Why does Klaviero need a MIDI keyboard when Simply Piano does not?

Because the scoring is per note and per millisecond. A microphone hears a room, and in a chord it cannot reliably tell you which of the notes you missed. MIDI carries the exact note-on you sent, so a PERFECT and a GOOD are measured rather than estimated.

Does Klaviero run on a phone or an iPad?

No. Klaviero reads your keyboard through the Web MIDI API, which no browser on iOS supports, because Apple requires every iOS browser to use Safari's engine. Chrome on Android supports it, but the screen size is against you.

Is there a beginner course?

No. Klaviero assumes you can already find middle C. If you are starting from nothing, a course-based app is the right first purchase.

A Simply Piano alternative that reads MIDI, not a microphone

Simply Piano details checked on 2026-08-06. Klaviero's numbers are measured on every build.

Simply Piano is a phone app that listens to your piano through the microphone and teaches a beginner course. Klaviero is a browser game that reads a MIDI keyboard and scores you. If you are choosing between them, the microphone is the decision.

Klaviero needs a MIDI keyboard and Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Opera on a desktop or laptop. It cannot run in Safari or on an iPhone or iPad, because Apple does not support the Web MIDI API and requires every iOS browser to use Safari's engine. Full requirements.

The short answer

Klaviero is a free-to-start alternative to Simply Piano that runs in a browser and scores you note by note on a real MIDI keyboard. Simply Piano is not a bad product and this page does not pretend it is. What follows is where each one actually wins, so you can pick on something other than a headline.

Side by side

	Klaviero	Simply Piano
Where it runs	Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Opera, plus a macOS app	iOS and Android apps
Web version	Yes, it is the product	None
Primary input	MIDI keyboard	Microphone
MIDI	Required for scoring	Supported, documented across 17 help articles
Price	Free tier, then paid	Does not publish reachable public pricing
Lessons	None	Structured beginner course
Library	4,296 measured classical charts	Pop, classical, film, graded by course level
Scoring	Combo ×1 to ×6, FEVER, PERFECT to MISS, S to D	Course progress
Note data published	Note count, duration, peak notes per second	No

Where Simply Piano is the better choice

No keyboard needed. Simply Piano works on an acoustic piano through the microphone. Klaviero needs a MIDI keyboard for anything scored.

It teaches from zero. There is a real beginner course. Klaviero assumes you can already find middle C.

It is on your phone. Simply Piano is an app on the device already on the music desk. Klaviero needs a desktop or a laptop.

Where Klaviero is

MIDI accuracy. A microphone hears a room. MIDI carries the exact note you pressed and when, so a judgement can be per-note and honest rather than approximate.

No course to finish first. You can play Für Elise on your first minute. There is nothing to unlock.

Published pricing. The free tier needs no card and the paid prices are on the page.

Try it on this one

Piano roll of Prelude & Fugue in C, BWV 846: all 1,284 notes plotted over 3:46, right hand in cyan and left hand in magenta. — The actual chart. Time runs left to right across 3:46, pitch bottom to top, right hand cyan and left hand magenta.

Prelude & Fugue in C, BWV 846 · J.S. Bach · 1,284 notes · 3:46 · peak 9.6 n/s. It is on the free tier, so it needs no card. Plug the keyboard in and press play.

Play Prelude & Fugue in C, BWV 846 All pieces

What switching costs you

Nothing to uninstall and nothing to migrate. Klaviero reads your own MIDI files too, so anything you already had still plays. The free tier covers a piece from every composer group and needs no card, which is enough to find out in ten minutes whether the scored format is the thing you were missing.