Whether you’re a studio veteran, educator, new student, or gigging musician, learning and playing a real acoustic piano can be an enriching experience. It can also be demanding. When you factor in the logistics, size, and weight of needing to transport an acoustic piano, playing can be a touch less appealing. Sure, there are MIDI controllers and a dizzying number of plug-ins and virtual instruments, but then you’re dealing with supplementary systems like computers, speakers, plenty of cabling, and more. And none of these address the real estate required for a grand piano!
Sometimes, less is more, and finding the right digital alternative doesn’t mean compromising on sonic quality or the overall experience of hitting the ebonies and ivories. Contemporary technology has made it easier than ever to immerse yourself in the full fidelity of numerous acoustic pianos — without the commitment of a heavy, fragile, physical instrument. From portable playback and living room lounging to studios and stages around the world, we’re here to help you find the best keyboard and piano of digital delight.
Note: At Sweetwater, we know there’s no such thing as “best” when it comes to music gear. Every player and artist has unique tastes, which is what makes selecting gear so fun! The items on this list feature some of our favorite products from top manufacturers to help you start your buying journey! Explore these recommendations and dive into Sweetwater’s massive collection of gear on our online store. For personalized picks and expert advice, please contact our knowledgeable Sweetwater Sales Engineers at (800) 222-4700!
Best Digital Pianos and Keyboards
To select the digital pianos and keyboards for this year’s list, we relied on sales data, customer ratings, personal experience, and the expert opinions of Sweetwater’s knowledgeable team of employees and Sales Engineers.
We’ve organized our list according to price point and included options for portable and console-style digital pianos and keyboards. Don’t worry — whatever your budget, this list has a great option for you.
Note: If a digital piano on this list is 90% perfect but missing a feature or two, then call or text your Sweetwater Sales Engineer for a personalized recommendation.
- Best Digital Pianos & Keyboards Under $500
- Best Digital Pianos & Keyboards Under $1,500
- Best Digital Pianos & Keyboards Under $3,000
- Best Digital Pianos & Keyboards $3,000 & Above
- Digital Pianos & Keyboards Buying Advice
Best Digital Pianos & Keyboards Under $500
Casio Casiotone CT-S200 61-key Portable Arranger Keyboard
Casio is a brand name that many lovingly associate with the combination tape recorder/keyboard/radios of the 1980s and portable pianos decorating local performance theaters around the country. Casio’s ingenuity and expertise have consistently led to them becoming a household name in the world of keyboards, and the Casiotone CT-S200 is a perfect example of their mobile designs. This portable arranger keyboard is loaded with everything you need, with hundreds of tones across numerous styles, as well as rhythm tracks and digital effects to cultivate the perfect performance atmosphere. Its ergonomic form factor includes a built-in handle for breezy transportation, and its optional battery power means you’re ready to roll whenever the need arises!
Yamaha P-45 88-key Digital Piano with Speakers
When you can buy a motorcycle or jet ski from the same company that offers you your next new keyboard, you know they’re doing something right. From motors to melodies, Yamaha’s broad range of musical know-how is excellently distilled into the P-45 digital piano. This 88-key digital piano is an instrument focused on delivering a realistic piano sound and feel that rivals high-end digital pianos. Its touch-sensitive action allows you to play with finesse, while the AMW stereo sampling sound engine produces pristine piano sounds. And to top it off, you get built-in effects to take your sound to the next level. The P-45 can connect with Yamaha’s iOS apps, enriching your keyboard experience and tailoring it to your needs.
Roland GO:PIANO 61-key Portable Piano
One look at the Roland GO:PIANO immediately conveys a masterful mixture of modern and classic design cues, giving it a sense of familiarity without feeling dated. A portable piano with students and beginner players in mind, the GO:PIANO is brimming with features expertly selected to deliver a lifelike piano experience. You’ll immerse yourself in Roland’s sonorous piano, engaging authentic touch responses across the fully weighted ivories. With built-in speakers, a headphone jack, and optional battery power, portability is a painless priority. Plus, extensive Bluetooth connectivity lets you stream songs straight from your device so you can play along or use the GO:PIANO in the studio with wireless MIDI control.
