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.
Players
| Logo | Component | GUI | Programming language | Database | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | mka
support |
Notes | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Amarok | Qt | C++ | MySQL | Yes | Yes | Unstable | Inactive 2.9 2018 | GPL-2.0-or-later | ||
 |
aTunes | Swing | Java | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL-2.0-or-later | |||
 |
Audacious | GTK / Qt | C | no database | Yes | Yes | yes | BSD 2-Clause | |||
 |
Banshee | GTK+ | C# | SQLite | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not under development, archived. | MIT | ||
 |
Clementine | Qt | C++ | SQLite3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Inactive latest 1.31 2016 | GPL-3.0-or-later | ||
 |
Exaile | GTK | Python | Pickle | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL-2.0-or-later | |||
 |
Guayadeque | wxWidgets | C++, C | SQLite3 | Yes | Development ceased as of 2023-09-29 | GPL-3.0-or-later | ||||
 |
JuK | Qt | C++ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Linux(KDE) | GPL-2.0-or-later | |||
 |
Miro | WebKit in
GTK/Cocoa |
Python | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Discontinued | GPL-2.0-or-later | ||
| Muine | GTK# | C# | no database | Yes | can use GStreamer and xine | GPL-2.0-or-later | |||||
 |
Nightingale | XULRunner | C++ | SQLite? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Discontinued fork of Songbird, with Linux support | GPL v2, MPL, BSD | ||
 |
Quod Libet | GTK | Python | Pickle | Yes | Yes | Yes | no | GPL-2.0-or-later | ||
 |
qmmp | Qt | C++ | no database | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL-2.0-or-later | |||
 |
Rhythmbox | GTK | C | Yes | Yes | not GNU Data Access | GPL-2.0-or-later | ||||
| Sayonara Player | Qt | C++ | Yes | Yes | GPL-3.0-or-later | ||||||
 |
Songbird | XULRunner | C++ | SQLite? | Unofficial | Yes | Unofficial | Yes | Abandoned (Last release on February 4, 2013) | GPL v2 with exceptions,
Android client closed source | |
| Tomahawk | Qt | C++ | SQLite | Yes | Yes | Yes | Abandoned (Last release on April 15, 2015) | GPL-3.0-or-later | |||
 |
XMMS | GTK+ | C++ | no database | Yes | Yes | Discontinued in 2007 | GPL-2.0-or-later |
Audio analysis
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRP-PACU | Yes | Yes | Dual channel FFT tool for equalization of sound systems using the transfer function. | GPL-2.0-or-later | |||
| Praat | Paul Boersma and David Weenink of the University of Amsterdam | Yes | Yes | Yes | A 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 | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL-2.0-or-later | ||
| WaveSurfer | Yes | Yes | Yes | BSD-like |
Converters
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FFmpeg | Fabrice Bellard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Audio & video. | LGPL-2.1-or-later, GPL-2.0-or-later |
| fre:ac | Robert Kausch | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | formerly BonkEnc | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Libav | Libav team | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Audio & video. | LGPL-2.1-or-later, GPL-2.0-or-later |
| MPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Audio & video. | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
DJ software
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixxx | Mixxx Development Team | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
| Xwax | Mark Hills | Yes | No | No | No | GPL-2.0-only | |
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 | ||
| 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
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integra Live | Birmingham Conservatoire | No | Yes | No | Yes | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
| Libvisual | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | LGPL-2.1-or-later | ||
| VisualAp | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL | |||
Notation
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LilyPond | Han-Wen Nienhuys and Jan Nieuwenhuizen | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | a music engraving program | GPL-3.0-or-later |
| MuseScore | Werner Schweer | Yes | Yes | Yes Various BSDs[1] | Yes | a WYSIWYG scorewriter with midi playback and audio export | v4: GPL-3.0-only v0-3: GPL-2.0-only with font exception, Proprietary (mobile app and online service) |
| Impro-Visor | Bob Keller | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | lead sheet notation, jazz improvisation, auto-accompaniment | 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.
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Csound | Csound community, Barry Vercoe | Yes | Yes | No? | Yes | LGPL-2.1-or-later | |
| ChucK | Ge Wang, Perry Cook | Yes | Yes | No? | Yes | GPL-2.0-or-later (Mac, Linux, Windows versions)
Proprietary (iOS version) | |
| Nyquist | Computer Music Project at Carnegie Mellon University, Roger B. Dannenberg | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Pure Data | Pd Community, Miller Puckette | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | BSD-3-Clause | |
| Sonic Pi | Sam Aaron | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | MIIT | |
| SuperCollider | SuperCollider community, James McCartney | Yes | Yes | Yes? | Yes | GPL-3.0-or-later | |
| TidalCycles | Alex McLean et al | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL-3.0-or-later |
Radio broadcasting
See also streaming below.
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airtime (software) | Sourcefabric | Yes | No | ? | No | Successor to Campcaster |
From 2.5.2: AGPL-3.0-only 1.6 to 2.5.1: GPL-3.0-only |
| Campcaster | Sourcefabric | Yes | No | ? | No | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
| OpenBroadcaster | OpenBroadcaster | Yes | No | Yes | No | AGPL-3.0-or-later | |
| SDRangel | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL-3.0-or-later |
Recording and editing
The following packages are digital audio editors.
