in this video i'm looking at 11 of the best free DAWs available in 2021 on windows 10 and i'll also
let you know my top three picks near the end of this video so be sure to stick around for that
i'm zane welcome to audio tech tv where it's my goal to help you conquer the tech so you can
unleash your creativity by providing easy to follow audio tech tips tutorials and reviews
i've included links down in the description to all of the free daws mentioned in this video but
right now let's jump in and first on the list of best free daws of 2021 is tracktion waveform free
this free digital audio workstation is completely unlimited so you can have unlimited audio midi
and auxiliary tracks or as many as your computer can handle anyway and i've noticed that tracktion
waveform doesn't use a lot of system resources i actually did a series on recording a song with the
cheap audio interface on an older laptop where i used waveform and it performed really well on
that older laptop i was able to have a ton of plugins open in my project with a lot of tracks
waveform free includes some useful effects plugins plus a couple of decent instruments in the micro
drum sampler and the four ask synth and if you need to add third party plugins you can do that
too the differences between the pro version and the free version are the pro version includes
some more instruments and plugins and there are a couple of advanced features that aren't necessary
for making music but they do help to make things easier but not having those features isn't
limiting in any way you can get traction waveform free on windows mac linux and even raspberry pi
next on the list is avid pro tools first this is the free version of the very popular pro tools daw
that's been used in pro studios for years the free pro tools first program does have some limitations
you can only have a maximum of 16 tracks in your projects and this can be any combination of audio
midi or auxiliary tracks 16 tracks is still very usable though so that's not too big of
a limitation another limitation is that you can't add third-party plugins unless you purchase them
through the avid marketplace so even if you own plugins that you purchase from somewhere else
you can't use those in here having said that i've noticed that some plugins are showing
up in my version of pro tools first so it's a quirky limitation that may not be a limitation
if your plugins do actually show up in it now what pro tools first does have going for it is that
it gives you the same sort of user interface and workflow that the pros use so if working in a pro
studio is something that you're striving for then learning on this software can be a big advantage
to you you also get the air expand 2 instrument which is huge and it has a lot of great sounds
in it plus the plugins that pro tools first comes with are very usable you can get pro tools first
on mac and windows up next is a fairly new daw that's really geared towards beat makers this is
akai mpc beats this one gives you a workflow that's similar to working on an mpc but with the
added benefit that it's in the software world so editing can be a little easier if you have a midi
controller with pads on it this can be a great daw for you as it integrates with pads very easily as
you can see you have your pads on the screen but you can also just create beats with your
mouse by drawing them in onto the piano roll or you can use your midi keyboard to play the notes
on the keys mpc beats is pretty easy to use if you want to record audio into it you can do that too
but you only get two audio tracks per project and speaking of tracks you can only have eight
instrument tracks in a project so that's a total of 10 tracks altogether which can be quite a few
for beat creation in the beginning but you may find you need more later on once you get used to
the workflow it's very quick to start making music in mpc beats it includes some kits and
synths but you can also bring your third party vst instruments into it too plus mpc beats includes
over 80 quality effects plugins and just like with instruments you can also bring in your own vst
effects like i said earlier this one is fairly new but i can really see this taking off in the future
as it's an incredible daw for beat creators and i'm sure it's going to continue to get better
as they continue to develop it you can get mpc beats on windows and mac all right before i get
to the next free daw on the list i just want to ask if you're enjoying this video so far getting
some value out of it can you please give it a thumbs up it really helps my channel out and i
appreciate it so much now next on the list of best free daws of 2021 is audacity this one is a fairly
simple program that's been around for years you can record audio into it arrange your recordings
in a multi-track setup edit the audio levels and add effects but you can't use midi in audacity
so if you're wanting to use vst instruments then you're going to need to look elsewhere
it's a very lightweight program and it's great for audio editing a lot of people have used this
as their main daw for a long time and if you want a simple program that's easy to use but lacks some
of the more pro features then audacity might be for you it's available on windows mac and linux
next on the list is cakewalk by bandlab this one is pro software that used to be a paid for
daw but it was taken over by the company bandlab and they've decided to give it away for free i'm
unsure how they actually make money with this or if they even need to make money they don't spam
your email account or anything like that and there's nothing to upsell you on as of right
now anyway but with cakewalk by bandlab you get a completely unlimited daw that comes complete with
instruments and effects including a very nice guitar amp simulator called three plus you can
also bring in your own third-party effects and instruments too cakewalk has a similar interface
to a pro tools style of daw and you can also customize the interface if you like and because
it's a pro daw it's full of pro features cakewalk by bandlab is windows only the next free daw on
the list is presonus studio one prime studio one prime is the free version of studio one which is
quickly becoming a favorite daw for many studios and music producers it has a sleek user interface
and it has a very quick workflow presonus studio one prime includes a nice selection of effects
including the Ampire guitar amp sim plus you also get the presence xt synthesizer plugin
that's capable of tons of great sounds in studio one prime you can have unlimited tracks but the
biggest limitation is that you can't add third-party plugins so you can only use the
included plugins which are decent but you may want to add more eventually there's also two gigabytes
of loops and samples that are included with it studio one is an awesome daw the free version is
very capable of helping you create music and it gives you a nice upgrade path if you need it you
can get presonus studio one prime on windows and mac next up on the list is magix music maker free
this free digital audio workstation is fairly easy to get started with it includes some great virtual
instruments and effects which includes a decent guitar amp simulator called vandal se you also get
a sound pool which is like a big loop pack that includes loops that work very well together you
can record and edit midi plus you can record and edit audio but you have an eight track limitation
and you can't add any third-party plugins to magix music maker free for beginners it's a great daw
and if you decide to upgrade to the highest version it's fairly budget-friendly and it
includes a ton of extra instruments and sounds one thing to keep in mind is that any music that you
