Best Music Production Software for Mac
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Compare the Top Music Production Software for Mac as of January 2026
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What is Music Production Software for Mac?
Music production software enables musicians, producers, and creatives to make music. Music production software offers powerful features for professional music creation, recording, and more. Compare and read user reviews of the best Music Production software for Mac currently available using the table below. This list is updated regularly.
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1
LALAL.AI
LALAL.AI
LALAL.AI is a next-generation audio separation service powered by advanced AI technology. With a suite of innovative tools - Stem Splitter, Voice Cleaner, Voice Changer, Voice Cloner, LALAL.AI enables users to take their audio content to the next level. Stem Splitter The core service of LALAL.AI, Stem Splitter allows users to extract individual vocals or instruments from audio tracks. Supported instruments include: drums, bass, piano, guitar (electric and acoustic), synthesizer, and string and wind instruments Voice Cleaner A powerful tool for extracting clean, clear vocals from audio and video Voice Changer Tap into the power of AI to mimic the singing styles of famous stars Voice Cloner Create custom voices Echo & Reverb Remover Remove unwanted echo and reverb from vocals, voice recordings, songs, and videos, all in popular audio and video formats Lead & Back Vocal Splitter Use state-of-the-art AI technology to precisely separate lead and backing vocalStarting Price: $20 one-time payment -
2
Adobe Audition
Adobe
A professional audio workstation. Create, mix, and design sound effects with the industry’s best digital audio editing software. Audition is a comprehensive toolset that includes multitrack, waveform, and spectral display for creating, mixing, editing, and restoring audio content. This powerful audio workstation is designed to accelerate video production workflows and audio finishing — and deliver a polished mix with pristine sound. Meet the industry’s best audio cleanup, restoration, and precision editing tool for video, podcasting, and sound effect design. This step-by-step tutorial guides you through the robust audio toolkit that is Adobe Audition, including its seamless workflow with Adobe Premiere Pro. Use the Essential Sound panel to achieve professional-quality audio — even if you’re not a professional. Learn the basic steps to record, mix, and export audio content for a podcast — or any other audio project.Starting Price: $20.99 per month -
3
GarageBand
Apple
GarageBand is a fully equipped music creation studio right inside your Mac — with a complete sound library that includes instruments, presets for guitar and voice, and an incredible selection of session drummers and percussionists. With Touch Bar features for MacBook Pro and an intuitive, modern design, it’s easy to learn, play, record, create, and share your hits worldwide. Now you’re ready to make music like a pro. -
4
Audacity
Audacity
Free, open source, cross-platform audio software. Audacity is an easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. Developed by a group of volunteers as open source. Audacity can record live audio through a microphone or mixer, or digitize recordings from other media. Import, edit, and combine sound files. Export your recordings in many different file formats, including multiple files at once. Supports 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit. Sample rates and formats are converted using high-quality resampling and dithering. Support for LADSPA, LV2, Nyquist, VST and Audio Unit effect plug-ins. Nyquist effects can be easily modified in a text editor – or you can even write your own plug-in. Easy editing with Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete. Also unlimited sequential Undo (and Redo) in the session to go back any number of steps. Real-time preview of LADSPA, LV2, VST and Audio Unit (macOS) effects. Plug-in Manager handles plug-in installation.Starting Price: Free -
5
PreSonus Studio One
PreSonus Audio Electronics
Record, produce, mix, master, and perform all from a single, intuitive application. Designed with ease of use at its core, Studio One® 5 is your creative partner from studio to stage. The Start Page provides what you need to begin your creative process, including a dashboard with all your songs, projects, and shows, plus a personalized user profile that allows you to add custom metadata to all your creations. Test out remix ideas or just capture a synth riff without affecting your arrangement or creating a new session. Patterns reinvent step sequencing, letting you effortlessly create drums, basslines, and synth leads using variable sequence lengths, unlimited variations, and more. Edit multitrack drums blazingly fast thanks to advanced transient detection, slicing, and time-stretching. -
6
Reaper
Cockos
REAPER's full, flexible feature set and renowned stability have found a home wherever digital audio is used: commercial and home studios, broadcast, location recording, education, science and research, sound design, game development, and more. REAPER's full, flexible feature set and renowned stability have found a home wherever digital audio is used: commercial and home studios, broadcast, location recording, education, science and research, sound design, game development, and more. From mission-critical professional environments to students' laptops, there is a single version of REAPER, fully featured with no artificial limitations. You can evaluate REAPER in full for 60 days. A REAPER license is affordably priced and DRM-free. -
7
FL Studio
