{
    "products": [
        {
            "slug": "dorico",
            "name": "Dorico",
            "kind": "app",
            "website": "https://www.steinberg.net/dorico/",
            "page": "https://listme.name/software/dorico",
            "tagline": "Music notation software from Steinberg for Windows, macOS and iPad",
            "summary": "Dorico is music notation software from Steinberg for composing, arranging and publishing scores. It runs on Windows and macOS, and there is a free iPad app. The free Dorico SE edition writes scores for up to eight players, and Elements and Pro are paid editions.",
            "developer": "Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH",
            "platforms": [
                "windows",
                "macos",
                "ipados"
            ],
            "pricing": "freemium",
            "price_note": "Free Dorico SE for up to eight players; Elements and Pro are paid",
            "free_to_use": true,
            "open_source": false,
            "strengths": [
                "Free Dorico SE for scores up to eight players",
                "Tools to move and reduce music between instruments",
                "Projects move between desktop and iPad"
            ],
            "limits": [
                "Pro costs several times the price of Elements",
                "Features are split across three editions"
            ],
            "checked": "2026-10-10",
            "connected_to_publisher": false,
            "overview": "Dorico is a notation program that Steinberg describes as designed from the ground up for composing. It offers flexible input and editing tools, and transformation features that change tonality, move music between players, map parts onto new scales and create voiced parts from chord symbols. It imports MIDI and MusicXML and exports MIDI, MusicXML, audio and graphics.\n\nThree editions are sold. Dorico SE is free and limited to scores for up to eight players, Elements is aimed at home use and secondary school students, and Pro adds the publishing options that professional engravers and publishers need. Dorico for iPad is free, and projects move between the desktop and the iPad app. The desktop versions run on 64-bit Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) and Windows 11, and on macOS 12 and later."
        },
        {
            "slug": "musescore",
            "name": "MuseScore",
            "kind": "app",
            "website": "https://musescore.org/en",
            "page": "https://listme.name/software/musescore",
            "tagline": "Free, open-source music notation software for desktop and mobile",
            "summary": "MuseScore Studio is free, open-source music notation software for composing, arranging and printing scores on Windows, macOS and Linux. It is released under GPL-3.0, and mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Android are also available.",
            "developer": "MuseScore Ltd",
            "platforms": [
                "windows",
                "macos",
                "linux",
                "ios",
                "android"
            ],
            "pricing": "open-source",
            "price_note": "Free and open source under GPL-3.0; no limitations described by the site",
            "free_to_use": true,
            "open_source": true,
            "license": "GPL-3.0",
            "source": "https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore",
            "strengths": [
                "Free with no limitations",
                "Open source under GPL-3.0"
            ],
            "limits": [
                "Fewer professional engraving tools than Sibelius"
            ],
            "checked": "2026-10-10",
            "connected_to_publisher": false,
            "overview": "MuseScore Studio is a full notation editor with a score canvas, MIDI keyboard input, playback and import and export with other programs. The site describes the software as completely free with no limitations, and its community builds and maintains it. Its source is on GitHub under GPL-3.0, and releases are published on the download page.\n\nMuseScore is free to use and has a large user base among students and hobby musicians. Its engraving tools are less complete than Sibelius's for large professional projects, so publishers with complex layouts may need a paid program."
        }
    ],
    "differences": [
        "Only MuseScore runs on Linux.",
        "Only MuseScore runs on iOS.",
        "Only MuseScore runs on Android.",
        "MuseScore is open source; Dorico is not.",
        "Dorico: free plan, paid upgrades. MuseScore: free and open source."
    ],
    "shared_rankings": [
        {
            "list": "music-notation-software",
            "name": "Music notation software",
            "page": "https://listme.name/best/music-notation-software",
            "of": 10,
            "results": [
                {
                    "product": "dorico",
                    "rank": 2,
                    "score": 91,
                    "verdict": "A composition-first notation program for Windows and macOS, with a free edition for scores up to eight players and a free iPad app. The Pro edition has the publishing options engravers need, at several times the price of Elements.",
                    "best_for": "Composing and arranging, with a free starter edition",
                    "spec": {
                        "platforms": "Windows, macOS, iPad",
                        "open_source": false,
                        "cost": "Free SE; Elements and Pro paid"
                    }
                },
                {
                    "product": "musescore",
                    "rank": 3,
                    "score": 90.5,
                    "verdict": "Free, open-source notation software for Windows, macOS, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android, with MIDI input and no limitations described. Its engraving tools are less complete than Sibelius's.",
                    "best_for": "Free notation for students and hobbyists",
                    "spec": {
                        "platforms": "Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android",
                        "open_source": true,
                        "cost": "Free"
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "ranks_higher_in_closest_shared_list": "dorico",
    "page": "https://listme.name/compare/dorico-vs-musescore",
    "json": "https://listme.name/api/v1/compare/dorico-vs-musescore.json",
    "notes": [
        "Scores are editorial and only comparable inside one list. Products with connected_to_publisher true receive a disclosed ranking lift: https://listme.name/methodology"
    ],
    "source": "https://listme.name",
    "license": "Free to read and cite with attribution to listme.name.",
    "docs": "https://listme.name/developers"
}