Korg Liano 88-key Digital Piano
For most people, 61 keys are enough to get the job done with a portable piano, but Korg wasn’t willing to let melodic range be compromised by size. Their Liano digital piano supplies the full scale of an 88-note keyboard for a truly portable instrument, armed with a versatile I/O suite for seamless integration in stage or studio setups, including DAW and MIDI compatibility. Each of its 88 keys is wonderfully responsive and conveys nuance in play, thanks to Korg’s proprietary LS action, which allows you to enjoy the deep, sonorous profiles of the onboard sound engine. Moreover, a staggering 120-voice polyphony ensures uncompromising composition and playback, with 8-watt speakers and battery operation guaranteeing the total piano experience anywhere you go. Additional quality-of-life features include a music stand, PS-3 pedal switch, metronome, and multiple reverbs to enhance your performance.
Alesis Recital Pro 88-key Hammer-action Digital Piano
While weight and size are significant factors when choosing a digital piano, it can’t be overstated how much mileage you can get out of a digital piano that emphasizes sonic output over heft. Fortunately, Alesis masterfully threads the needle with their Recital Pro, serving up 88 keys of weighted hammer-action playback. Its adjustable touch response lets you play your way while a flexible array of onboard effects, including chorus, reverb, and more, add depth and texture to any of the 12 rich presets. The versatile split and layer modes make tremendous use of the 128-note polyphony — perfect for extensive solo composition, duets, or educational play. The built-in metronome and record mode are perfect for practice, too, playing back in crystalline quality via two 20-watt woofers and two 10-watt tweeters.
Best Digital Pianos & Keyboards Under $1,500
Korg D1 88-key Stage Piano/Controller
With decades of celebrated expertise under their belt, Korg knows a few things about taking your sounds to the masses. The D1 is loaded with 88 superlative weighted hammer-action keys. This RH3 keybed masterfully mimics the mass and feel of an acoustic piano, and cutting-edge recording techniques ensure dynamic, responsive playback that allows for the most nuanced expression. PCM sound generation technology undergirds the rich, high-quality sonics of its 30 onboard patches, which are readily augmented by studio-grade, multi-level effects and half-pedaling support. To truly accommodate, the D1 offers five profiles of touch control alongside a metronome and MIDI I/O to easily integrate into numerous stage or studio setups. From vintage pianos and sonorous choirs to opulent organs and string suites, the D1 is brimming with character and dedication to sonic detail at home and in any performance.
Roland FP-30X Digital Piano with Speakers
Few can lay claim to such a vast swatch of sonic territory like Roland, and the FP-30X is exactly what you want in something billed as a digital piano: onboard speakers, responsive action, an 88-key range, and a sleek form factor. Well, you want it to sound good, too, but that’s a given, thanks to Roland’s cutting-edge SuperNATURAL sound engine, which meticulously models piano sounds for precision playback. Its 256-note polyphony provides tremendous range, and the PHA-4 Standard keybed ensures dynamic, responsive playing via progressive hammer action and escapement, making for a natural, nuanced experience. The built-in speakers evoke rich sounds that are perfect for a variety of venues, while a hearty I/O suite enables both audio and MIDI connectivity over Bluetooth or USB. Plus, a 3-band EQ lets you tailor your sound to your preferences, and the Piano Designer function encourages deep customization of your piano tone.
Casio Privia PX-770 Digital Piano
Because of the weight and spatial footprint of most acoustic pianos, anyone would be forgiven for factoring as much into their decision. Casio — the purveyor of portability — has applied its history of cutting-edge sound design to bring vivid sonics to your life with the Privia PX-770. Loaded with 88 scaled hammer-action keys, this digital piano utilizes Casio’s proprietary AiR sound source to evoke lifelike pianos, while the Tri-Sensor II keybed ensures nuanced, dynamic response and expression. Experience the 128-note polyphony via the onboard 2-track recorder or with the duet mode, perfect for any of the 19 built-in sounds. The included expression pedals and modular housing let you easily move your Privia, and its simulated ebony/ivory textures provide a realistic feel to help you play exquisitely, anywhere, and with ease.
