Comparison

Staventabs vs CalmusNotation

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

CalmusNotation

Create and visualize musical compositions using AI-powered graphical notation. This app leverages advanced AI, inspired by NASA's Lisp programming, to generate original music based on user input and can display music from other compatible apps for live performance.

Highlights
  • AI-powered music composition
  • Graphical notation display
  • Real-time performance visualization
  • Lisp-based AI engine
  • User input-driven music creation
  • Integration with CalmusComposer and CalmusPlay
Read full description

Graphical Notation is an app for music creation and graphical notation using Artificial Intelligence. The coreof Graphical Notation is the CalmusAI brain where the modern composing methods are programmed into the brain using Lisp programming language. NASA has historically used Lisp for artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, most notably in the 1990s Remote Agent project, the first AI system to control a spacecraft. CalmusNotation does not collect or use any musical material from the internet but creates new music based on the input from the user. In addition - CalmusNotation can also receive composed music from CalmusComposer and CalmusPlay - and present the music as graphical notation for live performance - in real-time. CalmusComposer composes music with Artificial Intelligence and can send the musical result to GraphicalNotations to be presented for life performance. CalmusComposer is connected to GraphicalNotation through WiFi local network - by selecting CalmusNotation in Settings. GraphicalNotation is connected to CalmusComposer, through WiFi local network - by selecting the MacOS device in the settings of GraphicalNotation. CalmusNotation needs Internet connection.

Screenshots

Staventabs4 screens
CalmusNotation4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Staventabs at 65% against CalmusNotation's 0%. Staventabs also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (70 vs 5). CalmusNotation's advantage is rating (4.4 vs 3.8) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). On price, ads and iOS requirement 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. CalmusNotation asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CalmusNotation holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Staventabs has 70 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 65% of Staventabs's written reviews are positive against 0% of CalmusNotation's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Staventabs ships an update every 3 weeks, CalmusNotation every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 13, 2026 and June 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Staventabs versus CalmusNotation: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStaventabsCalmusNotation
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (70 ratings)4.4 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.8% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings70 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.415.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size121 MB294 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperIvan KorovinErki-tonlist sf

Customer experience

Staventabs

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

CalmusNotation

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative50.0%

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

CalmusNotation

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

CalmusNotation

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Staventabs free?
Staventabs is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CalmusNotation free?
CalmusNotation is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Staventabs or CalmusNotation?
CalmusNotation is rated higher. Staventabs averages 3.8 out of 5 from 70 ratings, while CalmusNotation averages 4.4 from 5 ratings.
Do Staventabs or CalmusNotation have ads?
Neither Staventabs nor CalmusNotation shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Staventabs or CalmusNotation?
Staventabs ships an update every 3 weeks, and CalmusNotation every 4 months. Most recently, Staventabs was updated on September 13, 2026 and CalmusNotation on June 5, 2026.

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