Ardour vs REAPER
Two of the top three digital audio workstations, compared rule by rule on published facts.
In short
- Ardour has 75 points and REAPER 71, 4 apart on our digital audio workstations rules.
- Ardour earns more on licence and updates and price; REAPER earns more on mixing and control and plugins.
- Cheapest edition with no track limit: Ardour $0, REAPER $60/yr.
- Only Ardour meets: open source and free edition.
- Only REAPER meets: surround mixing, CLAP plugins and free trial of a paid edition.
Ardour75/100 #2 of 8
Best for: People who want an open-source DAW with Lua scripting and a video timeline.
Points by group
| Group | Ardour | REAPER |
|---|---|---|
| Recording and editing of 28 | 24 | 24 |
| Mixing and control of 13 | 4 | 9 |
| Plugins of 11 | 8 | 11 |
| Systems of 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Licence and updates of 22 | 13 | 12 |
| Price of 20 | 20 | 9 |
| Total | 75 | 71 |
Rule by rule
What each vendor publishes, and the points it earns. Sources are on each product page.
| Rule (points) | Ardour | REAPER |
|---|---|---|
| 100 or more tracks (10) | Yes 10 | Yes 10 |
| Take comping (5) | Yes 5 | Yes 5 |
| Built-in time-stretch (5) | Yes 5 | Yes 5 |
| Audio to MIDI (4) | Not published 0 | Not published 0 |
| Video track (4) | Yes 4 | Yes 4 |
| Surround mixing (5) | No 0 | Yes 5 |
| MPE support (4) | Not published 0 | Not published 0 |
| Scripting or extension API (4) | Yes 4 | Yes 4 |
| VST3 plugins (8) | Yes 8 | Yes 8 |
| CLAP plugins (3) | Not published 0 | Yes 3 |
| Other desktop systems (6) | macOS, Linux 6 | macOS, Linux 6 |
| Buy once, keep forever (6) | Yes 6 | Yes 6 |
| Update policy (6) | period 3 | period 3 |
| Open source (4) | Yes 4 | No 0 |
| Works offline after activation (3) | Not published 0 | Not published 0 |
| Free trial of a paid edition (3) | No 0 | Yes 3 |
| Free edition (8) | Yes 8 | No 0 |
| Cheapest edition with no track limit (12) | $0 12 | $60/yr 9 |
Ardour
Ardour suits people who want an open-source DAW with no track cap, Lua scripting and video support, and who are happy to pay by subscription or build from source. The vendor says you are under no obligation to pay. The catch: its surround panner is still marked as in development, and pre-built installers are described as paid.
REAPER
REAPER suits home producers and small studios who want a $60 one-off licence with no track limit. The $60 discounted licence covers personal use and commercial use under $20,000 yearly revenue, and includes upgrades through version 8.99. The catch: the code is closed and the vendor's pages do not document audio-to-MIDI conversion or MPE recording.
Both products are scored by the same rules: how we score digital audio workstations.