create using those sound pools you can't monetize you're free to post your music online everywhere
but you aren't allowed to sell it unless you purchase a commercial license for the sound pool
that you use typically that license is around 12 but if you're just using the included instruments
and also you're recording anything into it you're free to sell your music as long as you're not
using anything from those sound pools magix music maker free is only available on windows systems
alright we've gone through quite a few free daws so far and i still have more on the
way plus i also have my top three picks and some advice coming up but i want to ask you to let me
know down in the comments which of these does you decide to go with now the next free digital audio
workstation on the list is soundbridge this free daw is another one that's completely unlimited
so you can have unlimited tracks and also add your own third-party vst plugins it does include some
decent effects and probably the best free drum machine plugin out there the user interface
makes this one very easy to create music from easy access to the piano roll mixer and recording
features and this one is also available in 32-bit or 64-bit options so if you're looking for a
32-bit daw soundbridge might be the choice for you you can get it on windows and mac this next free
daw on the list is a very interesting one as it can be used on pretty much any operating system
and mobile device including chromebooks this is bandlab bandlab is a browser-based daw but there
are some apps available on ios and android to make the performance a little better on those devices
this records to the cloud but you get unlimited free cloud storage so you don't have to worry
about that you can record audio into it and they also give you some decent instruments and effects
too plus you have access to bandlab sounds which is a huge library of royalty-free loops
and samples and you can use an unlimited amount of those as of right now i don't think there's
a way to use third-party plugins in the web-based ban lab daw but who knows that could come later on
and with everything that they give you you may not need it they also offer unlimited free mastering
service and you can also release your music for sale and keep one hundred percent of the royalties
these guys are serious about helping musicians and this daw is great for beginners it's easy to
use and you don't really need to worry about how powerful your computer is and like i said earlier
this daw is available on pretty much any operating system that can access the internet this next free
daw on the list is limited but it's very easy to use and the drum rack plugin that's included with
it is extremely nice this is mulab 8 free this is a free version of the powerful mulab 8 daw
basically this is a track limited version of the full daw in my opinion they've limited it a little
too much as you can only have five tracks you can definitely create a decent foundation for a beat
in mulab 8 free but for a complete song it might be a little too limited so let's look at some of
the highlights of mulab 8 and then i'll look at some of the restrictions first off it's an
extremely lightweight daw it's under 100 megabytes plus you don't even need to install it you just
unzip the folder and run it from there so this isn't going to add any bloatware to your computer
another highlight is the mudrum plugin which is the drum rack that i talked about earlier
this is an excellent drum sampler plugin it even includes some decent kits to get you started
plus it has some cool routing features and it also allows you to really sculpt your drum sound
you also get some other great instrument presets too plus effects the piano roll is super easy to
work with along with recording audio this is a simple daw that's capable of creating some
great music as long as you can keep within the five track limit or you can upgrade to the full
daw and i think it's around eighty dollars now now the limitations of mulab eight free are
there's a maximum of five tracks like i said and you can't add any third-party vst plugins
there's also no rewire or multi-core support there's some other limitations in there as well
but mulab 8 really is a great dawn i hope you'll check it out and give it a try maybe even support
them by purchasing a license all right now this next free daw is more like an honorable mention
as it technically isn't free but you can use it free forever this is reaper reaper is an extremely
powerful digital audio workstation that comes with tons of effects but no instruments however
you can add your own third-party instruments and plug-ins you get unlimited tracks an easy to use
interface that's customizable to suit your needs and like i said earlier it's technically not free
but you can download the trial and once the trial runs out you can continue using it fully unlocked
there's just a five second screen that pops up every time you open it and it reminds you to
purchase a license which is only sixty dollars and it's well worth it if you can afford it
so if you do decide to go with reaper and you enjoy it then purchase a license and help support
their continued efforts in making reaper an incredible and affordable daw you can get reaper
in both 32 and 64-bit options and it's available on windows mac and linux alright so i told you
i'd give you my top three picks out of these but before i do that i just want to give you a little
bit of advice for when you do make your decision or before you make your decision and the first
piece of advice is download two or three of these programs and give them a good try if you're going
to be using them for beat creation try making a beat in each one of them if you're going to be
making rock music try to create a little bit of a rhythm in each one and really get an idea of
which one of these pieces of software works best for your style and your workflow and don't worry
about what other people say is best for you just concentrate on which one you think works best for
you by trying them out because when you get that good feeling about the program you're going to
want to get more into it and find out all of the little features with it and this is going to lead
to you creating great music and once you narrow it down to that one daw that you're going to use
stick with it become a master at that one da find out all its little features and the more familiar
you become with that program you're not going to be needing to figure out how to do certain things
the music is just going to flow naturally every program is going to have a bit of a learning curve
just don't get discouraged stick with it play around with some of the features so you can become
really familiar with the program you've got that passion to create music in you don't give up on
it now here are my top three free doll picks from this list and the first two were really easy for
me they are tracktion waveform free and cakewalk by bandlab now my third pick would be reaper but i
feel bad calling it a free daw so my third pick's going to be soundbridge and that's because it's a
completely unlimited daw it allows you to record as many tracks as you want and you can bring in
third party vst plugins and remember these are just my three picks they may not be the best ones
for you so choose whichever ones you think are going to be best for you now if you want to check
out some of the best free vst plugins available click the video on the screen right now and if you
liked this video please give it a thumbs up also subscribe to the channel for more videos like this
thank you so much for watching for audio tech tv i'm zane keep creating and we'll talk soon