What is MuseScore used for?

MuseScore Studio is free, open-source music notation software for writing, playing and printing sheet music. It is a good fit for writing and arranging sheet music, and exchanging scores with other notation programs.

Is MuseScore open source?

Yes. MuseScore is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at musescore/MuseScore and is written mainly in C++.

Yes. MuseScore is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.

Can I self-host MuseScore?

Yes. MuseScore can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is MuseScore an alternative to?

MuseScore is an open-source alternative to Avid Sibelius, Steinberg Dorico, Noteflight and Flat.

Is MuseScore actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to MuseScore was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v4.7.5, published on 8 September 2026. The project has 15k stars on GitHub.

MuseScore: open-source alternative to Avid Sibelius

About MuseScore

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

Good fit for

→Writing and arranging sheet music
→Exchanging scores with other notation programs

Built with: C++
Tags: music-notation; sheet-music; composition; musicxml; midi; qt; cpp; desktop

MuseScore: questions and answers

What is MuseScore used for?: MuseScore Studio is free, open-source music notation software for writing, playing and printing sheet music. It is a good fit for writing and arranging sheet music, and exchanging scores with other notation programs.
Is MuseScore open source?: Yes. MuseScore is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at musescore/MuseScore and is written mainly in C++.
Is MuseScore free?: Yes. MuseScore is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.
Can I self-host MuseScore?: Yes. MuseScore can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is MuseScore an alternative to?: MuseScore is an open-source alternative to Avid Sibelius, Steinberg Dorico, Noteflight and Flat.
Is MuseScore actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to MuseScore was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v4.7.5, published on 8 September 2026. The project has 15k stars on GitHub.