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Comparison of scorewriters

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This is a comparison of music notation computer programs.

General information

[edit]
Name Guitar tablature WYSIWYG editor MIDI entry[a] Playback File formats Developer(s) Stable release; review date License Cost Operating system(s)
Import Export
Canorus No Yes MIDI CanorusML,[b] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] simple LilyPond[e] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] LilyPond,[e] PDF Reinhard Katzmann, Matevž Jekovec, Georg Rudolph 0.7.3; 18 June 2018 (8 years ago) Since 0.7.3: GPL-3.0-only
0.1.0 to 0.7.2: GPL-2.0-only		 No cost Linux
Capella Yes Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI, VST, SoundFonts Capella,[f] CapXML,[g] MusicXML,[c] MIDI[d] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, Truevision TGA, PCX, HTML capella-software AG 10.0-08; 20 April 2026 (5 months ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows, macOS
Denemo Yes Yes Step-time MIDI Denemo,[h] limited LilyPond,[e] MusicXML[c] LilyPond,[e] MusicXML, WAV, Ogg, PDF, PNG, MIDI Jeremiah Benham, Richard Shann 2.6.0; 11 March 2022 (4 years ago) GPL-3.0-or-later No cost Windows, macOS, Linux
Dorico Yes Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI, VST Dorico,[i] MusicXML,[c] MIDI[d] MIDI,[d] MusicXML,[c] WAV, MP3, PDF, PNG, TIFF, SVG Steinberg 6.2.10; 31 March 2026 (6 months ago) Proprietary No cost up to 8 staves[1] Windows, macOS
Early Notation Typesetter No Yes No No ENT[j] ENT,[j] PDF Samuel Gossner, Daniel West, Dieter Theuns 0.9.6; 20 October 2020 (5 years ago) Proprietary No charge for single font Windows, macOS, Linux
Encore Yes Yes MIDI Encore,[k] MusicTime,[l] Rhapsody,[m] Compressed MusicXML[n] MIDI,[d] Cakewalk MIDI,[o] Master Tracks Pro,[p] PDF Passport Music Software 5.0.4 (Windows); 5.0.7 (macOS); 2015 (11 years ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows, macOS
Finale Yes Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI, VST, AU,[q] Garritan library Finale,[r] MusicXML,[c] MIDI[d] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] WAV, MP3, AIFF, PDF, TIFF, JPEG, PNG, EPS, BMP, GIF, PICT[q] MakeMusic, Inc. 27.4.1; 12 December 2023 (2 years ago) final release Proprietary Non-free Windows, macOS
Flat Yes Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI, VST, AU MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] MuseScore, TuxGuitar, Guitar Pro (versions 3–8), Power Tab MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] WAV, MP3, PDF, PNG, SVG Tutteo 37.9.0; 17 October 2024 (23 months ago) Proprietary Freemium Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Forte Yes Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI, VST Forte,[s] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] CapXML[g] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] BMP, JPEG Lugert Verlag GmbH 12.1; 12 February 2021 (5 years ago) final release Proprietary Non-free Windows
Frescobaldi No WYSIWYM No MIDI LilyPond,[e] MusicXML,[c] ABC MusicXML,[c] PDF Wilbert Berendsen 4.0.5; 11 February 2026 (7 months ago) GPL-2.0-or-later No cost Windows, macOS, Linux
Guitar Pro Yes Yes MIDI, RSE Guitar Pro (versions 1–8),[t] MusicXML,[c] Compressed MusicXML,[n] MIDI,[d] ASCII tab,[u] Power Tab,[v] TablEdit[w] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] ASCII tab,[u] PNG, PDF, WAV Arobas Music 8.1.5; 27 October 2025 (11 months ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows, macOS, Linux
