LilyPond vs Notation Composer
LilyPond
lilypond.orgNotation Composer
notation.comSide by side
| Figure | LilyPond | Notation Composer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $198.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Music notation software | 8.4 (#9) | 8.4 (#11) |
| Deployment | desktop | desktop |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| MIDI support | Yes | Yes |
| MusicXML support | Yes | Yes |
| Parts extraction | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | LilyPond is a music engraving program for producing sheet music. | Notation Composer is music notation software for creating music from scratch or arranging MIDI and MusicXML files. |
| Support | The lilypond-user mailing list is the main place for users to discuss the program and help one another; some support is also available on IRC. | Purchases include free email support and access to an online user community. |
Plans
Notation Composer
- Notation Composer$198.99 a month
- Notation Composer$198.99, paid once
In their own words
LilyPond
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.
Notation Composer
Notation Composer has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.