A generation ago, you needed thousands of dollars’ worth of gear to record a music album at a professional level—and that’s without microphones, speakers, and other accessories. Now, digital audio workstations (DAWs) can deliver hundreds of audio tracks, versatile effect plug-ins, and incredibly flexible editing tools for a few hundred dollars (or free). I’ve used DAWs since my first multitrack MIDI recordings with a Korg M1 and Atari ST in the late 1980s; produced sound effects and music for video games for years; and recorded, mixed, and mastered albums for indie artists. Based on my expertise and testing, Apple GarageBand (for free users), Apple Logic Pro (for the Mac faithful), Avid Pro Tools (for studio workflows), and Steinberg Cubase (for PC editors) are our Editors’ Choice winners. Still, you should check out all our top picks below, followed by advice about choosing the right DAW for your recording needs.
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
Best for Mainstream Audio Production
Apple Logic Pro
- Powerful, customizable AI session players
- Large array of bundled instruments and effects
- No copy protection, unlike many competitors
- Terrific value
- UI isn’t very customizable
- A few limitations to scoring film and video
For Mac owners, Logic Pro does it all. It costs hundreds less than competing DAWs and not much more than budget options like Cockos Reaper. For version 11, the first full number update in a decade, the app adds a powerful AI keyboard and bass Session Players, a new ChromaGlow dynamics processor, and the ability to separate existing recordings into stems, all while retaining its core excellence. It’s another stellar update to a best-in-class DAW.
Logic Pro is packed with virtual instruments and effects plug-ins, including 6,000 presets and more than 13,500 royalty-free loops. It also has a useful Live performance and composition mode that gives you much of what Ableton Live offers.
Apple Logic Pro is the best DAW for most people who own Macs—unless you have a high-end professional studio, in which case we’d give the nod to Pro Tools for its extensive hardware and support policies and its unparalleled audio editing workflow. But Logic Pro remains a do-it-all app for composers, mix engineers, mastering, film scoring, and post-production. It also has two levels of menus, which let you simplify the UI while you’re getting used to it or upgrading from GarageBand.
Audio Tracks
Unlimited
Instruments
28
Effects
61
Bundled Content
75GB
Learn More
Apple Logic Pro Review
Best for Mac Recording on a Budget
Apple GarageBand
- Streamlined interface
- Supports 24-bit recording and third-party plug-ins
- Versatile Producer Packs
- Enjoyable instrument lessons
Unlike the cartoonish version that debuted in the early aughts, GarageBand features a surprisingly serious presentation that roughly mirrors the high-end Logic. Although GarageBand lacks Logic’s fantastic flexibility, a vast array of instruments, and powerful mixing and mastering features, it’s almost as powerful when handling other tasks. The fact that GarageBand is free makes it all the better.
GarageBand offers easy music recording for novices and pros alike, and it comes free with every Mac. And it’s still one of the best ways to learn piano or guitar with a computer.
Audio Tracks
255
Instruments
Presets Only
Effects
48
Bundled Content
15GB
Learn More
Apple GarageBand Review
Best for Virtual Instruments
Steinberg Cubase
- Responsive, rock-solid audio engine
- Comprehensive editing and automation support
- Robust instrument and plug-in bundle
- Redesigned MixConsole is terrific
Steinberg Cubase has a long and storied history in the music industry, first appearing on the Atari ST in the late 1980s before migrating to Macs and PCs. Cubase Pro is a powerful, ultra-flexible recording and production environment, a top-notch digital audio workstation particularly suited to MIDI editing and running virtual instruments. Its redesigned MixConsole in version 13 and dozens of additional tweaks have put it at the top of our list for PCs. It’s also terrific on Macs, although Apple Logic Pro offers comparable power at a lower price.
Cubase Pro is well suited for music composition—and is, in our opinion, the smoothest of the major DAWs at this—although it’s also a capable recording and post-production tool, with its exceptional MixConsole and flexible editing facilities.
