Comparison

Staventabs vs capella score reader

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

Head to head
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

About

capella score reader

This app allows musicians to read, listen to, and practice music scores on their mobile devices. It offers features like solo voice playback, voice muting, and tempo control for efficient practice and study.

Highlights
  • Read and listen to music scores
  • Practice individual parts
  • Mute specific voices
  • Extract single voices
  • Two-finger zoom for scores
  • One-finger page turning
  • Adjustable tempo control
Features
Read full description

capella score reader Read and listen to music scores anywhere at any time Open your scores and read, listen, practice, study, perform when and where you like. Practice your part for choir or orchestra. As choir director or conductor study scores. Use capella score reader as digital music stand. capella score reader is the most recent offshoot of the capella family. With many practicing musicians, capella is known to be THE notation software which has been around for more than 25 years. capella is available for Windows and for Mac. Several additional programs, for example for scanning sheet music, complement the capella family – and now it’s capella score reader. Solo - tutti Select the Solo button to listen to one single voice. Solo on/off – this can be done during playback at any position in the piece. This way you learn your part efficiently. Voice filter When you’re almost there: Mute one or several voices to sing or play along yourself. Voice extraction Select a voice extraction for one or several voices – all others are hidden. Two-finger zoom With two-finger scroll zoom single spots or get an overview of the entire page. Page turning with one finger Slide across the screen as if you would turn pages – the notes will follow. Change tempo Control the tempo according to your needs for rehearsal: Slower at the beginning, next time faster. Navigation Open your own files. The last used files will be displayed. Exchange of scores Receive scores from other musicians, for example via WhatsApp or eMail. Share your scores with other musicians as capella file or PDF. capella score reader reads these score formats: - capXML (capella format) - cap (older capella format) - MusicXML - MIDI Video introduction A short video introduction shows the most important features. It’s really simple! We are looking forward to your feedback. Please use the feedback button in the help menu for questions about the app or error reports.

Screenshots

Staventabs4 screens
capella score reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Staventabs at 65% against capella score reader's 0%. Staventabs also leads on rating (3.8 vs 2.0) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 18 months). capella score reader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.4). 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. Staventabs sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. capella score reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Staventabs holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Staventabs has 71 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Staventabs's written reviews are positive against 0% of capella score reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Staventabs ships an update every 3 weeks, capella score reader every 18 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Staventabs versus capella score reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStaventabscapella score reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (71 ratings) — better2.0 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews64.8% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings71 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 18 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.411.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size123 MB59 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperIvan Korovincapella-software AG

Customer experience

Staventabs

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

capella score reader

All ratings5 ratings
Positive20.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative60.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral66.7%
Negative33.3%

Bugs and requests

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

capella score reader

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Staventabs

One-time3
  • Advanced composing$9.99
  • Unlimited projects$10.99
  • Additional instruments$10.99
None

capella score reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Staventabs free?
Staventabs is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is capella score reader free?
capella score reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Staventabs or capella score reader?
Staventabs is rated higher. Staventabs averages 3.8 out of 5 from 71 ratings, while capella score reader averages 2.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Staventabs or capella score reader have ads?
Neither Staventabs nor capella score reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Staventabs or capella score reader?
Staventabs ships an update every 3 weeks, and capella score reader every 18 months. Most recently, Staventabs was updated on October 26, 2026 and capella score reader on October 24, 2026.

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