PianoSpot vs pianos.pub: which public piano map should you use?

The short version

These two tools are less rivals than neighbours. pianos.pub is a long-running community website, mapped by travelers since 2019, and it covers far more ground than PianoSpot does today. PianoSpot is a phone app that puts its effort into the details you need standing on a street corner: how a piano plays, whether you can reach it now, and how to get there.

Sources: pianos.pub figures from the pianos.pub homepage and piano pages, October 2026. PianoSpot pricing from its App Store listing, October 2026.

When pianos.pub is the better pick

You want breadth. With pianos in 182 countries, pianos.pub is the closest thing to a world index of public pianos. If you are researching a city PianoSpot covers thinly, pianos.pub will probably show you more pins there, and its country and city pages are easy to scan from a laptop.

You are planning at a desk. It needs no install, and a big screen suits trip planning across several cities.

You want history. Each piano page keeps a list of availability reports, so you can see whether people have recently said yes or no to “still there?”. The catalog also draws on public datasets and older social posts, which is part of why it is so large. The flip side is that some entries are old: the last photo sighting on one Amsterdam Schiphol entry dates from December 2020, though its recent reports flag it as unavailable, which is exactly the warning you want.

When PianoSpot is the better pick

You are already out and about. PianoSpot opens to a map and a list sorted closest first, and you can search any city if you are planning ahead.

You care how the piano plays, not only whether it exists. Every piano carries a Great, Fair or Needs work label. Players vote it up or down, once each, and leave a short review such as “sticky middle C” or “covered, survives the rain”. That is more than a yes or no, and it is what tells you whether a trip across town is worth it.

You need it to be open. Filters cover setting (Outdoor, Indoor, Covered), access (Open 24/7, Business hours, Free entry) and type (Upright, Grand, Street art). At 10pm in the rain, “Indoor” and “Open 24/7” narrow things down fast. Then tap Get directions.

You like keeping score. Check in at a piano and you get a numbered stamp in your Piano Passport. Adding pianos and checking in earn Notes toward levels, and there are city, friends and global leaderboards. If that sounds like noise, you can ignore it; browsing needs no account.

The catch with every crowdsourced piano map

Neither map can promise a piano is there today. Street pianos get moved, locked, vandalised or taken in for winter, and an outdoor piano can drift out of tune within weeks. Both sites depend on the last person who stopped by. On pianos.pub, look at the date of the latest availability report. On PianoSpot, look at the most recent votes and reviews. If nobody has reported on a piano for months, treat it as unverified on either one. Our guide to checking whether a public piano is still there goes through the signals in more detail.

Using both

1. Plan wide on pianos.pub. Before a trip, browse the city page to see every spot that has ever had a piano.
2. Decide on PianoSpot. On the day, open the map near you, filter for Great and for the access you need, and read the latest reviews.
3. Fill the gaps. If you find a playable piano that PianoSpot doesn’t have yet, add it with a pin, a name and a photo.
4. Report back. Leave a vote or an availability report on whichever map you used. It is the only way these maps stay honest.

You can also browse PianoSpot’s pianos by country on the web, or start from public pianos near you.