Piano apps for learning to read music, compared
Most piano apps teach songs: the notes scroll or fall, and you follow them. Clefsight teaches reading: you play from a still page, as from a book on the stand, and it writes new music at your level for you to read at sight. Here is how it compares with Simply Piano, flowkey, Skoove, Playground Sessions, Piano Marvel, MuseFlow and Synthesia, and when one of them is the better choice.
checked 4 October 2026Every fact about another app is from its own website on that date; prices as published, in the currency shown there. Where a site doesn't say, the table says “not described”.
The short answer
- To learn to read, free
- Clefsight: a still page, every note graded, new sight-reading at your level, 159 public-domain pieces at levels 2 to 5 with easier versions of each. Needs a MIDI keyboard and Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a computer (or Chrome on an Android tablet).
- Fresh sight-reading, paid
- MuseFlow writes never-repeating music too, at $189.99 a year, and runs on an iPad. Piano Marvel's sight-reading test picks from thousands of written excerpts.
- Pop, film and Disney songs
- Simply Piano, flowkey Premium or Playground Sessions. Clefsight's library is public-domain music only.
- On an iPhone or iPad
- Simply Piano, flowkey, Skoove, Playground Sessions or Piano Marvel on either; MuseFlow and Synthesia on an iPad. A web page can't reach a MIDI keyboard on iOS, so Clefsight can't run there.
- An acoustic piano, no cable
- Simply Piano, flowkey, Skoove or Playground Sessions, which listen through the microphone (Piano Marvel too, on iPhone and iPad).
- Video lessons from a teacher
- Playground Sessions, flowkey or Piano Marvel. Clefsight has written reading guides with a drill each, not videos.
- Falling notes, any MIDI file
- Synthesia, for $39 once.
Side by side
| App | Price | How the music is shown | Hears you through | New sight-reading | Easier versions | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clefsight | Free, no account | A still, engraved page that turns half a page at a time; nothing scrolls | MIDI keyboard over USB (or Bluetooth on a Mac); on-screen keys for note drills | Yes: writes new pieces at your level from what you read well and what you don't; 36 printable exercises over six levels | Every piece, and music you bring: 3 or 4 versions, from right-hand melody to as written | Chrome or Edge on a computer or Android tablet, Firefox on a computer |
| Simply Piano | Not published: shown in the app, by country and plan | Courses play as a moving stage; the sheet-music library can auto-scroll | Microphone or MIDI | Not described | Library songs in Essentials, Intermediate and Pre-Advanced levels | iPhone, iPad, Android |
| flowkey | Classic $99.99, Premium $149.99 a year (US; varies by country) | A video of a pianist's hands with the sheet music on the same screen | Microphone or MIDI; Wait Mode waits for the right notes | Not described | Many songs arranged at up to four levels, beginner to pro | Browser on a computer, iPhone, iPad, Android |
| Skoove | €149.99 a year on its website | Step-by-step lessons on sheet music, with a full-score view | Microphone, USB or Bluetooth MIDI | Not described | Not described | iPhone, iPad, Android |
| Playground Sessions | $149.99 a year, or $349.99 once for a lifetime plan (both lower in an offer running on the check date) | Sheet music with visual guides, set up the way you like | MIDI or USB keyboard, or microphone | Not described | Songs in Rookie, Intermediate and Advanced arrangements, each easy, moderate or hard | iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows |
| Piano Marvel | $129.99 a year; a free plan with 150+ songs | Real sheet music, “no bouncy dots or video game scrolly bars” | MIDI; microphone on iPhone and iPad only | A sight-reading test and workout that picks from thousands of written excerpts in 90 sublevels | Not described | iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, Mac, Chromebook |
| MuseFlow | $189.99 a year | Sheet music; whether it scrolls or turns pages isn't described | MIDI keyboard (required) | Yes: a sight-reading trainer with never-repeating, algorithmically generated music | Not described | Chrome on a computer, iPad |
| Synthesia | $39 once to unlock; free to try | Falling notes, or sheet music turned on for any song | MIDI or USB keyboard (a headphone socket isn't enough) | Not described | Not described; plays any MIDI or MusicXML file you give it | Windows, Mac, iPad, Android |
“Not described” means the app's own site doesn't say, not that it can't. Prices change and differ by country and offer; the app's own payment page has the price you'd pay.
