GarageBand vs. Logic Pro X

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
Logic Pro X
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Apple offers Logic Pro X, an audio editing application.
$199.99
Per License
Pricing
GarageBandLogic Pro X
Editions & Modules
Logic Pro (GarageBand Premium)
$199.99
Garageband for Mac
Free
Starting Price
$199.99
Per License
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
GarageBandLogic Pro X
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
GarageBandLogic Pro X
Considered Both Products
GarageBand
Logic Pro X
Chose Logic Pro X
Logic Pro X is the natural successor to GarageBand. GarageBand is a fantastic app, however, it's fairly rudimentary and doesn't have the robust features that Logic Pro X supports. Pro Tools is more expensive but does similar things to Logic. Thankfully, Logic rests in the …
Chose Logic Pro X
Logic Pro X is in that sweet spot between amateur Digital Audio Workstations like GarageBand and high end DAWs like Avid Pro Tools. Logic Pro X is good enough to be used on high end productions for film, TV, commercials and such, while remaining inexpensive and accessible, with …
Chose Logic Pro X
Logic Pro X is like the big brother to GarageBand - it can do SO much more and has many more attractive features. The workflow and interface are similar enough to make onboarding a little easier if someone has used GarageBand, but the effects and plug-ins of Logic make it a far …
Chose Logic Pro X
The quality of Logic Pro X far surpasses the others I've tried. The UI is clean, making it easy to see what I'm editing.
Top Pros
Top Cons
TrustRadius Insights
GarageBandLogic Pro X
Highlights

TrustRadius
Research Team Insight
Published

GarageBand and Logic Pro X are both music creation and audio editing software created by Apple. 

GarageBand is a free offering that allows Apple users to create and edit music on all of their devices. Logic Pro X is a more robust creation and editing tool that offers users greater creativity and editing options. 

GarageBand can be used by anyone with an Apple device. Users with no musical experience can pick up the software and create something, but it is also useful for skilled musicians who need to make something quickly and at no cost. Logic Pro X is aimed at music creators and editors who need more control and a greater number of features for their music, but who are also willing to pay a fee to do so.  

Features

In this section, we will examine the respective benefits of GarageBand and Logic Pro X. 

GarageBand is a free product, but it still comes with huge amounts of content that can satisfy the needs of music pros. It also has the advantage of having a very simple and clean user interface that makes learning the program less intimidating for beginners or users who are new to the Apple ecosystem. GarageBand even has a Learn to Play feature which provides tutorials and can teach users to play an instrument. 

Logic Pro X offers some key advantages over its free counterpart. It includes nearly 20,000 loops and samples which is about 40 times larger than the library offered by GarageBand. It also offers a greater selection of sound stages and effects such as Space Designer to reproduce reverb in certain environments, and Sculpture. which can replicate the way objects vibrate to create and combine sounds. Logic Pro X also offers advantages to podcasters who feature multiple speakers or studio call-ins due to its ability to handle many different audio channels.   

Limitations

GarageBand and Logic Pro X don’t have many drawbacks, but let’s look at a few for each. 

GarageBand being free leads to it having fewer overall options than Logic Pro X. It is missing some key features like live looping and the ability to change tempo during a composition. It also contains smaller libraries of loops and effects options. For singers, it also features fewer and more rudimentary pitch correction tools.  

Logic Pro X is targeted at more advanced users and due to its greater list of options and features has a steeper learning curve. Users have also reported that the program can be a resource hog and computers may need to be upgraded to really take advantage of the software. Another downside is that Logic Pro X (like GarageBand) is only offered on Apple devices and some users prefer software that works on all platforms and is similarly priced.

Pricing

As mentioned in previous sections, GarageBand is free on all Apple platforms and even comes preloaded on Macs. Logic Pro X can be purchased for $199.99. A 90-day free trial is also available. 

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GarageBandLogic Pro X
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Score 9.2 out of 10
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Score 9.2 out of 10
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User Ratings
GarageBandLogic Pro X
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(8 ratings)
9.0
(10 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.4
(3 ratings)
9.6
(5 ratings)
User Testimonials
GarageBandLogic Pro X
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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Apple
Logic Pro X has been particularly well-suited for recording, mixing, and mastering our full-band audio content. We have used it to capture several songs each year and have mixed and mastered them to professional levels for posting to streaming services. We have been able to use it with our current digital console as a great DAW, seamlessly connecting for the 'live' recording of several services. It is also well-suited for the mixing and editing of podcast and sermon content. Logic Pro X is not the best for mixing livestream audio, in a live environment, even with the added plug-ins and effects available. There is just enough lag that it was not the best option for this usage
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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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Apple
  • Incredible breadth of features... it feels like there's literally nothing the program can't do
  • Time stretching... amazing features to change tempo and length with adding sonic weirdness of pitch changes
  • Vast library of virtual instruments and effects included in purchase
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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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Apple
  • Could use an Abelton-like synth/effect rack with a quick view.
  • Some built-in plugins are old and need a refresh.
  • Frequent crashes.
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Usability
Apple
No answers on this topic
Apple
Like every DAW, it takes some time and getting used to, but Logic's tools and interface just make sense to anyone who is familiar with Apple products and music tools.
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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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Apple
The user community of Logic Pro X is vibrant, responsive, and lively. There are many great forums out there where you can solve any problem you encounter, whether it's sound card latency, a certain plugin not working, audio routing, multitrack issues, or virtually anything else you run into. The community is so helpful that I'm giving Logic Pro X a 10 in this department, despite having never contacted their official support department. I've never had to, since there is such a great user community.
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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!
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Apple
We use several different audio editors, the main reason for this is to have software available to cover most staff experience.
However, we find that a good portion of new staff were familiar with Logic Pro X, meaning that there was reduced training time involved by having the software available. This was perhaps the main reason we made the purchase decision and this fact is testament to how prolific Logic Pro X is in the audio community, you'd be silly not to have it available in any business where content creation is important.
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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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Apple
  • Logic has allowed us to quickly and expertly edit audio for publishing online.
  • It's made a way for us to share projects easily between users.
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