forScore runs only on Apple devices. Six alternatives ranked by our overall score, with the best pick for Android, Windows, ensembles, chord charts, bands and church teams. US prices checked in October 2026.
Disclosure: Newzik is a commercial partner of SheetMusicApps. Rankings follow our published methodology, and every app's facts come from official sources and are fact-checked twice. Read our disclosure
forScore is the reference sheet music reader on iPad, but it runs only on Apple devices and costs $24.99 before you can try it. If you or your bandmates read from an Android tablet or a Windows 2-in-1, or your group needs shared parts, chord charts or a band service, you need a forScore alternative.
No. forScore runs only on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro, and its developer says it makes apps only for Apple platforms. There is no web version either.
The Mac version is a native app included in the same $24.99 purchase: if you own forScore on an iPad, you already have it on your Mac. On Android and Windows, MobileSheets is the closest equivalent: the same kind of PDF reader, with half-page turns, face gestures, pedals and linked tablets, for a one-time $15.99 per platform. Our Android and Windows rankings cover every native option.
Newzik ranks first among forScore alternatives with an overall score of 8.0, a tenth of a point ahead of MobileSheets (7.9). BandHelper (7.6) and Planning Center Music Stand (7.4) follow for bands and church teams, then SongbookPro (7.2) and OnSong (6.8) for chord charts.
This list uses our standard weights: reading and page turning 20%, annotation, library, platforms and sharing 15% each, and smart notation and value 10% each. It covers sheet music readers, chord-chart apps and band services, minus forScore. Newzik’s narrow lead comes from sharing (9.5 against 5.5) and smart notation (9 against 5.5); MobileSheets is ahead on reading, library, platforms and value, and the two tie on annotation. How we rank explains each criterion.
For a solo player happy on iPad, forScore remains an excellent choice. Its overall score of 7.5 would place it fourth here, and on our iPad list, which leaves out platform reach, it ranks first. The apps below are for when forScore’s Apple-only platforms, its lack of shared libraries or its lack of chord-chart tools get in your way. Prices are US prices as of October 2026.
Best overall alternative
Sheet music reader · Newzik (Syncsing SAS)
Platforms
Price
Free / $24.99 · One-time + optional subscription
Newzik is the strongest alternative when the reason you are leaving forScore is other people. forScore can send annotated 4SC files and link page turns with Cue, but it has no shared library. In a Newzik project, a conductor, section leader or teacher shares parts with the group, each musician’s markings sit on private, public or shared annotation layers, and parts can be replaced or versioned. Members without an iPad reach the same library through Newzik Web in a browser.
It also does what forScore cannot do with a PDF: LiveScore converts it into notation you can play back, transpose and export as MusicXML or MIDI. Annotation scores 9, with pens, symbols, text and a Shapes tool added in February 2026, and the stage basics are there: Bluetooth and MIDI pedals, half-page turns and a performance mode.
Who should skip it: Android and Windows players, since the reading app runs only on iPad and iPhone, and solo players who want one price, since LiveScore, face gestures and unlimited projects need Premium ($44.99/year) and the $24.99 Essentials purchase caps the library at 1,000 pieces and one project. Newzik also dropped linked page turns with Band Mode in version 6.0 (April 2021), so it cannot replace Cue. If Premium lapses with more than 3 pieces in your library, access is restricted until you resubscribe or buy Essentials, and recent App Store reviews report LiveScore playback errors on complex scores. See Newzik vs forScore and the Newzik review.
Best for Android and Windows
Sheet music reader · Zubersoft
Platforms
Price
$15.99 · One-time purchase
MobileSheets is the closest thing to forScore on Android and Windows, and the better pick if you are leaving forScore for platform reasons. It ties forScore’s library score (9.5) and comes close on reading and annotation (9 each), with a Half Page mode, two-page view, face gestures, up to six mapped pedal switches, annotation layers, hundreds of stamps and stylus pressure.
Connect Tablets is its answer to Cue, and it works across platforms: one leader device loads songs and turns pages on followers running Android, Windows or iPadOS, any number over Wi-Fi or up to seven over Bluetooth. It costs a one-time $15.99 per platform. On Google Play it installs on all your Android devices, and on the Microsoft Store on up to ten Windows devices with the same Microsoft account. There are free 8-song trial apps for Android and iOS, and a 14-day trial on Windows.
