| Feature | Artist | Ultimate |
| Types of music | Simple/moderate music of up to 16 staves | Scores and parts of any size or complexity; worksheets and exercises |
| Available as | Single copy only | Single copy (educational discount available), 5-pack, site license, network license |
| No. of computers you can install a single copy on | 2 (for use by same person, e.g. desktop laptop) | 2 (for use by same person, e.g. desktop laptop) |
| Manual | On-screen only, about 450 pages | On-screen or printed book (separate purchase), about 730 pages |
| Technical help | 30 days complimentary phone, email, fax, and unlimited web site support | 90 days complimentary phone, email, fax, and unlimited web site support |
| Accidentals | Normal and double only, bracketed | Normal, double, quarter-tones, bracketed |
| Articulations | Common ones only | Full set |
| Bar numbers | Limited | Full range of formats |
| Barline types | Single, double, repeat only | Single, double, repeat, dotted, early music |
| Bars, irregular | No, except pick-up bars | ✔️ |
| Beams, cross-staff (in keyboard music) | ✔️ | |
| Beam/rest groupings | Fixed | Customizable |
| Brackets & braces | Fixed | Customizable |
| Change transposition of tranposing instruments | ✔️ | |
| Chord symbols (appearance and MIDI/text input) | Limited preset options | Fully customizable |
| Cue (small) notes | ✔️ | |
| Dotted notes | Single / double / triple dotted | Single / double / triple dotted |
| Guitar chord diagrams | Limited | ✔️ |
| Guitar scale diagrams | ✔️ | |
| Guitar tab | Basic only | Full |
| Instruments | Common, jazz and world instruments only, with fixed number of staves | Full customizable range |
| Jazz articulations | Scoops, falls, doits and plops | Scoops, falls, doits and plops |
| Lines, custom | ✔️ | |
| Note values | 512th note (7 beams) to "long" (double breve) | 512th note (7 beams) to "long" (double breve) |
| Noteheads, custom | ✔️ | |
| Ossia staves | ✔️ | |
| Page numbers | Automatic | Customizable |
| Special symbols | ✔️ | |
| Split multirests (in parts) | ✔️ | |
| Staves | Up to 16 per system | Unlimited number |
| Stemlets (half-stems) and ‘feathered’ beams | ✔️ | |
| Tuplets | Duplets (2:3) to nontuplets (9:8) | Any (e.g. 2, 7, 44:31, nested tuplets) |
| Espressivo 2.0 | ✔️ | |
| Edit MIDI data | ✔️ | |
| Built-in sounds | High-quality Sibelius 7 First Sounds | Full range of professional-quality orechestral, jazz, pop, marching band and percussion sounds in Sibelius 7 Sounds |
| Live Tempo (conduct playback by tapping) | Limited - playback only | Record, edit, clear and playback Live Tempo |
| Playback markings on specified repeats | ✔️ | |
| Playback of hairpins, rits & accel | Fixed | Adjustable |
| Playback of fermatas | Fixed | Adjustable |
| Words which affect playback (e.g. legato) | Fixed | Editable |
| Arrange - automatic arranging and orchestration | ✔️ | |
| Comments (‘sticky’ notes) | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Compare different scores or versions | ✔️ | |
| Copy and paste to Word and other programs | Low resolution (96dpi) only | ✔️ |
| Display timecode | Single format | Customizable format |
| Edit Dynamic Parts | Limited | Full |
| Edit word menus | ✔️ | |
| Export a log of changes to a score | ✔️ | |
| Export lyrics as text file | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Filters (for editing similar objects) | Quick filters only | ✔️ |
| Find | ✔️ | |
| Focus on staves | ✔️ | |
| Graphics export (for e.g. creating worksheets) | ✔️ | |
| Highlight music | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Ideas Hub | 300 library ideas, capture your own, can’t edit ideas | Over 2000 library ideas, capture and edit your own, add to score/library |
| Import MusicXML files | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Instrument changes | ✔️ | |
| Join scores together | ✔️ | |
| Keyboard shortcuts | Fixed | Customizable |
| Lyric verses allowed | 5 | Unlimited |
| Lyrics from text file | ✔️ | |
| Note input options | Limited | Full |
| Panorama (scroll view) | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Paper & desk textures | 40 | Over 60 |
| Part extraction | ✔️ | |
| Paste As Cue | ✔️ | |
| Plug-ins | 38 | Over 140 |
| Properties window (to edit individual objects) | Full | |
| Rehearsal marks | Default only | Fully customizable |
| Repeat structures | Customizable | Fully customizable |
| Rulers | ✔️ | |
| Score Starter (40 genre-specific templates) | ✔️ | |
| Special page breaks | ✔️ | |
| Swap voices | ✔️ | |
| Versions | Save, view and print only | ✔️ |
| Video (inc. timecode and hit points) | Add video, add/edit hit points | ✔️ |
| Viewing options for Magnetic Layout, page margins, note colors, full screen, etc. | ✔️ | |
| Worksheet Creator | ✔️ | |
| Advanced layout features | ✔️ | |
| Auto Layout options | ✔️ | |
| Edit fonts | Limited | Full |
| Edit staff types | ✔️ | |
| Edit text styles | ✔️ | |
| Engraving rules, edit hundreds of | ✔️ | |
| Headers/footers | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| House Style import/export | Import only | ✔️ |
| Magnetic Layout | Fixed | Fully customizable |
| Manage Dynamic Parts | ✔️ | |
| Manuscript papers (preset score layouts) | Few; can't create your own | Many; can create your own |
| Note spacing rules | Fixed | Customizable |
| Reset position/design of objects | Limited | ✔️ |
| Set default object positions | ✔️ | |
| Staff spacing | Manual adjustment only | ✔️ |
| Audio recording, export your score as an | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Email score as .sib or .pdf | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Graphics file, export your score as a | PDF export only | Standard bitmap and vector formats (SVG, EPS, PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF, GIF and PDF) |
| MIDI file export | Type 0 and Type 1 for any device | Type 0 and Type 1 for any device |
| MusicXML file export | Yes: compressed or uncompressed | Yes: compressed or uncompressed |
| Previous version, export to | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Publish directly to ScoreExchange.com | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Scorch (browser plug-in) web page, export a | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Share to YouTube, Facebook, SoundCloud | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Video file, export your score as a | ✔️ | ✔️ |
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