Is Music Practice really free?

Yes. It is free and open source under the MIT licence. There is no subscription, no card, no ads, and no lesson held back. The full source is public on GitHub if you want to check that for yourself.

Is Music Practice as good as flowkey?

For learning songs, no, and it is honest about that. The flowkey catalogue is large and licensed, with hands-from-above video, note detection through a microphone or MIDI keyboard, and polished native apps that Music Practice has no answer to. What Music Practice does instead is name the one skill you are ready for and why, then bring it back so it sticks. If you mainly want a catalogue to play through, flowkey is the better fit.

Do I need a MIDI keyboard?

No. Music Practice does not listen to your playing at all, so any piano or keyboard works and nothing needs to be plugged in. A MIDI connection is what gives flowkey its most accurate note detection, and that is a real feature Music Practice has no equivalent for.

Does it only teach piano?

No. Music Practice covers piano, electric guitar, and drums, each with its own prerequisite skill tree (32 piano skills, 36 guitar, and 20 drums), and each keeps its own progress. By contrast flowkey is piano only.

Alternative to flowkey

A free flowkey alternative

Music Practice is a free, open source piano app. The two are built around opposite questions: flowkey starts from a piece of music and waits for you to play its notes, and Music Practice starts from the skill underneath and tells you which one you are ready for. Here is where each one is stronger, stated plainly.

Start practisingNo account, no install, no paywall.

What Music Practice is

Music Practice runs in your browser with no account and no paywall. It is built around a real prerequisite curriculum, a skill tree that picks the one thing you are ready to learn next and explains why it matters, then brings it back later so it sticks. That is a different shape of product from a catalogue of pieces with note detection over the top, and it is worth being clear about which one you actually want. It also covers electric guitar and drums, where flowkey is piano only.

Music Practice vs flowkey

Feature comparison of Music Practice and flowkey.
Feature	Music Practice	flowkey
Price	Free. Open source under the MIT licence, with no subscription.	Paid subscription in several tiers, sitting on top of a limited free account. As of 2026 the entry paid tier is roughly US$20 a month, with annual plans nearer US$150 a year, and flowkey's own listing quotes EUR 24.99 a month and EUR 149.99 a year. What you are quoted depends on your region and on where you buy. A 7-day trial comes with the yearly plans, and card details are required.
Instruments	Piano (32 skills), electric guitar (36), and drums (20).	Piano only, on an acoustic piano, a digital piano, or a MIDI keyboard.
Tells you what to learn next	Yes. A prerequisite skill tree picks the one skill you are ready for and explains why it matters before you drill it.	You choose a piece from the catalogue, and optional courses group lessons by topic. Nothing gates one skill behind the skills it depends on, or names the single thing to work on tonight.
Open source	Yes, MIT licensed, with the full source on GitHub.	No.
Account required	No. It runs in your browser; an optional sign-in only adds cloud sync.	Yes, including to open the free songs.
Ads or time limits	None. No ads, no daily limit, and no lesson locked away.	No ads, and no daily limit. A free account opens a small set of songs indefinitely; the rest of the catalogue, the courses and the exercises need a paid plan.
Song library	No licensed song catalogue. It teaches the skills to play songs rather than giving you a library to play along to.	A large catalogue of licensed songs, each filmed as a split-screen video of a pianist's hands from above.

flowkey pricing and features are as of 2026 and set by flowkey. Prices are quoted in the currency shown and vary by region, by device store, and with whatever offer is running, so treat them as the shape of the cost rather than a quote. Check their site for current details.

Where flowkey is stronger

A comparison is only useful if it is honest, so here is where flowkey does things Music Practice does not. It is newer, smaller, and built by one developer.

A large catalogue of licensed songs filmed as split-screen video, so you can watch a real pianist's hands from above while the notes scroll past. Music Practice has no song library and no video of anyone playing.
Note detection that listens through your microphone or reads a connected MIDI keyboard, waits until you have played the right note, and can loop a bar until it lands. Music Practice never listens to your playing.
Score-based practice tools on real repertoire: slow the tempo, loop a section, work hands separately through a piece you want to perform. Music Practice drills the technique rather than the repertoire.
Polished native apps for iPhone, iPad and Android, with years of refinement and a full content team behind the catalogue. Music Practice is browser only and built by one developer.

Why you might prefer Music Practice

Playing a piece is not the same as knowing what to learn next, and the second question is the one Music Practice exists to answer. A prerequisite tree of 32 piano skills picks the single skill you are ready for, explains why it matters before you drill it, and gates it behind the skills it genuinely builds on, so nothing arrives before the thing it stands on.

Getting a piece under your fingers this week says nothing about still having it in June. Everything Music Practice teaches returns on a spaced review schedule at 1, 3, 7, and 14 days, so the technique underneath your repertoire keeps being rehearsed long after you moved on to the next piece.

It is free and open source, with no account, no card, and no part of the curriculum held back, and the same engine covers electric guitar and drums as well as piano. You can read exactly how the skill tree and the review scheduler decide things instead of taking either on faith.

Try it free tonightNo account, no install, no paywall.

Frequently asked questions

Is Music Practice really free?: Yes. It is free and open source under the MIT licence. There is no subscription, no card, no ads, and no lesson held back. The full source is public on GitHub if you want to check that for yourself.
Is Music Practice as good as flowkey?: For learning songs, no, and it is honest about that. The flowkey catalogue is large and licensed, with hands-from-above video, note detection through a microphone or MIDI keyboard, and polished native apps that Music Practice has no answer to. What Music Practice does instead is name the one skill you are ready for and why, then bring it back so it sticks. If you mainly want a catalogue to play through, flowkey is the better fit.
Do I need a MIDI keyboard?: No. Music Practice does not listen to your playing at all, so any piano or keyboard works and nothing needs to be plugged in. A MIDI connection is what gives flowkey its most accurate note detection, and that is a real feature Music Practice has no equivalent for.
Does it only teach piano?: No. Music Practice covers piano, electric guitar, and drums, each with its own prerequisite skill tree (32 piano skills, 36 guitar, and 20 drums), and each keeps its own progress. By contrast flowkey is piano only.