Audio to MIDI converters for piano, compared honestly
Looking for a Basic Pitch alternative that works on full songs, or wondering if AnthemScore is worth paying for? We build one of these tools, so read this knowing that. But the honest version is more useful to you than an ad, and each of these tools genuinely wins somewhere.
| Tool | Best at | Weak spot | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| klavery | piano parts inside full songs - it separates the band first and transcribes only the keys, pedal included | piano buried very deep in a dense mix; no editing UI | free |
| Basic Pitch (Spotify) | quick single-instrument sketches, any instrument, open source | full mixes - everything lands in one MIDI, drums become notes | free |
| AnthemScore | sheet-music output and note editing on solo recordings | full band songs; desktop install; the good tier is paid | ~$36-108 |
| Melodyne | surgical pitch editing of stems you already have - studio tool, not really a converter | price, learning curve, not built for "song in, MIDI out" | $99-849 |
| Generic online converters | being instant | they read the whole mix at once - fine for a hummed melody, note salad for a real song | free-ish |
The one question that decides it
Is your audio a full song or a solo recording? For a clean solo piano recording, several tools do well - including free Basic Pitch. The moment vocals, drums and bass enter, whole-mix converters break, because they cannot tell a hi-hat from a staccato chord. That is the case klavery was built for: separation first, transcription second.
What "good" looks like, concretely
On our public benchmark of real songs, klavery recovers the piano part at around 95% note accuracy, and close to note-perfect on solo piano - with sustain pedal, which most converters drop entirely. The examples on the homepage are raw output, nothing cleaned up by hand; judge with your own ears.
Our honest recommendation
Solo instrument, want sheet music: AnthemScore. Editing stems in a studio: Melodyne. Any instrument, rough sketch: Basic Pitch. A real song where you want the piano part as playable MIDI: try klavery - it is free, so trying it costs you one song and thirty seconds.
Related: YouTube to MIDI, YouTube to sheet music, MP3 to MIDI on full songs.
Try it on your song →