Lesson Lineup vs Duet Partner
Two products for a studio of one. Here is where they differ.
Duet Partner is single-teacher software, like Lesson Lineup, and it is where musicteachershelper.com now sends you. It lets students book themselves by text link and families pay by card; Lesson Lineup does neither, and instead keeps a family ledger, a practice log and a register that works with no signal. Same audience, different trade.
Duet Partner figures read from their public pricing and home pages, September 2026. They are theirs to change — confirm there before deciding.
One teacher, per month
- Duet, monthly $20.00their site also shows $9 promotional
- Duet, annual plan $8.25$99 a year
- Lesson Lineup, founder rate $6.99first 12 billed months
- Lesson Lineup, after that $9.99
Against Duet's monthly price, Lesson Lineup is $156.12 a year less at the founder rate. Against their $99 annual plan it is $15.12 less at the founder rate — and at $9.99, Duet's annual plan is $20.88 a year cheaper than Lesson Lineup. Both offer a 30-day free trial; Duet's families also pay a 1% transaction fee on card payments.
The decision
Stay on Duet Partner, or switch to Lesson Lineup?
This is the closest comparison on the site, and price is not the reason to move. The left box is what Duet does that Lesson Lineup does not, from their own pages.
Stay on Duet Partner if…
- your students book and reschedule themselves through the text links, and you like not being in that loop.
- families pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or ACH through it and you would rather absorb the 1% than chase transfers.
- you are on the $99 annual plan and past our founder window — at $9.99 a month Lesson Lineup costs more.
- statements going out by text message is how your studio communicates.
Switch to Lesson Lineup if…
- you already schedule every lesson yourself and take payment by cash, transfer or card reader — and only need it recorded against the right family.
- you want an append-only ledger per family, with the balance added up from entries rather than stored.
- you want a fee policy on each attendance status, and make-up credits that are issued, booked and expire on their own record.
- you want practice minutes and repertoire on the student's own record, and thirteen CSV reports out the other end.
- you teach somewhere the signal drops and need the register to work anyway.
Side by side
| What | Lesson Lineup | Duet Partner |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial | 30 days, no card | 30 days |
| Price | $6.99 a month for the first 12 billed months (sign up on or before 25 December 2026), then $9.99 | $20 a month, or $99 a year; a $9 monthly promotional rate is also shown on their site. Families pay a 1% fee on card payments |
| Teachers per account | One | One — "only set up to have single teacher access" |
| Who logs in | The teacher only; families have no login | The teacher; students and parents act through text and email links, with no accounts of their own |
| Students book their own lessons | No | Yes — through text links to the teacher's open times |
| Scheduling | Recurring series to a repeat-until date, single-lesson moves, "this and following" edits, double-booking warning before save | Group and individual lesson calendaring |
| Cancellation policy | Each attendance status carries its own billable answer and whether it issues a make-up credit | Not detailed on the pages read |
| Practice log and repertoire | Yes — sessions per student, days this week and in 30, average a day; pieces with status | Not stated on the pages read |
| Money | An append-only family ledger; balances added up from entries on every read; invoices raised from what is owed | Automatic recurring billing; statements sent by text link |
| Families pay online through it | No — recorded after the fact | Yes — card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH; 1% to the family |
| Sending | Nothing is sent — invoices are produced and you send them | Statements and communication by text message and email |
| Reports | Thirteen report types, each exporting CSV | Reporting and "easy tax preparation" |
| Calendar sync, website | None | Not stated on the pages read |
| Works with no connection | Yes — the register, payments and moves commit locally and sync later | Not stated on the pages read; assume it needs a connection |
| Bringing your data in | Expenses from CSV only; students, families and history are typed in | Not stated on the pages read |
"Not stated on the pages read" means exactly that: their pricing and home pages did not say, and we did not guess. Their site is the better source for their side than we are.
Questions
Is Duet Partner the same as Music Teacher's Helper?
As of September 2026, musicteachershelper.com redirects to duetpartner.com. Neither Duet Partner page we read says anything about Music Teacher's Helper, so we can only report the redirect: a teacher searching for Music Teacher's Helper today lands on Duet Partner, and this is the comparison for them.
Is Lesson Lineup affiliated with Duet Partner?
No. Lesson Lineup is an independent product with no connection to Duet Partner. Their name appears on this page only so teachers comparing the two can see the differences side by side.
Is Lesson Lineup cheaper than Duet Partner?
Against their $20 monthly price, yes: $156.12 a year less at the founder rate. Against their $99 annual plan it is closer — $15.12 less at the founder rate — and at Lesson Lineup's $9.99 standard rate, Duet's annual plan is $20.88 a year cheaper than Lesson Lineup. If price is the whole question, the annual plan wins after the founder year, and this page says so.
Who should not switch from Duet Partner to Lesson Lineup?
Anyone whose students book their own lessons through Duet's text links, and anyone whose families pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or ACH through it. Lesson Lineup has neither: only the teacher logs in, and payments are recorded rather than taken.
Can Lesson Lineup import my Duet Partner data?
No. Only expenses import from CSV; students, families and lesson history are typed in. The switching guide is written for MyMusicStaff but the sequence — run both for a month, cut over on an invoice boundary — is the same from anywhere.
Run Lesson Lineup beside Duet Partner for 30 days.
Your Duet account is untouched and no card is asked for. If the left-hand box above turns out to be you, you have lost nothing but the afternoon.
$6.99 a month for your first 12 billed months if you sign up on or before 25 December 2026, $9.99 after that. See also the other comparisons.