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | GUI toolkit | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ardour | Paul Davis | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | GTK+ | multi-track audio recorder and editor | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Audacity | Dominic Mazzoni | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | wxWidgets | multi-track audio recorder and editor | GPL-2.0-or-later, CC BY 3.0 (documentation) |
| Ecasound | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes limited support through Cygwin | command line | audio recorder | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
| Gnome Wave Cleaner | Jeff Welty | Yes | No | No | GTK+ | audio editor | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
| Jokosher | Jokosher community | Yes | No | Yes | GTK+ | GPL-2.0-only with exception | ||
| LMMS | Tobias Doerffel | Yes | Yes as of 0.4.0 with Qt4 | Yes | Qt | multi-track audio editor intended as a replacement for Cubase-like software (DAW) | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
| MusE | Yes | No | No | Qt | MIDI sequencer | GPL-2.0-or-later | ||
| Qtractor | Yes | No | No | Qt | A non-destructive multi-track audio and MIDI Workstation (DAW) | GPL-2.0-or-later | ||
| Rosegarden | Chris Cannam | Yes | No | No | Qt | MIDI sequencer and multi-track recorder | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
| SoX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | command-line | multi-track audio editor/processor | LGPL-2.1-or-later, | |
| Sweep | Conrad Parker | Yes | No | Yes | No | GPL-2.0-or-later | ||
| Traverso DAW | Remon Sijrier | Yes | Yes | Yes | multi-track audio recorder and editor | GPL | ||
| WaveSurfer | Centre for Speech Technology at KTH | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Tk | BSD-like | |
Softsynths
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FluidSynth | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | SoundFont player/renderer | LGPL-2.1-or-later | |
| TiMidity++ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL-2.0-or-later | ||
| Yoshimi | Alan Calvert | Yes | No | Yes Various BSDs | No | Forked from ZynAddSubFX in 2009 | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| ZynAddSubFX | Paul Nasca | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
| WildMIDI | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Some alternative to TiMidity | Player: GPL-3.0-or-later Library: LGPL-3.0-or-later | |
Streaming
These programs are for use with streaming audio.
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefly Media Server | Yes | Yes | Yes | streams music to DAAP clients like iTunes and Rhythmbox | GPL-2.0-or-later | ||
| Icecast | Yes | Yes | Yes | a broadcast server, serves audio signals to clients over the HTTP protocol | GPL-2.0-only | ||
| VLC media player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | media and server programs for video and audio streaming | VLC: GPL-2.0-or-later libVLC: LGPL-2.1-or-later | |
Technologies
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) | Yes | the sound card driver and management system in the Linux kernel | GPL-2.0-or-later LGPL-2.1-or-later | ||||
| aRts | Yes | an audio programming API and sound server for general desktop, no longer in development | GPL | ||||
| DSSI | Yes | a plugin architecture for software synthesizers | LGPL-2.1-or-later | ||||
| GStreamer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | a graph-based multimedia framework | LGPL-2.1-or-later | |
| JACK Audio Connection Kit (JACK) | JACK Team, Paul Davis | Yes | Yes (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) | Yes | a plugin architecture for digital signal processing | LGPL-2.1-or-later | ||||
| Open Sound System | Yes | Yes | a sound card management and driver system for Unix operating systems | BSD-2-Clause CDDL-1.0 GPL-2.0-only Proprietary (formerly) | |||
| PipeWire | Wim Taymans | Yes | Yes (FreeBSD) | a media daemon, unifying JACK Audio Connection Kit, PulseAudio, and GStreamer | MIT License | ||
| PortAudio & PortMidi | Ross Bencina | Yes | Yes | Yes | a cross-platform, open-source C language library for real-time audio & midi I/O | MIT License | |
| PulseAudio | Yes | Yes | Yes (Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD) | Yes | a sound server for general desktop and multihost LAN applications | LGPL-2.1-or-later | |
| sndio | Yes | No | Yes (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).
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MilkyTracker | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also runs on various other platforms including Windows Mobile, PlayStation and AmigaOS 4. | GPL-3.0-or-later MilkyPlay: BSD-3-Clause | |
| OpenMPT | Olivier Lapicque | No | No | No | Yes | Released as free software in 2004 | BSD-3-Clause (since OpenMPT 1.17.02.53) / GPL-2.0-or-later, partly public domain |
| SoundTracker | Yes | No | Yes | No | Fast Tracker clone | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
| SunVox | Alexander Zolotov | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also runs on Windows CE. | Proprietary (Music Creation Studio) BSD-3-Clause (Engine) |
Other
| Name | Creator | Linux? | macOS? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gnaural | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Binaural beat and pink noise generator | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
| Hydrogen | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | an advanced drum machine | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
| libsndfile | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | library for reading and writing many sound formats | LGPL-2.1-or-later | |
| EasyEffects | Wellington Wallace | Yes | No | Yes | No | Effects processing for applications using PipeWire sound server | GPL-3.0-or-later |
See also
References
- ↑ "Download". MuseScore.org. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
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