notei vs Noteflight
if you want thousands of published sheet music arrangements to read and adapt, or a COPPA-compliant site for a school music program, Noteflight covers ground notei does not. if your main need is writing your own music and getting plain answers about it as you go, notei is designed around that.
disclosure: notei is our product, and we publish this page, so read it knowing we make one of the two editors. the other side of the table links to that company's own pages, and its strengths get a section of their own.
every fact about the other programs was checked against the vendor's own pages on .
- a Hal Leonard company's browser editor, with a sheet music catalogue and school tools.
- notei: a browser editor with a theory assistant that reads your score.
- both have a free plan that keeps 10 scores.
what each one is
Noteflight is an online notation editor run by a Hal Leonard company, and notei is a notation editor that also runs in the browser, with a music theory assistant built in. neither asks you to install anything. where they part ways is what comes bundled with the paid plan: Noteflight leans on a sheet music catalogue and school tools, and notei on help with the writing itself.
side by side
| what we compared | notei | Noteflight |
|---|---|---|
| runs in the browser / install required | runs in your browser at app.notei.co, with nothing to install. | an online, browser-based editor. officially supported browsers: Chrome 54+, Safari 10.1+, Edge 80+, Firefox 51+ and Mobile Safari on iOS 15+. (source) |
| free tier and its limits | free forever: the full editor, real-instrument playback, MusicXML and MIDI export, and up to 10 scores in the cloud. PDF has a watermark, assistant credits are limited each month, and WAV is on paid tiers. you need a free account. | Noteflight Basic is $0, with up to 10 scores and basic notation features. (source) |
| price of the paid tier | notei+ is $9/month and full score $18/month; students pay half ($4.50 and $9). this is early pricing and may change. | Noteflight Premium is $7.95/month or $49/year and includes 80,000+ digital sheet music titles from Hal Leonard, ArrangeMe and the Noteflight community. Noteflight Learn for schools starts at $69/year, with a 10-user minimum. (source) |
| AI assistant or AI features | a built-in assistant that reads your open score. it answers theory questions, makes plain-language edits, and can harmonise, arrange or vary a line as editable notes. harmonise, arrange, extend, vary and feedback on your writing are on notei+ and full score only. | no AI features are listed on noteflight.com's plans or premium pages. (source) |
| playback quality | sampled real instruments on every plan, the free one included. | Premium includes 85 high-quality instruments for playback; other accounts use the basic instrument set. (source) |
| MusicXML import / export | opens MusicXML and MuseScore files as editable scores; MusicXML export is free on every plan. | imports and exports MusicXML. some export options are Premium-only, and the support page does not say which. (source) |
| MIDI import / export | opens MIDI files as editable scores; MIDI export is free on every plan. | imports and exports MIDI. MIDI instrument note input is a Premium feature. (source) |
| PDF export | PDF export on every plan, with a watermark on free and without one on paid plans. | PDF of the full score; PDF of all individual parts is paid-only. (source) |
| collaboration | no shared editing yet. your scores sync across the devices you sign in on. | scores can be shared for viewing, commenting or editing by other signed-in users, and Premium can set access per person. simultaneous real-time co-editing is not listed. (source) |
| mobile / Chromebook support | works on a Chromebook, a school laptop, a Mac, a Windows PC or a tablet, because it runs in the browser. there is no native mobile app. | iPhone and iPad through Mobile Safari (iOS 15+). the browser support page lists Chrome 54+ but does not name Chromebook, and lists no native app. (source) |
where Noteflight is better
most of Noteflight's advantages come from Hal Leonard's catalogue and from tools built for schools.
- Premium includes 80,000+ digital sheet music titles from Hal Leonard, ArrangeMe and the Noteflight community.
- Noteflight Learn: a private, COPPA-compliant school site with Google Classroom sync.
- SoundCheck, a performance assessment add-on for instant pitch and rhythm feedback.
- sell arrangements through ArrangeMe.
each point comes from the vendor's own pages, linked under sources at the end of this page.
sharing is a further point in Noteflight's favour. other signed-in users can view, comment on or edit a shared Noteflight score, and Premium sets access per person. notei has no shared editing or commenting today.
on price, Noteflight Premium is the cheaper of the two paid plans, at $7.95 a month or $49 a year.
notei+ is $9 a month, or $4.50 for students.
where notei is different
the assistant is the clearest gap. you can ask notei what a chord is doing or why a voice-leading move sounds rough, and it answers about the score you have open. on notei+ and full score it will also harmonise, arrange, extend or vary a line, writing the result as editable notes.
several things Noteflight keeps for Premium are free in notei. playback uses sampled real instruments on every plan, where Noteflight Basic uses its basic instrument set. you can play notes in from a MIDI keyboard on notei's free plan, and Noteflight lists MIDI note input as a Premium feature.
both free plans hold about the same number of scores. Noteflight Basic allows up to 10, and notei's free plan keeps 10 in the cloud. notei's free PDF export is watermarked; clean PDFs need notei+ or full score.
moving a score from Noteflight to notei
Noteflight exports MusicXML, and notei opens it as an editable score. its support page notes that some export options are Premium only without saying which, so try the export on your plan first. a MIDI export also opens in notei, though it keeps much less of the notation than MusicXML.
notei has these import and export limits today.
- opening a MusicXML file: the importer reads no tuplets, no ties and no unpitched drums; every import opens at 120 BPM; a minor key arrives under its relative major's name.
- saving as MusicXML: export writes no ties and no tempo.
- PDF export: watermarked on Free; clean on notei+ and full score.
- scores kept in your account: Free keeps up to 10 scores in the cloud; paid tiers have no limit.
keep the Noteflight original until you have played the imported version through and checked ties, tuplets, tempo and the key name.
common questions
is Noteflight free?
Noteflight Basic costs nothing and keeps up to 10 scores with basic notation features. the paid plans add more features and access to the sheet music catalogue, and there is a separate edition for schools.
does Noteflight work on a Chromebook?
it runs in the browser, and Chrome is on its list of supported browsers, though the support page does not name Chromebooks. notei also runs in Chrome on a Chromebook with nothing to install.
can I move a score from Noteflight to notei?
yes. export MusicXML from there and open the file in notei, which turns it into an editable score. some export options are on Premium only, so try the export on your plan first.
sources
Noteflight facts, from the vendor's own pages:
- support.noteflight.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023099451-Which-Browsers-Are-Supported-by-Noteflight
- noteflight.com
- noteflight.com/plans
- noteflight.com/premium
- noteflight.com/guide
- support.noteflight.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021512951-Importing-and-Exporting-Music
notei facts, from notei.co:
Noteflight and Hal Leonard are named here only to compare the products, and notei is not affiliated with either. MuseScore, Flat, Finale and others are covered on the music notation software alternatives page.
other comparisons: notei vs MuseScore, notei vs Flat, notei vs Sibelius, notei vs Dorico and the Finale alternative guide, all on the notation software alternatives hub. related guides: write sheet music online, music notation on a Chromebook.