Comparison of free software for audio explained

This comparison of free software for audio lists notable free and open source software for use by sound engineers, audio producers, and those involved in sound recording and reproduction.

Audio analysis

See also: Spectrum analyzer.

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Note	License
BRP-PACU						Dual channel FFT tool for equalization of sound systems using the transfer function.	GPL-2.0-or-later
Praat	Paul Boersma and David Weenink of the University of Amsterdam					A program for the analysis of speech in phonetics.	GPL-2.0-or-later
Sonic Visualiser	Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary, University of London						GPL-2.0-or-later
WaveSurfer							BSD-like

Converters

See also: List of audio conversion software.

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Note	License
FFmpeg	Fabrice Bellard					Audio & video.	LGPL-2.1-or-later, GPL-2.0-or-later
	Robert Kausch					formerly BonkEnc	GPL-2.0-or-later
Libav	Libav team					Audio & video.	LGPL-2.1-or-later, GPL-2.0-or-later
MPlayer						Audio & video.	GPL-2.0-or-later

DJ software

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Note	License
Mixxx	Mixxx Development Team						GPL-2.0-or-later
Xwax	Mark Hills						GPL-2.0-only

Distributions and other platforms

Various projects have formed to integrate the existing free software audio packages.

Name	Creator	Description	Note	License
AVLinux		Linux distribution		various
		Linux distribution		various
Musix GNU+Linux		Linux distribution		various
Planet CCRMA		set of packages (in RPM format)
Ubuntu Studio		Linux distribution		various

Modular systems

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Note	License
Integra Live	Birmingham Conservatoire						GPL-2.0-or-later
Libvisual							LGPL-2.1-or-later
VisualAp							GPL

Notation

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Note	License
LilyPond	Han-Wen Nienhuys and Jan Nieuwenhuizen					a music engraving program	GPL-3.0-or-later
MuseScore	Werner Schweer			Various BSDs^[1]		a WYSIWYG scorewriter with midi playback and audio export	v4: GPL-3.0-only v0-3: GPL-2.0-only with font exception, Proprietary (mobile app and online service)
Impro-Visor	Bob Keller					lead sheet notation, jazz improvisation, auto-accompaniment	GPL-2.0-or-later

Players

See also: Comparison of audio player software.

Name	GUI	Programming language	Database	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Notes	License
Amarok	Qt	C++	MySQL					Inactive since 2018	GPL-2.0-or-later
aTunes	Swing	Java							GPL-2.0-or-later
Audacious	GTK / Qt								BSD 2-Clause
Banshee	GTK+	C#	SQLite					Inactive since 2014	MIT
Clementine	Qt	C++	SQLite3					Inactive since 2016	GPL-3.0-or-later
DeaDBeeF	GTK+	C, C++, Objective-C, Assembly							GPLv2, zlib
Exaile	GTK	Python	Pickle						GPL-2.0-or-later
Guayadeque	wxWidgets	C++, C	SQLite3					Development ceased as of	GPL-3.0-or-later
JuK	Qt	C++						Linux (KDE)	GPL-2.0-or-later
Miro	WebKit in GTK/Cocoa	Python						Discontinued in 2013	GPL-2.0-or-later
Muine	GTK#	C#						Can use GStreamer and xine	GPL-2.0-or-later
Nightingale	XULRunner	C++	SQLite?					Discontinued fork of Songbird, with Linux support	GPL v2, MPL, BSD
Quod Libet	GTK	Python	Pickle						GPL-2.0-or-later
qmmp	Qt								GPL-2.0-or-later
Rhythmbox	GTK	C						Not GNU Data Access	GPL-2.0-or-later
Sayonara Player	Qt	C++							GPL-3.0-or-later
Songbird	XULRunner	C++	SQLite?					Abandoned, final release on	GPL v2 with exceptions, Android client closed source
Tomahawk	Qt	C++	SQLite					Abandoned, final release on	GPL-3.0-or-later
XMMS	GTK+	C++						Discontinued in 2007	GPL-2.0-or-later

Programming languages

Many computer music programming languages are implemented in free software. See also the comparison of audio synthesis environments.

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Note	License
Csound	Csound community, Barry Vercoe			?			LGPL-2.1-or-later
ChucK	Ge Wang, Perry Cook			?			GPL-2.0-or-later (Mac, Linux, Windows versions)Proprietary (iOS version)
Nyquist	Computer Music Project at Carnegie Mellon University, Roger B. Dannenberg
Pure Data	Pd Community, Miller Puckette						BSD-3-Clause
Sonic Pi	Sam Aaron						MIIT
SuperCollider	SuperCollider community, James McCartney			?			GPL-3.0-or-later
TidalCycles	Alex McLean et al						GPL-3.0-or-later

Radio broadcasting

See also streaming below.

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Note	License
Airtime (software)	Sourcefabric					Successor to Campcaster	From 2.5.2: AGPL-3.0-only 1.6 to 2.5.1: GPL-3.0-only
Campcaster	Sourcefabric						GPL-2.0-or-later
OpenBroadcaster	OpenBroadcaster						AGPL-3.0-or-later
SDRangel							GPL-3.0-or-later

Recording and editing

The following packages are digital audio editors.