Yamaha Arius YDP-145B Digital Home Piano with Bench
The definitive at-home piano experience doesn’t always mean the economic and spatial cost of an acoustic piano. Because Yamaha knows both sides of the coin so well, they’re able to deliver a premier digital piano that’s brimming with detail: the Arius YDP-145B. Its GHS weighted keys span its 88-note range and are dynamic and responsive with variable resistance as you move up the scale. Its matte key finish and variable touch sensitivity let you personalize your playing without compromising realism. Extensive sound modeling includes Damper Resonance DSP and the acoustic optimizer to deliver a full range of playback that masterfully reproduces the lush sonics of numerous flagship Yamaha pianos, including the vaunted CFX concert grand. Moreover, Intelligent Acoustic Control automatically tailors the EQ of the robust, built-in speakers to provide unimpeded tone at any volume.
Kawai KDP120 Digital Home Piano
Nearly a century of instrument research and design
Over a century of Japanese craftsmanship has driven Kawai in their philosophy of designing pianos with what Shigeru Kawai, their second president and son of its founder, called “the sound preferred around the world.” This ethos is heard in the painstaking multi-sampling of the unyielding dynamic range and 192-note polyphony of the KDP120. This digital home piano uses Kawai’s industry-leading Harmonic Imaging sound engine to power its 88-key range and numerous onboard patches, including the 9-foot Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano. Its 20-watt stereo speaker system includes multiple sonic shaping tools, with two headphone ports that feature five EQ types that encourage the usage of its versatile dual and four hands modes. Support for iOS and Android apps lets you play to your own tune, while Bluetooth and USB MIDI connectivity ensure streamlined interoperative use. Sostenuto, soft, and damper pedal controls inspire lifelike playback with half-pedal support.
Best Digital Pianos & Keyboards Under $3,000
Kurzweil K2700 88-key Synthesizer Workstation
Regarding stage keys, finding the right blend of sonic flexibility and performance features that coexist in a portability-minded package can be challenging. Fortunately, Kurzweil’s decades of technological innovation make the K2700 a masterclass in multimodal mastery, boasting 88 fully weighted hammer-action keys to express every nuance of your playing. Gigging keyboardists will appreciate the vast selection of high-quality presets — over 1,500 factory programs are at your disposal and there is an additional 3.5GB of user storage space for loading custom sounds. You’ll never have to worry about latency when loading your presets, as the K2700 comes with FlashPlay technology, which has almost zero load time. Moreover, deep sound-shaping tools, eight arpeggiators, and onboard effects ensure you’re never short on creative possibilities. Enjoy a 6-operator FM engine, KB3 ToneReal organs, 16 riff generators — and that’s just scratching the surface!
Yamaha CP73 73-note Stage Piano
Though Yamaha refers to their CP73 as a “stage piano,” the accuracy of that label might conceal its true potential. Decades of synthesizer innovation are on full display with the CP73, as indicated by its detailed, ergonomically designed, one-to-one user interface. The CP in its name, short for Combo Piano, features Balanced Hammer Standard action across its 73 keys, with five touch sensitivity profiles to accommodate your playstyle. More than 50 voices deliver a rich array of sounds, from vintage organs and strings to electric pianos and synths. Thanks to the power of the AWM2 tone generator, you can experience a stunning 128-voice polyphony to fully explore the immaculate emulation of Yamaha’s own premium grand pianos as well as the Bösendorfer, a piano handcrafted in the Viennese tradition. Flexible audio and MIDI I/O, onboard effects, and seamless sound switching make the CP73 a venerable workhorse for the studio or the stage.
