Music · alternatives
Alternatives to Cubase
22 music tools sit alongside Cubase in this directory. Below is what separates each from Cubase on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 22
- With a free tier
- 12
- Cheaper to start
- 4
- Cubase starts at
- $99.99/one-time
Why people look past Cubase
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Cubase entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Cubase starts at $99.99/one-time. Across the 4 music tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $79.5/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Cubase carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 12 of the 22 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Apple's digital audio workstation, sold outright on Mac and by subscription on iPad
- Can be used without paying; Cubase cannot.
- Starts $87 a month cheaper, at $12.99/month.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than One-time purchase.
- 5 tiers to Cubase's 3.
Full digital audio workstation with a 60 day evaluation and a USD 60 personal licence
- Can be used without paying; Cubase cannot.
- Starts $39.989999999999995 a one-time cheaper, at $60/one-time.
- Sold on a one-time model rather than One-time purchase.
- 2 tiers to Cubase's 3.
Digital audio workstation built around a Session View for arranging ideas live
- Starts $0.9899999999999949 a one-time cheaper, at $99/one-time.
- Sold on a one-time model rather than One-time purchase.
Free digital audio workstation bundled with macOS and iOS, with no paid tier or upgrade path of its own
- Can be used without paying; Cubase cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than One-time purchase.
- 1 tier to Cubase's 3.
Avid digital audio workstation with four tiers gated by track count and simultaneous I/O rather than by feature
- Can be used without paying; Cubase cannot.
- Sold on a Per user per year model rather than One-time purchase.
- 4 tiers to Cubase's 3.
Free, browser and mobile-based collaborative DAW, with optional Pro and Max membership tiers for sample libraries and extras
- Can be used without paying; Cubase cannot.
- Sold on a Per user per year model rather than One-time purchase.
Every Cubase alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cubase (this page) | $99.99/one-time | One-time purchase | 3 | |
| Logic ProPick Logic Pro on macOS for a one-off purchase with free major updates and a very large bundled library, if you can live without the score editor depth. | Free, then $12.99/month | Subscription | 5 | vs Cubase |
| REAPERPick REAPER if you need a cheap licence and heavy customisation, and you are willing to solve notation and articulation handling yourself. | Free, then $60/one-time | One-time | 2 | vs Cubase |
| Ableton LivePick Live if the work is electronic and performance oriented rather than scored, where the Session View matters more than engraving. | $99/one-time | One-time | 3 | vs Cubase |
| GarageBand | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Cubase |
| Pro Tools | Free | Per user per year | 4 | vs Cubase |
| BandLab | Free | Per user per year | 3 | vs Cubase |
| rekordbox | Free | Per user per year | 4 | vs Cubase |
| Serato DJ | Free | Per user per month | 3 | vs Cubase |
| Shazam | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases; funded as an Apple Music discovery funnel | 1 | vs Cubase |
| Traktor Pro | Free | One-time purchase | 2 | vs Cubase |
| MuseScore | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 3 | vs Cubase |
| Soundtrap | Free | Per user per month | 5 | vs Cubase |
| SoundHound | Free | Free with ads; no consumer subscription, company revenue comes from enterprise voice AI licensing | 1 | vs Cubase |
| Dorico | On request | One-time purchase | 3 | vs Cubase |
| LANDR | On request | Per user per month, separate mastering and distribution subscriptions | 4 | vs Cubase |
| Sibelius | On request | Per user per year, or one-time purchase with a separate upgrade plan | 3 | vs Cubase |
| DistroKid | On request | One-time purchase | 4 | vs Cubase |
| TuneCore | On request | Per year, subscription or pay-per-release | 5 | vs Cubase |
| Splice | On request | Per user per month, credit-based | 3 | vs Cubase |
| CD Baby | On request | One-time purchase plus ongoing commission | 3 | vs Cubase |
| Bitwig Studio | $99/one-time | One-time purchase | 3 | vs Cubase |
| Studio One | On request | Quote | 2 | vs Cubase |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Cubase badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Cheaper than Cubase (4)
Entry price under Cubase's $99.99/one-time. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- Logic Pro , Free, then $12.99/month
- REAPER , Free, then $60/one-time
- Ableton Live , $99/one-time
- Bitwig Studio , $99/one-time
What you would be giving up
Cubase is most often brought in for writing to picture where the deliverable includes printed parts as well as a mix, because the score comes from the same project rather than a midi export, driving large orchestral sample libraries, where expression maps turn articulation switching into notation instead of hidden keyswitch lanes, studios standardised on steinberg or yamaha hardware, where control surface integration is already built, replacing a dongle based cubase installation, where the reason to upgrade is removing the usb key as a single point of failure. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Cubase is broadly right and the question is cost, the Cubase pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Music category lists everything the directory holds, and best music tools ranks them.
Cubase runs on windows, macos. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Cubase alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Cubase?
- 22 other music tools are listed in this directory, led by Logic Pro, REAPER, Ableton Live, GarageBand. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Cubase?
- 12 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Logic Pro, REAPER, GarageBand, Pro Tools, BandLab.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Cubase?
- Yes. 4 of the alternatives below start under Cubase's $99.99/one-time: Logic Pro at Free, then $12.99/month, REAPER at Free, then $60/one-time, Ableton Live at $99/one-time, Bitwig Studio at $99/one-time.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Cubase?
- On the figures on record, 2 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Cubase?
- Cubase is most often brought in for writing to picture where the deliverable includes printed parts as well as a mix, because the score comes from the same project rather than a midi export, driving large orchestral sample libraries, where expression maps turn articulation switching into notation instead of hidden keyswitch lanes, studios standardised on steinberg or yamaha hardware, where control surface integration is already built, replacing a dongle based cubase installation, where the reason to upgrade is removing the usb key as a single point of failure. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Cubase?
- None of the music tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Cubase alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Music, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Cubase against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Cubase covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every music tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Music category, 22 tools beside Cubase. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.