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PianoFlex vs Alicia's Keys
Alicia's Keys is Alicia Keys' own studio grand, sampled from her playing in her own studio, and made with her, the sampling specialists Scarbee and her engineer. It plays in Native Instruments' Kontakt Player. PianoFlex is a modeled piano for Windows: no recordings, 34 presets, and every part of the piano open to change. They're close in price, and both suit songwriting, pop and soul.
What they have in common
- Songwriters' pianos. Alicia's Keys is an artist's own studio piano. PianoFlex has Pop & Band and "Jazz, Soul & Gospel" groups of presets.
- Close in price: $99 and $79.
- The ring of the strings. Both have sympathetic resonance: the other strings ring along with the notes you play, more so with the sustain pedal down.
- Windows, as a program and a plugin.
Where Alicia's Keys stands out
- An artist's own piano, sampled from her own playing, in her own studio.
- The small details: a release noise for each of the 88 keys, pedal noises, and even the sound of fingers on the keys if you want it.
- Twelve velocity layers for each key, from almost 3,000 samples.
- Native Instruments' world. It's in Komplete Ultimate and Collector's Edition, and plays with Komplete Kontrol keyboards.
- Mac as well as Windows.
Where PianoFlex stands out
- Nothing else to install. PianoFlex plays on its own. Alicia's Keys needs Kontakt Player, a Native Instruments account, and activation through Native Access.
- Small. A 16.6 MB download, where Alicia's Keys is 6.9 GB.
- Every strength of touch. As a modeled piano, PianoFlex has no velocity layers to step between.
- Many pianos, shaped by you: 34 presets in eight groups, and four slots to layer pianos.
- The Character generator. Generate gives the piano a new character, drawn from nearly a billion, and its Strength runs from a subtly different instrument to one unlike any real piano, suitable for film and cinematic music. Variation makes close relatives of one you like, and a preset keeps it.
- Song videos of your MIDI files.
- A free demo that never expires. Alicia's Keys has audio demos, but no demo you can play.
Which to pick
- For Alicia Keys' piano and its recorded details: Alicia's Keys.
- If you own Komplete Ultimate: it's already yours.
- On a Mac: Alicia's Keys.
- For many pianos you can shape, with no other program to install: PianoFlex.
- If you want to play it before you buy: PianoFlex.
Owning both
Together they cost less than many single sampled pianos, and they do different jobs: one artist's piano, and a piano you can turn into many. PianoFlex's demo is here, and Native Instruments has audio demos on its site. This page doesn't compare how they sound. That's for your ears.
The facts side by side
Every fact about Alicia's Keys is from Native Instruments' own pages, checked on 4 November 2026. Prices are list prices in US dollars; sales come and go.
| PianoFlex | Alicia's Keys | |
|---|---|---|
| How it makes its sound | Modeled. It computes every note as you play, from a model of the hammers, strings, soundboard and room. It plays no recordings. | Sampled: Alicia Keys' own grand piano, recorded in her studio. |
| Price | $79, one-time | $99 |
| Download and disk space | 16.6 MB download, 34.5 MB installed | 6.9 GB download (17 GB uncompressed) |
| Memory the maker asks for | 4 GB, with 4 cores or more and 100 MB of disk (the requirements) | 4 GB (6 GB recommended) for Kontakt Player; none given for Alicia's Keys itself |
| Runs on | Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit | Windows 10 or 11; macOS 14 or later |
| Forms | Standalone and VST3 | Inside Kontakt Player: standalone, VST3, AAX; AU on Mac |
| Needs another program | Nothing else | Native Instruments' Kontakt Player (free) or Kontakt |
| Copy protection | A license key, entered once. No account and no online activation. | Online activation through Native Access and a Native ID account |
| Computers per license | No limit on your own computers | 2, not used at the same time |
| Demo | Free and never expires: 20 minutes a session, with eight keys silent; song videos are in the full version | None (audio demos only) |
| Pianos included | 34 presets in eight groups, and four slots to layer pianos | One piano |
More: virtual pianos compared, a table of 28 pianos, and all about PianoFlex.
If something here is out of date, write to [email protected] and we'll correct it.