Casio PX-S7000 Digital Piano
Casio continues its crusade of vintage-inspired aesthetics with the PX-S7000 digital piano. Its sleek form, wood legs, and mustard finish expertly pair mid-century modern stylings with cutting-edge technology, perfect for at home (near the conversation pit, of course) or at the gig. Its 88-key range lets you explore the vivid sonics of 400 onboard sounds with 256-voice polyphony. Casio’s Multi-dimensional Morphing AiR sound engine powers its versatile acoustic simulator, boasting 10 levels of adjustment alongside the 3-pedal setup to ensure maximum expression. Rich onboard effects, 10 hammer response levels, and five sensitivity levels allow for nuanced, personalized playing, with Casio application connections for deeper sound design. Extensive I/O options include USB, MIDI, Bluetooth, and more, letting you connect just about anywhere when the lush, 4-channel, 4-speaker Spatial Sound System isn’t being used. There are even two headphone jacks for duet or educational needs! Did we mention it can be battery powered?
Best Digital Pianos & Keyboards $3,000 & Above
Nord Piano 5 73-key Stage Piano
While you may not have played the previous four, you’d be forgiven for thinking of the Nord Piano 5 as a sequel. Its cutting-edge architecture includes dual-engine designs for both pianos and synths, along with a responsive triple sensor keybed with grand weighted action. Advanced String Resonance and Virtual Hammer Action technologies allow for complex, dynamic play across 73 keys, eliciting lifelike realism at your fingertips — all the way down to the triple pedal unit at your feet. Soft and sostenuto pedals are accompanied by Nord’s dynamic sustain pedal, expertly emulating the nuances of a grand piano’s damper mechanism. A suite of powerful stereo effects and instantly accessible dark and bright modes let you craft rich soundscapes across its 120-note polyphony. A diverse sound bank, performance-minded interface, and extensive sonic sculpting tools ensure the Piano 5 is flexible enough to fit almost any stage or studio arrangement without ever compromising on power.
Nord Stage 4 88 Stage Keyboard
The newest member of the Nord Stage family has created quite a fuss at Sweetwater — and for a good reason. As a worthy successor to the discontinued Nord Stage 3 88 stage keyboard, the Nord Stage 4 88 stage keyboard delivers a triple-sensor, weighted hammer-action keybed, improving notational response over its predecessors while adding subtle nuance for enhanced sound accuracy. 512 program locations provide up to 2GB of the same classic organ, piano, and synth presets as before, but now they’re injected with a new collection of sounds for endless audial experimentation. A complete effects bay with new pump and spin effects enables many fresh possibilities, including sidechain simulation and an improved reverb response. Topped off with even more user presets and improved synth polyphony, the Stage 4 outperforms its family status tenfold.
Kawai MP11SE 88-key Professional Stage Piano
Decades spent in pursuit of piano perfection are expertly executed through the Kawai MP11SE professional stage piano, thoughtfully and methodically blending acoustic accouterments with stage-minded digital design. Its unique form factor is owed in part to the Grand Feel wooden-key action, which is armed with triple sensors and let-off detection to elicit an unrivaled emulation of acoustic piano expression. Combined with Kawai’s proprietary Harmonic Imaging XL technology, each of the 40 onboard sounds is faithfully reproduced with tremendous, dynamic range. Jazz, funk, pop, and concert grands are accompanied by vintage electric pianos and more, readily augmented by a triple pedal unit and more than 100 onboard effects to carve out your aural landscape. Wooden panels adorn the sides while a straightforward interface guides you through an array of recording options, pitch and mod wheels, velocity curves, and more. Connectivity options abound via MIDI, USB, XLR, and 1/4-inch to ensure the MP11SE is sounding out on any stage.
