digital audio workstation · LMMS Developers

LMMS

Free open-source music maker built around a piano roll and beat editor, with MIDI and VST2 instrument support.

30/100

#8 of 8 digital audio workstations
Facts checked 8 Oct 2026

In short

LMMS is free and open source under GPL v2 or later^3,4.
It runs on Windows, Linux and macOS¹.
The manual says LMMS cannot record sound; you play notes by typing or MIDI keyboard^6,7.
VeSTige opens VST2 plugin files on Windows; VST3 is not listed⁵.
The latest stable build on the download page is 1.2.2 from 2020; version 1.3.0 is in alpha^2,10.

LMMS suits beginners who want a free tool for composing beats and melodies with built-in synths, samples and a piano roll^1,3. It costs nothing and its source is public^3,4. The catch: the manual says it cannot record audio, the stable build is from 2020, and its manual documents VST2 plugins only^6,2,5.

Best for: Beginners who want a free beat and melody maker and do not need to record audio.

Where the points come from

Recording and editing0 of 28

Mixing and control0 of 13

Plugins0 of 11

Systems6 of 6

Licence and updates16 of 22

Price8 of 20

Recording and editing 0 of 28 points

Rule	What is published	Points
100 or more tracks	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's website or manual^1,6.	0 / 10
Take comping	NoThe manual says LMMS cannot record sound, so audio takes cannot be recorded or comped⁶.	0 / 5
Built-in time-stretch	Not publishedThe sample player changes pitch and length together by resampling¹¹.	0 / 5
Audio to MIDI	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's website or manual pages^1,6.	0 / 4
Video track	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's website or manual pages^1,6.	0 / 4

Mixing and control 0 of 13 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Surround mixing	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's website or manual pages^1,6.	0 / 5
MPE support	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's website or manual pages^1,6.	0 / 4
Scripting or extension API	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's website or manual pages^1,6.	0 / 4

Plugins 0 of 11 points

Rule	What is published	Points
VST3 plugins	Not publishedThe VeSTige manual page and the GitHub README list VST2 only; neither mentions VST3^5,8.	0 / 8
CLAP plugins	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's website or manual pages^1,5.	0 / 3

Systems 6 of 6 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Other desktop systems	macOS, LinuxThe home page says to compose music on Windows, Linux and macOS¹.	6 / 6

Licence and updates 16 of 22 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Buy once, keep forever	YesThe FAQ says LMMS is free and open source, and the download page says downloading and using it is free^2,3.	6 / 6
Update policy	lifetimeThe download page offers the stable 1.2.2 and the 1.3.0 alpha as free downloads under the GPL^2,4.	6 / 6
Open source	YesLicensed under the GNU GPL version 2 or later; the code is on GitHub^4,8.	4 / 4
Works offline after activation	Not publishedNot published on the vendor's website or manual pages^2,9.	0 / 3
Free trial of a paid edition	NoThere is no paid edition to try; downloading and using LMMS is free^1,2.	0 / 3

Price 8 of 20 points

Rule	What is published	Points
Free edition	YesDownloading and using LMMS is free². You record notes in the piano roll and save project files, but not audio^7,10.	8 / 8
Cheapest edition with no track limit	Not publishedLMMS is free, but a track limit is not published, so the 100-track line is not shown as met⁶.	0 / 12

The rule behind each line: how we score digital audio workstations.

Plans and prices

As the vendor lists them, before tax. Prices are in US dollars unless the plan shows euros; the points use US dollars, with euros converted at the ECB rate.

Plan	Price as listed	Per month	Notes
LMMS1 person	Free^1,2	$0	Free and open source; no paid edition

Strengths

Free to download and use; the maker calls it 100% free and open source^1,2.
Source code is public under the GNU GPL, version 2 or later⁴.
Includes 16 built-in synthesizers and SoundFont support¹.
Imports MIDI files and Hydrogen projects¹.
Runs on Windows, Linux and macOS¹.

Limits

The manual says LMMS cannot record sound⁶.
The stable release listed is 1.2.2 from June 2020; 1.3.0 is only an alpha^2,10.
Plugin hosting is documented for VST2 files only⁵.
The pages do not state a track limit or mention CLAP plugins^1,9.

What LMMS Developers says

Vendor claims. We show them, but they earn no points.

LMMS says it easily matches the lower to middle tier of professional software³.

Other digital audio workstations

1
WaveformProducers who want a free DAW on Windows, macOS and Linux with a paid upgrade path
85/100
$0cheapest edition with no track limit
2
ArdourPeople who want an open-source DAW with Lua scripting and a video timeline
75/100
$0cheapest edition with no track limit
3
REAPERHome producers who want a one-off price of $60 and no track limit
71/100
$60/yrcheapest edition with no track limit
4
Bitwig StudioProducers who want a one-time licence, CLAP and MPE support, and a Linux build
64/100
$110.74/yrcheapest edition with no track limit

All 8 digital audio workstations

Sources

LMMS, LMMS. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
Download LMMS, LMMS. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
FAQ, LMMS user manual. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
License, LMMS user manual. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
VeSTige, LMMS user manual. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
Song Editor, LMMS user manual. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
Creating a Track, LMMS user manual. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
LMMS/lmms, GitHub. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
Installation, LMMS user manual. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
Welcome to LMMS, LMMS user manual. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.
AudioFileProcessor, LMMS user manual. Accessed 8 Oct 2026.

Website: lmms.io · Markdown version · We are not affiliated with LMMS Developers.