Synthesia alternatives: apps like Synthesia for Android, iPhone and computers
The closest alternatives to Synthesia are apps that also show falling notes and wait for you to play the right key: PianoKite (the app this site is for) on phones and in the browser, flowkey and Piano Marvel for lessons with a score, and Neothesia, a free open-source falling-notes player for computers. Which one fits depends on why you're leaving Synthesia: no iPhone version, Bluetooth on Android, wanting proper feedback and lessons, or just wanting something newer.
Synthesia is still a good program, and for some people it remains the right choice. Here's what it does well, where it falls short, and what else is out there, as of October 2026.
What Synthesia is and what it does well
Synthesia started in 2006 as "Piano Hero" and was renamed in 2007 (Wikipedia). It turns a MIDI file into coloured blocks falling onto a piano keyboard, the "falling notes" look that many YouTube piano tutorials use. Its own store listing sums up the features:
- Melody Practice: Synthesia waits until you play the correct note.
- Hands separately or together.
- Sheet music, falling notes or both.
- Finger hints included with every song.
- Lighted keyboard support: on compatible keyboards, the keys you need light up.
- Loops, bookmarks and a metronome.
- Any MIDI file: unlocked, it plays any MIDI song you load, plus 150 included songs.
And the price model is refreshingly simple: a one-time unlock, not a subscription, with all future upgrades included. The US App Store lists the unlock at $7.99; a key from Synthesia's website ($29 when we checked) works on all of a family's PCs, Macs, iPads and Android devices at once. The free version has more than 20 songs and all the MIDI device features, with a time limit on songs you load yourself.
If you have a MIDI keyboard, a computer and a folder of MIDI files, that's hard to beat.
Why people look for a Synthesia alternative
There's no Synthesia for iPhone
Synthesia runs on Windows, Mac, Android and iPad (download page). Its App Store listing requires iPadOS and isn't listed for iPhone, so "Synthesia for iPhone" doesn't exist as of October 2026. If your only screen near the piano is an iPhone, you need something else.
Bluetooth MIDI on Android isn't covered
On iPad, Synthesia added Bluetooth MIDI back in 2016 (version 10.3.1, per the App Store version history). Its Android connection guide, though, covers USB On-The-Go cables and MIDI adapters and doesn't mention Bluetooth. Many digital pianos bought in the last few years, like the Roland FP-10 and FP-30X, have Bluetooth MIDI built in, and their owners would rather not run a cable to the phone.
No new version since 2023
The newest version on Synthesia's website is 10.9, dated December 2022; the App Store's latest is 10.9.2 from February 2023.
It's a player, not a teacher
Synthesia scores your playing, but it has no course: it won't teach you to read music or suggest what to practise next. It also only knows what's in the MIDI file you give it, so a file with both hands on one track, or a messy transcription, gives you a messy lesson.
No microphone
Synthesia's listings mention a MIDI keyboard or the touchscreen, not a microphone. If you play an acoustic piano, or a keyboard without MIDI, it has no way to hear you.
The alternatives at a glance
| App | Falling notes | Sheet music | Waits for you | Bluetooth MIDI on phones | Your own MIDI files | Price (US, Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synthesia | Yes | Yes | Yes | iPad yes; Android not documented | Yes | One-time $7.99 (App Store) or $29 key |
| PianoKite (this site's app) | Yes, with the score at the same time | Yes | Yes (Wait mode) | Yes, connected inside the app | Yes (free: first 15 s) | Free plan; Import $5/month; Library $7/month (planned) |
| flowkey | No (video and highlighted keys) | Yes | Yes (Wait mode) | Yes | No | From $16.49/month or $99.99/year (web prices) |
| Piano Marvel | No | Yes | Yes | Wired recommended | Upload your own music (Premium) | Free plan; $17.99/month or $129.99/year |
| Neothesia | Yes | No | Not listed | Computers only | Yes | Free, open source |
PianoKite
PianoKite is the app this site is for, so weigh what follows accordingly. It was built for the setup Synthesia handles least well: a phone on the music stand of a Bluetooth digital piano. You connect the piano from inside the app (no pairing in the phone's Bluetooth settings), by USB cable, or let it listen to any piano, acoustic included, through the microphone.
- Falling notes and the score together. The learn screen shows an engraved score, falling notes and an 88-key keyboard at once, so you can follow the blocks today and the notation tomorrow.
