Comparison

Musicnotes vs Staventabs

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

Head to head
About

Musicnotes

Access and play a vast library of digital sheet music. Practice with interactive tools, transpose keys, and annotate scores. Organize your music into set lists for lessons, rehearsals, or performances.

Highlights
  • Interactive sheet music player
  • Key transposition tool
  • Annotation and markup
  • Set list organization
  • 500,000+ sheet music arrangements
  • Personal sheet music upload
  • Interactive playback with tempo control
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Musicnotes is your digital sheet music reader, player and music library for practice, performance, and learning. Access and print over 500,000 officially licensed printable sheet music arrangements, scores, and practice materials to play, study, and build your skills wherever you go. Whether you're a student, teacher, hobbyist, or professional musician, Musicnotes provides reliable, interactive annotation tools to support your musical education, rehearsal, and personal growth. Musicnotes brings sheet music and scores to life with interactive playback, helping you follow the notation as you listen, learn, and practice. WHY MUSICNOTES? • Sheet music player and reader for practice, rehearsal, lessons, and performance • Read, play, organize, annotate, perform, and print from one of the most trusted sheet music apps • Transpose songs into different keys for vocal training, music theory study, and instrument practice • Mark up your sheet music with a stylus or finger to improve sight-reading, interpretation, and recall skills • Organize your sheet music and scores into set lists for lessons, recitals, rehearsals, performances or group practice • Browse over 500,000 officially licensed printable sheet music arrangements, study scores and practice sheets • Receive 100 free sheet music titles, blank sheet music and scales, to support your learning and education journey • Upload and store your personal sheet music PDFs online for easy access • Easily import your Music notes sheet music pieces into the ForScore Pro app for note management • Discover popular musicals and artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift, La La Land, Lady Gaga, and Bruno Mars ACCESS A WORLD OF EDUCATIONAL MUSIC RESOURCES • Take your digital sheet music library offline—perfect for students, teachers, and performers seeking reliable music reference material • Scan printed scores and convert them into digital study material • Explore free and paid music for all skill levels, instruments and voice: piano, guitar, drums, flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin, cello, accordion, percussion, banjo, saxophone, tuba, baritone horn and more • Learn classical repertoire, lullabies, jazz standards, christmas classics or modern pop • Perfect for use in private lessons, school programs, and conservatory training PRACTICE TOOLS FOR MUSIC EDUCATION • Customize key and tempo for vocal range exercises or skill development • Use interactive playback with the music note player to improve rhythm, timing, and accuracy • Loop difficult sections for targeted repetition and muscle memory • Practice music theory fundamentals with harmony playback and tempo control • Organize your music note sheets into set lists to prepare for lessons, practice routines, or recitals ANNOTATE & TEACH MORE EFFECTIVELY • Highlight, write, and add custom markings to reinforce learning points • Switch between annotated and clean sheet music scores • Sync notes across devices with Musicnotes Pro, ideal for teachers & students THE BEST TOOL FOR TEACHING, LEARNING, AND PERFORMING • Tap or swipe to turn pages—or use AirTurn & Pageflip for hands-free playing • Customize paper backgrounds to mirror physical sheet music • Print purchased scores for classroom or in-person lessons • Use Musicnotes Pro Credits to redeem arrangements for your music curriculum • High-resolution PDFs available with Pro membership Try Musicnotes today and discover why music teachers, students, and performers trust it as the #1 sheet music reader, player, and performance app Musicnotes Pro is an annual subscription that will charge to your App Store Account & auto-renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your App Store Account will be charged within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Your subscription & auto-renewal can be managed in your Account Settings. Terms of Use: https://www.musicnotes.com/TermsOfUseApp.html

About

Staventabs

Compose and edit musical scores and tablature with a user-friendly interface. Create new pieces from scratch or templates, input notes intuitively, and enhance your compositions with advanced editing tools. Practice your songs with playback and metronome features, and manage your projects seamlessly.

Highlights
  • Score and tablature editing
  • Intuitive note input
  • Virtual piano and fingerboard
  • Instrument previews
  • Playback and metronome
  • AI-powered scale suggestions
  • MIDI and MusicXML import/export
Features
Read full description

A simple notation and tab editor, Staventabs could become your indispensable helper in music creation. Use smart and convenient tools of Staventabs for composing and improving scores on your iPad or iPhone. Get inspired by viewing majestic classics scores or practicing good old jazz. Easily edit sheet music and tablature with user friendly interface like never before. Share musical inspiration with your band using Staventabs files. Create music • Start your new score from the scratch or with one of the two dozen templates² • Enter notes with intuitive instrument-independent interface or virtual Piano Keyboard • Explore and edit your score with sophisticated Piano Roll and Drums Editor • Choose from 22 groups of the instruments (keyboards, guitars, strings, drums, percussions, etc.)² listening their preview fragments • Use context-sensitive selection for bars, chords and tracks • Modify notes with dots, tuplets and ties • Make your music alive with lyrics • Customize clefs, key signatures and time signatures for bars • Change dynamics • Switch between enharmonic equivalents of the notes • Use customizable voices • Setup tunings with the large value of presets • Navigate around the score with Tracks board • Easily copy, paste and remove selected areas • Switch fast between tablature and stave inputs • Edit tabs with easy-to-use numeric keypad or virtual Fingerboard • Input notes by Staff Positions • Set the visibility for instrument parts in the score • Edit title and information about creators • Select and customize horizontal, vertical or page layout for your score • Use Scientific or Helmholtz pitch notation when entering notes • Add repeat signs and volta brackets • Don’t worry about losing data thanks to auto-saving • Connect your MIDI devices to Staventabs Practice your songs • Play the whole composition or selected fragment • Customize metronome clicking and countdown • Change track’s audio properties on-the-fly • Loop the playback of the desired part Improve compositions • Mark non-playable objects with "Highlight issues" • Use the "Starred scales" AI to determine the chromatic scales most similar to the selected area • Adjust the semitones of the selected area notes to the chromatic scale • Customize the chromatic scale for adjustment³ • Diminish, augment and subdivide note values • Transpose pitches by semitones Manage projects • Browse your projects with convenient file manager • Store your compositions in iCloud Drive and keep them up-to-date across all your iOS devices • Create new projects and duplicate existing (up to three editable projects in free version)¹ • Listen to preview fragments of the scores directly from the files menu • Open SNT, MIDI, MusicXML, Compressed MusicXML (MXL), Guitar Pro (GPX, GP5, GP4, GP3) and Karaoke (KAR) files • Edit MIDI, MusicXML, MXL, Guitar Pro and Karaoke files¹ • Organize your files from a desktop computer using iTunes or iCloud Drive • Open files from Mail and other applications (Dropbox, Box, etc.) • Convert files between supported formats¹ Share your brand-new hits with friends • Email your scores and tabs right from Staventabs • Print your score¹ • Export to PDF and MPEG-4 AAC¹ Features marked with superscript numbers are available via the corresponding in-app purchases: ¹ Unlimited Projects ² Additional Instruments ³ Advanced Composing

Screenshots

Musicnotes4 screens
Staventabs4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Musicnotes at 4.8 against Staventabs's 3.8. Musicnotes also leads on ratings volume (43K vs 70) and chart position (#204 vs unranked). Staventabs's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (65% vs 55%). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Musicnotes sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year and Staventabs sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Musicnotes holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Musicnotes has 43K ratings behind it against 70, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 55% of Musicnotes's written reviews are positive against 65% of Staventabs's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Musicnotes versus Staventabs: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMusicnotesStaventabs
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (43K ratings) — better3.8 (70 ratings)
Positive reviews54.7% of reviews64.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings43K — better70
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#204 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size128 MB121 MB
Age rating9++4
DeveloperMusicnotesIvan Korovin

Customer experience

Musicnotes

All ratings43,029 ratings
Positive97.8%
Neutral1.3%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews601 reviews
Positive54.7%
Neutral12.6%
Negative32.6%

Staventabs

All ratings70 ratings
Positive65.7%
Neutral11.4%
Negative22.9%
Written reviews227 reviews
Positive64.8%
Neutral12.3%
Negative22.9%

User reviews

Musicnotes

From 43K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great convenience
  • 🎹 Fantastic range of music
  • 🎶 Adjustable to skill level
  • 💻 Reliable and responsive
  • 🎨 Helpful playback and annotation features

Room to improve

  • 💰 Overpriced compared to other options
  • 🔒 Restrictive printing and usage policies
  • 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
  • 🖥️ Inconsistent pricing between app and website
  • 📱 Poor iPad and iPhone X support

Staventabs

From 70 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Efficient music notation
  • 👍 Intuitive interface
  • 🎨 Customizable chord diagrams
  • 💾 Supports multiple file formats
  • 🎶 Realistic instrument sounds

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • 💰 Paywall for basic features
  • 🔀 Inconsistent note/chord handling
  • 🔍 Unclear documentation
  • 🔊 Lagging playback

Bugs and requests

Musicnotes

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login issues and inability to access purchased content
  • Crashes and performance problems, especially on newer devices
  • Inconsistent behavior when navigating and scrolling sheet music
  • Unreliable playback and sync features

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to permanently delete pre-installed songs
  • Improve note-taking and annotation tools, including Apple Pencil support
  • Implement better browsing and search functionality
  • Allow more flexible printing and copying options
  • Add seamless syncing between app and website purchases

Staventabs

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Imported MIDI files lose instrument assignments
  • Disappearing projects after updates
  • Inability to adjust note lengths in piano roll
  • Metronome not audible over instrument playback

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for grace notes and ornaments
  • Implement repeat/coda symbols
  • Allow custom font and layout options
  • Integrate MIDI input and output
  • Improve chord recognition accuracy

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Musicnotes

Subscriptions1
  • Musicnotes Pro$14.991 Year
One-time11
  • PDF Sheet Music Arrangement2 variants$2.99
  • Sheet Music Arrangement$3.99
  • Sheet Music Arrangement$4.99
Show 8 more
  • Sheet Music Arrangement$5.99
  • Sheet Music Arrangement$6.99
  • Sheet Music Arrangement$7.99
  • Sheet Music Arrangement$8.99
  • Sheet Music Arrangement + PDF$8.99
  • Sheet Music Arrangement + PDF$9.99
  • Sheet Music Arrangement$12.99
  • Pro Credit Pack (3 Credits)$12.99
3 purchases

Staventabs

One-time3
  • Advanced composing$9.99
  • Unlimited projects$10.99
  • Additional instruments$10.99

Questions

Is Musicnotes free?
Musicnotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Staventabs free?
Staventabs is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Musicnotes or Staventabs?
Musicnotes is rated higher. Musicnotes averages 4.8 out of 5 from 43K ratings, while Staventabs averages 3.8 from 70 ratings.
Do Musicnotes or Staventabs have ads?
Musicnotes shows ads; Staventabs does not.
Which is updated more often, Musicnotes or Staventabs?
Musicnotes ships an update every 3 weeks, and Staventabs every 3 weeks. Most recently, Musicnotes was updated on September 27, 2026 and Staventabs on September 13, 2026.

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