Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups
Register | Login

Dorico VS MuseScore

Compare Dorico VS MuseScore and see what are their differences

Submit Juice
Free and curated list of startup directories to promote your new startup. We manually post your startup to more than 150+ relevant directories and blogs to help your startup get discovered. featured
Contents:
  1. » Base Details
  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

Dorico logo Dorico

Dorico redefines the gold standard in scoring software.

MuseScore logo MuseScore

Our goal is to let musicians from all over the world create and share their works, as well as to make learning music exciting, easy and available for all.
  • Dorico Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-26
  • MuseScore Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-27

Dorico features and specs

  • Advanced Notation Features
    Dorico offers a highly sophisticated set of notation features, enabling complex score creation for composers, arrangers, and music educators.
  • Intelligent Layout
    The software automatically adjusts the score layout to optimize readability and reduce manual editing time, ensuring a professional look for printed scores.
  • User-friendly Interface
    Despite its powerful capabilities, Dorico is designed with an intuitive interface that makes it accessible even to newcomers in music notation software.
  • Flexible Workflow
    Dorico supports a highly flexible workflow by allowing seamless switching between writing, engraving, and playback modes, catering to various stages of score development.
  • Integrated Playback
    The software includes a robust playback engine with realistic virtual instruments, allowing composers to hear their work as they write it.

Possible disadvantages of Dorico

  • High Cost
    Dorico is relatively expensive compared to some other music notation software, which might be a barrier for students and hobbyists.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    While Dorico is intuitive, its vast array of features can be overwhelming for new users, requiring a significant time investment to master.
  • Resource Intensive
    The software requires a relatively powerful computer to run efficiently, which can be a limitation for those with older machines.
  • Limited Third-party Integration
    Compared to some competitors, Dorico has fewer options for integrating with other music production and editing software tools.
  • Lesser Known
    Dorico is not as widely used as some other notation software, which can make finding community support and resources more challenging.

MuseScore features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    MuseScore offers an intuitive and well-organized interface that is easy to navigate, making it accessible for users of all skill levels.
  • Free and Open Source
    MuseScore is free to use and has an open-source model, meaning users do not have to worry about subscription fees, and developers can contribute to its improvement.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    MuseScore is available on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, ensuring a broad user base and versatility.
  • Extensive Online Community
    MuseScore's online platform allows users to share their compositions, get feedback, and collaborate with others, fostering a vibrant community.
  • Comprehensive Feature Set
    MuseScore offers a wide range of features including note entry, playback, and support for a variety of musical notations, making it suitable for creating complex scores.
  • Regular Updates
    The software receives regular updates, ensuring new features and improvements keep it up-to-date with user needs and technological advancements.

Possible disadvantages of MuseScore

  • Learning Curve
    While user-friendly, MuseScore can still have a steep learning curve for complete beginners who are not familiar with music notation software.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report performance issues, especially with larger scores, which can result in slow operation or crashes.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    For professional composers and arrangers, MuseScore might lack some of the advanced features that are available in premium, paid notation software.
  • Export Options
    Although MuseScore supports various export formats, some users find that the quality or usability of exported files can be lacking compared to those produced by other software.
  • Mobile App Limitations
    The mobile app version of MuseScore has fewer features and capabilities than its desktop counterpart, limiting its usefulness for on-the-go composition.

Dorico videos

+ Add

Music Software & Interface Design: Steinberg's Dorico

More videos:

  • Review - Dorico Review (My First Impressions Switching from Sibelius)
  • Review - Why Is Dorico 3 Special?

MuseScore videos

+ Add

Why is EVERYONE using Musescore for music notation?

