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REAPER

An inexpensive, lightweight and extremely customisable DAW from Cockos with a 60-day evaluation.

PaidAudio editors and DAWs
Visit REAPERSee 6 alternatives
Verified facts
5 of 5
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About REAPER

REAPER, from Cockos, is a full-featured DAW known for being small, fast and cheap. The installer is tiny, it runs well on modest machines, and it handles multitrack recording, editing, MIDI, mixing and routing as flexibly as tools that cost many times more. Almost everything can be customised: menus, keyboard shortcuts, themes and toolbars, and it can be extended with scripts in Lua, EEL and Python plus the large SWS extension and ReaPack ecosystem. That flexibility has made it popular with podcasters, game audio designers, home studios and engineers alike. It comes with fewer bundled instruments and loops than commercial rivals, and the default look and settings take some tweaking, so new users often lean on community tutorials. There is one version with no feature tiers. You can evaluate it fully for 60 days, then buy a discounted licence for personal or small-business use or a commercial licence, which include updates for the current and next major version. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Best for: Anyone who wants a capable, affordable DAW they can shape to their own workflow.

Pros and cons

What works

  • Very low price for a full professional DAW
  • Fast, lightweight and stable even on older computers
  • Customisable shortcuts, menus, themes and scripting
  • Runs on Windows, macOS and Linux

Why people leave

  • Few bundled instruments, loops or sounds
  • Default look and setup feel bare to newcomers
  • Huge number of options can be overwhelming

Top REAPER alternatives

See all 6
  1. 1Ardour logo
    Ardour

    Open-source DAW with a similar traditional recording workflow, free to build yourself.

    66.5
  2. 2Pro Tools logo
    Pro Tools

    The studio standard if you need to share sessions with commercial facilities.

    62.6
  3. 3Bitwig Studio logo
    Bitwig Studio

    Also on Linux, with clip launching and deep modulation for electronic music.

    59.6
  4. 4Audacity logo
    Audacity

    Free and much simpler if you only need to record and edit a few tracks.

    55.3
  5. 5Tracktion Waveform logo
    Tracktion Waveform

    Free unlimited DAW, a zero-cost option for people on a tight budget.

    53.6

Why people left REAPER

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

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Reviews

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REAPER: common questions

Is REAPER free?

No, REAPER is a paid product.

Is REAPER open source?

No, REAPER is not open source. Open-source alternatives include Ardour and Audacity.

What platforms does REAPER run on?

REAPER is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

What are the best alternatives to REAPER?

The highest-ranked REAPER alternatives right now are Ardour, Pro Tools and Bitwig Studio. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 6 REAPER alternatives