Image-Line Software
FL Studio by Image-Line is a world-renowned digital audio workstation (DAW) that empowers musicians, producers, and creators to turn ideas into professional-quality music fast. Packed with over 100 instruments and effects, a massive sound library, and intuitive tools, it’s designed for both beginners and industry professionals. Used by hitmakers like Martin Garrix, Mustard, and Boi-1da, FL Studio has powered countless chart-topping tracks across every genre. Its sleek interface makes it easy to learn while offering deep creative flexibility for experienced users. With Image-Line’s lifetime free updates, producers never have to pay for upgrades again. Starting at just $99, FL Studio delivers everything you need to start making music today.Starting Price: $99 -
8
WavePad
NCH Software
This audio editing software is a full-featured professional audio and music editor for Windows and Mac. Record and edit music, voice and other audio recordings. When editing audio files, you can cut, copy and paste parts of recordings, and then add effects like echo, amplification and noise reduction. WavePad works as a WAV or MP3 editor, but it also supports a number of other file formats including VOX, GSM, WMA, real audio, AU, AIF, FLAC, OGG, and more.Starting Price: $39.95/one-time -
9
Lurssen Mastering Console
Ik Multimedia
Lurssen Mastering Console is a groundbreaking new mastering tool for either iPhone, iPad or Mac/PC that puts a lifetime’s worth of professional mastering experience at your fingertips. Created in collaboration with Mastering Engineers Gavin Lurssen and Reuben Cohen of Multi-Grammy Award-winning facility Lurssen Mastering, Inc. in Los Angeles, it puts you at the controls in the studio with all of the secret tools, settings and techniques that have made the Lurssen sound so sought after by the world’s top-tier recording artists and producers. It faithfully recreates Lurssen's “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” philosophy of mastering. With it, you get a top-of-the-line mastering processor chain that has been created and tweaked by Gavin and his team to reflect the settings they use in the studio while mastering hip-hop, rock, pop and more. With Lurssen Mastering Console, you finally have a way to make professional-sounding masters.Starting Price: $159.99 one-time payment -
10
Logic Pro
Apple
Logic Pro turns your Mac into a professional recording studio able to handle even the most demanding projects. Capture your compositions and performances — from tracking a live band to a solo software-instrument session — and flow them into your songs. Create and improvise in a whole new way with Live Loops. Control music-making sessions from your iPad or iPhone with Logic Remote. Transform sounds into instruments with Sampler and Quick Sampler. Quickly build drum beats and melodic patterns with Step Sequencer. Live Loops is a dynamic way to create and arrange music in real time. Kick off your composition by adding loops, samples, or your recorded performances into a grid of cells. Trigger different cells to play with your ideas without worrying about a timeline or arrangement. Once you find combinations that work well together you can create song sections, then move everything into the Tracks area to continue production and finish your song. -
11
Nuendo
Steinberg Media Technologies
Ever since its initial release, Nuendo has been a vital tool in creating the soundtrack to many high-profile productions, products and installations. Regular updates with new features, workflow improvements and additional, user-requested functions mean that Nuendo constantly exceeds the expectations of an audio workstation dedicated to audio post, with high end — often unique — capabilities that continue an ongoing revolution in audio and media production software. -
12
Ableton Live
Ableton
Live organizes multiple passes of an audio or MIDI performance into individual takes. Pick the best moments of each performance and combine them to create your perfect take. Or approach sound design in a new way by splicing together random samples from your library. Link two or more tracks to edit their content simultaneously. This makes editing multi-tracked instruments or performances with multiple musicians easy and fast whilst keeping everything in time across tracks. This feature also works for MIDI tracks. Plug in your MPE-capable controller and immediately add bends, slides and pressure for each individual note in a chord. Add subtle expression variations, morph between chords and create evolving sonic textures. MPE stands for MIDI Polyphonic Expression. This way of using MIDI allows MPE-capable devices to control multiple parameters of every note in real-time for more expressive instrumental performances. -
13
Waveform
Tracktion Corporation
Waveform is a rapidly evolving application specifically designed for the needs of modern music producers. Specializing in creative and inspirational workflows and avoiding features not explicitly needed to allow the app to remain surprisingly fun and intuitive. While other apps try to appeal to broad user groups, for example film score, live sound, performance – we are laser focused on music production. Waveform Pro introduces the Arranger Track, a remarkably simple yet powerful tool for manipulating regions of your arrangement. Simply create an arrange clip in the arranger track to control the entire region of your arrangement. The arranger track has contemporary features such as magnetic movement, commonly found in video editors, that automatically open and close regions of the arrangement based on your selections. Experimenting with your arrangement and song structure has never been easier. -
14
Band-in-a-Box
PG Music Inc.