More videos:

  • Review - Musescore 4 - First Impressions (Spoiler Alert, IT'S AMAZING)
  • Review - Music Software & Interface Design: MuseScore

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Dorico and MuseScore)

Dorico

MuseScore

Music Tools
28 28%
Music Tools
72% 72
Music
24 24%
Music
76% 76
Audio & Music
21 21%
Audio & Music
79% 79
Musician Tools
100 100%
Musician Tools
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Dorico and MuseScore. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Dorico and MuseScore

Dorico Reviews

The 10 Best Music Writing Software Programs (2022)
Its professional design and easy-to-use interface are impressive. Furthermore, Dorico Pro 2 provides a smart layout and instrumental adjustments while you write and compose with a vast playback library of almost 1500 sounds.
Source: www.musicianwave.com

MuseScore Reviews

The 10 Best Music Writing Software Programs (2022)
That’s just the start, its easy access to input tools and in-depth information of the notes make it even better. It also allows you to import MIDI and MusicXML files. In addition, MuseScore 2 acquires samples to try on or integrate into your writings.
Source: www.musicianwave.com
Best music notation software 2022
MuseScore can import MusicXML and standard MIDI files from other popular notation software. When your score is complete, you can export it as either a graphic file, MusicXML file or audio file. The instrument samples aren’t as realistic or dynamic as those in the best notation programs we tested, but if you are interested in composing music with software, MuseScore is an...
Source: www.toptenreviews.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, MuseScore should be more popular than Dorico. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Dorico mentions (2)

  • Worth buying nuraphones?
    Absolutely love mine. Excellent sound quality unmatched by any other headphones that I've used below, at, and even slightly above their price range -- and by "unmatched," I mean it isn't even close. The Nuras are phenomenal, period. I use mine regularly, for both listening enjoyment and orchestral music composition with Dorico and Spitfire Symphony Orchestra. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Music Software and Bad Interface Design: Avid’s Sibelius
    Well, the founders of Sibelius started another music notation software called Dorico[1]. Is Dorico's UI more consistent? Does it address many of the issues of this video's criticism? Or put another way, does being a green-field software project allow the freedom to create a sane UI? Or did it have to deliberately copy may of Sibelius' faults so migrating users can quickly get up to speed with Dorico? (Analogous... - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago

MuseScore mentions (5)

  • Unify dynamics between voices from old mscz file?
    I'm aiming to transcribe a piano composition for cello duet and in doing so am using a source file which was created in Musescore 2.3 or something, the file playback sounds fine on musescore.com but when I try to use the file (playback) on the musescore app (musescore 4), I cannot hear entire parts of the file (because the volume is somehow very low even though there is only one visible dynamic across both... Source: about 1 year ago
  • musescore.com not loading scores on firefox (desktop)
    Is anyone else having this issue? musescore.com has been freezing for the past few days when trying to load scores. This is on firefox desktop, it works fine on every other browser, even on firefox mobile. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Need to transpose guitar solo to trumpet solo
    I.e., what everyone is saying is pretty simple with any notation program or DAW. Musescore will do the job, and is free. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Piano Sheet Music for Suteki da ne
    I was looking on musescore.com to listen to a really nice piano arrangement of Suteki da ne, but it seems to have been removed, and I did not save the sheet music to my computer! I was wondering if anyone has the sheet music saved somewhere. I really liked this one particular arrangement, and I was a fool not to save it. I don't remember who posted it on there originally. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Musescore's free trial service is bad trick.
    I joined free trial service on musescore.com. Source: over 1 year ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Dorico and MuseScore, you can also consider the following products

Finale - Finale, the world standard for music notation software, lets you compose, arrange, notate, and print engraver-quality sheet music.

Guitar Pro - Create, play and share your tabs

Sibelius - Sibelius is a virtual score creation tool which allows composers to easily create new piano scores, developed by Avid.

LilyPond - GNU LilyPond is a computer program for music engraving.

MuseScore.org - Create, play back and print beautiful sheet music with free and easy to use music notation software MuseScore. For Windows, Mac and Linux.

Denemo - GNU Denemo is a music notation editor that lets you rapidly enter notation for typesetting via the...

Loading...