Piascore review (2026): the best free sheet music reader for iPad and iPhone

Piascore is the free sheet music reader we recommend on iPad and iPhone. It reached the App Store in December 2010, eight months after forScore, and almost everything a performer needs from a PDF reader costs nothing: annotation, setlists, half-page turns, pedals and wink page turns.

It is our top pick among free sheet music apps. It places lower in our overall ranking because our methodology also weighs platforms, sharing and smart notation, and Piascore runs only on Apple devices, keeps each device’s library separate and reads PDFs only.

What is Piascore?

Piascore is a free PDF sheet music reader for iPad and iPhone, with an optional one-time $5.99 Full Upgrade and no subscription. It is made by Piascore, Inc. of Yokohama, Japan, founded in 2010 under the name Plusadd by Hiroyuki Koike, a former Sony software engineer.

The App Store listing says more than 7 million musicians use the app (company materials from 2026 claim 10 million), and the app is localized into 26 languages. Version 7, which users describe as a redesign, shipped on September 11, 2026; the latest release is 7.0.9, from October 1.

Who is Piascore for?

Piascore suits students, gigging players and church or choir singers who read PDFs on one iPad or iPhone and want to pay nothing, or $5.99 once. Classical players also get public-domain downloads from IMSLP without leaving the app.

It is the wrong choice if anyone in your group reads from Android or Windows, if you want the same library and markings on your iPad and your iPhone, or if you need MusicXML, playback, transposition, ChordPro charts or part distribution.

How good is Piascore for reading and page turning?

Page turning is Piascore’s strongest area, and nearly all of it is free: pedals, face gestures, half-page turns, auto-scroll and linked devices.

Besides tap and swipe, the Half layout turns half a page at a time (portrait only), and vertical auto-scroll runs at an adjustable speed. Two-page view, cropping, page reordering, an editable table of contents and jump buttons for repeats and D.S. handle the rest, and a performance mode blocks accidental menu taps.

AirTurn and iRig BlueTurn pedals are officially supported. The help center says PageFlip pedals “maybe” work, and users report Donner and Coda models working. Since a 2015 partnership, some Roland digital pianos, such as the LX-17 and HP605, turn pages with their own pedals over Bluetooth. Our page turner pedal guide compares the hardware.

Face Gesture Page Turning uses the front camera on Face ID devices: close your right eye for the next page, your left eye for the previous one, or bend your mouth. Gestures lock out for about two seconds after each turn, and Piascore’s privacy policy, updated in September 2026, says face data is processed only on the device.

The user manual also describes Sync page turning, whose Lead and Follow roles keep page turns and song selection in step across devices; a user confirmed it on two tablets in August 2025, before version 7. The separate $1.99 Piascore Air app turns iPad pages when you wave a hand over an iPhone, but it was last updated in 2020.

How does annotation work in Piascore?

Piascore’s free annotation tools cover everyday marking well, without the layers that forScore and MobileSheets offer.

You get six configurable pens (color, thickness and nib), stamps for dynamics, fingerings and accidentals, text boxes, shapes, an eraser and undo. Since version 7.0.6, an Apple Pencil setting lets only the Pencil write, so your fingers turn pages and scroll without leaving stray marks. Exporting or printing a PDF with your markings needs the Full Upgrade. Our annotation guide covers techniques that work in any app.

How does Piascore organize your library?

Piascore organizes scores with tags, search, sorting, custom covers and ordered setlists, and its built-in IMSLP search is a real asset for classical players.

Version 7.0.8 added pinned scores, and 7.0.9 shows the songs of an open setlist as tabs for one-tap switching. PDFs come in from Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, OneDrive, iCloud Drive, the camera, Safari and Finder file sharing, though several users have reported unreliable Google Drive imports since 2024; the help center now routes them through the Files app.

IMSLP search downloads public-domain editions inside the app (131,000 works, according to the App Store listing). The in-app Piascore Store sells single scores, from $0.99 to $9.99 on the US App Store, but it is geared to Japan: the web store prices in yen, and its help center says buyers outside Japan can only buy works not managed by Japanese copyright societies, such as original and classical pieces. In August 2026 it added 113 titles from US publisher Songburd Music.

Does Piascore sync between iPad and iPhone?