Audio Tracks
Unlimited
Instruments
6
Effects
87
Bundled Content
50GB
Learn More
Steinberg Cubase Review
Best for Compatibility With Pro Studios
Avid Pro Tools
- Still the cleanest audio editing workflow on the planet
- Fast 64-bit recording and mixing engine
- High-end hardware and support policies are tops in the industry
- Expensive, subscription-only pricing (with a caveat)
Avid has unlocked Pro Tools, its venerable audio recording and editing software, for a new generation while maintaining its status as the standard cross-platform solution for professional music, film, games, and broadcast production worldwide. Buying into Pro Tools, in whatever capacity, will mean your projects have the largest potential compatibility base should you want to work with other musicians, forward a project to a producer, or hire a mixing engineer who wants to look at the actual track data and plug-ins you used, and not just a stack of tracks you exported as individual audio files. And its workflow for veteran mix engineers remains second to none.
Many users have been critical of Avid’s move to a subscription-based support model. Alas, the company has doubled down on this and has gone subscription-only.
Pro Tools works well on Macs and PCs. But Apple Logic Pro edges it out on Macs, and the redesigned Cubase Pro is a better value on PCs. Pro Tools is ideal for larger studios with lots of outboard hardware and the need for extensive support networks. A reintroduced free version (Pro Tools Intro) lets a new generation of up-and-coming engineers get on board again.
Audio Tracks
2048
Instruments
8
Effects
120
Bundled Content
15GB
Learn More
Avid Pro Tools Review
Best for Live Stage Performance
Ableton Live
- Inspirational clip-based live performance and composition workflow
- Excellent new Mood Reel and Drone Lab packs
- Fast navigation
- Powerful automation
- No notation view
- No pitch correction tool
- Still not an all-purpose DAW despite the high price
Ableton Live is a powerful all-in-the-box solution for composing and performing live music, particularly electronic-influenced tunes. Since its launch in 2001, Ableton Live has become the go-to environment for music creation for many musicians, with an eye toward real-time performance on stage. If you take to Ableton Live’s intuitive clip-based approach to building music tracks, you may find yourself completely immersed, creating new songs all the time and never needing another program.
Anyone who composes electronic music with an eye toward live performance or wants to turn on-the-spot performances into recorded tracks will thrive with Ableton Live’s approach.
Audio Tracks
Unlimited
Instruments
17
Effects
60
Bundled Content
75GB
Learn More
Ableton Live Review
Best for Editing Podcasts
Audacity
- Free
- New real-time tools and bar-beat grid amp up music recording capabilities
- Lots of editing options ideal for dialogue, sound effects, and trimming music tracks
- Supports multitrack audio playback and batch processing
- No multitrack recording
- Mixer view lacks features
A powerful, free, open-source editor that’s been available for years, Audacity works smoothly with up to 32-bit/384kHz audio, complete with built-in dithering. The program lets you easily import, mix, and combine audio tracks (stereo, mono, or even multitracked recording) and render the output as one. It also offers flexible editing down to the sample level and spectrogram and spectral views for analyzing frequency response. While you get unlimited undo and redos, Audacity’s edits are almost always destructive, so it won’t replace a proper digital audio workstation like Avid Pro Tools and Apple Logic Pro.
If you want to get started in podcasting or recording music, it’s tough to go wrong with Audacity. A powerful, free, open-source audio editor that’s been available for years, Audacity is still the go-to choice for quick-and-dirty audio work. Professionals looking for multitrack post-production and broadcast tools should take a closer look at Adobe Audition.
Audio Tracks
Unlimited
Effects
41
Bundled Content
None
Learn More
Audacity Review
Best for PC Recording on a Budget
Cockos Reaper
- Multi-channel audio recording, mixing, and mastering at a bargain price
- Useful new track comping tools
- Heavily customizable
- Fast, with an extremely light memory footprint
- No built-in instruments or loops
- Unintuitive interface
Reaper delivers live audio and virtual instrument recording, a full mixing console, accurate notation editing, and video scoring support. Unlike many competing DAWs, Reaper lets you build your own menus, toolbars, and macros and change the entire look and color scheme of the interface. It’s a complex program requiring study— perhaps the opposite of something like Apple’s GarageBand. But put in the time, load it up with some free (or paid) third-party plug-ins, and it pays actual dividends in power and flexibility.
Reaper covers nearly all the bases of a Pro Tools or Cubase-equipped workstation at a fraction of the price. Composers, producers, and garage bands (the real kind) on a budget will especially want to take a close look.
