Best free piano learning apps (what you get for $0)

If we're judging this purely on how much you get before you have to pay, Piano Marvel wins.

The free account includes 150+ songs, 200+ lesson exercises and 25 video lessons, plus performance feedback and scoring. That's enough to actually learn with rather than just try the app.

It's quite traditional, with more emphasis on reading music, exercises and working through a method. If that's how you want to learn, you get an impressive amount for nothing.

The catch: the full library and uploading your own music require Premium.

What I like about Artie is that you don't need to learn to read sheet music before you can start playing. Falling notes show you what to play and Wait Mode waits until you find the right note. For a complete beginner, that removes a pretty big barrier.

The free version gives you 30+ songs, practice tools and personalised feedback after you play. You can also import three of your own MIDI files and still get feedback on your performance.

The big limitation is that Learn with Artie isn't included for free. That's the guided AI-teacher part of the app and requires Pro.

So the free version isn't a complete AI piano course. But if you just want to sit at a piano, start playing something and get feedback without learning notation first, it's probably the most accessible option here.

Download Artie on the App Store

I've used Simply Piano on and off and personally find it a bit child-like. But for someone who's never played piano, I can see why it works.

You get the complete Piano Basics course for free, plus Touch Intro, which you can even start without a piano.

That's enough to learn some fundamentals and find out whether you're actually going to stick with it.

The catch: more advanced courses and the main Song Library require Premium.

flowkey gives you eight songs plus selected course lessons, with its learning features available on that free content.

Eight songs isn't loads. But the account doesn't expire, which I prefer to a seven-day trial where you feel like the clock is ticking.

You can actually take your time and learn something.

The catch: most songs and courses require Premium.

Skoove's free Basic plan gives you selected lessons, courses and songs.

There's less free content than Piano Marvel, and the exact size of the free library isn't particularly easy to pin down. But there's enough to answer the important question before paying: do I actually like learning this way?

The catch: you're getting a sample of Skoove rather than a complete free curriculum.

I went looking for these too, and this is where things get difficult. There are smaller free tools and open-source projects out there, but I haven't found a completely free iOS or Android app I'd recommend over the free versions above for actually learning piano.

That's pretty much the conclusion people come to on Reddit too. Completely free projects exist, but they tend to focus on one part of learning, or they're web and desktop tools rather than polished all-in-one piano apps.

So if you want to spend absolutely nothing, I'd rather use the free tiers of the better apps above than recommend a completely free app just because it's completely free.

Yes. I think you can.

I haven't found a good modern piano app that gives you absolutely everything for free forever: a complete beginner-to-advanced course, a huge song library, feedback and every feature.

But I'm not sure that matters when you're starting.

If you want the most free material, I'd go with Piano Marvel. If you want the easiest route into actually playing without having to learn sheet music first, I'd try Artie. And if you've never touched a piano and want a very guided introduction, Simply Piano is a good place to start.

Or just download two.

They're free.

What is the best free piano learning app?

For sheer quantity, Piano Marvel gives you the most free structured content of the apps I've looked at, including 150+ songs, 200+ lesson exercises and 25 video lessons.

What is the easiest free piano app for beginners?

Artie is one of the most accessible ways to start playing because you don't need to read sheet music. It uses falling notes to show you what to play, and its free version includes 30+ songs and feedback after you play.

Can I learn piano without reading sheet music?

Yes. Apps such as Artie use falling-note visuals instead of requiring you to read traditional notation, so you can start playing before learning sheet music.

Which free piano apps give you feedback?

Piano Marvel includes performance feedback and scoring. Artie gives you personalised feedback after you play, including when you practise one of your three free MIDI imports.

When free isn't enough

Eventually you'll probably hit the limits of all of these. That's when the question changes from "what can I get for free?" to "which piano app is actually worth paying for?"

I've covered that separately in my full comparison of the best piano learning apps.

I'm Matt Ford, a musician, teacher and writer. I learnt piano for a couple of years as a kid, but cello was really my instrument growing up. I got to Grade 8 before moving on to guitar, bands, music production and electronic music.

I came back to piano properly as an adult and have since tried most of the big piano learning apps, partly for work and partly because I'm still trying to get better at piano myself.