Free Cakewalk AlternativesTop Music Production Apps & Digital Audio Workstations like Cakewalk

The best free alternative to Cakewalk is Audacity, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Cakewalk and loads of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to Cakewalk are LMMS, Tenacity, Ocenaudio and GarageBand.

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Cakewalk alternatives are mainly Music Production Apps, but if you're looking for Digital Audio Workstations or Audio Editors you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Linux, Android, iPad, Mac and Free. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Cakewalk.
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Alternatives list

  1. Audacity icon

    Audacity

     2357 likes
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    Audacity, a free open-source multi-track editor, enables high-quality audio processing across platforms. Supports diverse formats, plugins, and scripting languages, offering robust features like batching, visual tools, and accessibility.

    125 Audacity alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • AppImageHub
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    Editing Audio
     
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    3
    12
    Comments about Audacity as an Alternative to Cakewalk
    Guest
    Negative
    7

    audacity is sound editor, sonar is daw

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    1

    It's not a DAW, but an audio editor

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    sedeti
    Negative
    0

    Audacity is just 'audio editor

    Cakewalk Icon
    Audacity icon

    • Some users think Audacity is a great Cakewalk alternative, some don't.

    • Audacity is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Cakewalk.

    • Audacity is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Cakewalk.

    • Audacity is Free and Open SourceCakewalk is Free Personal and Proprietary
    • Audacity is LightweightCakewalk is not according to our users
  2. LMMS icon

    LMMS

     632 likes
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    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.

    91 LMMS alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    • Flatpak
    LMMS screenshot 1
     
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    2
    9
    Comments about LMMS as an Alternative to Cakewalk
    sedeti
    Negative
    -1

    Miles behind from cakewalk

    Guest
    Negative
    -1

    A long way away from Sonor

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Cakewalk Icon
    LMMS icon

    • Some users think LMMS is a great Cakewalk alternative, some don't.

    • LMMS is Free and Open SourceCakewalk is Free Personal and Proprietary
    • LMMS is Privacy focused and LightweightCakewalk is not according to our users
  4. Tenacity icon

    Tenacity

     108 likes
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    Tenacity is an easy-to-use, privacy-friendly, FLOSS, cross-platform multi-track audio editor/recorder for Windows, macOS, Linux and other operating systems.

    87 Tenacity alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • FreeBSD
    • Haiku
    Dark mode
     
  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    WavePad icon
    WavePad

    Comprehensive audio editing software for Windows and macOS, offering recording, editing tools like cut, copy, paste, effects, batch processing, file format support, integration with MixPad, spectral analysis, text-to-speech, and ...

    https://www.nch.com.au
    Learn More
  6. Ocenaudio icon

    Ocenaudio

     141 likes
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    Ocenaudio is a cross-platform, easy to use, fast and functional audio editor. It is the ideal software for people who need to edit and analyze audio files without complications. ocenaudio also has powerful features that will please more advanced users.

    46 Ocenaudio alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Ocenaudio version 3.7.19 running on Windows with an audio file open.
     
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    1
    Comments about Ocenaudio as an Alternative to Cakewalk
    sedeti
    Negative
    1

    Oceanaudio is just an audio editor

    Cakewalk Icon
    Ocenaudio icon
    • Ocenaudio is Free and ProprietaryCakewalk is Free Personal and Proprietary
    • Ocenaudio is LightweightCakewalk is not according to our users
  7. GarageBand icon

    GarageBand

     268 likes
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    Experience a rich music creation suite on Mac and iOS with comprehensive sound libraries, virtual session drummers, and user-friendly tools suitable for beginners and pros. Create, edit, and share your music effortlessly through a seamless Apple integration.

    103 GarageBand alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    iPad Version: Tracks
     
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    1
    Comments about GarageBand as an Alternative to Cakewalk
    anakin777
    Positive
    0

    A very intuitive/straghtforward tool for music creation, with both MIDI and audio. Supports Virtual instruments and extensions (with Apple format)

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Cakewalk Icon
    GarageBand icon

    • Some users think GarageBand is a great Cakewalk alternative, some don't.

    • GarageBand is Free and ProprietaryCakewalk is Free Personal and Proprietary
  11. Qtractor icon

    Qtractor

     52 likes
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    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...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Qtractor screenshot 1
     
  12. Melodic Mind icon

    Melodic Mind

     8 likes
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    Mobile-first platform with integrated DAW, stem separation, songwriting, synthesizer, real instruments, music theory, practice toolkit, vocal training, chromatic tuner, progress tracking, and unique gamification inspired by anime quests, all in a free public beta.

    52 Melodic Mind alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Pay once)
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    Melodic Mind screenshot 1
    Melodic Mind screenshot 2
    Melodic Mind screenshot 3
     

    • Melodic Mind is the most popular SaaS alternative to Cakewalk.

    • Melodic Mind is Freemium and ProprietaryCakewalk is Free Personal and Proprietary
  14. Spek icon

    Spek

     66 likes
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    Spek helps to analyse your audio files by showing their spectrogram. Spek is free software available for Unix, Windows and Mac OS X.

    48 Spek alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    FLAC file analysis
     
  15. AudioTool icon

    AudioTool

     81 likes
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    Make music online with a powerful set of tools ranging from synthesizers and samplers to mixers, delays, reverb and much more. AudioTool is an advanced, collaborative DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) built for the browser.

    76 AudioTool alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    AudioTool screenshot 1
     
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