Band-in-a-Box by PG Music is a comprehensive music creation and accompaniment software that empowers musicians, composers, and educators to produce professional-quality music effortlessly. It allows users to input chord progressions and generate fully arranged backing tracks in a wide range of musical styles, from jazz and blues to rock, pop, and classical. Featuring an extensive library of tracks, drums, and MIDI instruments, the software creates authentic, lifelike accompaniments tailored to the user’s specifications. Band-in-a-Box also includes tools for songwriting, arrangement, and improvisation practice, making it a valuable resource for both beginners and experienced musicians. With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, it simplifies the creative process and enhances music production efficiency.Starting Price: $129 per license -
15
Reason
Reason Studios
Reason is a powerful collection of fantastic instruments, synthesizers and effects for you to create endless amazing sounds and music. Use it as a plugin with your favorite DAW or produce music in Reason standalone. Sound Packs are like musical building blocks that just sound perfect together. Sound Packs are filled with Reason patches (aka presets) that are powerful combinations of various Reason devices, made by world-class sound designers. With new Sound Packs every week, you’ve always got somewhere to turn for some inspiration. -
16
Ardour
Ardour
Grab yourself a nice audio interface. Plug in a microphone or a keyboard. Add a track, press record, and you got it. Cut, move, stretch, copy, paste, delete, align, trim, crossfade, rename, snapshot, zoom, transpose, quantize, swing, drag, drop. Import audio or MIDI from your hard drive or the Freesound database. All with unlimited undo/redo. All in the same window. Mute, solo, fader, automate, EQ, dynamics, insert, send, pre-fader, post-fader, sync, monitor, isolate. Floating point fidelity, the most flexible mixer architecture in the industry, hundreds of plugins, and external control surfaces. Ardour's core user group, people who want to record, edit, mix and master audio and MIDI projects. When you need complete control over your tools, when the limitations of other designs get in the way, when you plan to spend hours or days working on a session, Ardour is there to make things work the way you want them to. -
17
Cubase
Steinberg Media Technologies
Do you want to start creating your own music, bring your production up to a professional level, or streamline your workflow for short deadlines? Whatever you need, Cubase helps you to reach your full creative potential. From Hollywood blockbuster composers and Billboard Hot 100 producers right through to keen beginners, the world of music production trusts the comprehensive feature set, straightforward tools and unrivaled sound of our acclaimed music production software. -
18
Pro Tools
Avid
Your talent and artistry know no bounds. Take your sound further with software and hardware that let you focus on what you do best. Meet Pro Tools. Get everything you need to make beats, write songs, record vocals and instruments, and mix studio-quality music that’s ready to be heard across the world’s most popular streaming platforms. Pro Tools makes music creation fast and fluid, providing the GRAMMY® winning DAW toolset and plugins the pros use to create your favorite songs and albums. Build up songs quickly and create more realistic-sounding tracks with easy-to-use MIDI tools. Add loops that auto-conform to your session tempo. And freely create and experiment without stopping playback. Share ideas and work on projects with anyone, anywhere, with Cloud Collaboration. And take your music to any producer or studio around the world, as the Pro Tools session format is the industry’s universal language. -
19
Beatformer
accusonus
Effortlessly shape the sound of your beats with 4 intuitive controls, Boom, Punch, Squash and Air. Blend analog-style processing with modern digital technology. Transparently fine tune or fully transform your beats with the turn of a simple dial. With over a dozen different processors under the hood, Beatformer allows you to breathe new life into your beats. Glue your drum mix together, bring energy into overprocessed loops, easily enhance your beat’s dynamics, add colour and personal character to your beats. Add substance to thin sounds, and instantly transform the sound of your beats. Behind the simple and intuitive user interface of Beatformer is a complex signal flow which is described in the diagram. In the following sections we will discuss each of Beatform control in more detail. You can use Air to excite the high end or tame excessive high frequencies. Air is a bipolar control. From 0.0 to 10.0 Air will dynamically add harmonics to the high frequencies of the signal.Starting Price: $99 one-time payment -
20
Regroover
Accusonus