The trade-offs: each platform is a separate purchase, sync is a manual merge through a cloud folder rather than an account, and the interface is built to work the same everywhere, which brings a learning curve. Face gestures are not available in the native Windows ARM64 build, the Microsoft Store version lags behind iOS and Android, and some 2025 and 2026 reviews report crashes or freezes. See forScore vs MobileSheets, Newzik vs MobileSheets and the MobileSheets review.
Best for gigging bands
Band management · Arlo Leach
Platforms
Price
Subscription · Subscription
BandHelper replaces forScore when the problem is keeping a band in sync. One subscription holds the band’s songs, set lists, lyrics, chord charts, PDFs and backing tracks, with admin roles, per-player parts and shared or personal annotations. Live Sharing lets the leader change songs and page positions on up to 15 other devices, and MIDI, OSC and click tracks can run the show.
It runs on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and the web, but has no Windows app, so Windows players use the web interface. As a PDF reader it is basic: no dedicated half-page turn, no face gestures and one page size per account. There is no free tier, only a 30-day trial with no payment details required; band plans start at $4/month or $40/year for 2 to 5 users, and solo plans at $2.25/month.
Best for church teams
Band management · Planning Center
Platforms
Price
$2/mo per team · Subscription
If your church plans services in Planning Center Services, Music Stand does the job of forScore plus a shared folder. Musicians open the date, and the chosen key, charts and rehearsal audio are already on their iPad, iPhone, Android device or browser. Sessions let one device turn pages for the whole team, facial-gesture turns and pedals work, and the worship leader’s annotations can be merged into each player’s own.
It costs $5/month for Services plans up to 50 team members or $10/month for 150 or more, for the whole team, and it does nothing without a Services account. There are no half-page turns, files must be added in Services first, and transposition works only for Lyrics and Chords charts. It is rated 3.52 on the US App Store and 4.11 on Google Play. See our Music Stand review and worship team ranking.
Best for chord charts
Chords & lyrics · Songbook Systems
Platforms
Price
$5.99 · One-time + optional subscription
SongbookPro is the forScore alternative for players who read chord charts and lyrics more than notation. Its ChordPro engine handles one-tap transposition, capo and Nashville numbers, and setlists come with timers, auto-scroll, a metronome, a tuner and MIDI. PDFs sit in the same library, and it runs on Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows and Fire tablets.
It scores 9 on value: the free version holds 12 songs, and Solo is a one-time $5.99 on iPhone, iPad and Windows or $6.99 on Android, bought per platform. Groups adds a shared band library from $30/year for 6 users. PDFs are treated as images, so they cannot be transposed, and there are no half-page, gesture or leader-controlled page turns. It is rated 4.74 on the US App Store and 4.6 on Google Play. See the SongbookPro review and OnSong vs SongbookPro.
Best for chord charts on Apple devices
Chords & lyrics · OnSong LLC
Platforms
Price
Free / $29.99/yr · Free + paid plans
OnSong has the deepest chord-chart engine on Apple devices, so it suits iPad players who move from forScore to charts rather than to another platform. It handles transposition, capo, Nashville numbers and roman numerals, and since version 2026.0 its ChordFlow feature transposes chords inside text-based PDFs. Worship teams can import from Planning Center, SongSelect and PraiseCharts.
It ranks last here because annotation, backing tracks, MIDI and band streaming need Premium, and pedals, setlists and transposition need a paid plan. The free version is a 30-song viewer; Essentials costs $29.99/year and Premium $59.99/year. Like forScore, it runs only on iPad, iPhone and Mac, and its Android version is still listed as coming soon. Read the OnSong review.
Piascore and unrealBook (6.3 each) just missed the list, and both are Apple-only, like forScore. Piascore is the best free reader on iPad and iPhone, and unrealBook a one-time $14.99 iPad reader built for fake books. See forScore vs Piascore and our free sheet music apps.
