Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Finale VS Dorico

Compare Finale VS Dorico and see what are their differences

Finale logo Finale

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

Dorico logo Dorico

Dorico redefines the gold standard in scoring software.
  • Finale Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-29
  • Dorico Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-26

Finale features and specs

  • Comprehensive Features
    Finale is known for its wide array of features, including advanced notation tools, playback options, and support for MIDI devices, making it suitable for professional composers and arrangers.
  • Customizability
    Users can customize many aspects of the software to suit their individual needs, including notation styles, page layout, and playback settings.
  • Printing Quality
    Finale offers high-quality printing and engraving options, ensuring that the sheet music looks professional and is ready for publication.
  • Comprehensive Libraries
    Comes with extensive music libraries and templates which can help speed up the process of creating complex scores.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Finale is available on both Windows and macOS platforms, offering flexibility regardless of the operating system.

Possible disadvantages of Finale

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive features, Finale can be challenging for beginners to learn and may require a significant amount of time to master.
  • Expensive
    Finale is priced higher than some of its competitors, which can be a deterrent for casual users or those on a tight budget.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report that the software can be slow or crash when working with large and complex scores.
  • Outdated Interface
    The user interface is sometimes criticized for being outdated compared to more modern software, which can affect user experience.
  • Limited Customer Support
    Customer support can be limited or slow to respond, which can be a problem when users encounter issues or need assistance.

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.

Finale videos

Finale 26: Review & What's New

More videos:

  • Review - Finale PrintMusic 2014: Distributed by Alfred Music
  • Review - Insecure Season Finale Review | The Joe Budden Podcast
  • Review - Quick Vid: Bojack Horseman Series Finale (Review)
  • Review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot7AbNBD_tQ

Dorico videos

Music Software & Interface Design: Steinberg's Dorico

More videos:

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

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Finale and Dorico)
Music Tools
70 70%
30% 30
Audio & Music
77 77%
23% 23
Music
70 70%
30% 30
Email Marketing
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

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

Finale Reviews

The 10 Best Music Writing Software Programs (2022)
Nicknamed as the ‘Human Playback’, the Finale PrintMusic provides instrumental playbacks that are very close to reality like strings, percussion, and horns.
Best music notation software 2022
Finale PrintMusic has an intuitive workflow and an easy-to-navigate interface. It boasts an impressive set of note entry tools and editing palettes, and they are all easy to find and use.

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.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Finale should be more popular than Dorico. It has been mentiond 3 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.

Finale mentions (3)

  • About free (not pirate) software to start composing
    When you're ready to upgrade, Finale full version has fully sampled sound for hundreds of instruments. Retail $299. finalemusic.com. Source: about 1 year ago
  • ‘Jean Sibelius’ Review: An Early Finale
    Since Sibelius and Finale are two industry-leading (and very much competing) music notation software systems, this headline made me do a quadruple-take! https://www.avid.com/sibelius https://finalemusic.com For those interested in (extremely entertaining) breakdowns of the Sibelius software and other offerings in this space from a UI/UX design perspective, I highly recommend Tantacrul's videos, which propelled him... - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • An odd request: what is the music/ theme song that is used during Blue Jays Central on SportsNet?
    I too would want the sheet music so I can transcribe it on music notation software like Finale. Source: over 3 years ago

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

What are some alternatives?

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

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

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.

Guitar Pro - Create, play and share your tabs

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...