Audio Tracks
Unlimited
Effects
34
Bundled Content
None
Learn More
Cockos Reaper Review
Best for High-End Mastering
Magix Sequoia Pro
- Top-shelf support for mastering and distribution formats
- Excellent four-point audio and crossfade editors
- Rock-solid Hybrid Audio Engine offers 32-bit float recording and 512 channels of I/O
Sequoia is the industry standard for a complete mixing and mastering environment, particularly for classical recordings, live broadcasts, and prepping recordings for vinyl or high-resolution digital distribution. However, its price puts it out of range for all but the highest-end users. To Sequoia’s credit, it is a superset of the popular Magix Samplitude. That means it includes every last instrument, effect, and feature of the latter program, plus additional Sequoia-only features primarily targeted at the mastering and broadcast markets. In other words, it’s as much a full DAW as mastering software.
Not most people, for sure. If you have the bucks, Magix Sequoia is a long-running top choice for high-end classical mastering and broadcast professionals. It’s a do-it-all program that takes you from inspired composition through finished masters ready for duplication and distribution. Sequoia’s object-oriented, multi-point editing is unparalleled. Most engineers and producers don’t need to drop this kind of cash on audio production software, though.
Audio Tracks
Unlimited
Instruments
22
Effects
38
Bundled Content
100GB
Learn More
Magix Sequoia Pro Review
Best for Fast Audio Editing
PreSonus Studio One
- Fast workflow for recording and mixing
- Excellent chord- and pattern-based composition tools
- Improved interface
- Could really use some new instruments
- Interface can get pretty cluttered
PreSonus reinvented the common digital audio workstation with Studio One. Perhaps more than any DAW we’ve tested recently, Studio One’s smooth workflow makes it easy to record audio, compose music, and mix, and it simultaneously feels like a mature workstation. It’s as if someone took Pro Tools, removed many unnecessary mouse button presses, and rearranged the menus and dialogs to make sense for people today, as opposed to those with analog mix console experience.
Studio One doesn’t scale to larger studios as well as Pro Tools, and its recent moves in the direction of subscription pricing have confused and confounded its existing user base. But it’s still an inspired choice for anyone who needs a serious DAW, particularly for tracking and mixing.
Audio Tracks
Unlimited
Instruments
5
Effects
39
Bundled Content
30GB
Learn More
PreSonus Studio One Review
Best for Making Beats
Image-Line FL Studio
- Brilliant loop and pattern-based MIDI composition tools
- Sharp, colorful UI with the latest round of improvements
- Kepler synth delivers analog Roland vibes
- Visible automation clips are easy to manipulate
- Free lifetime updates
- Still not intuitive for regular multitrack recording
- Lacks notation editor
Image-Line’s FL Studio, known affectionately by long-term fans as FruityLoops (the app’s original name when it debuted in 1998), has matured into a powerful DAW. Although it’s still clearly geared for electronic music production “in the box,” instead of recording live musicians playing acoustic instruments, you can record or create just about any audio project with it. If your memory of FL Studio is closer to its roots—when the Belgian company’s program looked more like a 1980s Amiga tracker than a proper DAW—prepare to be amazed at how far the program has come.
FL Studio lets you produce some of today’s slickest beats right up to full electronic dance music tracks. If that sounds like your style, FL Studio could be key to unlocking your creativity. It caters to step sequencer and pattern-based playlist fans more than those expecting a more linear multitrack recording experience.
Audio Tracks
500
Instruments
26
Effects
67
Bundled Content
10GB
Learn More
Image-Line FL Studio Review
Best for Post-Production and Broadcast
Adobe Audition
- Strong audio-restoration, sound-removal, and noise-reduction tools
- Loudness Meter is a boon for targeting streaming services
- Can finally cut and paste effects between mixer channels
- Useful visualization tools
- Adheres to film and television broadcast standards for audio
- Only available via an expensive monthly subscription
- Lacks MIDI and virtual instrument support
- Limited scoring facilities
From topping off your audio clips and getting them to sit just right in a final video project or podcast, to crafting sound effects for video games and ducking music to spotlight voice-overs, Audition excels. It’s a powerful, cross-platform suite that’s in its own category. It has specialized tools for cleaning up or restoring audio. It offers precision, nondestructive editing for corporate and commercial videos and podcasts. Unlike Audacity, which is a much simpler program, it’s also stellar in post-production.
