet Music Scanner's advantage is chart position (#165 vs unranked). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Sheet Music Scanner sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Score Reader Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sheet Music Scanner ships an update every 3 weeks, Score Reader Lite fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 9 level
Sheet Music Scanner versus Score Reader Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSheet Music ScannerScore Reader Lite
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (6.5K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews61.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6.5K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscription—
Best chart rank#165 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.3
Further details — not scored
Size77 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApp Sub 1 LLCMatt Welch

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)

Score Reader Lite

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Sheet Music Scanner

Subscriptions13
  • Notation Scanner$4.991 Month
  • Notation Scanner$9.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner$14.991 Year
Show 10 more
  • 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 Scanner$34.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner7 Days trial$34.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner7 Days trial$44.991 Year
None

Score Reader Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sheet Music Scanner free?
Sheet Music Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Score Reader Lite free?
Score Reader Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Sheet Music Scanner or Score Reader Lite have ads?
Neither Sheet Music Scanner nor Score Reader Lite shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sheet Music Scanner or Score Reader Lite?
Sheet Music Scanner ships an update every 3 weeks, and Score Reader Lite fortnightly. Most recently, Sheet Music Scanner was updated on October 17, 2026 and Score Reader Lite on October 15, 2026.

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