Notation Software reviews from Reddit

Summary

We analyzed 434 Reddit reviews across 32 subreddits and 91 posts to rank the best Notation Software brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/composer, r/musictheory, r/drums, r/WeAreTheMusicMakers, r/piano. Top-rated brands include MuseScore (4.1/5), Dorico (4.4/5), Sibelius (3.9/5).

Stats

Reviews434

Subreddits32

Posts91

Brands55

Products21

Top communities

r/composer199 r/musictheory48 r/drums21 r/WeAreTheMusicMakers21 r/piano17

434 reviews from

and

By Brand

By Product

MuseScore

4.1

(116)

"Musescore is the best, don't let anyone tell you that because it's free it's bad"

"Musescore is SOO good! It has a lot of options under the hood so worth exploring shortcuts and the manual"

"Musescore is fine! I wrote a whole symphony in Musescore and it worked well enough."

"As a professional, I’d say musescore."

"Musescore. Their tutorials are extremely beginner friendly and thorough"

"MuseScore has the best sound engine, the best graphics, and the most intuitive interface. And it’s free."

"Thanks everyone for the advice, musescore it is."

"I love MuseScore, and they have good support."

"MuseScore all day long."

"I truly believe musescore is a better product than both Sibelius and Finale."

Dorico

4.4

(87)

"Yes, you want Dorico. It’s the Future of music notation software."

"Dorico is by far my favorite and would recommend it."

"I just switched to Dorico. You’ll be very happy with it."

"I recommend Dorico or Sibelius."

"I know Dorico has this capability."

"I'm floored by how intuitive it is."

"If i had to do it today, i'd 100% go dorico."

"Dorico"

"These days I and most of my colleagues are in Dorico."

"Its the most feature-rich, powerful, and time-saving software out there."

Sibelius

3.9

(56)

"To me, definitely Sibelius Ultimate."

"I'm the same. Find Sibelius EXTREMELY useful."

"I use Sibelius (going on 23 years now)."

"I now love Sibelius and can work in it very easily. I also got the Noteperformer plugin, and it sounds wonderful too."

"I've been using Sibelius for about 30 or 40 years. I'm very happy with it."

"Sibelius has always been perfect for scores for me."

"I have Sibelius + Virtual Drumline and I love it."

"Sibelius is much better but costs money"

"Sibelius is fantastic, used it throughout university."

"It's the industry standard, perfectly functional, and does everything you need."

Finale

3.4

(37)

"I use Finale with NotePerformer, and it sounds great"

"Finale, if you want quality."

"You have 3 main options that are professional grade: Finale, Sibelius, Dorico."

"There are still more but these are minors."

"For print, you can’t beat the customization of Finale. I’ve been using it for over a decade."

"Finale is what I recommend. Sibelius second and Dorico third. The main reason I suggest Finale is that it’s very widely used."

"You could check out Sibelius and Finale. I hear good things about them though I haven’t used them much myself."

"Finale would be fine."

"Just buy finale if you’re a student. $100 and no garbage subscription service."

"Both Finale and Sibelius are fine as long as you don’t depend on the sounds they use for playback."

LilyPond

4.1

(23)

"If you have a bit of coding ability lilypond is by far the best, but it doesn’t have a gui so be warned."

"I've completely switched to Lilypond. To me it's the best engraving software in every aspect except for its steeper learning curve."

"I only use Lilypond"

"Lilypond is by far the most customizable with stuff like this."

"I ended up switching to LilyPond. I can't really recommend it to everyone unless you're willing to learn a bit of programming."

"Lilypond. It's free. It's open source. It's revolutionary."

"The best is Lilypond, but it is also the hardest, so your mileage will vary."

"Glad you mentioned Lilypond, a very different approach that might suit some people's way of working. From what I've heard it can produce professional quality sheet music."

"Https://lilypond.org/ https://musescore.org/en"

"Lilypond. It's not graphical, which is why it's so good."

Noteflight

4.3

(11)

"I have been using Noteflight for 9 years now and have over 200 files on it lol, a handful of which that have gotten CARA recognition."

"Try NoteFlight—it's a game-changer for precision and quality!"

"I've written 6 piano pieces there and it was a very good experience and I didn't pay anything."

"I personally find myself always going back to noteflight."

"Noteflight is also free and actually pretty intuitive."

"Noteflight.com"

"Noteflight is really easy to use."

