# Alternatives to Cakewalk The reborn Sonar, free from BandLab. Cakewalk ranks #3 of 12 in Digital audio workstations, with an Alt Score of 72. It is proprietary, freemium from $14.99/month (BandLab Pro membership) and available on Windows and macOS. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/cakewalk/ Category: Digital audio workstations ## Where Cakewalk stands out - **Collaboration** — 3 of 9 apps with a verified answer have this - **Free tier / lite version** — 6 of 12 apps with a verified answer have this ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Musicians, producers, and songwriters on Windows (Cakewalk Sonar) or Windows/Mac (Cakewalk Next) who want a professional-grade DAW without starting on a paid tier, from hobbyists to working audio engineers. - **What you get**: Unlimited audio and instrument tracks, MIDI editing, and professional mixing tools like ProChannel and AudioSnap, plus arranger and lyrics-track features for song construction. A free tier (BandLab login required) covers core recording, editing, and mixing; a paid BandLab Membership subscription adds extras like plugin oversampling, Elastique Pro time-stretching, and the full BandLab Sounds loop library. - **How it works**: Record and arrange audio and MIDI tracks on a multitrack timeline, mix with built-in channel-strip tools and plugins, then export the finished project; projects can be moved between Sonar and Next since both share the same underlying engine. ## Profile - **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-11) - **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-11) - **Starts at**: $14.99/month (BandLab Pro membership) (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 | [Ardour](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ardour.md) | 68 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux | | 4 | [Cubase](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/cubase.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS | | 5 | [Reaper](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/reaper.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux | | 6 | [Ableton Live](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ableton-live.md) | 64 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS | | 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 | Cakewalk | Pro Tools | Studio One | Ardour | Cubase | Reaper | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | Freemium | Subscription | Subscription | Donationware | One-time | One-time | | Starts at | $14.99/month (BandLab Pro membership) | $9.99/month | $19.99/month | $1 one-time (pay-what-you-want minimum) | ? | $60 one-time (discounted license; $225 commercial license) | | License | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | GPL-2.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | | Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux | | MIDI editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Audio comping | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Included instruments & effects | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | | Third-party plugin support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | One-time purchase option | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Free tier / lite version | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | | Linux support | No | No | Partial | Yes | No | Yes | | Notation view | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | | Video scoring | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Collaboration | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | Partial | ? | ## Sources Sources for Cakewalk. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **License**: Proprietary — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Copyright ©️ 2026 BandLab Technologies” - **Starts at**: $14.99/month (BandLab Pro membership) — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Get a full year of 50+ tools, and create like a Pro for only $6.58/mo (down from $14.99).” - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Cakewalk Next - Accessible music creation tool for Windows & Mac” - **Pricing model**: Freemium — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “While both desktop DAWs now offer free base tiers for everyone, Pro and Max membership gives you exclusive access to advanced features and expanded creative power.” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “1000+ bugs fixes and improvements” - **MIDI editing**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Sonar brings world-class MIDI editing directly in the Track view or multiple tracks at once in the Piano Roll.” - **Audio comping**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Advanced multi-track recording tools, including unlimited tracks, take lanes, and powerful comping, ensure a perfect performance.” - **Included instruments & effects**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “The free version includes everything you need to start making music: unlimited tracks, virtual instruments, built-in effects, support for VST and AU plugins, modern editing tools and more.” - **Third-party plugin support**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “support for VST and AU plugins” - **One-time purchase option**: No — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “It is designed to provide a robust experience for music production without requiring a Membership subscription. Premium features are available with the purchase of BandLab Membership.” - **Free tier / lite version**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “While both desktop DAWs now offer free base tiers for everyone, Pro and Max membership gives you exclusive access to advanced features and expanded creative power.” - **Linux support**: No — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Cakewalk Next - Accessible music creation tool for Windows & Mac” - **Notation view**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “The Staff view displays MIDI note events as musical notation.” - **Video scoring**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “This makes it easy to align music and digitized sound to the video.” - **Collaboration**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Next integrates with BandLab, the online DAW, to sync projects and access cool cloud tools.” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/