Yamaha Clavinova CLP-875 Console Digital Piano with Bench
Since 1983, Yamaha has refined their Clavinova as a technologically advanced, sonically rich alternative to the traditional acoustic piano. Among the CLP-875‘s 38 presets are two painstakingly engineered re-creations of two iconic grand pianos — Yamaha’s CFX and the Imperial Bösendorfer — complete with 88 wooden keys. The GrandTouch keybed features an optimized fulcrum length for a superlative range of physical control, combined with Yamaha’s Grand Expression Modeling, Grand Acoustic Imaging, and Virtual Resonance Modeling, evoking lifelike sonics with maximum expressive freedom. Its GP Response Damper pedal produces a genuine resistance curve for nuanced pedaling. A touch-sensitive control panel seamlessly navigates onboard effects and EQ parameters and “disappears” after use. Playback variation abounds with Binaural Sampling technology for 3D sound via headphones and fortepiano voicing that mimics how classical compositions would’ve been heard. Built-in multitrack recording, Bluetooth audio, and MIDI connectivity let you integrate and personalize your solo play from practice to performance.
Dexibell VIVO S10 88-key Digital Stage Piano
On looks alone, the Dexibell VIVO S10 oozes with panache, drawing from vintage-inspired aesthetics to conceal their state-of-the-art CORTEX-Quadcore Advanced T2L (True to Life) hybrid sampling/modeling technology that allows for this digital piano’s diverse armature of evocative, lifelike sonics and unlimited polyphony. The VIVO S10 fuses form and function as its 88 weighted hammer-action keys utilize a hybrid wooden-key design, complete with ivory/ebony touch surfaces to give you the authentic piano experience and more, thanks to the nuanced aftertouch capabilities and flexible 4-zone MIDI options. Motorized faders, customizable rotary encoders, and flexible texturizing tools and effects take the cutting-edge capabilities of the T2L engine to new heights. What’s more, XXL Holophonic wave sampling delivers hi-fi audio and means extra-long samples to ensure rich, natural sounds with incredible nuance.
Roland GP-6 Digital Baby Grand Piano with Bench
As any pianist knows, the combination of form and function can lead to radically different results with an instrument. To that end, the Roland GP–6 is the digital answer to the sonorous tradition of the acoustic baby grand piano. Cutting-edge technology delivers lifelike sonics with Roland’s SuperNATURAL piano modeling sound engine through a 6.1-channel, 76-watt sound system. Dimensional depth can be honed with Roland’s Piano Designer, accommodating deep control over nearly every facet of play. Experience more than 300 onboard sounds with 88 dynamic, responsive, hybrid wood keys, which masterfully emulate the genuine ebony/ivory feel and have 100 touch sensitivity profiles to personalize your time. Meticulous engineering ensures continuous detection for your damper pedal and assignable sostenuto functions. Premier audio doesn’t stop at their Acoustic Projection speaker system as headphone playback includes Roland’s 3D ambience technology for unimpeded immersion.
Digital Pianos & Keyboards Buying Advice
- Short History of Digital Pianos
- Portable vs. Console Digital Pianos and Keyboards
- Shopping Digital Pianos by Price
- Weighted vs. Unweighted Keys
- Internal Sounds and Polyphony
- Keyboard Amps and DI Boxes
- Stands, Cases, and Accessories
Short History of Digital Pianos
Digital pianos and keyboards evolved from the electric pianos and organs that gained popularity during the 1970s. While those instruments used analog circuitry to create their sounds, the digital pianos of the 1980s relied on emerging digital technology to produce more realistic piano sounds, organ sounds, and more using a combination of sampled sounds and synthesis. Digital pianos had the advantages of being lighter in weight and more affordable than both acoustic pianos and previous generations of analog electronic instruments. By the end of the 1980s, digital pianos had become ubiquitous, finding favor among professional players, hobbyists, and student musicians. Since then, the technology has continuously matured, with today’s digital pianos far outpacing the performances of earlier instruments.
Portable vs. Console Digital Pianos and Keyboards
Digital pianos come in two standard configurations: portable digital pianos and console digital pianos. Portable digital pianos and keyboards require a separate keyboard stand, and they are preferred by gigging musicians as they can easily be transported to gigs. Console digital pianos have integrated bases, ranging from compact footprints to large models that replicate the look of traditional upright pianos or even baby grand pianos. These instruments are generally dedicated to homes, recording studios, educational institutions, houses of worship, and commercial facilities.
