# Alternatives to Ableton Live

The live-performance and electronic standard.

Ableton Live ranks #7 of 12 in Digital audio workstations, with an Alt Score of 64. It is proprietary, sold as a one-time purchase from EUR 79 one-time and available on Windows and macOS. 9 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ableton-live/
Category: Digital audio workstations

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Music producers, composers, and live electronic performers, ranging from beginners to professionals working in a studio or on stage.
- **What you get**: A digital audio workstation for recording, editing, and arranging audio and MIDI, with a built-in library of instruments, effects, and sounds. It includes audio warping and time-stretching, MIDI note editing and generators, and Max for Live for building custom devices. It's sold in tiered editions (Intro, Standard, Suite) with different amounts of content and instruments.
- **How it works**: Live combines two views: Session View, a grid of audio/MIDI clips you can trigger and loop non-linearly for improvising or performing live, and Arrangement View, a traditional linear timeline for structuring a finished track. You can record ideas played in Session View directly into the Arrangement to turn a live jam into a finished song.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Pricing model**: One-time (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Starts at**: EUR 79 one-time (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Pro Tools](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pro-tools.md) | 81 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 2 | [Studio One](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/studio-one.md) | 77 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 3 | [Cakewalk](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/cakewalk.md) | 72 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 4 | [Ardour](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ardour.md) | 68 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 5 | [Cubase](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/cubase.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 6 | [Reaper](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/reaper.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 7 | [GarageBand](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/garageband.md) | 63 | Proprietary | macOS, iOS |
| 8 | [Logic Pro](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/logic-pro.md) | 63 | Proprietary | macOS, iOS |
| 9 | [Bitwig Studio](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/bitwig-studio.md) | 59 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 10 | [FL Studio](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/fl-studio.md) | 41 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 11 | [LMMS](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lmms.md) | 41 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Digital audio workstations checklist | Ableton Live | Pro Tools | Studio One | Cakewalk | Ardour | Cubase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | One-time | Subscription | Subscription | Freemium | Donationware | One-time |
| Starts at | EUR 79 one-time | $9.99/month | $19.99/month | $14.99/month (BandLab Pro membership) | $1 one-time (pay-what-you-want minimum) | ? |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | GPL-2.0 | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS |
| MIDI editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Audio comping | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Included instruments & effects | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Third-party plugin support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| One-time purchase option | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier / lite version | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Linux support | No | No | Partial | No | Yes | No |
| Notation view | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Video scoring | Partial | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Collaboration | No | Yes | Partial | Yes | ? | Partial |

## Sources

Sources for Ableton Live. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: Proprietary — <https://www.ableton.com/en/eula/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “You, through your act of downloading, installing, copying or using any Ableton Product, do not acquire any ownership rights to such Ableton Product.”
- **Pricing model**: One-time — <https://www.ableton.com/en/shop/live/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “EUR 599”
- **Starts at**: EUR 79 one-time — <https://www.ableton.com/en/shop/live/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “EUR 79”
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS — <https://www.ableton.com/en/live/compare-editions/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Windows 10 (Version 22H2) or Windows 11 (version 22H2 or higher)”
- **Status**: active — <https://www.ableton.com/en/trial/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Explore Live 12 Suite's full features – free for 30 days.”
- **MIDI editing**: Yes — <https://www.ableton.com/en/live/compare-editions/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Powerful MIDI sequencing of software and hardware instruments”
- **Audio comping**: Yes — <https://www.ableton.com/en/live-manual/12/comping/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Note: comp")."
  - Quote: “Comping makes it possible to pick the best moments of each recorded performance and combine them into a composite track (also known as a ”
- **Included instruments & effects**: Yes — <https://www.ableton.com/en/live/what-is-live/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “The Core Library—included with all editions of Live—comes with rich collections of vintage synths, analog drum machines, multi-sampled drums, and Curated Collections of sounds from selected scenes.”
- **Third-party plugin support**: Yes — <https://www.ableton.com/en/live/compare-editions/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “VST2, VST3 and Audio Unit v2 and v3 support”
- **One-time purchase option**: Yes — <https://www.ableton.com/en/shop/live/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “EUR 279”
- **Free tier / lite version**: Partial — <https://www.ableton.com/en/products/live-lite/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Live Lite only comes with certain products and isn't sold separately.”
- **Linux support**: No — <https://www.ableton.com/en/live/compare-editions/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “macOS 11.7.10 Big Sur through macOS 15.7.3 Sequoia”
- **Video scoring**: Partial — <https://www.ableton.com/en/manual/working-with-video/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “When scoring to video, video clips are usually set as tempo leaders, while audio clips are left as tempo followers.”
- **Collaboration**: No — <https://www.ableton.com/en/live/what-is-live/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Ableton Link allows you to sync to Live wirelessly over a shared internet connection”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/