Flat vs LilyPond

Flat is music-notation software for writing, editing, playing back, and collaborating on scores. It runs on the web, iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows, and supports MusicXML and MIDI import and export. Users can compose, edit, and play scores offline; cloud sync requires Flat Power. Multiple users can write, edit, and comment on the same score from different devices in real time. The free plan includes essential notation tools, playback, and collaboration, but is limited to 15 scores. Flat Basic lists 30 instruments; Power includes more than 180, including HQ studio instruments, alongside unlimited scores and advanced playback. Flat Power costs $9.99 per month or $49.99 per year. The desktop app is free to download and use, with a 15-score cap on its free plan. PDF import requires Flat Power or paid credits, while desktop exports include PDF, MP3, and WAV. Flat for Education integrates with Google for Education, Microsoft Office 365, and Canvas and has a free one-month trial. Personal accounts have a minimum age of 13 in most countries.

LilyPond is a desktop music-engraving program for producing sheet music, from classical and early music to modern scores, tablature, vocal music, lead sheets, educational materials, and orchestral projects. You enter score information as human-readable text; LilyPond then handles spacing, page and line breaks, clashes among lyrics, notes, and chords, and the shaping of slurs and beams. Layout settings can be changed, with text-based style sheets and functions written in the built-in Scheme language. Programs or scripts can edit or generate input files, and the command-line tool can be called from other applications. The site describes integrations for LaTeX and HTML, plus an extension for OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice. User-developed editors include Frescobaldi, Denemo, and Spontini-Editor; they are separate from LilyPond’s core. The text workflow can be used with speech recognition and screen readers. LilyPond is free software under the GNU General Public License, with GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows desktop support. Windows binaries do not support Windows 7 or 8; macOS binaries require version 10.15 or later.