FL Studio vs. GarageBand

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FL Studio
Score 9.7 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
GarageBand
Score 9.5 out of 10
N/A
Apple offers GarageBand, a digital audio workstation packaged with its operating system.
$199.99
Pricing
FL StudioGarageBand
Editions & Modules
Fruity
$99.00
Per License
Producer
$199.00
Per License
Signature Bundle
$299.00
Per License
All Plugins
$899.00
Per License
Logic Pro (GarageBand Premium)
$199.99
Garageband for Mac
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FL StudioGarageBand
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
FL StudioGarageBand
Best Alternatives
FL StudioGarageBand
Small Businesses
Descript
Descript
Score 8.9 out of 10
Descript
Descript
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FL StudioGarageBand
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(3 ratings)
9.5
(10 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
FL StudioGarageBand
Likelihood to Recommend
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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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
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Pros
Image-Line Software
  • Midi sequencing
  • Built in audio processing and VST instruments
  • Audio mixing
  • Music creation
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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.
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Cons
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.
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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)
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Usability
Image-Line Software
I gave it the above rating because it is an incredible software for music creators and even though it might be hard to use at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will never be troubled again, and in all honesty, nothing comes easy life, especially if one yearns to become good at. Same applies with FL Studio. In conclusion, it is a great software.
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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.
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Support Rating
Image-Line Software
No answers on this topic
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.
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Alternatives Considered
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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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.
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Return on Investment
Image-Line Software
  • Like I mentioned beforehand, it is slightly expensive but if you think of it, it is a lifetime investment.
  • FL Studio is also essential to have if one wishes to create music of their own or background songs because that way, you won't have to pay someone to create music for you.
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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
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ScreenShots