No. Piascore has no cloud sync: each iPhone or iPad keeps its own library and annotations, and while the Full Upgrade carries over to your other devices, your data does not.

You can upload original PDFs to Dropbox or Google Drive, but without your annotations. A complete copy of your library moves only through an iTunes or Finder backup of the whole device, or Quick Start when you set up a new one. Users report PDFs arriving without annotations after a move through cloud storage, and a July 2026 reviewer lost notes and large books when migrating.

Sharing is basic too. You can send a setlist to another Piascore user by AirDrop or as a .pssl file (as a text list, the order only, or with the PDFs), but annotations and tags stay behind. There are no part distribution or librarian tools.

Can Piascore transpose or play back sheet music?

No. Piascore’s help center says the app supports PDF only; it cannot transpose a score, play back its notes or play MIDI files.

At NAMM in January 2026, Piascore demoed interactive MusicXML scores with tempo change and transposition, performance-following playback, an “AI Coach” and MusicOCR. None had reached the app as of version 7.0.9.

Instead, practice tools open over the score. A metronome with a visual flashing mode is free; a tuner with pitch pipe, a voice recorder and a music player with A-B repeat for Apple Music tracks or imported MP3 files need the Full Upgrade. For conversion or playback, see our guides to transposing sheet music and PDF to MusicXML.

Is Piascore free, and is the Full Upgrade worth it?

Yes, Piascore is free, with no time limit and no subscription. The one-time $5.99 Full Upgrade is worth buying if you want the tuner, recorder and music player, or need to export annotated PDFs.

According to Piascore’s help center, the upgrade is a single payment, not a recurring charge, and you can restore it free on other iPhones and iPads with the same Apple ID. It adds the music tools, unlimited camera and photo import (the free app caps it at an undocumented limit), export, printing and AirDrop of annotated PDFs, and all staff paper. That article predates version 7, and an October 2026 reviewer wished PDF editing were free, so check the in-app list before you buy. There is no trial of the upgrade.

The free app is a working reader, not a song-capped trial like MobileSheets’ (8 songs) or OnSong’s free tier (30 songs). For comparison, forScore is a one-time $24.99 with no free version.

Is there a Piascore for Android, Windows or Mac?

There is no Piascore for Android or Windows, and no web version. On a Mac, Piascore runs only as the iPad app on Apple silicon.

Piascore’s FAQ, written in 2018 and still published, says an Android version has not been released.

On Mac, the App Store offers the iPad app (“Designed for iPad”) for M1 or later with macOS 26, not for Intel Macs; Apple Vision Pro runs it too. Version 7 requires iOS or iPadOS 26, while 6.16.20, from August 2025, needed only iOS 15.6.

On Android or Windows, MobileSheets is the closest equivalent, with a free 8-song trial and a one-time $15.99 full version. Our Android ranking lists more options.

What do Piascore users report?

Users rate Piascore highly: 4.64 out of 5 from 1,830 ratings on the US App Store as of October 6, 2026, and 4.23 from 3,639 in Japan. The US rating was 4.6 from 1,663 ratings in late May 2026, so the version 7 redesign brought no wave of low scores.

Reviews of version 7 still describe friction: broken bookmark navigation, slower page turns, moved controls and, in Japanese reviews, crashes when closing writing mode. Releases 7.0.5 to 7.0.9 fixed bookmarks, speed and crashes within three weeks, but the release notes don’t mention one report of lag and crashes with PDFs over 200 pages. Avoid updating right before a gig.

Reports on face-gesture reliability are mixed (missed turns, or unintended turns forward or back), and so are support experiences: some users describe unanswered emails, others quick replies. Before version 7, the app went 13 months without an update.

Should you choose Piascore?

If you read PDFs on one iPad or iPhone and want to spend nothing, choose Piascore. It gives you pedals, wink turns, half-page turns, annotation and IMSLP for free, and $5.99 once covers the rest.

Look elsewhere if you want iCloud sync and deeper annotation and library tools (forScore, compared in forScore vs Piascore), if your group includes Android or Windows players (MobileSheets), or if your ensemble shares parts and markings (Newzik, which has no Android or Windows app and puts its headline features in its Premium plan). For chord charts, OnSong and SongbookPro fit better. Our iPad ranking compares the readers.