Audacity vs. FL Studio

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Audacity
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Audacity is a free and open source audio recording and editing software.N/A
FL Studio
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Belgian studio Image-Line Software offers FL Studio, the company's digital audio workstation (DAW) and audio editing application.
$99
Per License
Pricing
AudacityFL Studio
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Fruity
$99.00
Per License
Producer
$199.00
Per License
Signature Bundle
$299.00
Per License
All Plugins
$899.00
Per License
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AudacityFL Studio
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AudacityFL Studio
Considered Both Products
Audacity
Chose Audacity
All of the DAW's listed above are great for scoring to picture, which is something Audacity doesn't do. But it's an excellent standalone audio editor, which is a vital tool in any studio. It's very easy to transfer the clip, make the changes, and import it back into your session.
Chose Audacity
Adobe Audition is also a recording and audio editing software, as a user of both software [programs] I can say that Adobe Audition has way more features and tools than Audacity, but the catch is that it is not free, in fact, the complete opposite, it is very expensive. …
FL Studio
Chose FL Studio
Audacity is a free open-source software that is only for recording and editing some audio, while FL Studio on the other hand allows you to create your own music, record your audio, edit your audio and many other features all for a small price. FL Studio has way more effects …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
AudacityFL Studio
Small Businesses
Descript
Descript
Score 9.0 out of 10
Descript
Descript
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Audition
Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
Audition
Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Audition
Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
Audition
Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
AudacityFL Studio
Likelihood to Recommend
8.4
(25 ratings)
8.8
(2 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.0
(11 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
AudacityFL Studio
Likelihood to Recommend
Audacity
For just a quick down and dirty audio recording from computer source, Audacity is a no-frills solution that any user can get up and running with quickly without the intimidating functions seen in most standard DAWs. This would be a great tool to start with to record church services, or basic live performances where someone wouldn't want to use a full DAW like Ableton Live or Studio One.
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Image-Line Software
I would recommend FL Studio for anyone who wants to get their hands on music making or even just recording audio for videos. I would suggest making the somewhat small investment and trying it out, you could end up with a career from it. For beginners I would definitely suggest watching online courses/tutorials as they helped me a lot and it will for you as well. Also, I would recommend using third party plugins which will help in fine tuning your projects and overall produce much better music/recordings. FL Studio is well suited for businesses and personal use to make music. I would confidently say that its one of the best DAW to start making music.
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Pros
Audacity
  • Audacity has a wide variety of controls and capabilities for editing, making it a very robust tool for audio editing.
  • Even though it's a robust tool, it is very easy to use to get many basic things done in audio editing. The learning curve is small.
  • Love that audacity is free! What else could you ask for? There really is no reason not to use it.
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Image-Line Software
  • Midi sequencing
  • Built in audio processing and VST instruments
  • Audio mixing
  • Music creation
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Cons
Audacity
  • Although the UI is very simple, it's not great to look at. Making the program more exciting visually would be a great plus.
  • The functionality has never been lacking for what it is, but has also not seen major additions in a long time.
  • The support base of the community is truly impressive, but is also very intimidating to wade through. Having better standardized help avenues would be a benefit to new users.
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Image-Line Software
  • The recording process can somewhat be confusing and inefficient.
  • FL Studio has a confusing routing, for example to use return tracks for reverbs, you will have to click numerous buttons to get that done.
  • FL Studio has a somewhat steep learning curve, which can demotivate beginners.
  • FL Studio's auto-saving feature is a bit late, which can ruin your project if you rely on it.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Audacity
With no subscription fees unlike other products on the market, I am very confident I will continue using Audacity for my simple audio editing needs. I'm not an expert in audio editing, I'm sure what works for me as a more general user in a public institution would not suit someone more experienced, but I'm very happy with the quality of work I'm able to produce.
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Image-Line Software
No answers on this topic
Usability
Audacity
Audacity is decently user friendly, while any questions generally have to be answered by externally searching for tutorials or other users encountering the same issue, it is still straightforward, simple, and easily resolved. It's installable on any type of computer, compact, and easy to install. Beginners may have a harder time, but once you know what you're doing, it's very easy to use.
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Image-Line Software
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Audacity
Audacity is great for this, it doesn't require a network connection once downloaded, and previous versions of the software are still functional in my experience. I have never experienced the program crashing, lost work, corrupted files, anything of the sort.
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Image-Line Software
No answers on this topic
Performance
Audacity
I have never had issues with speed in Audacity, I don't integrate it with other software but the program runs smoothly even with larger jobs. I haven't measured the CPU while using Audacity, but I imagine it's not high compared to other, more professional or specialized programs in the same category.
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Image-Line Software
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Audacity
We have not used direct support for Audacity, other than using the information available on their website, which resolved the issues we were experiencing so we had a good experience in that regard. As this is Open Source FREE software, I don't believe there is direct support available. In saying that, it has the following great support options:
  • Online documentation and FAQ
  • Online tutorials covering all functions
  • Online user forums where questions are asked and answered by other users
  • Online wiki with more information
With these options most issues should be able to be resolved to get full use from Audacity.
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Image-Line Software
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Audacity
Again I found it helpful to write up a step-by-step tutorial for coworkers based on our institution's standard practices. This combined with support from coworkers to answer questions is very effective for simple everyday use of Audacity. The support in-program is minimal but troubleshooting in the internet age is straightforward.
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Image-Line Software
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Audacity
All of the DAW's listed above are great for scoring to picture, which is something Audacity doesn't do. But it's an excellent standalone audio editor, which is a vital tool in any studio. It's very easy to transfer the clip, make the changes, and import it back into your session.
Read full review
Image-Line Software
In selecting this software, we investigated and considered others. We found that FL Studio had a good price point and the life time free version updates made it a one time purchase.
In terms of functionality, the most similar software solutions are Ableton Live, Logic Pro X and Propellerhead Reason.
Of these the most cost effective for us was Ableton Live and FL Studio with Propellerhead Reason being a slightly different product.
We found that FL studio had a wider feature set and was more suited to our use, where as Ableton Live would be better if live music performance was a requirement, in our case it was not.
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Scalability
Audacity
I feel that Audacity is useful, simple, and suited both to casual users and more advanced use cases. There are options for expanding functionality in complex situations, but the option to not mess with it as a beginner is perfectly fine and suited to most everyday uses in my institution.
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Image-Line Software
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Audacity
  • Audacity is completely free, so it has helped us to eliminate the expense of paying for recording software.
  • It is fast and efficient, which helps us save time and generate a great workflow.
  • Even though we have what we need there are some features that cannot be found on Audacity, this affects the quality of our audio in a way.
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Image-Line Software
  • It has definitely reduced costs, because it is slightly cheaper than other software.
  • It has decreased the efficiency in workflow because of its poor routing.
  • Has helped me grow by letting me create high quality music.
  • Helps me record high quality audio.
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