Comparison

GarageScoreFree vs Music Reader

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

Head to head
About

GarageScoreFree

Create and share band music scores on your iPad. This app displays chord names on a notation window, offering different font sets for display and printing. Easily compose original songs and collaborate with band members.

Highlights
  • Chord name notation
  • Display and print font sets
  • Original song creation
  • Band score sharing
  • One Page for One Song (OPOS)
  • High Quality Print Out (HQPO)
Features
Read full description

I guess your first experience (in your school life) of a music score of your band was look like this. The band score was (and still “is”) a very cool tool for us to learning for our favorite songs. Even you have created your original songs with using the band score. “Intro, A, B, C, repeat, solo, and ending…”. It was very easy to create and share music among the band members. “We still need it on iOS, don’t we?” “Why don’t we make the band score for our iPad?” Yes, we made it! GarageScore show you not musical note but chord name on the notation window. GarageScore has two font sets. Draft for display and high-reso for print out. Let’s share your band score via iPad. You can also print out the score and write down your ideal notes on that. We make the notation score for your rhythm section and so on. Important Concepts for GarageScore. OPOS~One Page for One Song~ HQPO~High Quality Print Out~ CCW~Complexed Chord Welcome~

About

Music Reader

This app is a comprehensive tool for sheet music. It allows users to view, learn, listen, mark, and play musical scores. It supports various music genres and instruments, acting as a portable songbook and powerful player.

Highlights
  • View and play sheet music
  • Mark and annotate scores
  • Import MusicXML and NotationPad files
  • Supports dark mode
  • Transposition (PRO)
  • Change instrument parts (PRO)
Features
Read full description

Music Reader provides all you need about sheet music. You could view, learn, listen, mark and play music notes and notations as you want. it is your portable songbook and a powerful sheet music reader & player. A easy-to-use painting system for you to draw any marks on sheets. From classic to popular, from rock to country, from piano to symphony, all kinds of music played well in Music Reader. *Compatible with dark mode *Supports importing MusicXML(.xml) and NotationPad(.ecz) file PRO ACCESS SUBSCRIPTION - No Ads - Transposition - Change instrument for parts - Support layers for painting marks - The subscription price is $4.99/monthly, $14.99/yearly - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that service, where applicable - Terms of use: https://service.notationpad.com/sheetmusicplus/terms_service.html

Screenshots

GarageScoreFree4 screens
Music Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Music Reader at 4.5 against GarageScoreFree's 1.0. Music Reader also leads on review sentiment (51% vs 25%) and ratings volume (193 vs 1). GarageScoreFree's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ads (none vs shown). On price 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. Music Reader sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. GarageScoreFree asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Music Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Music Reader has 193 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of GarageScoreFree's written reviews are positive against 51% of Music Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GarageScoreFree ships an update every 2 weeks, Music Reader every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
GarageScoreFree versus Music Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGarageScoreFreeMusic Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (1 ratings)4.5 (193 ratings) — better
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews51.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1193 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS6.0 — better11.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB183 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAtsushi Uchida嵩 张

Customer experience

GarageScoreFree

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative25.0%

Music Reader

All ratings188 ratings
Positive88.3%
Neutral2.7%
Negative9.0%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive51.0%
Neutral4.1%
Negative44.9%

In-app purchases

None

GarageScoreFree

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Music Reader

Subscriptions3
  • Pro Access$2.991 Month
  • Pro Access7 Days trial$14.991 Year
  • Pro Access$14.991 Year

Questions

Is GarageScoreFree free?
GarageScoreFree is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Music Reader free?
Music Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, GarageScoreFree or Music Reader?
Music Reader is rated higher. GarageScoreFree averages 1.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Music Reader averages 4.5 from 193 ratings.
Do GarageScoreFree or Music Reader have ads?
Music Reader shows ads; GarageScoreFree does not.
Which is updated more often, GarageScoreFree or Music Reader?
GarageScoreFree ships an update every 2 weeks, and Music Reader every 4 months. Most recently, GarageScoreFree was updated on November 1, 2026 and Music Reader on November 11, 2026.

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