The Best Open Source GarageBand AlternativesTop Music Production Apps & Digital Audio Workstations like GarageBand

The best open source alternative to GarageBand is LMMS. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to GarageBand and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to GarageBand are Ardour, ComposeYogi, Bespoke Synth and Carla.

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GarageBand alternatives are mainly Music Production Apps, but if you're looking for Digital Audio Workstations or Audio Recorders you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Windows, Android, Online, Linux, Open Source, Mac + Free and Android Tablet. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to GarageBand.
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Alternatives list

  1. LMMS icon
     653 likes

    Cross-platform digital audio workstation supporting lossless audio and VST plugins. Features include music looping, sequencing, and MIDI support. Provides an ad-free, privacy-focused, portable experience without registration, working offline with extensibility through plugins and add-ons.

    96 LMMS alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    • Flatpak
     
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    9
  2. ComposeYogi icon
     17 likes

    A free, open-source music composition tool for beat-making, loops, and arrangements — built with Web Audio, WASM, and modern web tech.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    • Docker
     
  3. Carla icon
     38 likes

    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.

    45 Carla alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  4. Qtractor icon
     53 likes

    Qtractor is an Audio/MIDI multi-track sequencer application written in C++ with the Qt framework. Target platform is GNU/Linux, where the Jack Audio Connection Kit (JACK) for audio, and the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) for MIDI, are the main infrastructures for...

    81 Qtractor alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
     
  5. FamiStudio icon
     27 likes

    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.

    35 FamiStudio alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Wine
     
  6. AudioMass icon
     14 likes

    AudioMass lets you record, or use your existing audio tracks, and modify them by trimming, cutting, pasting or applying a plethora of effects, from compression and paragraphic equalizers to reverb, delay and distortion fx.

    113 AudioMass alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
     
12 of 27 GarageBand alternatives