Audition is a comprehensive audio editor for anyone interested in video post-production, podcasts, and audio restoration. It makes sense as a supplement to a video editor or as part of an existing CC subscription. Although Audition can function as a DAW, it’s too limited and expensive for that, given its lack of music composition tools.
Audio Tracks
128
Effects
50
Bundled Content
8GB
Learn More
Adobe Audition Review
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The Best Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) for 2025
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Buying Guide: The Best Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) for 2025
How to Pick the Right DAW
If you were recording 20 or 30 years ago, a modern DAW might seem to have limitless possibilities. If you are coming in fresh, though, it might seem hopelessly complex. Choosing the right audio software can be pretty tricky. Most famous packages like Cubase Pro, Logic Pro, and Pro Tools have existed for decades. They’ve grown incredibly powerful and, as a result, have user interfaces as complex as, well, professional hardware mix consoles.
Real consoles sure look cool (Credit: SSL/Funk Studios)
Before we get to the specifics, the most straightforward program for audio editing is a two-track editor; the most famous example here is likely the free Audacity. While Audacity aspires to some fundamental multitrack recording with overdubs, its real use is as a solid stereo editor. If you’re recording a podcast or editing a clip of your kid’s piano recital that you recorded on your phone, Audacity is an excellent choice; you can probably start and stop there. If you need something more sophisticated, read on.
It helps to think about the kinds of projects you want to create. Are you planning to produce beats for hip-hop or fully electronic compositions? Do you want to record multiple musicians playing live instruments at once? Will you use your setup to score for videos or movies, or create sound effects and dialogue for TV and video games? Do you need to produce fully polished, printed scores, or do you prefer to work with musical notes and staves? Do you plan on tuning the pitch of vocal performances? Working out the answers to these questions up front will help you narrow your choices.
Numerous venerable (and excellent) recording magazines have reviewed these applications many times over the years. That’s great for the existing user base of each DAW, but maybe not always quite as clear for newcomers. In our reviews, we do our best to approach each product as a whole rather than devoting most of the space to just the latest features from the most recent update.
Ableton Live (Credit: Ableton/PCMag)
What Comes With Each DAW?
The good news is all of the packages we tested can more or less do all of the above tasks, with a few notable exceptions. The trick is that each program has strengths in different areas, and some tasks might be a bit more complicated in one than in another. One overarching rule to help you decide faster is to look at what your colleagues or friends are using and then choose the same package. That makes it easier to share tips or even projects with each other, rather than being the lone person using a particular product and then introducing session import issues.
Another option is to look at what each program bundles. Would you prefer a DAW with many virtual instrument sounds, such as electric basses, guitars, sampled violins, and synthesizers? You might want to look at something like Logic Pro or Studio One, all of which include many gigabytes of sounds and loops. Do you have or plan to buy your own instrument plug-ins? Reaper is a fully stripped-down DAW at a low price, and it makes an excellent host for third-party VSTs. It’s also great if you’re recording a band full of live instruments and don’t need much in the way of virtual ones.
Do your tastes lean toward the electronic and synthesized realm? Ableton Live and FL Studio are inspired choices with plenty of built-in synths, though you can produce electronic music with just about any of these programs. Cubase Pro and Digital Performer and perennial favorites for film scoring, although several other DAWs can also do it (if not quite as ably). If you’re interested in mastering finished recordings or classical music editing, the high-end Magix Sequoia is unparalleled. If you like the idea of working on an iPad but don’t like the underpowered apps available over the last decade, Apple’s Logic Pro for iPad could well change your mind.
Avid Pro Compressor (Credit: Avid/PCMag)
Often, it comes down to details and editing philosophies. Do you prefer loop-based recording and live playback for electronic music? Ableton Live has plenty to offer you. Would you rather have a “do-it-all” DAW with an extensive built-in sound library at a low price? Cubase Pro beckons. Do you not only want to bring projects into major studios but also collaborate online and open sessions directly as you work on them with others? It’s impossible to top Avid’s Pro Tools for this. Do you work in post-production and want to produce more professional podcasts or videos? Adobe Audition is a prime contender for those tasks. And if you’ve got a Mac, it’s worth giving the free GarageBand a spin, if only because it’s more potent than ever and you already own it.
How Much Should You Spend on a DAW?
