GarageBand vs. WavePad

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
WavePad
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
WavePad is an audio editing application from NCH Software headquartered Greenwood Village, Colorado.
$39.95
per user
Pricing
GarageBandWavePad
Editions & Modules
Logic Pro (GarageBand Premium)
$199.99
Garageband for Mac
Free
Standard Edition
$39.95
per user
Master's Edition
$69.95
per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
GarageBandWavePad
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Best Alternatives
GarageBandWavePad
Small Businesses
Descript
Descript
Score 9.2 out of 10
Descript
Descript
Score 9.2 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
GarageBandWavePad
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(8 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.4
(3 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
GarageBandWavePad
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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NCH Software
Highly recommended for voice over recording and editing. Great for splicing together several different recorded files to create a final track. Our voice over talent typically sends us their unedited recordings with multiple recordings of the script. Then we can listen to the different versions to select the best fit for our client. We just select the sections we like and copy them into a new file, then continue to add the sections until we have the final voice over. It is easy to tighten up or stretch out the recording to better fit our timeline.
We have not used WavePad for recording live music so not sure how well it is suited for that. If you need multi-track editing you will need another product. MixPad makes a nice companion.
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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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NCH Software
  • Voice recording is our most used function. It is simple and straight forward. We have trained non-technical voice over talent to use it.
  • The cleanup tools have saved us from having to go out and rerecord some bad original recordings.
  • Being able to cut out sections of recordings and insert a different audio piece is a great time saver.
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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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NCH Software
  • WavePad only works with a single audio track. NCH does offer MixPad for multi-track editing. We also use MixPad occasionally to mix background music with voice.
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Likelihood to Renew
Apple
No answers on this topic
NCH Software
An important product for our production of customer ads.
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Usability
Apple
No answers on this topic
NCH Software
Easily handles basic audio recording and editing. Advanced editing features are there but if you don't already understand audio editing you will need to watch some of the provided videos to learn how to use the 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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NCH Software
Phone support is not available.
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Implementation Rating
Apple
No answers on this topic
NCH Software
It is a simple product to start using.
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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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NCH Software
We ran across WavePad years ago and used it for some simple music file edits. Cutting out some parts to make it fit better into the time slot. Audacity was recommended by a friend and we installed it and give it a brief try. We didn't find anything bad about it but came back to WavePad.
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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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NCH Software
  • We are able to work with local voice-over talent and amateurs and that allows us to keep our cost low to our clients.
  • WavePad is so inexpensive that is pays for itself on the first project. The Master's edition is less than $100 and the standard edition is less than $50.
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ScreenShots

WavePad Screenshots

Screenshot of WavePad includes a sound recorder that supports auto-trim and voice activated recording.Screenshot of The full Sound Effects Library comes with WavePad Master's edition and gives you access to 800 SFX files and 200 music files that you can add to ringtones, podcasts, movie soundtracks, and more.Screenshot of Audio Effects include Amplify, Normalize, Equalizer, Envelope, Reverb, Echo, Reverse, Noise Reduction, Sample Rate Conversion and more.