- Wait mode stops at each note until you play it, and lights up the key with its name if you hesitate. Then play along at 50, 75 and 100% with a count-in, or in Free mode, where the music follows your tempo. Wait mode explained has the details.
- Feedback per bar. After each run, every bar is scored for each hand and a review says what went wrong: missed or wrong notes, rhythm, steadiness, hands not together. Practice loops repeat a passage until it's clean, then speed it up.
- Your own MIDI files can be imported. On the free plan you play the first 15 seconds of each; the Import plan ($5 a month or $3 a week, planned for the store launch) opens them in full.
- A library and a course. About 2,150 public-domain pieces, many in several versions from easy to original, and a 53-lesson beginner course that teaches reading music. The Library plan is $7 a month or $4 a week (planned); units 1 and 2 of the course are free.
The iPhone app is coming to the App Store. Until then you can open PianoKite in Safari on an iPhone and use the microphone (Safari has no Web MIDI, so Bluetooth and USB pianos need Chrome or Edge on a computer or an Android phone). On Android, the web app in Chrome connects to the piano over Web MIDI, by USB or Bluetooth, while the Play Store app is on its way.
Where Synthesia is still better: a one-time price instead of a monthly plan for full-length MIDI files, lighted-keyboard support, and a long track record on Windows and Mac.
flowkey
flowkey replaces falling blocks with video of a real pianist's hands, the next notes highlighted on a keyboard, and the score above. Its Wait mode works like Synthesia's Melody Practice, and it connects by microphone, USB MIDI or Bluetooth MIDI on Android and iOS. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Android 11 or later, and in the browser on computers.
You can't load your own files: you play flowkey's arrangements. Per its help centre, the Classic plan (classical and public-domain songs) is $16.49 a month or $99.99 a year, and Premium (adding pop, film and game music) is $24.99 a month or $149.99 a year. Those are web prices; Classic is sold only on flowkey's website, and in-app prices differ. Choose flowkey if you liked Synthesia for learning popular songs and would rather watch someone's hands than coloured blocks.
Piano Marvel
Piano Marvel is the opposite of Synthesia's "just play the file" approach: a full method with lessons, exercises, a sight-reading test and a library of more than 25,000 songs, plus uploading your own music on Premium (pricing: free plan, then $17.99 a month or $129.99 a year). It reads standard notation rather than falling notes, which makes it the better choice if your goal is to stop depending on falling notes altogether.
It's built around MIDI, with a wired USB connection recommended, and works best in Chrome on a computer. The Android app is in beta; there's an iPhone and iPad app.
Neothesia (free, for computers)
If what you love about Synthesia is simply watching a MIDI file fall onto a keyboard, Neothesia is a free, open-source MIDI visualiser for Linux, Windows and macOS (GPL-3.0). It's a visualiser rather than a learning course, but it costs nothing and its source is open.
What about Simply Piano and the other big apps?
Simply Piano, Skoove, Playground Sessions and Yousician are course-and-song apps rather than Synthesia-style players: none of them lists importing your own MIDI files, and they're subscriptions. They're good at what they do, and they have licensed pop songs. Our comparison of piano apps covers all of them, and Simply Piano alternatives looks at that app in particular.
Which Synthesia alternative should you pick?
- You have an iPhone: PianoKite (in Safari with the microphone, until the iPhone app arrives), flowkey or Piano Marvel. Synthesia's iOS app needs an iPad.
- You have Android and a Bluetooth piano: PianoKite or flowkey connect over Bluetooth MIDI without a cable.
- You want to load your own MIDI files: PianoKite (import) or Neothesia; or stay with Synthesia, which does this best for a one-off price.
- You want to move from falling notes to reading music: PianoKite shows both at once; Piano Marvel teaches reading properly.
- You want pop songs with a video teacher: flowkey Premium.
- You play an acoustic piano: Synthesia can't hear it. PianoKite and flowkey listen through the microphone; see learning with an acoustic piano.
Where to get MIDI files
A Synthesia-style app is only as good as its files. Many free MIDI files online are of unclear origin, with both hands mixed together and wrong notes. Public-domain sources such as the Mutopia Project are a safer bet; free, legal piano MIDI files explains where to find them. Or skip the search: every piece in PianoKite's library has a page on this site with a falling-notes preview you can play in your browser, such as Für Elise, Canon in D or Gymnopédie No. 1.