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8 Best Audacity Alternatives for Recording & Editing Audio Free 2024

What are the best Audacity alternatives out there? Check out this article to find the 8 best options to record and edit audio for free.

Audacity is a free and open-source digital audio editor and recorder that is widely used by many users. The software is easy to use for everyone, allowing you to import, mix and combine tracks all in one place. Despite the benefits, users often complain about the flaws such as the recent changes in the privacy policy, outdated user interface, unfixed bugs, and limited editing capabilities. 

8 Best Audacity Alternatives

Want to find an application that can do a better job than Audacity? You’ve landed on the right page. This article will introduce the 8 best Audacity alternatives that are worth trying in 2023. Just make sure to keep reading!

What is Audacity?                              

Before introducing the best alternatives to Audacity, let’s have a look at the software first. The popular audio editing program Audacity is a useful tool to record and edit audio with high-quality resampling and dithering. The multi-track audio editor lets you make quick editing such as cut, copy, paste, and delete as well as unlimited sequential undo/redo features. In addition, you can edit audio with a slew of plugins. Compatible with major platforms, Audacity is an easy-to-use tool for batch audio processing and editing. 

8 Best Alternatives to Audacity - Updated 2023                

Now you have background knowledge of Audacity, it’s time to check out the best Audacity alternatives. Here are the 8 best options for 2023. 

1. iTop Screen Recorder               

iTop Screen Recorder is one of the best Audacity alternatives to check out. The high-performance screen recorder can help you capture all activities on your PC. You can record screens, webcam, audio, and game clips and edit them with the built-in editor. Just have a look at its main features as follows.

100% Free Alternative to Audacity: iTop Screen Recorder is the best Audacity alternative free to use. Simply install it and you're ready to go. No hidden fees at all!

Multi-track Sound Recording: As the best music recording software for Windows 10, iTop Screen Recorder supports multi-track sound recording, which frees you from hassles of all sorts.

Various Outputs Supported: Supporting 12 output formats including MP4, MKV, MOV, MP3, FlAC, etc. iTop Screen Recorder allows you to record videos/audio without compatibility issues.

Smooth Audio Recording: With an improved Enhanced Mode for recording, iTop Screen Recorder is the best alternative to Audacity, which delivers a much smoother recording experience. 

Versatile Built-in Audio Editor: Packed with a versatile built-in video/audio editor, iTop Screen Recorder is your handy choice to record and edit audio/videos all in one place!

Pricing: Free; 
Supported system: Windows
Level (Beginners or Pros): Beginners and Pros 
                           

With powerful features, iTop Screen Recorder is truly the best free alternative to Audacity for Windows. So how does it work? Just check out the following steps. 

Step 1. Free download and install iTop Screen Recorder on your PC.

Step 2. Select the recording mode on the left to record videos/audio.  

Audacity Alternatives - iTop Screen Recorder

Step 3. Click on the “Video Editor” on the right to edit videos/audio with the smart tools on the editing panel.

Audacity Alternatives - iTop Video Editor

2. Adobe Audition     

What other alternatives to Audacity can you use? Try Adobe Audition, a digital audio workstation that allows users to create, mix, edit, and restore audio with multitrack, waveform, and spectral display features. The editor is one of the most powerful Audacity alternatives for producing professional video/audio efficiently. 

Audacity Alternatives - Adobe Audition

Pricing: $20.99/mo
Supported system: Windows, Mac
Level (Beginners or Pros): Pros

3. FL Studio        

Featuring a graphic UI with a pattern-based music sequencer, FL Studio is one of the best Audacity alternatives to record, sequence, edit, mix, and render complete songs. Equipped with Multi-band Delay, Vintage Phaser, etc, FL Studio is the fastest audio workstation to record music on computer or mobile devices. 

Audacity Alternatives - FL Studio

Pricing: Fruity Edition: $99/lifetime; Producer Edition: $199/lifetime
Supported system: Windows, Mac, Android, Chrome
Level (Beginners or Pros): Pros

4. WavePad                         

With editing features like cut, copy, split, trim, and more, WavePad is an excellent audio editing software. Supporting 50+ formats, the editor allows you to amplify, normalize, and equalize audio with amazing effects. Plus spectral analysis and audio restoration, WavePad is one of the best Audacity alternatives for everyone.

