Comparison of free software for audio
This list 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
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
| BRP-PACU | Dual channel FFT tool for equalization of sound systems using the transfer function. | GPL | |||||
| Praat | Paul Boersma and David Weenink of the University of Amsterdam | A program for the analysis of speech in phonetics. | GPL | ||||
| Sonic Visualiser | Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary, University of London | GPL | |||||
| WaveSurfer | Permissive free software |
Converters
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
| FFmpeg | Fabrice Bellard | Audio & video. | GPL or LGPL | ||||
| Robert Kausch | formerly BonkEnc | GPL | |||||
| Libav | Libav team | Audio & video. | GPL or LGPL | ||||
| MPlayer | Audio & video. | GPL |
DJ software
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
| Mixxx | Mixxx Development Team | GPL | |||||
| Xwax | Mark Hills | GPL |
Modular systems
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 | |||
| Ubuntu Studio | Linux distribution | various |
Players
| Logo | Component | GUI | Programming language | Database | Notes |
| Amarok | Qt | C++ | MySQL | Linux / macOS / Windows | |
| aTunes | Swing_ | Java | |||
| Aqualung | GTK+ | C | no database | ||
| Audacious | GTK+ / Qt | C | no database | Linux & Windows | |
| Banshee | GTK+ | C# | SQLite | ||
| Clementine | Qt | C++ | SQLite3 | Linux / macOS / Windows | |
| Exaile | GTK+ | Python | Pickle | Linux / macOS / Windows | |
| Guayadeque | wxWidgets | C++, C | SQLite3 | ||
| JuK | Qt | C++ | |||
| Miro | WebKit in GTK+/Cocoa | Python | ? | ||
| Muine | Mono | C# | no database | can use GStreamer and xine | |
| Nightingale | XULRunner | C++ | SQLite? | fork of Songbird, with Linux support | |
| Quod Libet | GTK+ | Python | Pickle | Linux / macOS / Windows | |
| qmmp | Qt | C++ | no database | ||
| Rhythmbox | GTK+ | C | not GNU Data Access | ||
| Songbird | XULRunner | C++ | SQLite? | Abandoned | |
| Tomahawk | Qt | C++ | SQLite | ||
| XMMS | GTK+ | C++ | no database | ||
| XMMS2 | C | SQLite |
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 | ||||
| ChucK | Ge Wang, Perry Cook | ? | GPL | ||||
| Nyquist | Computer Music Project at Carnegie Mellon University, Roger B. Dannenberg | ||||||
| Pure Data | Pd Community, Miller Puckette | BSD-like | |||||
| SuperCollider | SuperCollider community, James McCartney | ? | GPL |
Radio broadcasting
See also [|streaming] below.| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
| Airtime | Sourcefabric | Successor to Campcaster | ||||
| Campcaster | Sourcefabric | |||||
| OpenBroadcaster | OpenBroadcaster |
Recording and editing
The following packages are digital audio editors.| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
| Ardour | Paul Davis | multi-track audio recorder | ||||
| Audacity | Dominic Mazzoni | multi-track audio recorder and editor | ||||
| Ecasound | limited support through Cygwin | audio recorder | ||||
| Gnome Wave Cleaner | Jeff Welty | audio editor | ||||
| Jokosher | Jokosher community | multi-track audio editor | ||||
| LMMS | Tobias Doerffel | as of 0.4.0 with Qt4 | Free cross-platform alternative to commercial programs like FL Studio, which allow customers to produce music with a computer. Intended as a replacement for Cubase-like software | |||
| MusE | MIDI sequencer | |||||
| Qtractor | A non-destructive multi-track audio and MIDI Workstation | |||||
| Rosegarden | Chris Cannam | MIDI sequencer and multi-track recorder | ||||
| SoX | command-line multi-track audio editor/processor | |||||
| Sweep | Conrad Parker | |||||
| Traverso DAW | Remon Sijrier | multi-track audio recorder and editor | ||||
| WaveSurfer | Centre for Speech Technology at KTH |
Softsynths
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
| FluidSynth | SoundFont player/renderer | LGPL | |||||
| TiMidity++ | GPL | ||||||
| Yoshimi | Alan Calvert | Forked from ZynAddSubFX in 2009 | GPL | ||||
| ZynAddSubFX | Paul Nasca | GPL |
Streaming
These programs are for use with streaming audio.| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
| Firefly Media Server | streams music to DAAP clients like iTunes and Rhythmbox | |||||
| Icecast | a broadcast server, serves audio signals to clients over the HTTP protocol | |||||
| VideoLAN | media and server programs for video and audio streaming |
Technologies
Trackers
These music sequencer programs allow users to arrange notes on a timeline: see tracker.| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
| MilkyTracker | Also runs on various other platforms including Windows Mobile, PlayStation and AmigaOS 4. | |||||
| OpenMPT | Olivier Lapicque | Released as free software in 2004 | ||||
| Psycle | Juan Antonio Arguelles Rius | A tracker combined with modular capabilities | ||||
| SoundTracker | Fast Tracker clone |