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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    GarageBand

    Score9.8 out of 10
    N/AApple 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
    Apple
    Chose GarageBand
    Because GarageBand is included on macOS and iOS purchases, and we already use an Apple environment at our office, it was an easy decision to go with the 'free,' included program for our basic audio editing needs. We did also purchase Logic Pro X, since it is the 'big brother' …
    Incentivized
    Chose GarageBand
    GarageBand is much more user-friendly and feature-rich than Audacity. It's also a far more beautiful application to run, which inspires much more creativity in the workflow. I think Audacity's team must purely focus on functionality. Functional, it is (albeit not feature-rich), …
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    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…
    Incentivized
    Chose GarageBand
    Almost as good, easier to use
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    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!
    Incentivized
    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 …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    10 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    8 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    GarageBand
    Small Businesses
    Descript
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Adobe Audition
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Adobe Audition
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    GarageBand
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.4
    (10 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.4
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    GarageBand
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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