Free Guitar Pro alternatives, for the job you actually have.
Guitar Pro does two jobs: it writes tabs and it plays them. The free alternatives are good at one or the other, rarely both, so the right one depends on which job you need done.
If you want to write or edit tabs, a free desktop editor such as TuxGuitar or MuseScore Studio is the answer. If you have a .gp file and just want to open it, hear it and practise it, you do not need to install anything: a browser player does that, and this site has one.
Open a Guitar Pro file now
Drop a .gp, .gpx or .gp3 through .gp7 file, MusicXML or MIDI. Demo songs play without an account; loading a file of your own takes a free one.
Or drag it anywhere onto this box. It plays in your browser and is saved to your own private library.
What is the best free alternative to Guitar Pro?
For writing and editing tabs, TuxGuitar: it is free and open source, runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and opens Guitar Pro files including .gpx and .gp. MuseScore Studio is the other strong free editor if you also want standard notation, though it imports Guitar Pro files rather than saving them. For opening and playing a Guitar Pro file without installing anything, a browser player is enough: Neural-Fretboard plays the whole band, lights every note on a fretboard at the string and fret the tab author wrote, and lets you slow it down and loop it, free.
Neural-Fretboard does not edit tabs. It is free for playing files, with speed from 25 to 200 percent, looping and a per-track mixer; the optional Creator plan (EUR 7.99 a month or EUR 59 a year) adds deeper slow-down, Practice Mode and unlimited 3D guitar videos. Guitar Pro 8 itself is a one-time EUR 69.95 with a 7-day trial (September 2026).
Guitar Pro vs a browser player
If your job is reading and playing tabs, this is the comparison that matters. For writing tabs, see TuxGuitar and MuseScore below.
| Guitar Pro 8 | Neural-Fretboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | EUR 69.95 one-time, 7-day trial | Free to play tabs; optional Creator plan |
| Install | Desktop program for Windows and macOS | Runs in the browser, nothing to install |
| Opens | Every Guitar Pro format | .gp, .gpx, .gp3 to .gp7, MusicXML, MIDI |
| Editing | Full tab editor | None, it plays the file as written |
| Playback | Full band playback | Full band through a tab synthesizer |
| Practising | Looper and metronome | Loop, speed 25 to 200 percent free, mic-based Practice Mode in Creator |
| Video | None | A 3D guitar performs the tab and exports 9:16 or 16:9 video |
Pick by the job
Writing tabs
TuxGuitar (free, open source) or MuseScore Studio (free, notation first). Guitar Pro 8 if you want the original.
Opening and playing
A browser player. Nothing to install: drop the file and it plays, with the notes on a fretboard.
Finding tabs
None of these is a library. Tab sites and libraries such as Songsterr or Ultimate Guitar are where tabs are found.
TuxGuitar: the free editor most people mean
TuxGuitar is a free, open-source tab editor for Windows, macOS and Linux, and it is actively maintained again: version 2.1.0 came out in July 2026. It opens .gp3, .gp4, .gp5, .gpx and .gp files as well as Power Tab and MIDI, edits them with a full tab editor, and can save back to the older Guitar Pro formats. If you write tabs and do not want to pay, start here.
MuseScore Studio: when you also want notation
MuseScore Studio is a free, open-source notation editor that imports Guitar Pro files, including .gpx and .gp. It is the better choice if you think in standard notation as much as in tab. Two things to know: it imports Guitar Pro but does not save to it, and users have reported fret positions changing when importing newer .gp files, so check the fingering after import.
Soundslice, Flat and browser players
Soundslice is a polished web platform with a free Guitar Pro viewer that keeps a file open for 10 minutes; importing Guitar Pro files into an account is part of its Plus plan ($5 a month or $50 a year). Flat.io is a web notation editor that imports Guitar Pro files on a best-effort basis.
Neural-Fretboard is a browser Guitar Pro player built around the fretboard: it plays the whole score, shows your track at the exact string and fret the tab author wrote, and adds practice tools and a 3D guitar that turns the tab into a video. It opens files; it does not edit them.
What you get here, honestly
- A player, not an editor. To write or change tabs, use TuxGuitar, MuseScore Studio or Guitar Pro.
- Free: open and play Guitar Pro, MusicXML and MIDI files, speed 25 to 200 percent, looping and the mixer. Your own files need a free account.
- The fretboard is the main view, with the tab author’s own fingering, capo and tuning.
- Competitor details checked against their own pages in September 2026.