Harmony Assistant Yes Yes Step-time and real-time Integrated free soundbank (Gold 2 sold separately), SoundFonts, MIDI, partial support of VST (Windows and Mac only) Myriad,[x] MusicXML,[c] Compressed MusicXML,[n] MIDI,[d] Karaoke,[y] CMF,[z], Module,[aa] Encore,[k] MusicTime,[l] Rhapsody,[m] NoteWorthy,[ab] ABC,[ac] Guitar Pro (versions 1–5),[t] TablEdit,[w] Finale (.mus),[r] ETF[ad], audio formats imported as sound "digital" track MusicXML,[c] Compressed MusicXML,[n] HTML (MyrWeb), MIDI,[d] Karaoke,[y] ABC,[ac] WAV, MP3, Ogg, AIFF, PDF, PNG, SVG, TIFF, video using FFmpeg Myriad Software 9.9.9i; 11 October 2025 (11 months ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows, macOS, Linux
Impro-Visor No Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI Impro-Visor[ae] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] PDF Bob Keller 10.2; 1 August 2019 (7 years ago) GPL-2.0-or-later No cost Windows, macOS, Linux
LilyPond Yes No No MIDI LilyPond;[e] using converters: ABC,[ac] ETF,[ad] MIDI,[d] MusicXML[c] PDF, PNG, PS, SVG Han-Wen Nienhuys, Jan Nieuwenhuizen 2.26.0; 21 April 2026 (5 months ago) GPL-3.0-or-later No cost Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD
MagicScore Yes Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI, SoundFonts SFD,[af] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] Karaoke,[y] WAV, MP3 MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] Karaoke,[y] WAV, MP3, PDF, TIFF, JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, EMF, WMF Maestro Music Software 8.280; 2017 (9 years ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows
Mozart Yes Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI Mozart,[ag] MusicXML,[c] NIFF,[ah] MIDI,[d] Karaoke,[y] ABC[ac] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] ABC,[ac] BMP, EMF, GIF, JPEG, PBM, PNG, TIFF Mozart Music Software 17.0.7; April 2026 (6 months ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows
Mus2 No Yes MIDI Mus2[ai] MIDI,[d] AIFF, WAV, PDF, SVG, BMP, JPEG, PNG Utku Uzmen (Data-Soft Ltd.) 3.3.1; 23 September 2025 (12 months ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows, macOS
MuseScore Studio Yes Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI, SoundFonts, SFZ, VST3 MuseScore,[aj] MusicXML,[c] Compressed MusicXML,[n] MEI,[ak] MIDI,[d] Karaoke,[y] MuseData,[al] Bagpipe Music Writer,[am] Band-in-a-Box,[an] Overture,[ao] Capella,[f] CapXML,[g] Guitar Pro (versions 1–6),[t] Power Tab (experimental),[v] PDF (experimental), ABC[ac] (with plugin) MusicXML,[c] Compressed MusicXML,[n] MEI,[ak] PDF, PNG, SVG, MIDI,[d] WAV, FLAC, Ogg, MP3 The MuseScore developer community 4.6.5; 18 December 2025 (9 months ago) GPL-3.0-only for desktop tools; online and mobile tools are proprietary and freemium No cost for most tools Windows, macOS, Linux
MusiCAD No Yes MIDI MusiCAD,[ap] MIDI,[d] ABC[ac] MIDI,[d] ABC,[ac] PDF, JPEG, PNG, BMP Musys Software 4.0; 1 May 2015 (11 years ago) Proprietary Prompt to purchase license appears when saving[3] Windows
MusicEase Yes Yes MIDI MusicEase,[aq] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] ABC,[ac] SongWright[ar] MIDI,[d] PDF MusicEase Software 10.1m; November 2024 (1 year ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows, macOS
Musink No WYSIWYM MIDI Musink[as] MIDI,[d] PDF, PNG, XPS Lee Reid 1.3.0.3; 21 March 2025 (18 months ago) Proprietary No cost Windows, macOS
MusiXTeX Yes No No No TeX (incl. PMX and M-Tx),[at] MusicXML[c] (with converters) DVI,[au] PS, PDF, MIDI[d] (for PMX input) Daniel Taupin, Ross Mitchell, Andreas Egler 1.41; 15 November 2025 (10 months ago) GPL-2.0-or-later No cost Windows, macOS, Linux
Notation Composer No Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI, SoundFonts Notation,[av] MusicXML,[c] Compressed MusicXML,[n] MIDI,[d] Karaoke[y] MusicXML,[c] Compressed MusicXML,[n] PDF, MIDI,[d] Karaoke,[y] PNG, BMP, JPEG, GIF, WAV, FLAC, Ogg, MP3 Notation Software 5.1.4; 15 April 2026 (5 months ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows, macOS, Linux
