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1 alternatives ranked by real activity

Open-source Flat alternatives

A curated, ranked list of the 1 best open-source alternatives to Flat.

The best open-source alternative to Flat is MuseScore.

Flat alternatives are mainly Audio & Music Production tools. 1 of them shipped code in the last 30 days, 1 can be self-hosted, and 0 use a permissive licence.

Last updated October 3, 2026 · ranked by GitHub stars, growth and recent commits

MuseScore

MuseScore Studio is free, open-source music notation software for writing, playing and printing sheet music.

GitHub stars
15k
Last commit
today
Latest release
v4.7.5
Self-hosted
Yes
musescore.orgMuseScore homepage screenshot

MuseScore Studio is open-source and free music notation and composition software. It uses a WYSIWYG design in which notes are entered on a virtual sheet of notepaper, and it uses TrueType fonts so printed and on-screen scores scale cleanly to any size. The code is written in C++ with Qt and licensed under GPL version 3.0.

Note entry is designed to be fast, with many editing functions and support for MIDI input. An integrated sequencer and software synthesizer play the score back. For interchange with other programs it imports and exports MusicXML, MIDI and MEI files, and imports MuseData. Finished scores can be printed or saved as PDF files.

Building from source uses CMake and a recursive git checkout that pulls in the muse framework submodule, and the project wiki documents dependencies and the code structure. Support, contribution and bug reporting are handled through the MuseScore.org site, and the project welcomes forks and pull requests.

Key features

  • WYSIWYG score editing on virtual notepaper
  • Fast note entry with MIDI input
  • MusicXML, MIDI and MEI import and export
  • Integrated sequencer and synthesizer playback
  • Print scores or export to PDF
  • TrueType fonts for crisp scaling

Pricing: Free and open source under GPL version 3.0.

Flat alternatives: questions

What is the best open-source alternative to Flat?
MuseScore is the top-ranked open-source alternative to Flat on Enlisted: MuseScore Studio is free, open-source music notation software for writing, playing and printing sheet music.
Are these Flat alternatives free?
All 1 are open source, so the code is free to use under its licence, and 1 of them can be self-hosted on your own server.
How is this list of Flat alternatives ranked?
By a score built from GitHub stars, star growth over the last 30 days and how recently the code changed. 1 of these projects shipped code in the last 30 days. Data is refreshed daily, and nobody can pay to move up.

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