Newzik and MobileSheets are the two full readers on this list; BandHelper and Music Stand are band services with simpler readers. The first table compares all six on score, platforms and price, the second the top four on performance, library and sharing features.
| App | Our score | Platforms | Starting price | Free tier | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Newzik | 8.0 | iPad, iPhone, Web | Free / $24.99 | Yes | Orchestras, choirs, bands and teachers who share parts and markings, and players who want PDFs to play back. |
2 MobileSheets | 7.9 | iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows | $15.99 | Yes | Players on Android tablets or Windows 2-in-1s, and anyone with a very large library who wants one-time pricing. |
3 BandHelper | 7.6 | iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac, Web | Subscription | No | Gigging bands and band leaders who run shows from shared charts, set lists and backing tracks. |
4 Planning Center Music Stand | 7.4 | iPad, iPhone, Android, Web | $2/mo per team | No | Church worship teams that already plan services in Planning Center. |
5 SongbookPro | 7.2 | iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows | $5.99 | Yes | Gigging and worship musicians who play from chord charts on mixed devices. |
6 OnSong | 6.8 | iPad, iPhone, Mac | Free / $29.99/yr | Yes | Worship leaders and gigging bands on Apple devices who play from chord charts. |
| Features |  Newzik |  MobileSheets |  BandHelper |  Planning Center Music Stand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading & performance | ||||
| Page-turner pedals | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hands-free page turns | Paid plan | Yes | No | Yes |
| Half-page turns | Yes | Yes | Partly | No |
| Synced page turns | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Setlists | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works offline | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partly |
| Library & sync | ||||
| Cloud sync | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cross-platform library | Yes | Partly | Yes | Yes |
| Web app | Yes | No | Partly | Yes |
| Sheet music store or library | Partly | No | No | No |
| MIDI control | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partly |
| Sharing & ensembles | ||||
| Sharing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ensemble tools | Paid plan | Partly | Yes | Yes |
The library rows show the platform question in one place: MobileSheets has native Android and Windows apps but no web app, while Newzik reaches other devices only through Newzik Web. Use the comparison tool to put forScore next to any of them.
Pick the alternative that fixes the reason you are leaving forScore. Platform, group and repertoire matter more here than the order of the list.
MobileSheets is the only full PDF reader on this list with native Android and Windows apps, and it links tablets across platforms. It costs $15.99 once per platform, and you can test it first with the free 8-song trial apps or the 14-day Windows trial.
Newzik’s shared projects and annotation layers are the most complete sharing tools here, with Newzik Web for members without an iPad. Budget for Premium if you want LiveScore, and check that everyone can read on an iPad or iPhone. Our orchestra ranking goes further.
Choose SongbookPro for mixed devices and a one-time price, and OnSong for the deepest chart features on Apple devices, by subscription. OnSong vs SongbookPro compares them, and our guide to transposing sheet music covers chart transposition.
BandHelper keeps a band’s repertoire, set lists, parts and backing tracks in one subscription account, and drives up to 15 devices from the leader’s.
If your church already uses Planning Center Services, Music Stand is the simplest choice, for $2 to $10 a month for the whole team.
If you play alone on an iPad, forScore is still the most refined reader, and switching gains you little. If you want a free option on iPad, Piascore covers annotation, setlists, half-page turns and face-gesture turns.
Check three things before you switch: the devices everyone in your group uses, how you want to pay, and how you can test with your own scores.
Platform comes first. MobileSheets and SongbookPro are the only apps on this list with native apps for both Android and Windows. BandHelper and Music Stand cover Android and the web, and Newzik reaches Android and Windows only through Newzik Web.
Then the price model. forScore is a one-time $24.99. MobileSheets ($15.99 per platform) and SongbookPro Solo ($5.99 to $6.99 per platform) are also one-time purchases, and Newzik Essentials is $24.99 once with a 1,000-piece cap. BandHelper, Music Stand and OnSong are subscriptions, and Newzik’s headline features need Premium, so check what happens to your library if you stop paying.
Finally, test with your own scores. MobileSheets has 8-song trial apps, Newzik’s free version holds 3 pieces, SongbookPro’s 12 songs and OnSong’s 30, and BandHelper offers 30 days. Our overall ranking puts all of these in one list, and our guide to page-turner pedals covers the hardware side.
Best apps by need
Eight sheet music apps with a native Android version, from stage readers to band services and libraries, plus what to know about forScore on Android. US prices checked in October 2026.
vs
Comparisons
Piascore costs nothing on iPad and iPhone, and forScore costs $24.99 before you can open it. What the extra money buys, criterion by criterion, and when the free reader is all you need.
Best apps by need
Eight sheet music apps with a native iPad version, ranked with weights that favor page turning and Apple Pencil annotation, with US prices checked in October 2026.
Filter every sheet music app by the devices you use, how you want to pay and the features you can't do without.