NoteWorthy Composer Yes Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI NWC,[ab] MIDI,[d] Karaoke[y] MIDI[d] NoteWorthy Software 2.75a.2; 2017 (9 years ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows
The Note Processor No Yes Step-time MIDI MIDI, DARMS MIDI, TIFF, DARMS, PostScript Stephen Dydo, ThoughtProcessors 2.3; 1991 (35 years ago) Proprietary Non-free MS-DOS
Notion Yes Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI, VST MusicXML,[c] Compressed MusicXML,[n] MIDI,[d] Guitar Pro[t] (versions 4–5) MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] WAV PreSonus 6.8.2; 24 August 2021 (5 years ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Overture Yes Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI, VST, AU[q] Overture,[ao] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] Score Writer[aw] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] WAV, MP3 Sonic Scores 5.6.1.1; 2 December 2019 (6 years ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows, macOS
Philip's Music Writer Yes No No MIDI PMW[ax] MIDI,[d] PS Philip Hazel 5.33; 22 December 2025 (9 months ago) GPL-2.0-or-later No cost Linux (older versions for RISC OS)
Power Tab Editor Yes Yes MIDI Power Tab,[v] MIDI[d] MIDI,[d] ASCII tab,[u] BMP, HTML Brad Larsen 2.0.22; 29 June 2025 (15 months ago) GPL-3.0-or-later for version 2.0 and later No cost Windows, macOS, Linux
Rosegarden No Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI Rosegarden,[ay] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] Hydrogen[az] LilyPond,[e] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] Csound,[ba] Mup,[bb] PDF Chris Cannam, Richard Bown, Guillaume Laurent 25.12; 3 December 2025 (10 months ago) GPL-2.0-or-later No cost Linux
SCORE Yes No Step-time MIDI SCORE (.mus) EPS Leland Smith,
San Andreas Press		 5.01; 1 November 2013 (12 years ago) Proprietary Non-free MS-DOS, Windows
ScoreCloud Studio No Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI, VST MIDI,[d] live audio MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] WAV, PDF Doremir Music Research AB 4.10.2; April 2026 (6 months ago) Proprietary Free without file saving Windows, macOS, iOS
Sibelius Yes Yes Step-time and real-time MIDI, VST, AU,[q] Avid library Sibelius,[bc] MusicXML,[c] MIDI[d] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] MP3, PDF, SVG, EPS, PNG Avid Technology, Inc. 2026.2; 25 February 2026 (7 months ago) Proprietary No cost up to 8 staves[4] Windows, macOS, RISC OS, Android, iOS
SmartScore 64 NE Yes Yes MIDI SmartScore,[bd] scanned images, MusicXML,[c] NIFF[ah] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] Finale,[r] NIFF,[ah] PDF Musitek Corporation 11.6.113 (Windows); 11.6.115 (macOS); 13 October 2025 (11 months ago) Proprietary Non-free Windows, macOS
TuxGuitar Yes Yes MIDI TuxGuitar,[be] MusicXML,[c] MIDI,[d] Guitar Pro (versions 1–6),[t] Power Tab,[v] TablEdit[w] MIDI,[d] Guitar Pro (versions 3–5),[t] LilyPond,[e] ASCII tab,[u] PDF Julian Gabriel Casadesus 2.0.1; 27 December 2025 (9 months ago) LGPL-2.1-only No cost Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, Android
Name Guitar tablature WYSIWYG editor MIDI entry[a] Playback Import Export Developer(s) Stable release; review date License Cost Operating system(s)
File formats

File formats and extensions

[edit]
  1. 1 2 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. ↑ Canorus native format, .can
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 MusicXML, open standard XML-based music notation exchange format, .xml or (version 3.1 or later) .musicxml
