Sheet Music Scanner vs Notalune
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/
Notalune
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Notalune shows the name of every note, right on your own sheet music. Point your iPhone or iPad at printed sheet music and Notalune overlays the note names directly above the notes: English (C D E F G A B), German and Czech (C D E F G A H), solfège (do re mi) or Japanese katakana (ド レ ミ). No typing, no searching, no flipping through theory books. BUILT ON TRUST Notalune follows one rule: blank beats wrong. If it is not sure about a note, it leaves it unnamed instead of guessing. One tap on the traffic light shows how confident every name is (green, orange, red). Every scan starts with a quick clef check, and any name can be corrected in two taps. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Quick reading: point at one measure or a whole page and get the names in seconds. Nothing to create first; keep the reading or let it go • Any measure opens in place, with practice, editing, re-reading and sharing tools around it • Pieces: build your own library, piece by piece, measure by measure • Whole pages: photograph a full page or import a scan, map its measures, and read them one tap at a time • PDF import: title, composer and tempo fill in from the file, and every measure reads itself in while you watch • Open in Notalune: send a PDF from Mail, Files or WhatsApp straight into the app • Octave numbers, if you want them: c¹ c² in the Central European style, C4 C5 elsewhere • Annotated page: the assembled page with every name in place; practice from it with pinch-zoom and free pan • Print and share: export the annotated page or the whole piece as a PDF (Pro) • Metronome: a real mechanical metronome with tap tempo, free and unlimited • Corrections: fix any name, change the clef or key, or revert; uncertain notes are easy to spot FOR REAL SHEET MUSIC From method books and first songbooks up to harder repertoire. Recognition works best on printed music photographed up close, one measure at a time. In My Sheet Music you can assemble and read whole pages, measure by measure. A SCAFFOLD, NOT A CRUTCH The names are made to be hidden. In practice mode, tap a single name to hide just that note and test yourself. Tap again to reveal it, or bring them all back at once. The goal is the day you read without Notalune. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything happens on your device. Photos are processed on-device and stored only in the app. No accounts, no ads, no analytics, no tracking. The app never connects to the internet. If you opt in to help improve recognition, correction snippets are stored locally on your device; you decide if and when to share them, manually. FREE AND PRO Free: 10 quick readings in total, 3 pieces with one page each, the full metronome, practice mode, and every reading and correction tool. The 10 readings are a one-off allowance, not a daily quota - nothing resets, and nothing expires. Pro: Notalune Pro is a one-time purchase - no subscription, no trial to expire - that removes the limits and adds printing & sharing of annotated PDFs. Family Sharing included. IPHONE AND IPAD One purchase covers both. On iPad the reading page shows at close to print size, so you can play straight from the stand. LANGUAGES Seven: English, Czech, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese. Note naming in English (B), German and Czech (H), solfège, or Japanese katakana. The naming follows your choice, not your phone's language: a fixed-do player keeps do re mi on an English phone. Notalune reads notes so you can play them.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is chart position: Sheet Music Scanner at #124 against Notalune's unranked. Sheet Music Scanner also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Notalune's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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 13 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Notalune sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Sheet Music Scanner ships an update every 3 weeks, Notalune every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sheet Music Scanner | Notalune |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (6.5K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 61.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6.5K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | — |
| Best chart rank | #124 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 77 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | App Sub 1 LLC | DAVID CHRISTIAN LICHTAG |
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)
Notalune
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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 Scanner$34.991 Year
- Notation Scanner7 Days trial$34.991 Year
- Notation Scanner7 Days trial$44.991 Year
Notalune
- Notalune Pro$9.99
Questions
Is Sheet Music Scanner free?
Is Notalune free?
Do Sheet Music Scanner or Notalune have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sheet Music Scanner or Notalune?
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