PianoFlex vs Piano V

Piano V and PianoFlex are close cousins. Both are modeled pianos: Arturia's Phi engine and PianoFlex's engine compute the sound as you play. Piano V brings twelve piano models, from classic grands and uprights to designs with glass and metal frames, inside a production studio of microphones, effects and rooms. PianoFlex brings 34 presets for Windows, each one open to the last setting.

What they have in common

• Small downloads. Piano V is 196 MB and PianoFlex 16.6 MB.
• Simple on top, deep underneath. Piano V's main window shows the essentials, with its Model panel for more. PianoFlex's Piano settings shows as much as you want: Hidden, Mix & touch or All.
• The piano's own parts: the hammers, the soundboard, the resonance of the strings, the microphones, the room and the stereo width.
• Age at a click. Piano V ages its strings; PianoFlex's Age slider puts some keys a little out of tune, like an older piano.
• A velocity curve to fit your keyboard, and a demo that plays 20 minutes a session.

Where Piano V stands out

• Twelve piano models, including experimental ones such as a glass grand and a metal grand.
• A velocity curve that sets itself as you play.
• Production tools built in: a 3-band EQ, a preamp and a compressor, and a convolution reverb with concert halls, clubs and studios.
• Microtuning through MTS-ESP.
• Mac as well as Windows, with AU, AAX and NKS, and part of Arturia's V Collection with many other instruments.

Where PianoFlex stands out

• A new piano at a click. Generate gives a 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 a close relative, and Vary and Randomize move the sliders a little or a lot.
• Shaping from the bass to the treble. Seven settings, such as Hardness, Damper and Knock, can be drawn along the keyboard.
• Four pianos at once, in four slots you can layer in one room.
• 34 presets in eight groups, from concert grands to jazz, uprights, film and experimental pianos.
• Song videos of your MIDI files, and MIDI files rendered to audio.
• A demo that keeps your work. PianoFlex's demo saves presets. Piano V's demo doesn't save or load.
• No account and no activation, where Piano V is activated through the Arturia Software Center.
• $79, where Piano V is $199.

Which to pick

• On a Mac: Piano V.
• For glass and metal pianos, and a mixing chain built in: Piano V.
• If you own V Collection already: Piano V is in it.
• For new piano characters, layers and shaping along the keyboard, on Windows: PianoFlex.
• If you want no account and the lower price: PianoFlex.

Owning both

The two sit happily side by side, and each has its own set of pianos and tools. Both have demos, so play them on your own keyboard: Piano V's is on arturia.com, and PianoFlex's is here. This page doesn't compare how they sound. That's for your ears.

The facts side by side

Every fact about Piano V is from Arturia's own pages, checked on 4 November 2026. Prices are list prices in US dollars; sales come and go.

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.

Sources

• https://www.arturia.com/products/software-instruments/piano-v/overview
• https://www.arturia.com/products/software-instruments/piano-v/resources
• https://www.arturia.com/store/piano-v
• https://www.arturia.com/demo/piano-v