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	GUI toolkit	Note	License
Ardour	Paul Davis					GTK+	multi-track audio recorder and editor	GPL-2.0-or-later
Audacity	Dominic Mazzoni					wxWidgets	multi-track audio recorder and editor	GPL-2.0-or-later, CC BY 3.0 (documentation)
Ecasound					limited support through Cygwin	command line	audio recorder	GPL-2.0-or-later
Gnome Wave Cleaner	Jeff Welty					GTK+	audio editor	GPL-2.0-or-later
Jokosher	Jokosher community					GTK+		GPL-2.0-only with exception
LMMS	Tobias Doerffel		as of 0.4.0 with Qt4			Qt	multi-track audio editor intended as a replacement for Cubase-like software (DAW)	GPL-2.0-or-later
MusE						Qt	MIDI sequencer	GPL-2.0-or-later
Qtractor						Qt	A non-destructive multi-track audio and MIDI Workstation (DAW)	GPL-2.0-or-later
Rosegarden	Chris Cannam					Qt	MIDI sequencer and multi-track recorder	GPL-2.0-or-later
SoX						command-line	multi-track audio editor/processor	LGPL-2.1-or-later, GPL-2.0-or-later
Sweep	Conrad Parker							GPL-2.0-or-later
Traverso DAW	Remon Sijrier						multi-track audio recorder and editor	GPL
WaveSurfer	Centre for Speech Technology at KTH					Tk		BSD-like
Stargate DAW	Stargate DAW						multi-track audio recorder and MIDI Workstation (DAW)	GPL-3.0-or-later

Softsynths

See also: Software synthesizer.

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Note	License
FluidSynth						SoundFont player/renderer	LGPL-2.1-or-later
TiMidity++							GPL-2.0-or-later
Yoshimi	Alan Calvert			Various BSDs		Forked from ZynAddSubFX in 2009	GPL-2.0-or-later
ZynAddSubFX	Paul Nasca						GPL-2.0-or-later
WildMIDI			?	?	?	Some alternative to TiMidity	Player: GPL-3.0-or-later Library: LGPL-3.0-or-later

Streaming

These programs are for use with streaming audio.

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Note	License
Firefly Media Server						streams music to DAAP clients like iTunes and Rhythmbox	GPL-2.0-or-later
Icecast						a broadcast server, serves audio signals to clients over the HTTP protocol	GPL-2.0-only
VLC media player						media and server programs for video and audio streaming	VLC: GPL-2.0-or-later libVLC: LGPL-2.1-or-later

Technologies

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Note	License
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA)						the sound card driver and management system in the Linux kernel	GPL-2.0-or-later LGPL-2.1-or-later
aRts						an audio programming API and sound server for general desktop, no longer in development	GPL
DSSI						a plugin architecture for software synthesizers	LGPL-2.1-or-later
GStreamer						a graph-based multimedia framework	LGPL-2.1-or-later
JACK Audio Connection Kit (JACK)	JACK Team, Paul Davis		(JACK OS X)		(jackdmp)	a sound server for integration of general and low-latency pro audio applications, including timebase transport	GPL-2.0-or-later LGPL-2.1-or-later
Linux Audio Developers Simple Plugin API (LADSPA)						a plugin architecture for digital signal processing	LGPL-2.1-or-later
Open Sound System						a sound card management and driver system for Unix operating systems	BSD-2-Clause CDDL-1.0 GPL-2.0-only Proprietary (formerly)
PipeWire	Wim Taymans			(FreeBSD)		a media daemon, unifying JACK Audio Connection Kit, PulseAudio, and GStreamer	MIT License
PortAudio & PortMidi	Ross Bencina					a cross-platform, open-source C language library for real-time audio & midi I/O	MIT License
PulseAudio				(Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD)		a sound server for general desktop and multihost LAN applications	LGPL-2.1-or-later
sndio				(FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD)		sound and MIDI server	ISC

Trackers

These music sequencer programs allow users to arrange notes (pitch-shifted sound samples) on a timeline: see tracker (music software).

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Note	License
MilkyTracker						Also runs on various other platforms including Windows Mobile, PlayStation and AmigaOS 4.	GPL-3.0-or-later MilkyPlay: BSD-3-Clause
OpenMPT	Olivier Lapicque					Released as free software in 2004	BSD-3-Clause (since OpenMPT 1.17.02.53) / GPL-2.0-or-later, partly public domain
SoundTracker						Fast Tracker clone	GPL-2.0-or-later
SunVox	Alexander Zolotov					Also runs on Windows CE.	Proprietary (Music Creation Studio) BSD-3-Clause (Engine)

Other

Name	Creator	Linux?	macOS?	Unix?	Windows?	Note	License
Gnaural						Binaural beat and pink noise generator	GPL-2.0-or-later
Hydrogen						an advanced drum machine	GPL-2.0-or-later
libsndfile						library for reading and writing many sound formats	LGPL-2.1-or-later
EasyEffects	Wellington Wallace					Effects processing for applications using PipeWire sound server	GPL-3.0-or-later

See also

• ABC notation
• Comparison of 3D computer graphics software
• Comparison of computer-aided design software
• List of 3D animation software
• List of 3D modeling software
• List of 3D rendering software
• List of free and open-source software packages
• List of Linux audio software
• List of video editing software

Notes and References

1. Web site: Download. 2021-10-05. MuseScore.org. en.