Closely correlated to bundled instruments and effects is price, and that’s a factor that can cloud the issue. Many top-tier packages have less expensive (or even free) feature-limited editions. It’s not as simple as saying, “Reaper is a budget DAW at $60, and Cubase Pro is a professional-level DAW at $579,” because you can also buy the stripped-down (but still pretty feature-rich) Cubase Elements for $99. What do you lose? What do you gain? We cover these questions as much as possible within each review.
What DAW Is Best for Beginners?
Our favorite beginner DAWs are Apple GarageBand (on the Mac) and Mixcraft (on the PC), both of which prioritize ease of use and help you get started recording and mixing. Pro Tools Intro is also a great way to get your feet wet with Avid’s venerable studio software. All come with at least some virtual instruments and can work with external audio interfaces to record audio instruments and vocals. You can also take advantage of a wide array of free effects and instrument plug-ins. Speaking of getting started, if you’re a beginner or if you want to help another person get started with recording, you might also be interested in the next question.
Is There Free DAW Software?
There is! Apple GarageBand, Cakewalk by BandLab, Pro Tools Intro, and Studio One Prime are all free. PreSonus no longer makes Studio One Prime available for download, but you can just download the 30-day trial and let it expire, and it will become Prime. Cakewalk was extremely powerful for a free program, given its history as the professional-level Sonar before BandLab bought the rights to it. Unfortunately, BandLab discontinued Cakewalk in favor of a wholesale rewrite and reintroduction of Sonar as a paid product, along with a lower-cost, creation-focused version called Cakewalk Next. Audacity is also free if you’re looking for more of a straightforward editor, although it does support more than two tracks these days (just not recording at once).
What Are the Best DAWs?
Experienced engineers and producers all have their favorite DAW software. But the good news is that, despite the complexity of the software here, we’ve found it’s tough to go too far wrong in our thorough testing. By contrast, some tech categories, such as computers and cameras, have clear leaders and losers. All the DAWs we tested are mature, well-established products with thousands of fans.
As a result, more than half of the packages in this roundup score at least four out of five stars. You can get professional-level results with all of them. Each has specific workflows that work well for some people—hence the endless “X is the best, and Y is garbage” arguments on the internet—but with some acclimation, they can all work for just about anyone.
Recommended by Our Editors
What Is the Most Popular DAW Software?
Unfortunately, this question is impossible to answer. Few (if any) vendors break out their sales receipts so that we can see how many copies are in the wild, and no one really does comprehensive “What DAW software do you use?” surveys. You’ll find plenty of smaller polls if you dig into user forums, Reddit, and such, but there’s no way to determine which DAW sells the best.
A few themes do crop up in the smaller polls, though, and it’s easy to spot some long-term trends. Pro Tools continues to be a favorite in professional studios and is something of a standard for swapping full session files—although any DAW can import straight audio tracks, which often suffices when collaborating, or, say, hiring a session player. Just about any recording studio or pro mixing engineer will have some way of reading a Pro Tools session, and most of the courses you see in trade schools for audio engineering focus on Pro Tools in particular.
Apple Logic Pro (Credit: Apple/PCMag)
Logic Pro is also a favorite because of its value. Its costs are more in line with lower-tier DAWs at $199, but it’s clearly on par with Cubase, Digital Performer, and Pro Tools. Apple used to price it closer to those alternatives a few decades ago. Electronic music-focused DAWs, such as Ableton Live and FL Studio, have picked up plenty of steam in recent years.
Which DAW Software Is Right for You?
In short, read our reviews (linked below) and try some demos where you can. Otherwise, don’t sweat it too much. We spent countless hours testing these products and compiling the reviews and this guide, and as mentioned above, all of the top contenders are worthy choices.
Even so, and as mentioned, we single out four DAWs as Editors’ Choice winners. Avid Pro Tools is our pick for high-end professional recording studios for its terrific audio editing workflow. Apple Logic Pro is the best Mac DAW, thanks to its unbeatable value and variety of instruments and effects plug-ins. Steinberg Cubase Pro is the best PC DAW because of its slick new MixConsole and terrific editing tools. Apple GarageBand is our choice for budget-priced DAWs—it doesn’t cost anything to use on an Apple device. But to reiterate, we’d happily use any programs listed here for new projects. Choose one, learn its secrets, and get to work creating and editing fantastic music and audio.
