Falling-notes piano apps compared: browser and desktop
Checked on 2026-10-24
Twelve piano apps that show falling notes or scrolling sheet music, each checked against its own website on 24 October 2026. Six run in the browser and say they are free: midee, NoteComet, PianoFall, playsheet, Sightread and Visual Piano. Midiano runs in the browser with no sign-up and lists no price. Synthesia is the one you pay for once. flowkey, Piano Marvel and Simply Piano are subscription courses, and Simply Piano is phone and tablet only. Klaviero, which makes this page, is one of the twelve, and the tables are in alphabetical order.
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. Several apps below can. Full requirements.
Price and where it runs
| App | Price | Runs on | MIDI keyboard |
|---|---|---|---|
| flowkey | Free account with a few songs; Classic, Premium and Family plans, priced at signup | Browser (MIDI in Chrome, Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, Brave); iPhone, iPad, Android | Yes, or the microphone |
| Klaviero | Free tier; €9.99 a week, €29.99 a month, €69.99 a year, €119 once | Browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera on a computer) | Needed for scoring; unscored microphone mode |
| midee | Free, open source | Browser | Yes |
| Midiano | No price listed, no sign-up | Browser (MIDI in every browser except Safari and Firefox for Android); installs as a web app and works offline | Yes, including lighted keys |
| NoteComet | Free library; Pro $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year | Browser; works best on iPad, by its own account | Not stated |
| Piano Marvel | Free with 150+ songs; Premium $17.99 a month or $129.99 a year | Web app for Windows and Mac, with a plugin; iPhone, iPad, Android, Chromebook | Recommended; Book Mode for acoustic pianos |
| PianoFall | Free | Browser (MIDI in Chrome and Edge) | Yes, or the microphone |
| playsheet | Free, in alpha | Browser | Yes |
| Sightread | Free with the built-in library; a paid licence, not a subscription, planned for some features on your own files | Browser (Chrome and Firefox); a desktop app announced for macOS, Windows, Linux | Yes |
| Simply Piano | Varies by country and store, shown in the app; 7-day trial on the yearly plan | iPhone, iPad, Android; no desktop version | Yes, by cable; Bluetooth MIDI on iPhone and iPad |
| Synthesia | $39 once, $29 in a sale on the day we checked; free to try | Windows, macOS, iPad, Android | Yes, including lighted keys |
| Visual Piano | Free, no sign-up | Browser (MIDI in Chrome and Edge) | Yes |
Library and practice
| App | Library | Feedback on your playing | Waits for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| flowkey | Thousands of songs across genres, plus courses | Listens and waits for the right notes | Yes |
| Klaviero | 4,296 measured classical charts, plus your own MIDI and MP3 files | Every note judged PERFECT to MISS, combo, grade | Yes |
| midee | Your own MIDI files | Wait-mode play-along; accuracy and streaks in its sight-reading trainer | Yes |
| Midiano | Over 100 songs, plus your own MIDI files | Shows whether you hit the right notes; a scored mode is in development | Yes |
| NoteComet | 2,000+ public-domain pieces, plus MusicXML and MIDI import | Not stated | Not stated |
| Piano Marvel | 25,000+ songs and exercises, in sheet music | Scores and detailed feedback; a sight-reading test | Yes |
| PianoFall | Seven built-in classics, plus your own MIDI files | Hits, misses, accuracy, combo | Yes |
| playsheet | A built-in catalogue, plus your own MusicXML, MIDI, ABC and MuseScore files; sheet music, not falling notes | Timing within a sixteenth of a beat; a review after each session | Yes, retry mode |
| Sightread | 71 public-domain pieces, plus your own MusicXML, ABC, LilyPond and MIDI files | Accuracy and tempo for every bar | Yes |
| Simply Piano | Classical pieces, chart hits and Disney songs, plus courses | Real-time feedback | Not stated |
| Synthesia | 150+ songs, a song store, any MIDI file | Immediate feedback and long-term tracking | Yes, in melody practice |
| Visual Piano | 600+ pieces of classical music, plus your own MIDI files | Practice mode checks the keys, not the rhythm; a separate rhythm game on 5 or 7 computer keys is scored | Yes |
Where another app is the better pick
- iPhone or iPad: Synthesia, flowkey, Piano Marvel and Simply Piano have apps for them, and NoteComet says it works best on an iPad. Klaviero cannot run there at all.
