Sight Reading Factory or Clefsight for learning to read music
Clefsight teaches reading: you play from a still page, as from a book on the stand, every note is graded, and it writes new music at your level for you to read at sight. Here is Sight Reading Factory beside it, fact by fact, and when Sight Reading Factory is the better choice.
checked 6 October 2026Every fact about Sight Reading Factory is from its own website, on this date; prices as published, in the currency shown there.
Side by side
| Sight Reading Factory | Clefsight | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $45 a year (individual plan) | Free, no account |
| How the music is shown | Generated exercises on a page, with an optional note cursor | A still, engraved page that turns half a page at a time; nothing scrolls |
| Hears you through | Microphone: you record the exercise and it is assessed afterwards | MIDI keyboard over USB (or Bluetooth on a Mac); keys on screen without one |
| New sight-reading | Yes: unlimited generated exercises at chosen levels, for piano and 60+ other instruments and voices | Yes: writes new pieces at your level from what you read well and what you don't; 36 printable exercises over six levels |
| Easier versions | Not described; you pick the level, rhythms, range and keys of each exercise | Every piece, and music you bring: 3 or 4 versions, from right-hand melody to as written |
| Runs on | A web browser on most devices; an iOS app | Chrome or Edge on a computer or an Android phone or tablet, Firefox on a computer |
Checked 6 October 2026 on: Price and features; Generated music, levels and devices; Recording and assessment. “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 Sight Reading Factory is the better choice
The better choice if you read for more than the piano (voice, strings, wind, a school ensemble), want exercises you can tune by rhythm and range, or teach a class.
Tried side by side
Sight Reading Factory hasn't been tried side by side with Clefsight; everything above is from its own website.
What Clefsight is, and isn't
- For reading, levels 2 to 7. From a first tune over a simple left hand to advanced pieces, about Henle grades 6 to 7: 419 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 a keyboard plugged into an iPhone or iPad.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to Sight Reading Factory for reading sheet music?
Yes: Clefsight is free, with no account needed. You play from a still page at a MIDI keyboard, every note is graded, and it writes new sight-reading at your level, beside 419 public-domain pieces at levels 2 to 7. Sight Reading Factory is the better choice if you read for more than the piano (voice, strings, wind, a school ensemble), want exercises you can tune by rhythm and range, or teach a class.
How much does Sight Reading Factory cost?
$45 a year (individual plan) (Sight Reading Factory's own website, checked 6 October 2026). Clefsight: Free, no account.
Does Sight Reading Factory hear you through a MIDI keyboard or a microphone?
Microphone: you record the exercise and it is assessed afterwards (Sight Reading Factory's own website, checked 6 October 2026). Clefsight: MIDI keyboard over USB (or Bluetooth on a Mac); keys on screen without one.
Does Sight Reading Factory write new music to sight-read?
Yes: unlimited generated exercises at chosen levels, for piano and 60+ other instruments and voices (Sight Reading Factory's own website, checked 6 October 2026). Clefsight: Yes: writes new pieces at your level from what you read well and what you don't; 36 printable exercises over six levels.
What does Sight Reading Factory run on?
A web browser on most devices; an iOS app (Sight Reading Factory's own website, checked 6 October 2026). Clefsight: Chrome or Edge on a computer or an Android phone or tablet, Firefox on a computer.
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. Every app side by side. Clefsight isn't connected with Sight Reading Factory; its name belongs to its owner.