Audacity Alternatives - WavePad

Pricing: Standard Edition: $24.99; Master Edition: $39.99
Supported system: Windows, Mac, Android
Level (Beginners or Pros): Beginners and Pros

5. Reaper                             

Reaper is a powerful digital audio production application that lets you import, record, and render to many media formats. You can enjoy thousands of third-party plug-ins and studio-quality effects like VST, VST3, LV2, etc. In addition, Reaper is a tightly coded editor that can be run from a portable device.

Audacity Alternatives - Reaper

Pricing: Discounted license: $60; Commercial license: $225
Supported system: Windows, Mac, Linux
Level (Beginners or Pros): Pros

6. Ocenaudio                        

Ocenaudio is a full-featured audio editor, which supports VST(Virtual Studio Technology) plugins for numerous effects. You can enjoy real-time effects while adjusting the controls. Supporting multi-selection and large file processing, Ocenaudio is a fast and efficient Audacity alternative to check out.

Audacity Alternatives - Ocenaudio

Pricing: Free with users’ contributions
Supported system: Windows, Mac, Linux
Level (Beginners or Pros): Beginners and Pros

7. Ardour                   

Ardour is an excellent Audacity alternative for audio recording, editing, and mixing. You can cut, trim, crossfade, etc. with unlimited undo/redo. The audio editor also supports most mixing effects, including solo, EQ, fader, and more. Plus hundreds of plugins, Ardour is a professional tool for audio engineers, musicians, soundtrack editors, and composers. 

Audacity Alternatives - Ardour

Pricing: Free to use with a $1, $4, $10, or $50 per month subscription
Supported system: Windows, Mac, Linux
Level (Beginners or Pros): Pros

8. Garageband               

Preinstalled on Mac, GarageBand is a great music creation studio with a complete sound library, including instruments, drummers, presets for guitar and voice, etc. You can learn, play, record, and share your creations worldwide. Whether you want to make music like a Pro or record Apple music, Garageband is a useful tool at hand.

Audacity Alternatives - Garageband

Pricing: Free
Supported system: Mac
Level (Beginners or Pros): Beginners 

Tips on Choosing the Best Audacity Alternative 

 Now you know the 8 best Audacity alternatives of 2023. So how to choose the right fit? Here are a few things to consider:

  • Various Editing Features: The best Audacity alternative should have the most comprehensive editing features that can satisfy all your needs.
  • Multiple Output Formats: It’s better to choose an alternative that supports a handful of output formats so you can avoid compatibility issues. 
  • User Requirement Level: You might want to use an Audacity alternative that suits your user level and don’t pick a professional tool for light use. 
  • Price (Free or not): Everyone is looking for the best value for the cost, and a free application is always a desired quality. 
  • Customer Support: You might want to choose an Audacity alternative with good customer support, so you know where to look for help!

Audacity Alternatives FAQs                  

Want to learn more about the best alternatives to Audacity? Here are the frequently asked questions for your reference. 
1. What are the disadvantages of Audacity?

The main advantage is that Audacity updated its privacy policy for allowing user data collection, which causes discontent. Audacity is also not good at multitrack audio support and the audio editing is destructive only. 

2. Is Audacity no longer safe?

Not necessarily. You can still use it safely—as long as you don’t update to 3.0.3, the version in which the new policy applies.  

3. Is there a free alternative to Audacity?

Yes. Ocenaudio, Garageband, and iTop Screen Recorder are the best free Audacity alternatives to try out. 

4. What is the easiest audio editing app?

With a simple interface, iTop Screen Recorder should be the best free audio/video editor easy to use for everyone. 

Conclusion

While Audacity is useful freeware for audio recording and editing, the concerns about privacy leaks seem to raise discontent broadly. But worry not, now you know the 8 best Audacity alternatives on the block. Among them, iTop Screen Recorder is simply the best option, which can satisfy all your needs in video/audio recording and editing. You can export video/audio with the best output quality. Just try this screen recorder for free and record/edit videos and audio with ease now!

iTop Screen Recorder - Record Audio Without Background Noise

  • Record system audio or external microphone flawlessly
  • Record streaming audio without quality loss
  • Remove background noise of audio recording
  • Save audio recordings as MP3, AAC, FLAC and WMA


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