GarageBand

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
GarageBand
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Apple offers GarageBand, a digital audio workstation packaged with its operating system.
$199.99
Pricing
GarageBand
Editions & Modules
Logic Pro (GarageBand Premium)
$199.99
Garageband for Mac
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
GarageBand
Free Trial
No
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee
Additional Details—
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
GarageBand
Considered Both Products
GarageBand
Chose GarageBand
Way more user friendly. Audacity was clunky in the editing part and Garage Band is not. I love that everything is laid out in an eye friendly fashion. Audacity had too many tools laid out in a busy way where it's actually hard to find things. Also, since Garage Band is free to …
Chose GarageBand
With GarageBand it's very easy to drag in MP3 and slide them where you want it. I have a folder of MP3 I use for every podcast episode such as intro music, outro music, advertisements, etc. I have used other audio editors like Audacity which I did not find to be intuitive. Audac…
Chose GarageBand
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 …
Chose GarageBand
FLStudio: It has a breadth of functionality compared to Garageband, and its equally easy to use.
Abelton: Its the best one that I have used, I have not even explored I believe 1% of the whole studio, but that proved to be enough for me on the project that I was working on. (For …
Chose GarageBand
I have used Adobe Audition before but found it to be hard to learn. Some of the features were very nice but too much for what I needed to justify the price. GarageBand is perfect for my needs and it came free with my Mac laptop. That is the best deal in town!
Chose GarageBand
GarageBand isn't the most powerful audio editing tool on the market, but for a free tool to Apple users... you can't go wrong.

This tool has all the features a beginning user would ever need... and more! It's no Adobe platform, but if you're testing an idea or trying something …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
GarageBand
Small Businesses
Descript
Descript
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Audition
Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Audition
Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
GarageBand
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(8 ratings)
Support Rating
9.4
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
GarageBand
Likelihood to Recommend
Apple
Honestly, switching to Garage Band from Audacity for my podcast was a game-changer in the editing. I can do it so much faster with the tools that are available in editing--especially when you are dealing with more than one track to edit. I also think Garage Band could be fantastic for recording a whole album initially before sending it to be mastered elsewhere. And I think Garage Band could be perfect for sync music licensing because it's still relatively easy to use!
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Pros
Apple
  • Easy and simple interface that can be used by anyone.
  • The visual audio levels are great and help to clean out all the impurities in an audio.
  • Comes freely built in with all Mac computers, which are widely used.
  • Very user-friendly and intuitive at the same time.
  • GarageBand can be self-taught with no experience.
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Cons
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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Support Rating
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
Apple
I have used Adobe Audition before but found it to be hard to learn. Some of the features were very nice but too much for what I needed to justify the price. GarageBand is perfect for my needs and it came free with my Mac laptop. That is the best deal in town!
Read full review
Return on Investment
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