Shopping Digital Pianos by Price
Digital pianos and keyboards are available at numerous price points, as evidenced by our list. Lower-priced instruments are aimed at beginners and casual players, and they often feature unweighted keys and a more limited selection of built-in sounds. As prices increase on digital pianos and keyboards, so do features. Higher-end digital pianos are typically equipped with weighted keyboards, have a more extensive selection of sounds (often with improved fidelity and realism), and may offer sound design capabilities. You’ll find console-style grand, baby grand, and upright digital pianos with built-in hi-fi speaker systems at the highest end. Sweetwater makes shopping by price simple with our filters. Select a price range or enter a custom price range to narrow choices according to your budget.
Weighted Keys vs. Non-weighted Keys
An important distinction between digital pianos is whether they are equipped with weighted or unweighted keys. Weighted keys mimic the feel of an acoustic piano, providing a similar resistance and rebound. Unweighted keys (also referred to as synth-action keys) provide minimal resistance and have a springier feel. Splitting the difference are semi-weighted keys, often found on mid-priced keyboards and mid-priced to high-end synthesizers. Weighted keys are not necessarily better than semi-weighted or synth-action keys. In fact, many synth players prefer the latter. That said, if you’re primarily interested in playing traditional piano compositions, a digital piano with a weighted keyboard will give you the most authentic acoustic piano experience.
Internal Sounds and Polyphony
Two other factors to consider, when shopping for a digital piano, are the number and/or quality of the internal sounds (also known as presets, voices, or tones) and the instrument’s polyphony.
Presets vary greatly between digital pianos and keyboards, and manufacturers are known for specific sounds. The best way to determine which sounds you like best is to watch product demos (like those found on Sweetwater’s Keyboard Demos & Reviews playlist on YouTube) or to try out the digital pianos in person. You’ll also want to decide how many sounds you would like to have available. For instance, you might only need a small collection of piano, electric piano, and organ sounds if those are what you intend to play the most. Conversely, if you are playing in numerous styles, then you might desire a full complement of sounds, including synth sounds, percussion sounds, and so on, and the ability to edit your sounds.
Polyphony refers to the number of notes that can sound simultaneously. The maximum polyphony on a traditional acoustic piano is 88 since you can play every note on the keyboard at once. Like presets, the maximum polyphony of digital pianos varies from model to model, ranging from 48 notes to unlimited polyphony. You might wonder why you would need more notes of polyphony than there are keys on the digital piano. Expanded polyphony allows for playing multitimbral presets (sounds made up of two or more instruments) and sequencing and playing over full band arrangements on your digital piano.
Keyboard Amps and DI Boxes
Some digital pianos (particularly console digital pianos) include built-in speakers. Those that don’t will require amplification. For personal monitoring, almost every digital piano is equipped with a headphone jack. They will also have a line output (either mono or stereo) for running into a keyboard amp, DI box, or recording interface. Some keyboard players enjoy having a dedicated keyboard amp on stage, which gives them control over their stage volume. Alternatively, you can plug your keyboard into a DI box, which connects to a venue’s mixing console. For recording, you can generally plug right into the line inputs of an audio interface or hardware preamp.
Stands, Cases, and Accessories
When purchasing a digital keyboard or piano, there are some useful accessories to have. First, you’ll need a keyboard stand if you’ve opted for a portable digital piano rather than a console digital piano. These are available in many configurations and at numerous price points. Next, consider purchasing a case or gig bag if you intend to travel and one is not included with your chosen digital piano. Additional accessories include expression pedals, sustain pedals, and instrument cables. If you’re unsure what accessories you’ll need, please get in touch with your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700. They’ll be happy to help you find the right gear to go with your new digital piano.
What Are You Waiting for? Get Started with a New Digital Piano Today!
So, what are you waiting for? There’s never been a better time to buy a digital piano. In fact, there’s never a wrong time to buy a digital piano! Shop digital pianos and keyboards at Sweetwater or reach out to your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700 to get started today!