"I'm currently using Noteflight. Once you figure out where things are it's pretty easy."

"Noteflight is pretty neat."

"I've only extensively used Noteflight.com, and it suits my needs so far."

Flat.io

4.2

(9)

"I love Flat.io"

"Flat.io is awesome im gonna use that for the rest of my life"

"[flat.io](https://flat.io/) is Noteflight but better!"

"Could always try flat.io but I think musescore works fine."

"Flat.io was my first and easiest."

"Flat.io is very intuitive and has been much easier for me to use than musescore"

"I currently use Flat.io (albeit it is the premium version, yet it is not too expensive)."

"Otherwise, you could also check out one called Flat.io. It’s pretty intuitive and as far as I know, works well with DAWS and MIDI programming."

"I’ve tried flat.io before and it’s a pretty good and simple software!"

Guitar Pro

4.2

(9)

"I can recommend Guitar pro 6/7 and Musescore."

"Have only ever used Guitar Pro and have never wanted for anything else notation wise so I think that says enough."

"I use GuitarPro for any transcriptions or charts I'm doing."

"I found Guitar Pro 8 to be so so so much easier to use."

"Have you tried Guitar Pro?"

"I use GP 6 for this, which works well, but might be a bit expensive if converting notation will be the only thing you use it for."

"Years ago I used Guitar Pro (version 3) to do this. I just looked and it's still available in version 7."

"I know GuitarPro is pretty good."

"Guitar Pro?"

StaffPad

4.0

(9)

"I love StaffPad!"

"Great software for handwriting notes"

"Staffpad is cool if you like to draw in notes with the pencil."

"I use StaffPad A LOT. I do a whole thing over on the TikTok where I compose. It ain’t cheap, but I think it’s a great product"

"Staffpad is a great option with handwriting detection, however it’s not free like MuseScore (I think it’s around $90)."

"I've heard good things about staff pad."

"Staffpad looks cool."

"Staff pad maybe?"

"StaffPad - you have to really get used to this one."

#10

Notion

3.9

(8)

"I’ve used Notion 6 for years and it is by far the easiest program to use I’ve ever tried."

"I love Notion 6."

"Notion, they have app for iPad, iPhone and Mac and sharing the score over iCloud"

"I use Notion which works really well but I don’t think it’s free"

"I would add Notion (from PreSonus) to the list here."

"I like Notion. I use it on my iPad and MacBook."

"I happen to have the Notion app and it seems to do the job"

"I’ve been impressed with https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/notion/id475820434"

#11

Reaper

4.0

(5)

"Reaper can do this easily, if you're playing via midi, possibly even with audio."

"I use reaper!"

"Reaper + Something like Versillian Chamber Orchestra is probably your best bet starting out."

"Reaper now does notation too."

"Not free but cheap: Reaper."

#12

Soundslice

4.5

(4)

"Soundslice is web-based and excellent. Similar to Noteflight but (in my opinion) with a better design and less janky. It's free"

"[Soundslice] is very good."

"I'll just throw Soundslice into the ring: Web-based (easy to share scores with group members), Focused on learning/practice, Has a full notation editor built in."

"If you’re looking to transcribe existing music, Soundslice is my favorite."

#13

MuseScore 4

4.3

(4)

"Musescore 4 is on the same level as software you have to pay extortionate subscription fees for."

"Musescore 4’s new libraries blow everything out of the water."

"Try Musescore 4. That's what I call an amazing software."

"I bought Dorico and I swear I spend the first 10 minutes of every fracking session to have it just start."

#14

Flat

3.8

(4)

"Here are two (which I've never used but I found in the sub's sidebar): [https://flat.io/](https://flat.io/) [https://www.noteflight.com/]"

"I personally recommend flat.io it’s free but requires a paid subscription to access certain features."

"The free version of [Flat](https://www.reddit.com/r/AfroCuban/comments/xf6zex/mobile_apps_for_composition_there_are_many_good/) on mobile works too."

"I like Flat app. Is not the same as musescore but I think is what you are looking for."

#15

MuseScore 3

4.3

(3)

"Honestly I have been using Musescore 3 for over a decade now."

"MuseScore 3 is great. I like it more than Noteflight."

"I use musescore 3. It's an easy to use software and it's also free."

#16

TuxGuitar

3.3

3.0

(1)

"For windows, there’s Drum Burp which is pretty easy to get up and running."

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