Dorico Music Software: Tips for Switching from Finale

In 2024, MakeMusic announced that it would no longer release updates or new versions of its music composition software Finale. The end to the industry-standard program has prompted many to find alternatives, with Dorico now leading in popularilty. 

Contemporary writing and production professor Lee Abe shares his tips and tricks for switching to Dorico, as a former Finale power user. 

What are the biggest differences between Dorico and Finale? What are the pros and cons of each?

There are so many differences, good and bad. What Dorico does better is the overall layout. Its ability to avoid collisions, while it’s not perfect, is so much better than Finale's. What Finale does better is the rhythm section notation for contemporary music, such as slash notation and rhythmic notation, among others. I did talk to the Dorico development team for a lengthy time, and they did admit that this is something that they are still working on and would not be reflected until version 7 or later. [Dorico released version 6 in April 2025.]

Can you describe the process of layering vocals and other instruments in Dorico, and how it compares to Finale?

Writing for vocals in Dorico is as easy as Finale. This gets very technical, but there is one thing that Dorico is better at than Finale, and one thing that Finale is better at than Dorico. The first is the fact that Dorico skips the rests when typing lyrics directly to the notes. This may sound like a tiny difference, but after I got used to it, it ended up saving so many unnecessary hits on the space bar! The latter is the word extension. Finale generates the word extensions automatically and it’s nearly perfect. Dorico does generate the word extensions as well, but the line is incomplete once you move the caret (Finale would automatically complete the line no matter what).

There’s not much difference between having multiple voices (or any instruments) on the score between Dorico and Finale. That said, one thing that I like better is the way Dorico avoids the collisions. The manual labor to avoid collisions is so much less on Dorico than Finale. And that’s a great time saver when you write for a large ensemble. That said, when I want a very particular way to handle things manually for a better score layout, Finale seems slightly better for easier customization than Dorico. Dorico’s amazing automated collision removal sometimes makes things a bit more cumbersome to move things manually, which is a bit ironic but true.

How about the free version of Dorico versus the paid version? What can you do for free and when should people upgrade to paid?

The free version of Dorico could be useful for simple stuff such as a lead sheet, string quartet, etc. But anything that contains a medium-to-large size ensemble, the free version would not work. Also, there’s a limitation for the customization of the layouts in the free version. We professionals need those. So any time you need more professional-looking score/parts or need to write for medium-sized or larger ensembles, you’d need to upgrade to the paid version.

How would you rate Dorico versus Finale?

I used Finale for 26 years, and I was a Finale wizard. So, it was difficult, emotionally and practically, for me to let it go and switch. But I am the kind of person who just moves on when I need to move on. Knowing Finale will never come back, I made an immediate switch back in September 2024. I am glad that I did, as it does take time to get used to Dorico. 

Dorico is a powerful software, and it is certainly a much better choice for professional use than any of the free notation software available. I love many of its features, which are often superior to those in Finale. That said, I still like Finale better simply because it does much better job on contemporary notation. If I only write for the fully written-out materials such as orchestras, string quartet, a cappella scores, I could argue that Dorico has a bit more edge. But until Dorico improves the contemporary notation and makes it more intuitive and comprehensive, I have to admit Finale is a better software for the writers who deals with the rhythm section writing on regular basis. 

Currently, I would give Dorico a 7/10 and Finale an 8/10. But Dorico’s support forum on Steinberg’s website is actively supported by Dorico’s team members, a positive move that I never saw with the Finale team. Given their willingness to listen, I can see that my current rating on Dorico could change for the better in the very near future.