Use Regroover's Artificial-Intelligence engine and get previously-unreachable sounds from inside your audio samples. Craft the isolated beat elements to create your personal drum kits. Instantly remix your loops and create your own loop variations. Unmix your loops and create new drum kits from isolated beat elements. Independently adjust the volume, panning and add effects on seperated sound layers. Create and remix new patterns from seperated sound layers of your audio files. Export and save the isolated beat elements and layers as WAV / AIFF audio files. Extract sounds from Layers and drag them to their own trigger pads. Edit extracted sounds via the expansion kit mixer and effects. Use multiple pattern lengths to create new straight beats or polyrhythms.Starting Price: $219 one-time payment -
21
Acoustica
Acon Digital
Acoustica 7.5 is the perfect solution for audio editing, podcast creation, mastering and audio restoration on both Mac and PC. The application is available in a Premium Edition and a lower cost Standard Edition. Both include a powerful and sample accurate clip editor that lets you navigate and edit single track audio with pristine quality. You can also create multitrack sessions where you can import or record audio clips to separate tracks that you can mix and process. The new spectral editing mode in Acoustica Premium Edition 7.5 allows precise restoration work since processing can be limited to isolated regions in time and frequency. Selection tools such as brush, freehand or magic wand are available. The retouch tool removes noise based on a freely selectable reference from the surrounding audio. Mix audio from different tracks in real-time, insert audio effects or create cross-fades easily in multitrack sessions.Starting Price: $61.12 one-time payment -
22
Melodyne
Melodyne
Your key to the music in the audio files. Melodyne is used every day in major studios worldwide and by thousands of professionals. To correct, perfect, reshape and restructure vocals, samples and recordings of all kinds in the highest quality. In a far-reaching, intuitive and musical way only Melodyne makes possible. Find out more about the Grammy-award-winning tool that has revolutionized the way audio is handled and become an integral part of modern music production. Melodyne grants you unrivaled access to all the musical details in your recordings and samples, note by note. This is made possible by a sophisticated analysis that delves deeply into your recordings and samples and recognizes and understands the musical relationships within them, the individual notes and their characteristics, the scales, keys and chords, the timing, the tempo, the tone color. And with Melodyne you can edit all these things intuitively.Starting Price: $99 one-time payment -
23
HOFA SYSTEM
HOFA
It’s time to create your own channel strips & FX. HOFA SYSTEM offers you 32 high-end plugins, that you can use in your DAW or connect them with each other in the revolutionary SYSTEM environment. For mixing, mastering and sound design. With premium dynamics, EQs, reverbs, FX, modulation and saturation effects and utilities. Intuitive and fast workflow for multiband, mid/side, parallel and dual mono routings. All plugins can be used as inserts and within HOFA SYSTEM. Buy now and get 3 upcoming plugins for free! It has never been easier or faster to change the signal flow of your plugin chain. You can use multiband, mid/side, parallel and dual mono tools anywhere, just drag and drop the plugins around. You want to use an equalizer only on the side signal? Or saturate the signal above 200 Hz? No problem, SYSTEM can do that in no time. More than 300 carefully selected presets not only provide you with a starting point for your own creations, they also sound great!Starting Price: $169.90 one-time payment -
24
Audio Damage
Audio Damage
Since 2002, Audio Damage has been making tools for the creative musician, from experimental plugins for your DAW to top-of-the-line hardware sequencers. Making advanced music technology enjoyable and easy to use is our first and only goal. We started Audio Damage in 2002 to bring creative and experimental tools to musicians, built and coded in the United States, with the highest quality workmanship. Our RoughRider compressor is one of the most popular dynamics processors on the planet, with well over a half a million downloads over its decade-plus lifespan, and is in heavy daily use by producers the world over. With RoughRider3, we've expanded the original to include an external sidechain input, the ability to turn off the built-in "warming" filter and much more accurate metering. Ratshack Reverb is a detailed model of that classic of classics, the Realistic Electronic Reverb. Now, you can have the sound of everyone's first analog delay unit, without ever having to change batteries!Starting Price: $19 one-time payment -
25
AudioLava
Acon Digital
AudioLava is the ideal audio cleaning software for restoring and recording high-quality audio from LP or tape to CD. The new version now runs on both Macintosh and Windows PCs and comes with a modern dark theme that appears crystal sharp on retina-style displays. The user-friendly interface helps to find the best way to bring old recordings back to life and guides the user through all the steps from recording, file import and track splitting to restoration and CD burning. You can remove noise such as tape hiss, hum or clicks and crackle on LP records as well as improve clipped audio. The algorithms are based on our award-winning audio restoration technology but offers a simplified user interface that makes the restoration process easier. Recordings are automatically split into separate tracks, which can also be edited manually. The large set of integrated tools range from dynamic processing and equalization to highly realistic reverb.Starting Price: $30.50 one-time payment -