When another app is the better choice
Simply Piano
The better choice if you want chart hits and Disney songs with a guided course on a phone or tablet, on any piano, including an acoustic one.
Checked on: Pricing (help centre); Song levels and auto-scroll; Microphone and keyboards; MIDI over Bluetooth.
flowkey
The better choice if you learn best by watching hands play, want pop and film arrangements (Premium), or play an acoustic piano.
Checked on: Plans and prices; Video, sheet music and Wait Mode; Acoustic pianos (microphone); Devices; MIDI; Song levels.
Skoove
The better choice if you want guided lessons on a phone or tablet, with video tutorials on technique and posture.
Checked on: Prices and devices; Microphone, USB and Bluetooth; Full score view.
Playground Sessions
The better choice if you want video lessons from teachers and a large library of pop songs, with a one-time lifetime plan.
Checked on: Plans and prices; Devices, microphone and MIDI; Notation and video lessons; Arrangements of one song.
Piano Marvel
The better choice if you want a very large library (25,000+ songs and exercises), video lessons, your own uploaded music and a measured sight-reading score.
Checked on: Prices and devices; Sight-reading test (SASR); Practice mode and sheet music; Microphone assessment.
MuseFlow
The better choice if fresh sight-reading is the main thing you want and you read on an iPad, with video tutorials between levels.
Checked on: Prices; Trainer, devices and MIDI.
Synthesia
The better choice if you want to learn songs by ear and eye from falling notes, from any MIDI file, for one small payment.
Checked on: Price, falling notes, sheet music and MusicXML; Devices; Keyboards need MIDI or USB.
What Clefsight is, and isn't
- For reading, levels 2 to 5. From a first tune over a simple left hand to the edge of early intermediate: 159 pieces in the library, each with 3 or 4 versions from right-hand melody to as written, and your own MusicXML or MIDI files simplified the same way.
- New music to read. Fresh sight-reading written for what you read well and what you don't, and 36 free sight-reading exercises at levels 1 to 6 to print or play.
- Marked like a teacher's copy. After a take, wrong and missed notes are circled, early and late ones ticked, and the bar to practise is bracketed. How grading works.
- Not for songs from the charts, video lessons, an acoustic piano through a microphone, or an iPhone or iPad. Those are the apps above.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to Simply Piano for reading sheet music?
Yes: Clefsight is free, with no account. You play from a still page at a MIDI keyboard, every note is graded, and it writes new sight-reading at your level, beside 159 public-domain pieces at levels 2 to 5. It needs Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a computer (or Chrome on an Android tablet), so not an iPhone or iPad, and it has no pop songs. Simply Piano is the better choice for pop songs on a phone, or for an acoustic piano through the microphone.
Is there a free alternative to flowkey for reading sheet music?
Yes: Clefsight is free, with no account. You play from a still page at a MIDI keyboard, every note is graded, and it writes new sight-reading at your level, beside 159 public-domain pieces at levels 2 to 5. It needs Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a computer (or Chrome on an Android tablet), so not an iPhone or iPad, and it has no pop songs. flowkey is the better choice if you learn by watching a pianist's hands, or want pop arrangements.
Is there a free alternative to Synthesia that uses sheet music instead of falling notes?
Yes: Clefsight is free, with no account. You play from a still page at a MIDI keyboard, every note is graded, and it writes new sight-reading at your level, beside 159 public-domain pieces at levels 2 to 5. It needs Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a computer (or Chrome on an Android tablet), so not an iPhone or iPad, and it has no pop songs. Synthesia can show sheet music too, but its strength is falling notes for any MIDI file you give it.
Which piano apps write new sight-reading music?
Of the apps compared here, Clefsight and MuseFlow write new music for you to sight-read; Piano Marvel's sight-reading test picks from thousands of written excerpts. The others teach songs and courses. Clefsight also has 36 free printable exercises across six levels.
Which of these apps work with an acoustic piano?
Simply Piano, flowkey, Skoove and Playground Sessions listen through the microphone; Piano Marvel does on iPhone and iPad. Clefsight, MuseFlow and Synthesia need a keyboard that sends MIDI.
Try it at your keyboard. A 3-minute check plays notes and shapes on the staff and finds what you already read, so you start at your level. Free, no account.
Take the placement checkNo keyboard yet? What you need to connect one. Clefsight isn't connected with any of the apps named here; their names belong to their owners.