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 (if they have one) for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date.

General

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

Multitrack recorder	Creator	Cost (USD)	Software license
Pro Tools	Digidesign		Proprietary
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
Jokosher	Jokosher	Free	GNU GPL
Rosegarden	Rosegarden	Free	GNU GPL
Mixcraft	Acoustica	$50	Proprietary
Sonar	Cakewalk	$139 / $369 / $619 / $719	Proprietary
REAPER	Cockos	$40 Non-commercial / $200 Commercial License	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	DSSI	RTAS	AU	DXi	MAS
Pro Tools	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Tracktion	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Garageband	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Partial (via converter)	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Logic Express/Studio	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Partial (via converter)	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
FL studio	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
n-Track	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Cubase	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Terminated (SX3.1)	No
Ardour	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	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
Rosegarden	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Mixcraft	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Sonar	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Partial (via converter)	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
REAPER	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No

File format support

The various file types the software can read/write.

	OMF	AAF	MIDI	WAV	MP3	AAC	Ogg	REX2
Pro Tools	Yes	Yes
Tracktion	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
GarageBand	No	No
Logic Express/Studio	Partial	Yes
FL Studio	No	No
N-Track	No	No
Cubase	Yes	No
Ardour	No	No
Audacity	No	No
Jokosher	No	No
Rosegarden	No	No
Mixcraft	No	No
Sonar	Yes	No
REAPER	No	No