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 Standard MIDI file format, .mid or .midi
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 LilyPond plain text native format, .ly
  6. 1 2 Capella native format, binary file, .cap
  7. 1 2 3 Capella native format, compressed ZIP containing XML, .capx
  8. ↑ Denemo native format, .denemo
  9. ↑ Dorico native format, .dorico
  10. 1 2 Early notation typesetter native format, .ent
  11. 1 2 Encore native format, .enc
  12. 1 2 MusicTime (by the same developer as Encore) native format, .mto, .mus (different to Finale .mus)
  13. 1 2 Rhapsody (by the same developer as Encore) native format, .rhp
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 MusicXML version 2.0 or later, compressed as a ZIP, .mxl
  15. ↑ Cakewalk MIDI file format, .mff[clarification needed]
  16. ↑ Master Tracks Pro (by the same developer as Encore) native format, .mts
  17. 1 2 3 4 Mac version only
  18. 1 2 3 Finale native format, .mus (2012 and earlier) or .musx (2014 and later)
  19. ↑ Forte native format, .fnf
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Guitar Pro native format version 1–2, .gtp; version 3, .gp3; version 4, .gp4; version 5, .gp5; version 6, .gpx; version 7, .gp
  21. 1 2 3 4 ASCII tablature plain text format, .txt, .tab, or .btab
  22. 1 2 3 4 Power Tab Editor native format, .ptb
  23. 1 2 3 TablEdit native format, .tef
  24. ↑ Harmony Assistant native format, .myr (formerly .mus), .mux (sound bank independent), .mu3 (compressed)
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Standard MIDI file format including standard MIDI lyrics, used for karaoke, .kar
  26. ↑ Creative Music File, a cut-down MIDI format by Creative Labs, .cmf
  27. ↑ Module file, .mod, .s3m (ScreamTracker 3)
  28. 1 2 NoteWorthy Composer native format, .nwc or .nwctxt
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ABC plain text format, .abc
  30. 1 2 Finale Enigma Transport Format, .etf[2]
  31. ↑ Impro-Visor native format, .ls
  32. ↑ Maestro software family native format, .sfd
  33. ↑ Mozart native format, .mz
  34. 1 2 3 Notation Interchange File Format, .nif
  35. ↑ Mus2 notation and tuning file format, .mus2, .mu2
  36. ↑ MuseScore native format, .mscz; uncompressed XML-based format, .mscx; style sheet, .mss; score album, .album
  37. 1 2 MEI Music Encoding Initiative, .mei
  38. ↑ MuseData project format, .md
  39. ↑ Bagpipe Music Writer native format, .bww
  40. ↑ Band-in-a-Box native format, .mgu or .sgu
  41. 1 2 Overture native format, .ove
  42. ↑ MusiCAD plain text native format, .mc
  43. ↑ MusicEase native format, .mez
  44. ↑ SongWright native format, .sw
  45. ↑ Musink native format, .musink
  46. ↑ PMX, preprocessor language for MusixTeX, .pmx; M-Tx, processor for PMX, .mtx
  47. ↑ TeX device independent file format, .dvi
  48. ↑ NoteSoft file, Notation Software native format, .not
  49. ↑ Score Writer (by the same developer as Overture) native format, .scw
  50. ↑ Philip's Music Writer native format, human-readable text, .pmw
  51. ↑ Rosegarden native format, .rg
  52. ↑ Hydrogen drum machine song XML file format, .h2song
  53. ↑ Csound audio domain-specific language format, without orchestra data, .csd
  54. ↑ Music Publisher Score file format, .mup
  55. ↑ Sibelius (scorewriter) native format, .sib
  56. ↑ SmartScore native format, .enf
  57. ↑ TuxGuitar native format, .tg

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ Version Comparison
  2. ↑ "An incomplete description of the Enigma Transport Format". LilyPond.org. Archived from the original on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  3. ↑ Restrictions
  4. ↑ Version Comparison
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