Free GarageBand Alternatives for Mac
There are many alternatives to GarageBand for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best free Mac alternative is Audacity, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to GarageBand and many of them are free and available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free Mac alternatives to GarageBand are LMMS, Zrythm, Spek and FamiStudio.
GarageBand alternatives are mainly Music Production Apps but may also be Digital Audio Workstations or Audio Editors. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of GarageBand.Audacity
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Audio Editor
- Audio Recorder
133 Audacity alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- PortableApps.com
- LAME
Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. You can use Audacity to record live audio, convert tapes and records, edit sound files, change the speed or pitch of a recording and much more.
- - Audacity is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to GarageBand.
- - Audacity is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to GarageBand.
Audacity Features
Comments about Audacity as a Alternative to GarageBand
Can record and add tracks but little beyond that
6It's free and easy to use, but doesn't have sample music like FL, good if you are making acoustic music. Not too good for remix or altering acoustic sounds.
1Audacity is more specifically for music editing rather than creation
14MacGuiniAs much as I love using Audacity. This is nothing like Garage Band. This is a completely different type of software. Garage Band creates sound. Audacity edits it.
0NevanNedallI don't feel Audacity's purpose matches what people are looking for from a program like Garage Band.
0LMMS
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Music Production App
- Digital Audio Workstation
- Audio Recorder
88 LMMS alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- PortableApps.com
- Haiku
LMMS is a free cross-platform alternative to commercial programs like FL Studio , which allow you to produce music with your computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of...
LMMS Features
Comments about LMMS as a Alternative to GarageBand
It does not lag when there’s a ton of sounds playing
3TheBeastMore of a learning curve but a great program if you can take the time to learn it.
13not as user friendly as garageband
12MacGuiniIt's the closest to Garage Band for Linux. But it's also far from being comparable. LMMS may be powerful, but it doesn't have the ease of use that Garage Band has. It's professional quality. Which is why this is a horrible alternative to Garage Band.
-1The GUI seems to try to mimic GarageBand but fails to replicate the ease of usage for those unfamiliar with LMMS.
1Zrythm
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Freemium • Open Source
- Music Production App
- Digital Audio Workstation
- Audio Recorder
85 Zrythm alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
Zrythm is a digital audio workstation designed to be featureful and easy to use.
Zrythm Features
Spek helps to analyse your audio files by showing their spectrogram. Spek is free software available for Unix, Windows and Mac OS X.
Spek Features
Comments about Spek as a Alternative to GarageBand
superluminarSpek shows a spectrum; it is a sound analysis tool, nothing for creating music itself.
1Joshua WheelerIt is not at all like Garageband, it is not for creating music
0FamiStudio
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Music Production App
29 FamiStudio alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- Wine
FamiStudio is very simple music editor for the Nintendo Entertainment System or Famicom. It is designed to be easier to use than FamiTracker, but its feature set is also much more limited. It is targeted at both chiptune artists and NES homebrewers.
FamiStudio Features
Bespoke Synth
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Music Production App
- Digital Audio Workstation
73 Bespoke Synth alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Bespoke is a software modular synthesizer. It contains a bunch of modules, which you can connect together to create sounds.
Bespoke Synth Features
Carla
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Music Production App
- Audio Router
41 Carla alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
Carla is an audio plugin host, with support for many audio drivers and plugin formats. It has some nice features like automation of parameters via MIDI CC (and send output back as MIDI too) and full OSC control.
Carla Features
DaVinci Resolve Fairlight
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Proprietary
- Audio Recorder
- Digital Audio Workstation
- Audio Editor
11 DaVinci Resolve Fairlight alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Every track includes real time equalization and dynamics processing to sweeten and fine tune your mix. This is in addition to your six real time track effects, making Fairlight far more powerful than other digital audio workstation software!
DaVinci Resolve Fairlight Features