Free Finale Alternatives

The best free alternative to Finale is MuseScore, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Finale and many of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to Finale are LilyPond, Avid Sibelius, Impro-Visor and Dorico.

Finale alternatives page was last updated

Finale

Paid • Proprietary
Music Production App

Finale is proprietary scorewriting software developed by MakeMusic, Inc. It displays music primarily in music notation and...

More about Finale

MuseScore
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Music Production App
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android
iPhone
BSD
iPad
PortableApps.com
Haiku
70 MuseScore alternatives
MuseScore is a free music notation and composition software available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
- - MuseScore is the most popular Windows, Android, Mac & iPhone alternative to Finale.
- - MuseScore is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Finale.
Suggest and vote on features
MuseScore Features
1. WYSIWYG SupportMuseScore integrates a WYSIWYG editor to edit the look and content of a document, page, or file.
2. Works OfflineMuseScore can be used without the need to connect to the internet.
3. Support for MIDIMuseScore includes MIDI hardware and software support to record and import audio.
4. Ad-freeMuseScore doesn't contain any form of external advertising.
5. PortableMuseScore can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
Transpose
Music XML Support
Export to PDF
Automatic positioning
SMuFL support
Support for Android Things
Comments about MuseScore as a Alternative to Finale
Almost everyone thinks MuseScore is a great Finale alternative.
Guest
It's completely free, you can upload your scores to the website for safekeeping, it is powerful and notate almost anything
Top positive comment•
1

Guest
MuseScore is a very capable alternative to Finale. It is easy to use and produces professional sheet music of any size. I have created small scores for a single-instrument, as well as large scores for a full concert band using this software. Finale does have a better sound library than MuseScore, but other than that, MuseScore has handled anything that I have thrown at it.
Top positive comment•
2

riveravaldez
It does everything Finale does, and much more, much better. Free/Libre software, without crap. Constantly improving.
Positive comment•
-1

Guest
It does not work properly and is much less than similar to Finale.
Negative comment•
-7

Guest
Only had MuseScore for few days but it seems like a very solid and powerful program. Nothing cheap about it.,,,and it's free.
Positive comment•
2
LilyPond
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Music Production App
Mac
Windows
Linux
47 LilyPond alternatives
GNU LilyPond is a computer program for music engraving. One of LilyPonds major goals is to produce scores that are engraved with traditional layout rules, reflecting the era when scores were engraved by hand.
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LilyPond Features
1. PortableLilyPond can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
Customizable
Cross-Platform
Sheet music transcription
Comments about LilyPond as a Alternative to Finale
Some users think LilyPond is a great Finale alternative, some don't.
Guest
You have full control over the engraving and score edition process and the results are the best available.
Positive comment•
2

Guest
LilyPond uses Text files, whereas Finale uses MIDI, .kar, etc.
Negative comment•
-1
Avid Sibelius
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Freemium • Proprietary
Music Production App
Mac
Windows
iPad
60 Avid Sibelius alternatives
Sibelius is a scorewriter program, created by Sibelius Software (now part of Avid Technology) for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and historically RISC OS.
Suggest and vote on features
Avid Sibelius Features
1. WYSIWYG SupportAvid Sibelius integrates a WYSIWYG editor to edit the look and content of a document, page, or file.
2. Support for VST PluginsAvid Sibelius support third-party Virtual Studio Technology (VST) plugins.
Visual timeline
Ideas Hub
Visual bookmarks
Ribbon Interface
Engraving options
Music XML Support
Impro-Visor
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Music Production App
Mac
Windows
Linux
66 Impro-Visor alternatives
Impro-Visor (short for “Improvisation Advisor”) is a music notation program designed to help jazz musicians compose and hear solos similar to ones that might be improvised. The objective is to improve understanding of solo construction and tune chord changes.
Impro-Visor has no features, suggest some!
Dorico
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Freemium • Proprietary
Music Production App
Mac
Windows
17 Dorico alternatives
Dorico redefines the gold standard in scoring software. Its musical intelligence is like having an expert assistant by your side, while its intuitive workflows help you focus on each aspect of score preparation.
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Dorico Features
1. Support for MIDIDorico includes MIDI hardware and software support to record and import audio.
2. WYSIWYG SupportDorico integrates a WYSIWYG editor to edit the look and content of a document, page, or file.
Intuitive Interface
Guitar support
Engraving options
MIDI Keyboard Input
Music XML Support
Comments about Dorico as a Alternative to Finale
pros, cons and recent comments
Guest
Dorico seems the 21th century best app : very intuitive, with a genial structure helping the user to write scores.
Positive comment•
-1
Frescobaldi
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Music Production App
Mac
Windows
Linux
41 Frescobaldi alternatives
Frescobaldi is a LilyPond sheet music text editor. It aims to be powerful, yet lightweight and easy to use. Frescobaldi is Free Software, freely available under the General Public License.
Frescobaldi has no features, suggest some!

Opinions about Frescobaldi as a Alternative to Finale
Almost everyone thinks Frescobaldi is a great Finale alternative.
Anvil Studio
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Proprietary
Windows
40 Anvil Studio alternatives
Anvil Studio is a free Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000/98 program designed for people who want to:
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Anvil Studio Features
1. Support for MIDIAnvil Studio includes MIDI hardware and software support to record and import audio.
Power Tab Editor
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Proprietary
Music Production App
Windows
49 Power Tab Editor alternatives
Power Tab Editor is a free tablature authoring tool created by Brad Larsen for Windows. It is used to create guitar, bass and ukulele tablature scores, among many others. The current version uses the *.ptb file format.
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Power Tab Editor Features
1. Support for MIDIPower Tab Editor includes MIDI hardware and software support to record and import audio.
MC Musiceditor
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Music Production App
Windows
43 MC Musiceditor alternatives
MC Musiceditor is free/open source (GPLv2) music notation software (Windows). It has been developed with only one purpose: to make life of musicians easier when making scores. This results in a userfriendly editor which makes professional scores without requiring specific...
MC Musiceditor has no features, suggest some!
DGuitar
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Music Production App
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
37 DGuitar alternatives
DGuitar is a Guitar Pro (GP4, GP3, GTP) viewer/player that works on Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD, Solaris, and any other operating system that has Java Runtime Environment 1.4 or later installed.
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DGuitar Features
1. Support for MIDIDGuitar includes MIDI hardware and software support to record and import audio.
Discontinued
The last software release was published on February 20th, 2006.