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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Ableton Live

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/AAbleton headquartered in Berlin offers Ableton Live, the company's flagship digital audio workstation and audio editing suite.

    $79

    GarageBand

    Score9.7 out of 10
    N/AApple offers GarageBand, a digital audio workstation packaged with its operating system.

    $199.99

    Pricing
    Ableton LiveGarageBand
    Editions & Modules
    Live 10 Intro
    $79
    Max for Live - Crossgrade
    $79
    Live 11 Intro
    $99
    Max for Live
    $159
    Live 10 Standard - Students & Teachers
    $269
    Live 10 Standard
    $359
    Live 11 Standard
    $449
    Live 10 Suite - Students & Teachers
    $449
    Live 10 Suite
    $599
    Live 11 Suite
    $749
    Live 10 Intro - Push
    $799
    Push + Live 10 Standard - Students & Teachers
    1,068
    Live 10 Standard - Push
    1,078
    Push + Live 10 Suite - Students & Teachers
    1,248
    Live 10 Suite - Push
    1,278
    Logic Pro (GarageBand Premium)
    $199.99
    Garageband for Mac
    Free
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Ableton LiveGarageBand
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Ableton LiveGarageBand
    Considered Both Products
    Ableton
    Chose Ableton Live
    Ableton smokes the competition any day. I believe it is a way better program all around than the rest of the industry leaders. I have used FL Studio as well as GarageBand, and I can safely say that there is no other program that I would rather use for my production needs.
    Incentivized
    Chose Ableton Live
    Ableton Live has just the right feature set for electronic music production. It offers more professional features than GarageBand, while not featuring the level of hardware integration or other high end features that you find in Avid Pro Tools. However, I prefer Ableton Live …
    Incentivized
    Apple
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    10 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    8 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Ableton LiveGarageBand
    Small Businesses
    Descript
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Descript
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Adobe Audition
    Score9 out of 10
    Adobe Audition
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Adobe Audition
    Score9 out of 10
    Adobe Audition
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Ableton LiveGarageBand
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (7 ratings)
    9.4
    (10 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.6
    (3 ratings)
    9.4
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Ableton LiveGarageBand
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Ableton
    Ableton Live is a perfect fit for loop-based music like electronic music of all varieties. It is especially suited to minimal techno and IDM, but is really suitable for any style of music that relies extensively on loops and samples. Ableton Live is also well-suited for sequencing out loop-based music through its Live view, while the Composer view allows for enough arranging features that you can take a song from concept to completion fairly easily. Ableton Live is less well-suited for fully recorded music that has no sample-based or looping components. It is less well-suited for non-electronic genres, although it is perfectly fine, but many of the features would not be useful or necessary in these cases.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Apple
    GarageBand is great for demo tracking for songwriting and and simple audio editing of spoken word or podcast applications. It is also great for making EQ adjustments on audio from other macOS or iOS programs for easy export back into those programs. GarageBand isn't well-suited for mastering, however, and it's a little difficult to get volume levels up in post-production if capture wasn't just right
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Ableton
    • Session View: This is the biggest advantage of Ableton. It provides you this view in which you can create different tracks for the same part of the song. For example:- If you are making the chorus of the song, you can save one thread. Now if you want to try and listen to a different drum set in a new thread, you can simply do that and listen to the new track while preserving the older one. Once you are satisfied with what you're listening, simple record the same in arrangement view and you are done. You can switch to the arrangement view and listen to the final song.
    • Pre-installed instruments and loops:- Ableton's library which is included with the software itself while you purchase it is amazing. I bet you will ever need third-party plugins for it. It comes loaded with hundreds of loops and number of instruments which are completely professional and free to use.
    • Amazing Graphical User Interface:- Even if you're a beginner in this field, Ableton can be learned within a few hours. The basic functionality of this software is very easy to understand and use. Of course, advanced stuff comes with practice but the basic functioning can be learned and within a few hours you are producing your own music.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Apple
    • It is easy to edit in the way that you can highlight something and simply delete a part of what you are working on.
    • I love that I can drag two or more tracks together to keep them in sync when editing.
    • It's not difficult to add a click track when you need it.
    • I think the whole process of highlighting, cutting out parts and the basic editing doesn't take huge amounts of time because it seems intuitive.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Ableton
    • Version 10 chews up all my CPU but prior versions didn't
    • Midi channel automation isn't intuitive, have to make an instrument group
    • New version install should overwrite older versions
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Apple
    • Can't save the preferences for the tracks such as turning off reverb etc.
    • Project files are large, a 30-minute podcast episode with only 4 tracks is typically around 1 GB
    • Auto feature to silence guest not talking
    • Optimize for podcasters (I use the old version 6 as new versions hasn't had podcast options)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Ableton
    No answers on this topic
    Apple
    It's dang simple for anybody who knows even a little about recording software. It's not something just anyone can open and immediately be a professional at, but things are clearly marked, the help documentation is great, and it's easy to explore and discover functionality that can aid in your production workflow.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Ableton
    I haven't had to reach out to support yet, but they're great at keeping me abreast with updates, compatibility issues, new features, and tons of videos on how to use the software. I feel like they're helping me success by giving me tools I can use in my daily work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Apple
    I have never tried it. It's just simple, and you should be able to navigate most of it via self-exploration and Apple Help.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Ableton
    I cannot say that the other programs listed aren't capable. They surely are. But for what I do and my workflow environment, Ableton suits my needs better. I know a lot of people that use Pro Tools and Logic Pro. They are both very powerful programs. I have knowledge of how to use them all. Going into different studios and collaborating with people, you need to know at least the basics of them all. But for me and my studio, we will continue to primarily use Ableton for the foreseeable future.
    Read full review
    Apple
    Adobe Audition is another great audio editing/recording software, in fact it is much better compared to GarageBand and has much more effects. However, it has a pretty large price tag while GarageBand is completely free. Also, Adobe Audition has a very steep learning curve which makes it hard for our staff to get used to the software. Considering all this and after deep analysis we decided to opt for GarageBand, well at least for now. We may change in the future depending on our needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Ableton
    • Ableton Live allows me to rapidly sequence multitrack music as needed, without getting stuck at any step of the process.
    • Ableton Live also allows me to quickly export or upload to SoundCloud for easy sharing. This is a big time-saver.
    • The only negative ROI I can think of is the cost. There are competitors like Reaper that are much more affordable and have many of the same features.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Apple
    • Amazing value
    • Very easy to get started
    • For novices and professionals alike
    • Loops library is simply awesome
    • Export capabilities very effective to share tracks
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots