The 15 Best Music Production Software to Make Music in 2025

By Sruthy

By Sruthy

Sruthy, with her 10+ years of experience, is a dynamic professional who seamlessly blends her creative soul with technical prowess. With a Technical Degree in Graphics Design and Communications and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and Communication, she brings a unique combination of artistic flair…

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Updated January 20, 2025

Looking for good music making software that can perfectly fit your unique needs? Read this review to pick the best music production software for clear music creation:

Music is loved by everyone, so is there a never dying demand for great music?

For that purpose, you need great music producers as well as a platform that supports your requirements.

Music production software allows you to record music, edit music files, give effects, mix different sounds, and much more. Music producers rely on this software for various advanced and innovative tools so as to deliver extraordinary music.

How to Choose Music Production Software

Best Music Production Software

While choosing music production software, you must consider the following points:

  • It must be easy to use (if you are a not-so-tech-savvy person). But most advanced music production software built for professional purposes is a bit complicated in its operations, so a bit of a steep learning curve would have to be followed.
  • It should support your device.
  • A free trial (offered by most of them) will help you look for its usability, as per your unique requirements.
music production image

[image source]

In this article, you will find detailed illustrations about the top best software for music production, so that you can pick the one that suits you the most.

Market Trends: According to a report by Markets and Markets, the global digital audio workstation market had a net worth of $2 billion in 2018, which is expected to expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 9.2% over the years from 2018 to 2024 and reach a net worth of $3.1 billion by the year 2024.

North America contributes to having the largest share of the market, followed by Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America.

music software market

Expert Advice: The first thing that people look for while choosing software is its popularity. Apart from that, you must look for the one that offers constant innovations and modern tools so that you will always stay ahead.

=>> Contact us to suggest a listing here.

List of the Best Music Production Software

Popular and best software for music making:

  1. Ableton Live 11
  2. Logic Pro
  3. PreSonus Studio One
  4. FL Studio
  5. Avid Pro Tools
  6. Reason 12
  7. Waveform Free
  8. Steinberg Cubase Pro
  9. Audacity
  10. Reaper
  11. Bitwig Studio
  12. Magix Acid Pro
  13. iZotope Music Production Suite
  14. MOTU Digital Performer 11

Comparison of the Top Best Music Making Software

PlatformBest forPriceCompatibility
Ableton Live 11DJs, EDM, and hip-hop beatsStarts at $99. A free trial is also available. MacOS: macOS High Sierra 10.13 to Monterey 12
Windows: Windows 10 (Build 1909 and later)
Logic ProAdvanced production and editing tools. $199.99. A free trial is also available. macOS 11.5 or later
PreSonus Studio OneA powerful yet affordable music production platformThere is a free trial for 30 days. Price per month is $14.95Windows: Windows 10 (64-bit only) or Windows 11 (64-bit only)
Mac: macOS 10.14 or higher (64-bit only)
FL StudioAn intuitive and easy to use platform. Starts at $99. A time limited free version is also available. Windows: Windows 8.1, 10, 11 or later, Intel and AMD CPUs (ARM not supported).
Mac: 10.13.6 (High Sierra) or later, Intel or Apple Silicon CPUs.
Also available for Android and iOS users.
Avid Pro ToolsEasy to use and offers advanced music production tools, required for creating professional music. Starts at $9.99 per month. Mac: macOS Catalina 10.15.7
PC: Windows 10, 11

Detailed Reviews:

#1) Ableton Live 11

Best for DJs, EDM, and hip-hop beats.

Ableton

Ableton Live 11 is the best music production software out there. Founded in 1999, today Ableton is used worldwide by musicians, sound designers, and artists.

Headquartered in Berlin, Ableton is a team of 350+ members coming from all over the world and aims at providing people with music production and designing features that can benefit them.

The range of features, instruments, packs, and effects offered by Ableton Live 11 is outstanding. The platform complies with EU GDPR regulations, thus ensuring the security of your files and other data.

System Requirements:

  • For macOS: macOS High Sierra 10.13 to Monterey 12, 8 GB RAM, 1280×800 display resolution.
  • For Windows: Windows 10 (Build 1909 and later), 8 GB RAM, 1366×768 display resolution.

Features:

  • Wavetable, FM, physical-modeling, and sampling-based synthesizers, for designing your own music.
  • Hybrid Reverb, Spectral Resonator, Spectral Time, EQ Eight, Echo, Drum Buss, Pedal, Glue Compressor, Spectrum Analyzer, and many more audio effects.
  • MIDI effects include Envelope, Envelope Follower, Shaper, and more.
  • 70 GB of sounds, ready to be used in your music production.
  • Tools for extracting harmony, melody, or drums from an audio sample and converting it to MIDI.

How to use:

Here is a brief guide on how to use it if you are new to Ableton Live 11:

#1) The info panel located at the bottom left of Ableton Live’s page shows you the information about anything that you put your cursor on.

Here is an image of Able Live 11’s home page:

Ableton homepage

#2) Here is an image of the info view panel:

Ableton info view panel

#3) You can start working on a file by simply dragging and dropping a file into your workspace or inserting it through the Samples section, located on the very left of the page.

ableton htu 3

#4) Now you can preview different sounds separately or mix them from here, adjust speed, insert any track in the background, and more, using the different tools at the bottom.

Pros:

  • Free trial for 90 days
  • Discounted pricing for students and teachers
  • Powerful automation offered

Verdict: We would recommend Ableton Live 11 for DJs, EDM, and hip-hop beats. The set of features that they offer is incomparable.

The prices offered by Ableton can be a bit expensive for some, but at the end of the day, you get the value of what you pay for. The customer reviews of Ableton are very nice. The navigation tools are praiseworthy.

Price: Ableton Live 11 offers a free trial for 90 days. Price plans are as follows:

  • Live 11 Suite: $749
  • Live 11 Standard: $449
  • Live 11 Intro: $99

Website: https://www.ableton.com/en/shop/upgrade-to-standard-or-suite/


#2) Logic Pro

Best for advanced production and editing tools.

Logic Pro

Logic Pro is a powerful and creative music-making software. The platform offers you a vast collection of instruments, loops, and samples that can be used for mixing, playing, and innovating soundtracks.

Logic Pro allows seamless punch recording, supports pristine 24-bit/192kHz audio, offers tools for creating projects with 1000 stereo or surround audio tracks and 1000 software instrument tracks, runs unlimited plug-ins, and much more.

You also get advanced tools for recording, editing, and manipulating MIDI performances.

System Requirements: macOS 11.5 or later.

Features:

  • A huge collection of sounds that let you create your desired tracks.
  • Stutters, echoes, filters, and gating effects help give DJ-style effects to your track.
  • Easy-to-use tools for correcting a drum, vocal, guitar, or any other kind of track.
  • Integrated Dolby Atmos tools that help in creating fully immersive spatial audio mixes easily.
  • You can sequence your beats by programming drum patterns and melodic parts, creating dynamic rhythmic performances, and automating plugins.

How to use: When you start using Logic Pro, you will have to follow these steps:

#1) Before starting a new project in Logic Pro, you must set the Tempo, key, and Time Signature. This can be done at the top of your page as shown in the image below:

Logic pro htu 1

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  • Now you can start creating your music. Go to Track then select the ‘New Track’ option. From here you can select a track to be added to the arrange window.
Logic Pro htu 2

#2) Now you can record software instruments, or reproduce instruments’ sounds from Logic Pro’s library. You can also record real instruments or vocals from here.

record instrument

#3) Now you can edit your created music file, so as to remove any discrepancies.

Pros:

  • Supports English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish languages.
  • The range of features is nice.
  • Free version for iPad and iPhone.

Cons:

  • No Android application

Verdict: Regarding the customer reviews of Logic Pro, we found that most of the users are quite satisfied with the software. We recommend the software for beginners as well as pros in the field.

The wide range of features offered by the platform makes it a highly powerful one. Automation and integration are also impressive.

Price: $199.99. They offer a free trial for 90 days.

Website: https://www.apple.com/logic-pro/


#3) PreSonus Studio One

Best for being a powerful yet affordable music production platform.

PreSonus - Music Production Software

PreSonus Studio One is an advanced music production software that is loaded with tools for recording, producing, mixing, mastering, and performing music tracks.

Smart templates, drag-and-drop editing tools, simplified collaboration features, a customizable user interface, multiple exporting formats, powerful computing tools, advanced Melodyne integration, and more features make the software highly praiseworthy.

Founded in 1995, with the aim of letting people design innovative audio products that provide professional sound quality at affordable prices,

System Requirements:

  • For Windows: Windows 10 (64-bit only) or Windows 11 (64-bit only)
    • Intel® Core™ i3/AMD A10 processor or better
  • For Mac: macOS 10.14 or higher (64-bit only)
    • Intel Core i3 or better (Native support for Apple Silicon)

Features:

  • 64-Bit WAV Recording
  • Advanced audio editing tools include transient detection, audio quantization, time-stretching and more.
  • Tools for reordering, duplicating, and removing entire song sections across a list of tracks at once.
  • The auto-filter feature allows you to design complex, tempo-synced, rhythmic filter patterns and lush filter sweeps.

How to use:

Follow these steps for beginning using PreSonus Studio One:

#1) PreSonus starts with a page like this:

Presonus htu1

#2) From here, you can view your recent files, watch tutorials, start a new project/song/show, and more.

#3) Here a project refers to mixing and editing different songs or musical instruments, so as to design music.

#4) If you select New Song, you can now start working on a new audio file by adjusting its tempo, song length, etc., or work on a pre-existing file.

select new song

#5) If you choose the Empty Song option, a new page will open where a number of panels (small icons) are available at the top as well as at the bottom of the page and you can just start designing your music.

Pros:

  • Advanced collaboration tools
  • Autosave, Backup, Archive, and more useful tools
  • A built-in shop that allows you to preview and buy from hundreds of third-party loop libraries, plug-ins, and instruments.

Cons:

  • It can be a bit troublesome to use at the beginning.

Verdict: The range of features offered by PreSonus Studio One is highly commendable. It is an innovative platform with reasonable prices. The customer reviews on the platform are nice. We would highly recommend PreSonus Studio One.

Price: There is a free trial for 30 days. The price per month is $14.95.

Website: https://www.presonus.com/products/Studio-One


#4) FL Studio

Best for being an intuitive and easy-to-use platform.

FL Studio - Music Production Software

[image source]

FL Studio is an all-in-one music production software that offers you tools for composing, arranging, recording, mixing, and mastering professional quality music.

It can be deployed on Cloud, SaaS, Web, Mac/Windows desktop, Windows/Linux premises, Android/iPhone mobile, and iPad. The platform is a bit tricky to use at the beginning, but with the help of the many tutorials that it offers, anyone can easily master using it and get easy results within minutes.

System Requirements:

  • For Windows: Windows 8.1, 10, 11, or later, Intel and AMD CPUs (ARM not supported).
  • For Mac : 10.13.6 (High Sierra) or later, Intel or Apple Silicon CPUs.
  • Also available for Android and iOS users.

Features:

  • Supports WAV, MP3 or AAC, FLAC & MIDI export formats
  • Audio mixing tools including mute, solo, effect bus, pan, and volume adjustment
  • Allows capturing of live performances
  • Compatible with all screen resolutions and sizes from phone to TV

Pros:

  • Available for Android, Chrome OS, iOS, macOS, or Windows.
  • A number of effects include Auto Ducker, Chorus, Compressor, Limiter, Distortion, Parametric Equalizer, and more.
  • Time-limited free version

Cons:

  • It’s a bit difficult for beginners.

Verdict: We found the platform to be comparatively easier to use and more intuitive than its alternatives. The biggest plus point is that the software is available for mobile users as well.

FL Studio gives you fast results and is highly appreciated by its users.

Price: Price plans are as follows:

  • FL Studio Fruity Edition: $99
  • FL Studio Producer Edition: $149
  • FL Studio Signature Bundle: $299
  • FL Studio All Plugins Edition: $399

Website: https://www.image-line.com/


#5) Avid Pro Tools

Best for offering advanced music production tools, required for creating professional music.

avid pro

Avid Pro Tools is a leading, music-making software that offers GRAMMY® winning DAW toolset and plugins for experts in the field of music production.

The platform is a team of more than 1400 employees from all over the world. This innovative platform has helped people win Oscars, a Grammy, and Emmys. Avid is built with the aim of delivering collaboration, trust, integrity, and respect to its customers.

This powerful platform has a nice user interface and some really nice customer reviews, that make it a very popular one.

System Requirements:

  • For Mac: macOS Catalina 10.15.7, M1 or Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (i5 or faster recommended), 8 GB RAM
  • For PC: Windows 10, 11, 64-bit Intel Core Processor (i3/2 GHz or faster recommended), 8 GB RAM

Features:

  • Tools for recording, monitoring, and mixing music.
  • Groundbreaking virtual instruments, effects, and loops.
  • Track comping, elastic audio, and mix automation workflows.
  • Lets you find and connect with creative people from all around the world.

Pros:

  • Free trial for 30 days
  • Easy to use
  • Useful collaborations

Cons:

  • The learning curve is a bit steep for beginners.

Verdict: Avid Pro is a highly trusted and recommended platform that enables its users to produce professional music at home.

It is a fast, secure, cloud-based platform that can be easily set up. Prices can be a bit high for some, but the range of features that they offer is incomparable.

Price: Starts at $9.99 per month.

Website: https://www.avid.com/


#6) Reason 12

Best for beginners.

Reason 12 - Music Production Software

Reason 12 is a good music production software that is loaded with a vast library of sounds and more than 29000 patches, loops, and samples, that help you in designing your soundtracks.

This easy-to-use platform is trusted by millions of users from all over the world. The biggest plus points about Reason are the constant innovations and its user-friendly interface.

System Requirements:

For MacOS:

  • macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or later (64-bit)
  • 4 GB RAM
  • Monitor with at least 1280 x 768 resolution
  • If you want to use Reason as a VST Plugin, a host with VST3 support is required
  • If you want to use Reason as an AU plugin, a host with AUv2 support is required
  • If you want to use Reason as an AAX plugin, Pro Tools 12 or later is required

For Windows:

  • Windows 11 – or Windows 10 (64-bit) 1607 (Build 14393) or later
  • Monitor with at least 1280 x 768 resolution
  • 4 GB RAM
  • If you want to use Reason as a VST Plugin, a host with VST3 support is required
  • If you want to use Reason as an AAX plugin, Pro Tools 12 or later is required

Features:

  • Tools for quick triggering, chopping, and manipulation of audio
  • Allows you to change the background color, apply a custom background, and more
  • A number of instruments, including Radical Piano, MIDI Out Device, Kong Drum Designer, and more, can help you with sound designing
  • A huge library of effects for your sounds, including Quartet Chorus Ensemble, Channel Dynamics, Softube Amp, and more

Pros:

  • Easy to use
  • You can try Reason 12 for 1 month, by paying $1 only.
  • Unlimited audio recording

Cons:

  • It’s a bit costly.

Verdict: Reason 12 is a powerful as well as flexible software for music production. The music editing features offered by the platform are commendable.

Reason 12 is loaded with a number of instruments, synthesizers, drum machines, sound-shaping effects, Player MIDI effects, and mixing tools so that one can create the best quality music.

Price: $499

Website: https://www.reasonstudios.com/shop/product/reason-12/


#7) Waveform Free

Best for allowing free, unlimited usage.

Waveform

Waveform Free is one of the best music software. The platform is available for free in spite of the fact that it offers you everything that you look for in software for music production.

Waveform is available for Mac and Windows as well as Ubuntu users.

System Requirements:

  • For macOS: macOS 10.11 or later, 64-bit Intel or Apple Silicon
  • For Windows: Windows 8, 10, 11, 64-bit
  • Ubuntu: 18.04, 64-bit

Features:

  • Tools for recording, editing, mixing, and more.
  • Band essentials including drums, bass, piano, guitar, and more
  • 15 audio effects including Compressor, Gate, Limiter, Chorus, Phaser, Stereo Delay, and more.
  • Tagging, favorite marking, smart listing tools as well as advanced search tools

Verdict: Waveform is offering too much, without charging a single penny. It is an award-winning and one of the best music production software for Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu devices. The customer reviews about the platform are also nice.

Price: Free

Website: https://www.tracktion.com/products/waveform-free


#8) Steinberg Cubase Pro

Best for professional music production.

steinberg - Music Production Software

Steinberg Cubase Pro is one of the best music software. It is trusted by beginners as well as professionals in the field of music production. Their user interface is available in German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, and English languages.

System Requirements:

  • For Windows: 64-bit Windows 10 Version 21H2 (or higher) / 64-bit Windows 11 Version 21H2 (or higher)
  • For macOS: macOS Big Sur/macOS Monterey

Features:

  • Allows you to warp quantize multiple audio tracks at once
  • MIDI Remote Scripts to automatically detect your device and map the controls
  • Chord Pads and comping tools
  • Next-generation audio engine with 64-bit floating-point resolution at a 192 kHz sample rate
  • A number of effects including mixer delay, tuner, SMPTE Generator, and more
  • Collaboration tools that allow you to connect with musicians from all over the globe.

Verdict: Steinberg Cubase Pro is a fast, flexible, and intuitive music production software. The software is a bit costly, but the range of features offered is highly commendable. It is highly recommended for professional use.

Price: $579.99 (A free trial is available for 30 days.)

Website: https://www.steinberg.net/cubase/


#9) Audacity

Best for being a free, easy-to-use audio editor.

Audacity - Music Production Software

Audacity is an open-source, free, and one of the best music-making software for Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.

Audacity is highly popular all around the world, which is proof of its trustworthiness. The features offered by the platform include recording, importing/exporting, editing, and much more.

System Requirements:

  • For Windows: Windows 10, 11
  • For MacOS: macOS 12 Monterey, macOS 11 Big Sur, macOS 10.15 Catalina, macOS 10.14 Mojave, macOS 10.13 High Sierra
  • For Linux: Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 21.10

Features:

  • Let’s you record live audio
  • Allows you to export recorded files in multiple file formats
  • Easy-to-use editing features that allow editing WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP2, MP3, Ogg Vorbis sound files
  • LADSPA, LV2, VST, and Audio Unit (macOS) effects.

Verdict: The platform is easy to use and reliable. The interface is a bit outdated but the platform is highly useful. The features you get at absolutely no cost, are really praiseworthy.

Audacity is recommended for beginners as well as small-scale music productions.

Price: Free

Website: https://www.audacityteam.org/


#10) Reaper

Best for individual as well as professional use.

Reaper

Reaper is a digital audio workstation platform that constantly innovates to provide you with the features that are in current demand. With Reaper, you get tools for audio recording, editing, processing, mixing, and more.

Reaper is fast and simple but can be a bit troublesome in the beginning if you are not a technical person.

System Requirements:

  • For Windows: Supports all Windows versions from Windows XP to Windows 11 with Intel processors and 32 or 64-bit processing.
  • For MacOS: macOS 10.5 to macOS 12.
  • For Linux: GTK+3 with ALSA, GTK+2 supported, x86_64, i686, armv7l, aarch64 compatible.

Features:

  • Audio and MIDI routing
  • Supports a number of third-party plug-in effects and virtual instruments
  • Allows you to create new effects using built-in tools
  • Only 25 MB of hard disk space is required for storage.

Verdict: We highly recommend Reaper for individual as well as professional use. The sound quality that they offer is nice. The platform is efficient and powerful and is available at reasonable prices. You even get discounts for personal as well as commercial use.

Price: $225. (There is a discounted version that costs $60, and is available for personal use, educational or non-profit organizations, and businesses whose yearly gross revenue does not exceed USD $20,000.)

*A free trial is also available for 60 days.

Website: https://www.reaper.fm/


#11) Bitwig Studio

Best for being a powerful, all-in-one software for music production.

Bitwig Studio is one of the best music-making software for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is a powerful music production platform that offers 90+ instruments, effects, and other creative tools, thus allowing you to design sounds, record live performances, and much more.

Price: There is a free trial for 30 days. Price plans are as follows:

  • Bitwig Studio 16-Track: $99
  • Bitwig Studio: $399

*You get free updates for 12 months. Plus there are discounts for students and teachers.

Website: Bitwig Studio


#12) Magix Acid Pro

Best for being an all-in-one solution for music production.

Magix Acid Pro is more than 20 years old software that is loaded with tools for arranging, editing, and resampling audio files. The platform is fast and innovative and offers you world-leading effects and AI-based mastering tools.

Price: A free trial is available. Price plans are as follows:

  • Acid Pro 365: $19.99 per month
  • Acid Pro 11: $79
  • Acid Pro 11 Suite: $149

Website: https://www.magix.com/us/music-editing/acid/acid-pro/


#13) iZotope Music Production Suite

Best for offering modern, innovative music production solutions.

Founded in 2001, iZotope is today an award-winning, one of the best music-making software built with the aim of making music production more joyful and inspiring. The platform has more than 10 million users from all over the world. It is an all-in-one, reliable platform for beginners as well as for professional use.

Price: $499

Website: https://www.izotope.com/


#14) MOTU Digital Performer 11

Best for advanced music production tools for professional purposes.

MOTU Digital Performer 11 is one of the best music production software. It is a bit complicated to use, but the features offered are powerful and highly useful. The users of MOTU Digital Performer 11 have won Grammys and many other prestigious awards.

Price: $499

Website: https://motu.com/en-us/products/software/dp/


FAQs on Music Software

1. What is the easiest software to make music with?

We would say Ableton is the best music production software, it is powerful and easy to use at the same time. There is a small learning curve though.
Avid Pro Tools, Audacity, Waveform Free, and PreStudio One are some of the other easy-to-use music-making software.

2. Is Ableton Live any good?

Ableton Live is the most popular and one of the best software for music production. It is a powerful, all-in-one platform that offers you tools for music designing, giving effects to audio files, a huge library of sounds, ready to be used in a music track, some powerful automation, and flexible price plans, thus making the software suitable for everyone.

3. Which is the best software for music production?

Ableton Live 11, Logic Pro, PreSonus Studio One, FL Studio, and Avid Pro Tools are the top 5 best software for music production. These are powerful platforms that can be used by professionals in designing breathtaking, high-quality music.

4. What free software do music producers use?

Audacity and Waveform Free are the best free and easy-to-use software for music producers.

5. What is Logic Pro used for?

Logic Pro is a powerful music production software for Mac users. It offers a nice range of features for audio mixing, playing, and innovating soundtracks. The platform offers useful automation, the prices are quite reasonable and the customer reviews are impressive, thus making Logic Pro a reliable and highly recommended platform.


Conclusion

Music production is an art, not meant to be done by everyone. But the introduction of easy-to-use music production software has made it easy for even beginners to learn the basics of music production and start working in their dream careers.

Some of the best music-making software in the industry are Ableton Live 11, Logic Pro, PreSonus Studio One, FL Studio, Avid Pro Tools, Reason 12, Waveform Free, Reaper, Steinberg Cubase Pro, and Audacity.

Some of them offer easy-to-use tools that can be used even by beginners, and some offer advanced tools for professional purposes and need a little learning at the beginning of their use. Go through the detailed reviews to find the most suitable software for your needs.

Research Process:

  • Time Taken to Research this Article: We have spent 15 hours researching and writing this article so you can get a useful summarised list of the Best Software to Make Music with a comparison of each for your quick review.
  • Total Tools Researched Online: 20
  • Top Tools Shortlisted for Review: 14
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