Comparison of free software for audio

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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.

Contents

Audio analysis

NameCreator Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?NoteLicense
Praat Paul Boersma and David Weenink of the University of AmsterdamYesYesYesA 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 YesYesYes GPL-2.0-or-later
WaveSurfer YesYesYes BSD-like

Converters

NameCreator Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?NoteLicense
FFmpeg Fabrice Bellard YesYesYesYesAudio & video. LGPL-2.1-or-later, GPL-2.0-or-later
fre:ac Robert KauschYesYesYesYesformerly BonkEnc GPL-2.0-or-later
Libav Libav teamYesYesYesYesAudio & video. LGPL-2.1-or-later, GPL-2.0-or-later
MPlayer YesYesYesYesAudio & video. GPL-2.0-or-later

DJ software

NameCreator Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?NoteLicense
Mixxx Mixxx Development TeamYesYesYesYes GPL-2.0-or-later
Xwax Mark HillsYesNoNoNo GPL-2.0-only

Distributions and other platforms

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

NameCreatorDescriptionNoteLicense
AVLinux Linux distribution various
dyne:bolic Linux distribution various
Musix GNU+Linux Linux distribution various
Planet CCRMA set of packages (in RPM format)
Ubuntu Studio Linux distribution various

Modular systems

NameCreator Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?NoteLicense
Integra Live Birmingham Conservatoire NoYesNoYes GPL-2.0-or-later

Notation

NameCreator Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?NoteLicense
LilyPond Han-Wen Nienhuys and Jan NieuwenhuizenYesYesYesYesa music engraving program GPL-3.0-or-later
MuseScore Werner SchweerYesYesYes Various BSDs [1] Yesa WYSIWYG scorewriter with midi playback and audio exportv4: GPL-3.0-only
v0-3: GPL-2.0-only
with font exception, Proprietary (mobile app and online service)
Impro-Visor Bob KellerYesYesYesYes lead sheet notation, jazz improvisation, auto-accompaniment GPL-2.0-or-later
MusiXTeX Andreas EglerYesYesYesYes Music typesetting, TeX-based notation, high-quality scores GPL-2.0-or-later

Players

NameGUIProgramming languageDatabase Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?NotesLicense
Amarok Qt C++ MySQL YesYesUnstableInactive since 2018 GPL-2.0-or-later
Audacious GTK / Qt C YesYes BSD 2-Clause
Banshee GTK+ C# SQLite YesYesYesInactive since 2014 MIT
Clementine Qt C++ SQLite3 YesYesYes GPL-3.0-or-later
DeaDBeeF GTK+ C, C++, Objective-C, Assembly YesYesYes GPLv2, zlib
Exaile GTK Python Pickle YesYesYes GPL-2.0-or-later
Guayadeque wxWidgets C++, C SQLite3 YesDevelopment ceased as of September 29, 2023 GPL-3.0-or-later
JuK Qt C++ YesYesYes Linux (KDE) GPL-2.0-or-later
Miro WebKit in GTK/Cocoa Python YesYesYesDiscontinued in 2013 GPL-2.0-or-later
Muine GTK# C# YesCan use GStreamer and xine GPL-2.0-or-later
Nightingale XULRunner C++ SQLite?YesYesYesFork of Songbird; inactive since 2014 GPL v2, MPL, BSD
Quod Libet GTK Python Pickle YesYesYes GPL-2.0-or-later
qmmp Qt C++ YesYesYes GPL-2.0-or-later
Rhythmbox GTK C YesYesNot GNU Data Access GPL-2.0-or-later
Sayonara Player Qt C++ YesYes GPL-3.0-or-later
Songbird XULRunner C++ SQLite?UnofficialYesUnofficialYesAbandoned, final release on February 4, 2013 GPL v2 with exceptions, Android client closed source
Tomahawk Qt C++ SQLite YesYesYesAbandoned, final release on April 15, 2015 GPL-3.0-or-later
XMMS GTK+ C++ YesYesDiscontinued 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.

NameCreator Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?NoteLicense
Csound Csound community, Barry Vercoe YesYesNo?Yes LGPL-2.1-or-later
ChucK Ge Wang, Perry CookYesYesNo?Yes GPL-2.0-or-later (Mac, Linux, Windows versions)

Proprietary (iOS version)

Nyquist Computer Music Project at Carnegie Mellon University, Roger B. DannenbergYesYesYesYes
Pure Data Pd Community, Miller Puckette YesYesYesYes BSD-3-Clause
Sonic Pi Sam AaronYesYes?YesMIIT
SuperCollider SuperCollider community, James McCartneyYesYesYes?Yes GPL-3.0-or-later
TidalCycles Alex McLean et alYesYesYesYes GPL-3.0-or-later

Radio broadcasting

See also streaming below.

