Comparison of digital audio editors

The following tables compare general and technical information between a number of Multitrack recording programs. Please see the individual products articles for further information.

General

Basic general information about the software: creator/company, license/price etc.

Multitrack recorder	Creator	Cost (USD)	Software license	External Hardware Required
Pro Tools	Digidesign		Proprietary	Digidesign components - Minimum c. $200
Tracktion	Mackie	$99 / $249	Proprietary
Garageband	Apple	$79 with iLife, or free with a new Mac	Proprietary
Logic Express/Studio	Apple	$199 / $499	Proprietary
n-Track	Fasoft	$54 / $79	Proprietary
FL studio	Image Line Software	$49 / $99 / $149 / $361	Proprietary
Cubase	Steinberg	$199 / $499 / $999	Proprietary
Ardour	Ardour	Free	GNU GPL
Audacity	Audacity	Free	GNU GPL
Kristal	Kreatives	Free	Proprietary
Jokosher	Jokosher	Free	GNU GPL
Traverso	Traverso	Free	GNU GPL
Rosegarden	Rosegarden	Free	GNU GPL
Qtractor	Qtractor	Free	GNU GPL
Mixcraft	Acoustica	$50	Proprietary
Sonar	Cakewalk	$139 / $369 / $619 / $719	Proprietary
REAPER	Cockos	"Uncrippled unexpiring shareware" / $50 Non-commercial / $225 Commercial License	Proprietary
Live	Ableton	$499	Proprietary
RiffWorks	Sonoma Wire Works	Free / $129	Proprietary

Operating system and plugin support

The operating systems and plugin types the software can run natively (without emulation).

	Microsoft Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	Rewire	JACK	VST	LADSPA	LV2	DSSI	RTAS	AU	DXi	MAS
Pro Tools	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Tracktion	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Garageband	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Partial (via converter)	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Logic Express/Studio	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Partial (via converter)	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
FL studio	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
n-Track	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Cubase	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Terminated (SX3.1)	No
Ardour	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes		No	No	Yes	No	No
Audacity	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes		No	No	No	No	No
Jokosher	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes		No	No	No	No	No
Traverso	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes			Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Rosegarden	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No	No	No	No
Qtractor	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Mixcraft	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes[1]	No
Sonar	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
REAPER	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
RiffWorks	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

File format support

The various file types the software can read/write.

	OMF	AAF	MIDI	WAV	MP3	AAC	Ogg	REX2	Others
Pro Tools	Yes [2]	Yes [2]	Yes	Yes	Yes (with license)			Yes ( 7.4)	AIFF
Tracktion	No [3]	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes [4]	Yes [5]	Yes
GarageBand	No	No	Yes[6]		Yes	Yes
Logic Express/Studio	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
FL Studio	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
N-Track	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	AIFF, FLAC, WMA, EDL
Cubase	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes [7]
Ardour	No [8]	No [9]
Audacity	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Jokosher	No	No
Traverso	No	No		Yes	Yes		Yes		FLAC, WavPack
Rosegarden	No	No
Qtractor	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	AIFF, CAF, HTK, IFF/8SVX, MAT4/5, PAF, PVF, RAW, SD2, SDS, SF, VOC, W64, XI
Mixcraft	No	No	Yes[10]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	AIFF (import only)
Sonar	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes				W64, CAF, SD2, FLAC, AU
REAPER	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes		FLAC, WavPack, Monkey's Audio
RiffWorks	No	No	No	Yes [5]	No	No	Yes [5]	Yes

Notes

1. DirectX effects support only.
2. with DV Toolkit or DigiTranslator addons
3. Mackie - Tracktion 2 FAQ
4. Apple Loops support (in 3.0)
5. Export only.
6. Import only, Version 2 or higher.
7. Import only.
8. What's about OMF support ? | ardour
9. In development
10. Import only.