Comparison

GarageScoreFree vs Composer Pro

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

Composer Pro

Compose music scores with ease using a familiar keyboard layout. This app supports multiple parts, a wide range of instruments, and various musical symbols, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced musicians.

Highlights
  • Keyboard-style note input
  • Support for up to 8 parts
  • Over 100 instruments
  • Variety of music symbols
  • Configurable parts and settings
  • Instrument transposition
  • Export without watermark
Features
Read full description

A handy sheet music writer app, make writing sheet music feels like typing notes. Tap on the keys with notation in a familiar keyboard layout. Provide a very easy way to compose music score. Support up to 8 parts, over 100 instruments, variety of music symbols and notations. It is very friendly for rookies while professional enough for experts. --------------------------------- UNLIMITED ACCESS SUBSCRIPTION - Support up to 8 parts - Config parts(add, delete, reorder) - Change key for each part - Change beat type and tempo - Config clef for each staff - Config sound for each part - No watermark image export - No Ads - Support 2nd voice part - Transpose instruments - Change keyboard size - Import data file - Unlock all 100+ instruments - The subscriptions are $9.99 monthly and $49.99 yearly with free trial - 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/terms_service.html

Screenshots

GarageScoreFree4 screens
Composer Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Composer Pro at 72% against GarageScoreFree's 25%. Composer Pro also leads on rating (4.5 vs 1.0) and ratings volume (672 vs 1). GarageScoreFree's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 weeks). 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. Composer Pro sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days. GarageScoreFree asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Composer Pro holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Composer Pro has 672 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 72% of Composer Pro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GarageScoreFree ships an update every 2 weeks, Composer Pro every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
GarageScoreFree versus Composer Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGarageScoreFreeComposer Pro
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (1 ratings)4.5 (672 ratings) — better
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews72.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1672 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS6.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB154 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%

Composer Pro

All ratings672 ratings
Positive86.6%
Neutral5.7%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews257 reviews
Positive72.0%
Neutral7.8%
Negative20.2%

Bugs and requests

GarageScoreFree

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Composer Pro

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Notes sometimes placed incorrectly
  • Measures and compositions randomly deleted
  • Inability to restore deleted content

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more instruments beyond piano
  • Allow changing time signatures and key signatures without subscription
  • Improve note editing and placement
  • Add export options to save/share compositions
  • Provide more music notation tools and dynamics

In-app purchases

None

GarageScoreFree

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Composer Pro

Subscriptions4
  • Unlimited Access$6.997 Days
  • Pro Access$9.991 Month
  • Pro Access$49.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Pro Access7 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is GarageScoreFree free?
GarageScoreFree is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Composer Pro free?
Composer Pro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, GarageScoreFree or Composer Pro?
Composer Pro is rated higher. GarageScoreFree averages 1.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Composer Pro averages 4.5 from 672 ratings.
Do GarageScoreFree or Composer Pro have ads?
Neither GarageScoreFree nor Composer Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GarageScoreFree or Composer Pro?
GarageScoreFree ships an update every 2 weeks, and Composer Pro every 6 weeks. Most recently, GarageScoreFree was updated on June 24, 2026 and Composer Pro on September 26, 2026.

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