PianoSpot vs PianoMaps: two public piano apps compared

What each app does

PianoMaps: Public Pianos is an Android app from the developer Vrexas. According to its Google Play listing, it offers an interactive map of public pianos, a Nearby view of pianos within 10 km sorted by distance, reporting a piano with a photo, reviews with star ratings for each instrument’s condition, favorites, and a button that opens the piano in Google Maps. It was last updated on September 10, 2026, and the listing shows no in-app purchases or ads. It is a young app: Google Play showed 10+ downloads when we checked, so how many pianos you see depends on how many people have added them in your area.

PianoSpot is a free app for iPhone and Android. You get a map and a list sorted closest first, and you can search any city. Each piano carries a Great, Fair or Needs work label, players give it one up or down vote each with an optional short review, and the piano page has photos from players and a Get directions button. Anyone can add a piano with a pin, a name and a photo in about a minute, and duplicates are caught before they go on the map. When you play one, you can check in and collect a numbered stamp in your Piano Passport.

Side by side

Sources: PianoMaps features, update date and download count from its Google Play listing, October 2026. We could not find PianoMaps on the App Store. PianoSpot pricing from its App Store listing, October 2026.

Where PianoMaps has the edge

• Simplicity. If you only want a map, a list and a star rating, PianoMaps keeps out of your way. There are no levels or leaderboards to ignore.
• Nothing to buy. Its Play listing shows no in-app purchases. PianoSpot is free to download and free to browse, but it does have optional purchases.
• Star ratings. Some people find a five-star scale more familiar than a three-step label. Both approaches answer the same question: is this piano worth playing?
• Your neighbourhood. Coverage on any crowdsourced app is local. If the people in your city happen to use PianoMaps, it may know pianos PianoSpot doesn’t. Install both and compare where you live.

Where PianoSpot has the edge

• iPhone. PianoMaps isn’t on the App Store, so on an iPhone the choice is made for you.
• Knowing it’s open. Filters for Indoor, Covered, Open 24/7, Business hours and Free entry matter more than they sound. A great piano inside a station that closed an hour ago is no use to you.
• Piano type. You can filter for Upright, Grand or Street art pianos, handy if you are hunting for a grand to practise on.
• A reason to report. The Piano Passport, Notes and leaderboards give players a reason to check in and vote, and those votes are what keep condition labels current.

What neither app can promise

A map only knows what its players tell it. Street pianos get moved, locked, damaged or taken in for winter, and an outdoor piano can drift out of tune within a few weeks. Whichever app you use, read the most recent review or rating before you set off, and treat a piano nobody has mentioned for months as unverified. Our guide to checking a piano is still there covers the signals worth trusting.

Which one should you install?

On iPhone, PianoSpot. On Android, try both for a week in your own city: open each near home and near where you work, and keep the one that shows more pianos you can actually play. If you mostly plan trips from a computer, the website pianos.pub has the biggest catalog of all and is worth a look as well. Whatever you use, leave a vote after you play. The next person deciding whether to make the trip will thank you.