Sheet music scanner for iPhone and iPad
Scan the page. Hear your part.
Take a photo of printed sheet music and Cantora turns it into a score you can play. Check the few measures it isn’t sure about, then practise your part at your own tempo and in your own key.
- Camera, Photos or PDF
- Unsure measures marked in orange
- Choir mode for S, A, T and B
How it works
From paper to practice in three steps.
- 1
Scan
Photograph a page with the document camera, pick a photo or open a PDF. Cantora reads printed music: choir scores, songs with piano and instrumental parts.
- 2
Check
Measures the recognizer is unsure about are marked in orange, with your photo of that measure right beside the notes. Fix pitch, accidentals or note values with large buttons.
- 3
Practise
Press play and follow along as each note lights up. Slow it down, change the key, loop the bars you are learning, or bring your own voice forward in choir mode.
Features
Made for rehearsal, honest about the scan.
Scan any way you like
The document camera finds the page edges for you. Or choose photos from your library, or open a PDF.
Orange means “check me”
Cantora shows where it is unsure instead of pretending. Each flagged measure sits next to your own photo of it.
Fix with big buttons
Pitch, accidentals, note values, rests, ties and triplets. Every change can be undone and redone.
Playback that follows
Notes light up as they play. Metronome and count-in keep you in time.
Tempo, key and loop
Slow down a hard passage, transpose to a key that suits your voice or instrument, and repeat a few bars.
Six sounds
Piano, organ, strings, choir “aah”, voice “ooh” and flute.
Export with Pro
MusicXML for notation apps, MIDI with one track per voice, and print-ready PDF.
iPhone and iPad
Read the score in landscape on iPad. Your library syncs between your devices through your own iCloud.
Built for VoiceOver
A measure list describes each measure aloud and starts playback from there.
Choir mode
Your voice in front. Everyone else behind.
Choir mode separates soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Pick your part and it plays clearly while the other voices play softly underneath, so you can learn your line by ear and still hear how it fits.
- Works with four-part scores and with two-staff choir scores (SATB on two staves)
- Combine it with tempo, transpose and loop to drill the tricky bars
- Free on your first piece; on every piece with Pro
Choir mode needs the voices to be recognisable: separate S, A, T and B parts, or a classic two-staff choir layout.
What Cantora isn’t
A practice tool, not a magic wand.
Printed music only
Cantora reads printed and engraved sheet music. Handwritten scores are not supported, and the app tells you when a page looks handwritten.
Not every note is perfect
Recognition makes mistakes, especially on blurry, curved or shadowed photos. That is why unsure measures are marked and easy to fix.
Scanning needs a connection
Pages are recognised on our server. Your library, playback, choir mode and corrections work offline.
Pricing
Start free. Go Pro when you sing every week.
Free
$0
Everything you need to try it with your own music.
- 5 scanned pages every 30 days
- Playback, tempo, transpose and loop
- Corrections
- Choir mode on your first piece
Pro Yearly
7-day free trial$29.99 / year
Billed yearly after the trial. Cancel any time.
- Up to 600 pages every 30 days
- Choir mode on every piece
- MusicXML, MIDI and PDF export
Pro Monthly
$4.99 / month
Everything in Pro, month to month.
- Same Pro features
- Cancel any time
Pro Lifetime
$79.99 once
Pay once, keep Pro.
- Same Pro features
- No subscription
US prices. Your local price is shown in the App Store before you buy.
Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings or in Cantora under Settings › Manage subscription. See the Terms of Use.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
How good is the recognition?
It works best on clean, flat, well-lit printed pages. Photos with blur, strong shadows or a curved page are harder. Cantora marks the measures it is unsure about in orange, and you can correct any note.
Are my scans stored on your server?
No. Page images are sent over an encrypted connection to our recognition server on Google Cloud, held in memory only while they are recognised, and not stored. To check that a page shows music, the image is also sent to Anthropic’s Claude model, which does not use it for training. The app asks for your consent before the first scan.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no sign-in and no e-mail. Pro is tied to your Apple Account and can be restored with Restore Purchases.
Can it read handwritten music?
No. Cantora is made for printed sheet music. If a page looks handwritten, the app says so instead of guessing.
What does the free version include?
5 scanned pages every 30 days, playback, tempo, transpose, loop and corrections, plus choir mode on your first piece. A sample piece is included so you can try everything before scanning.
How does the free trial work?
The yearly plan includes a 7-day free trial for eligible users. Cantora can remind you before it ends if you allow notifications. You won’t be charged if you cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends.
Which devices and languages are supported?
iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or later. The app is available in English, German and Turkish.
Can I open the score in other apps?
With Pro you can export MusicXML for notation apps, MIDI with one track per voice, and PDF.
More help on the support page.
Your next rehearsal starts with one photo.
Cantora is coming to the App Store. Free to start, no account needed.
Sheet Music Scanner - Cantora