26
Verberate
Acon Digital
When it comes to reverb, it’s all about the sound quality. Verberate is an algorithmic reverb plug-in that simulates real acoustical surroundings with exceptional realism. The first Verberate version already raised the bar. Version 2 introduces the Vivid Hall algorithm that adds time variance to avoid the stiffness that plagues convolution-based reverbs while preserving the natural high-density reverb tails of Verberate 1. Real acoustical surroundings will have slight variations due to air currents, moving performers or movements in the audience. While these variations may seem subtle, the effect towards the end of the reverb tail is significant, since the sound is reflected a large number of times before the reverb tail fades out. The new Vivid Hall algorithm models these random variations without artifacts like chorus effects or pitch changes, and is therefore capable of simulating reverberation of real halls with a higher degree of realism.Starting Price: $102 one-time payment -
27
SampleTank
Ik Multimedia
The new SampleTank 4 has been re-designed from the ground up to be every musician’s “go to” workstation for music creation, with a completely new rescalable interface, a massively expanded sample library and a new cutting-edge sound engine with efficient disk streaming, to deliver more powerful music creation tools than you ever imagined. What might usually take dozens of plug-ins can be accomplished right inside SampleTank 4, for lightning-fast workflow that keeps your inspiration going. Find any type of sound fast and tailor them to your needs with the new deep, powerful editing options and a new modulation matrix. New dynamic “groove players”, an arpeggiator, strummer, and pattern and loop players, turn your sounds into songs faster than ever. Plus a new live mode makes SampleTank 4 the perfect performance partner, with the ability to create entire set lists and easily map every parameter just how you need it.Starting Price: €149.99 one-time payment -
28
Total Studio 3
Ik Multimedia
Total Studio 3 MAX is the most extensive edition yet of our popular software suite for music creation. With a massive 124 included products, Total Studio 3 MAX covers every stage of music production: composing, producing, designing, mixing, mastering and playing. With over 440GB of rich, authentic sounds plus 491 ultra-realistic FX, Total Studio 3 offers a complete solution for creating music in virtually any style. 124 of IK’s most powerful music creation titles in one incredible bundle. Over 14,600 authentic-sounding instruments in every genre and style. Instant inspiration with thousands of presets from top artists & engineers. 56 plug-ins covering the entire creative process from composing to mastering. Endless tone tweaking, mixing and mastering with over 480 effects. Seamless installation and updates via IK Product Manager. We believe this all-round collection will free your mind to focus on completing your next musical project.Starting Price: $499.99 one-time payment -
29
MixBox
Ik Multimedia
MixBox packs over 70 award-winning mixing processors and creative effects derived from T-RackS, AmpliTube and SampleTank into a convenient 500-series style plug-in. Create, compare and save your own custom channel strips or multiFX chains, or choose from over 600 presets to give your creativity a kickstart. Whether in your favorite DAW or stand-alone, MixBox combines a massive range of effects and powerful workflow to supercharge your mixes. MixBox lets you choose from over 70 different effects to create a custom processor chain in a single “rack.” 8 slots per rack let you design the exact channel strip you want, then save it for later recall. With a quick drag & drop workflow, you’ll be able to assemble chains instantly and get right to work shaping your music from one central workstation. And with all these effects in one plug-in, MixBox is well-suited for collaborating with others on different systems and DAWs.Starting Price: $299.99 one-time payment -
30
AmpliTube
Ik Multimedia
Captures the sound, feel and vibe of over 400 of the most sought-after guitar & bass gear ever. Official gear from icons like Fender®, Mesa/Boogie®, Orange®, Slash, Brian May, Joe Satriani and many more. Stomps, amps, cabs, speakers, mics, rooms and rack FX all in one interface, all routed the way you want. With an 8-track recorder + DAW, looper, tuner, practice tools and live features all in one. Works as an AAX / VST / AU plug-in to create killer guitar tracks anywhere. IK’s DIM™ and VIR™ technology ensures AmpliTube nails the tone and feel of every piece of gear like never before. An all-new drag & drop signal chain supports up to 57 simultaneous models, series/parallel routing and blended DI signal for unprecedented creative freedom. Powerful new “Volumetric Impulse Response” radically transforms all 100+ cabinets in AmpliTube 5 with over 143,000 impulse response measurements in all.Starting Price: $149.99 one-time payment
