As promised, a comparison of several different notation software products is happening. This post however will compare the raw dollars that have to be spend to use the products. This is not 100% complete as of yet as I need to contact several companies about their prices for institutions, however I will give what information I have and make a few initial judgements based off the price information.
So, lets have a look at the prices. Note, the prices with a "~" have been converted from USD, with the assumption 1 USD = 1.5 AUD, rounded up:
Lets just take a second to analyse the table (for the original table, where you will be able to see ongoing changes, click here). Firstly, the big standout is MuseScore, which is completely free. This is because MuseScore is open source, which I will discuss in greater detail when I do the MuseScore review. Either way, for schools that do not have the money to spare to buy notation software, MuseScore is a great way to go from a financial standpoint.
The next thing to look at is the price differences between the Big 3: Sibelius, Finale and, new to the pack, Dorico. For those who have never heard of Dorico, its a great new piece of software that has been created by developers who used to work as Sibelius. Again, more information in the Dorico review. The first thing we notice is that although Finale and Sibelius Ultimate are the same price for the average user, when it comes to the educational user, Finale is significantly more expensive. However, when we include Dorico in the mix, both Finale and Sibelius are more expensive for the non-educational user, but Sibelius still comes out as the cheapest for the educational user.
When comparing the basic versions of Sibelius and Dorico, Dorico is by far the cheaper option. Even more in Dorico's favour is that they offer a educational discount for their basic version, whereas Sibelius does not, meaning Sibelius is more than double the price of the Dorico Elements! So, when deciding on which of the Big 3 to go with from a financial viewpoint, Dorico is the way to go for the cut down program, but go with Sibelius for the full program in an educational setting. Just to note, this is all for INDIVIDUAL USERS; there was no easily accessible information on any of the companies' websites, so I will contact them directly and let you all know what I find out!
Let us now compare the two online platforms, Noteflight and Flat.io. Again, this comparison is entirely financial; for more information on the products themselves, please wait for the individual product reviews. The first thing I would like to say here is that you can use both for free, however features are locked from the user when doing so. Both companies, for example, put a limit on the number of scores you can make or instruments you can use, so for long term use it is definitely better to go for the premium versions of each.
Comparing the prices between these two platforms for the individual user can be quite interesting, as Noteflight only works in USD, whereas Flat.io gives and AUD price. This means while Flat.io's price will always remain the same (unless they up the price), the cost of Noteflight for the Australian user will constantly fluctuate. In terms of how much it will cost an individual user to subscribe to each program for a year, there is a very small difference in price in favour of Flat.io. However, the main benefit Flat.io has is that you can make a full one-time purchase, which in the long run saves a significant amount of money. Such an option is not available with Noteflight.
The cost differences between Noteflight and Flat.io really start to become apparent when buying a license for a school. Year on year, Flat.io is a lot cheaper and so from a financial standpoint, if you were to purchase one of these products for your school you would always go Flat.io.
I hope this post has been somewhat helpful in informing you of your options for notation software. I will be going more in depth with each of these products so you can get a better idea of what will suit your situation best.
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