NameCreator Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?NoteLicense
Airtime (software) Sourcefabric YesNo?NoSuccessor to Campcaster
From 2.5.2: AGPL-3.0-only
1.6 to 2.5.1: GPL-3.0-only
Campcaster Sourcefabric YesNo?No GPL-2.0-or-later
OpenBroadcaster OpenBroadcaster YesNoYesNo AGPL-3.0-or-later

Recording and editing

The following packages are digital audio editors.

NameCreator Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?GUI toolkitNoteLicense
Ardour Paul Davis YesYesYesYesGTK+multi-track audio recorder and editor GPL-2.0-or-later
Audacity Dominic MazzoniYesYesYesYeswxWidgetsmulti-track audio recorder and editor GPL-2.0-or-later, CC BY 3.0 (documentation)
Ecasound YesYesYesYes limited support through Cygwin command lineaudio recorder GPL-2.0-or-later
Gnome Wave Cleaner Jeff WeltyYesNoNoGTK+audio editor GPL-2.0-or-later
Jokosher Jokosher communityYesNoYesGTK+ GPL-2.0-only with exception
LMMS Tobias DoerffelYesYes as of 0.4.0 with Qt4YesQtmulti-track audio editor intended as a replacement for Cubase-like software (DAW) GPL-2.0-or-later
MusE YesNoNoQt MIDI sequencer GPL-2.0-or-later
Qtractor YesNoNoQtA non-destructive multi-track audio and MIDI Workstation (DAW) GPL-2.0-or-later
Rosegarden Chris CannamYesNoNoQtMIDI sequencer and multi-track recorder GPL-2.0-or-later
SoX YesYesYesYescommand-linemulti-track audio editor/processor LGPL-2.1-or-later,

GPL-2.0-or-later

Sweep Conrad ParkerYesNoYesNo GPL-2.0-or-later
Traverso DAW Remon SijrierYesYesYesmulti-track audio recorder and editor GPL
WaveSurfer Centre for Speech Technology at KTH YesYesYesYesTk BSD-like

Softsynths

NameCreator Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?NoteLicense
FluidSynth YesYesYesYes SoundFont player/renderer LGPL-2.1-or-later
TiMidity++ YesYesYesYes GPL-2.0-or-later
Yoshimi Alan CalvertYesNoYes Various BSDsNoForked from ZynAddSubFX in 2009 GPL-2.0-or-later
ZynAddSubFX Paul NascaYesYesYesYes GPL-2.0-or-later
WildMIDI Yes???Some alternative to TiMidityPlayer: GPL-3.0-or-later
Library: LGPL-3.0-or-later

Streaming

These programs are for use with streaming audio.

NameCreator Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?NoteLicense
Firefly Media Server YesYesYesstreams music to DAAP clients like iTunes and Rhythmbox GPL-2.0-or-later
Icecast YesYesYesa broadcast server, serves audio signals to clients over the HTTP protocol GPL-2.0-only
VLC media player YesYesYesYesmedia and server programs for video and audio streamingVLC: GPL-2.0-or-later
libVLC: LGPL-2.1-or-later

Technologies

NameCreator Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?NoteLicense
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA)Yesthe sound card driver and management system in the Linux kernel GPL-2.0-or-later
LGPL-2.1-or-later
aRts Yesan audio programming API and sound server for general desktop, no longer in development GPL
DSSI Yesa plugin architecture for software synthesizers LGPL-2.1-or-later
GStreamer YesYesYesYesa graph-based multimedia framework LGPL-2.1-or-later
JACK Audio Connection Kit (JACK)JACK Team, Paul Davis YesYes (JACK OS X)Yes (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)Yesa plugin architecture for digital signal processing LGPL-2.1-or-later
Open Sound System YesYesa sound card management and driver system for Unix operating systems BSD-2-Clause
CDDL-1.0
GPL-2.0-only
Proprietary (formerly)
PipeWire Wim TaymansYesYes (FreeBSD)a media daemon, unifying JACK Audio Connection Kit, PulseAudio, and GStreamer MIT License
PortAudio & PortMidi Ross BencinaYesYesYesa cross-platform, open-source C language library for real-time audio & midi I/O MIT License
PulseAudio YesYesYes (Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD)Yesa sound server for general desktop and multihost LAN applications LGPL-2.1-or-later
sndio YesNoYes (FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD)No 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).

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

Other

NameCreator Linux? macOS? Unix? Windows?NoteLicense
Gnaural YesYesYesYes Binaural beat and pink noise generator GPL-2.0-or-later
Hydrogen YesYesPartialPartialan advanced drum machine GPL-2.0-or-later
libsndfile YesYesYesYeslibrary for reading and writing many sound formats LGPL-2.1-or-later
EasyEffects Wellington WallaceYesNoYesNoEffects processing for applications using PipeWire sound server GPL-3.0-or-later

See also

References

  1. "Download". MuseScore.org. Retrieved 2021-10-05.