Comparison of scorewriters

This is a comparison of music notation programs.

General information

Name Developer(s) Latest stable release License Import formats Midi entry[1] Sound support Export formats Guitar tablature WYSIWYG Editor Cost (USD) Operating System Support
Canorus Reinhard Katzmann, Matevž Jekovec, Georg Rudolph 0.7.R1002 GPL CanorusML, MusicXML midi pdf, ly No Yes Free Linux
Denemo Jeremiah Benham, Richard Shann 1.2.2 GPL denemo, limited ly, MusicXML step-time midi, wav, ogg pdf, ly, png Yes WYSIWYM with real Notes and WYSIWYG Free Linux, Windows, Mac
Frescobaldi Wilbert Berendsen 2.0.4 GPL midi pdf, ly No Yes Free Linux, Windows[2][3]
Impro-Visor Bob Keller 6.0 GPL ls both step-time and real-time midi pdf, ls, mid, MusicXML No Yes Free Linux, Mac, Windows
LilyPond Han-Wen Nienhuys, Jan Nieuwenhuizen 2.18.2 GPL ly no midi pdf, ps, png, svg Yes No Free Cross-platform
MusEdit Doug Rogers, Yowza Software 4.0.3 Proprietary ascii, midi, MusicXML midi med, abc, midi, MusicXML, png, bmp Yes Yes Free Windows
MuseScore Werner Schweer and others 2.0 GPL v2 mscz, mscx, mss, album, xml, mxl, midi/mid, kar, md, bww, mgu, sgu, ove, cap, capx, gtp, gp3, gp4, gp5, gpx step-time midi xml, mxl, pdf, png, svg, midi, wav, flac, ogg, mp3 Yes Yes Free Linux, Mac, Windows
Musink Lee Reid 1.1.0.1 Proprietary musink musTemplateExp midi pdf, png, xps, MIDI No WYSIWYM with real Notes Free Windows
MusiXTeX Daniel Taupin, Ross Mitchell, Andreas Egler 1.15 GPL .tex (and .pmx and .mtx with preprocessors) No No dvi, ps, pdf, mid Yes No Free Linux, Mac, Windows
NoteEdit Jörg Anders 2.8.1 GPL midi, MusicXML, tex, abc midi ps, ly Yes Yes Free Linux
Power Tab Editor Brad Larsen 1.7.0.80 Proprietary ptb, midi midi ptb, midi, ascii, html, bmp Yes Yes Free Windows
Rosegarden Chris Cannam, Richard Bown, Guillaume Laurent 14.12 GPL h2song (hydrogen), midi, musicxml both step-time and real-time midi ly, csound, mup, midi, musicxml No Yes Free Linux
Scorecloud Studio Doremir Music Research AB 3.0 Proprietary Audio, MIDI and manual real-time and step-time midi, vst pdf, midi, wav, MusicXML No Yes Free Mac OSX, iOS, Windows
TuxGuitar Julian Gabriel Casadesus 1.2 LGPL tg, ly, xml, midi, gtp, gp3, gp4, gp5, gp6, ptb, tef, midi tg, pdf, gp3, gp4, gp5, midi, ly, ascii Yes Yes Free Cross-platform
Capella Capella-software AG 7.1 Proprietary cap, MusicXML, midi, txt midi, vst capx, cap, MusicXML, midi, bmp, jpeg, tiff, png, tga, pcx, html Yes Yes $250 Windows
Capella Start[4] Capella-software AG 7.1 Proprietary capx, cap, MusicXML,[5] midi,[5] txt midi, vst capx, cap, midi[5] No Yes $70 Windows
Encore GVOX 5.0.2 Proprietary enc, mus, mto, rhp, mxl midi pdf, midi, mff, mts Yes Yes $400 Mac, Windows
Finale MakeMusic 2014 Proprietary mus, MusicXML, midi, tiff, jpeg, png, eps, pdf, bmp, gif, pict[6] both step-time and real-time midi, vst, au,[6] Garritan library midi, wav, mp3, aiff, pdf, tiff, jpeg, png, eps, bmp, gif, pict[6] Yes Yes $600 Mac, Windows
Forte Lugert Verlag [7][8] 5.0 Proprietary midi, MusicXML, capx, fnf [7][8] both step-time and real-time [7] midi, vst midi, MusicXML, bmp, jpg Yes Yes $229 [9] Windows
Guitar Pro Arobas Music 6.1.6 Proprietary gpx, gp3, gp4, gp5, ascii, mxl, midi, MusicXML, ptb midi, RSE png, pdf, ascii, midi, wav, gpx, gp5, MusicXML Yes Yes $60 Linux, Mac, Windows
Mozart David Webber 11 Proprietary mz, MusicXML real-time midi bmp, emf, gif, jpg, pbm, png Yes Yes $155 Windows
Mus2 Utku Uzmen (Data-Soft Ltd.) 2.0.2 Proprietary mus2 midi bmp, jpeg, pdf, png, svg, aiff, midi, wav No Yes $60 Mac, Windows
MusiCAD Musys Software 3.1 Proprietary ascii, abc, midi midi pdf No Yes $55 Windows
MusicEase MusicEase Software 8.5 Proprietary MusicXML, midi, mez, abc, sw midi midi, pdf Yes Yes $250 Mac, Windows
NoteWorthy Composer NoteWorthy Software 2.51a Proprietary nwc, midi, kar real-time and step-time[10] midi nwctxt, midi No Yes $49 Windows
Notion PreSonus 5.0 Proprietary mxl, MusicXML, midi, gp4, gp5 midi, vst MusicXML, wav, midi, Yes Yes $149 Mac, Windows, iOS (iPad)[11]
Overture Geniesoft 4.1.5 Proprietary ove, scw, MusicXML, midi, enc midi, vst ove, midi, wav Yes Yes $350 Mac, Windows
Sibelius Avid Technology Inc. 7.5.1 Proprietary sib, MusicXML, midi, bmp, gif, jpg, png, tiff, svg real-time midi, vst, au,[6] Avid library sib, MusicXML, midi, pdf, eps, png, svg Yes Yes $600 Mac, Windows, RISC OS
SmartScore Pro Musitek Corporation 10.2.6 Proprietary mxl midi pdf Yes Yes $400 Mac, Windows
Name Developer(s) Latest stable release License Import formats Midi entry Sound support Export formats Guitar tablature WYSIWYG Editor Cost (USD) Operating System Support

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ When entering notes, "step-time" means one first selects the note duration then enters notes and chords one a time, while "real-time" means one plays the notes to enter with correct rhythm and the software recognizes the note durations.
  2. ↑ Macintosh is not supported, but as of January 2013, "Work is being done to create a more complete installer." Frescobaldi download page
  3. ↑ "Help needed creating a Mac OS X installer for Frescobaldi"
  4. ↑ Max 4 staves per system, max 100 systems
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Max 4 staves or voices
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Mac version
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Product Tour » Forte Notation". Forte/Lugert Verlag. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Ronnie Currey (16 April 2009). ""Forte" Notation Software: A Review". Music Teacher's Helper Blog. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  9. ↑ "Buy FORTE » Forte Notation". Forte/Lugert Verlag. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  10. ↑ FAQ - MIDI Keyboard Input
  11. ↑ "NOTION for iPad". Apple App Store. Retrieved 2012-01-11.