- An acoustic piano with no MIDI: flowkey and Simply Piano listen through the microphone, and PianoFall has microphone pitch detection. Klaviero's microphone mode is not scored.
- A keyboard with lighted keys: Synthesia and Midiano drive them. Klaviero does not.
- Pay once and own it: Synthesia, $39 for every platform at the same time, not a subscription.
- Free, no account, your own MIDI files: midee, which is open source, Midiano, PianoFall and Visual Piano.
- Learning to read sheet music: Sightread, playsheet and Piano Marvel are built around notation, and Piano Marvel has a sight-reading test.
- Video lessons and courses: flowkey and Piano Marvel have video lessons; Simply Piano has courses.
- Pop, film and Disney songs: flowkey Premium, Simply Piano and Piano Marvel. Klaviero's library is classical.
- Klaviero is the pick if you want classical pieces played as a scored game on a MIDI keyboard in the browser, and want to see each piece's measured note count and density before you start. Those numbers are on the pieces list and by composer.
The apps, one by one
flowkey
A lesson platform with video and sheet music on one screen. Its help centre recommends Chrome and says Safari and Firefox support note detection by microphone only, not MIDI. Plans and the 14-day money-back guarantee are on which plans are available; devices are on which devices are compatible and browsers on which browsers are compatible. Klaviero's own comparison: Klaviero vs flowkey.
midee
Open source, with no install and no account. Besides play-along it has a live mode, a loop station, session recording to MIDI and MP4 export. Read on midee.app and its Synthesia alternative page.
Midiano
Runs client-side and installs as a progressive web app, so it works offline. Its default songs come from piano-midi.de, it generates sheet music from any MIDI file, and its updates page says a scored mode is being built. Read on midiano.com.
NoteComet
A falling-notes player with 1,654 piano pieces across five levels and 435 hymns and carols, free to play without an account. Pro reads a photo or PDF of a score into falling notes. Its site says any piano or keyboard works and does not say it reads a MIDI keyboard. Read on notecomet.com.
Piano Marvel
A course built on sheet music: its practice mode page says it teaches real piano sheet music and has no scrolling bars. It has play mode with scores, video lessons and the SASR sight-reading test, and on a computer the web app asks for a plugin. Read on practice mode, pricing, downloads and equipment.
PianoFall
Free, in the browser, with Watch, Wait and Free modes, speed from 0.5× to 1.5×, A/B loops and live sheet music. Its page names Chrome and Edge for MIDI keyboards and carries an advertisement slot. Read on pianofall.app.
playsheet
A rhythm game on real sheet music, made by one developer and marked alpha. Its about page says it is completely free and may add a credit system for heavier processing later. Read on about and features.
Sightread
Score, Sheet Hero and Piano Roll views over the same piece, with progress tracked bar by bar. Its pricing section says every feature is free with the built-in library and your own files stay free in Piano Roll; the September 2026 announcement says there will be no ads and no subscription. Read on about and Sightread is becoming an app.
Simply Piano
A course app for phones and tablets. Its help centre says there is no desktop version and that prices depend on country, store and plan. Read on devices, subscribing and Bluetooth MIDI. Klaviero's own comparison: Klaviero vs Simply Piano.
Synthesia
The piano software at synthesiagame.com, not the AI video company with the same name. The unlock is not a subscription and covers PC, Mac, iPad and Android at once when bought on its site. Its download page lists version 10.9, from December 2022, as the current release. Read on unlock and downloads. Klaviero's own comparison: Klaviero vs Synthesia.
Visual Piano
Over 600 pieces of classical music as falling notes or sheet music, with practice paths and a practice journal kept in your browser. Its MIDI guide says practice mode checks only whether the right keys went down, and that rhythm, timing and dynamics are not judged. Read on visualpiano.online, its MIDI practice guide and rhythm game.
Method
Every row except Klaviero's was read from that app's own website on 24 October 2026: the home page, plus its pricing, help or about pages where the home page left a column open. The pages read are linked under each app above. Nothing was installed, bought or played for this page, so each cell is what the maker states, not something we measured. Where a site does not say, the cell reads Not stated instead of a guess. Prices are in the currency each site shows. Klaviero's row comes from this site and its own code. The tables are alphabetical and rank nothing. If a row has gone out of date, write to frederic@lalumiereconsulting.be.