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Music · head to head

REAPER vs Studio One

REAPER logo

REAPER

Music

Full digital audio workstation with a 60 day evaluation and a USD 60 personal licence

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Studio One logo

Studio One

Music

Single-window workstation with album mastering built into the same project, now owned by Fender

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only REAPER has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: REAPER the USD 60 discounted licence requires that yearly gross revenue does not exceed USD 20,000, above which the commercial licence at USD 225 applies; Studio One the bundled Melodyne is the Essential tier, which corrects monophonic pitch only; polyphonic editing and the tools most people actually want are a paid upgrade from Celemony on top of the workstation licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which REAPER and Studio One actually diverge.

Attributes where REAPER and Studio One differ
AttributeREAPERStudio One
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelone-timequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, macOS, LinuxWindows, macOS

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Music).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in REAPER

Nothing recorded that Studio One does not also cover.

Only in Studio One

  • Project page
  • Single window drag and drop
  • ARA2 with Melodyne
  • Scratch Pad
  • Chord Track
  • Show page
  • Impact XT and Sample One
  • Faderport integration

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

REAPER

  • Music productionnot Studio One
  • Audio recordingnot Studio One
  • Audio editingnot Studio One
  • Post productionnot Studio One
  • Podcast editingnot Studio One

Studio One

  • Delivering an album or EP where mastering must stay linked to the mixes, so a late vocal fix does not mean rebuilding the masternot REAPER
  • Project studios already on PreSonus interfaces and Faderport surfaces, where the control mapping is done for younot REAPER
  • Songwriters who want pitch editing in the timeline without buying Melodyne separatelynot REAPER
  • Running the same session live from the Show page rather than rebuilding the set in a separate performance toolnot REAPER

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

REAPER

  • The USD 60 discounted licence requires that yearly gross revenue does not exceed USD 20,000, above which the commercial licence at USD 225 applies
  • The commercial licence at USD 225 is nearly four times the discounted one for identical software, since the price is set by who is using it rather than by what it does
  • The evaluation lasts 60 days, after which continued use requires a purchased licence
  • Sold as a paid licence with no free tier beyond the evaluation period

Studio One

  • The bundled Melodyne is the Essential tier, which corrects monophonic pitch only; polyphonic editing and the tools most people actually want are a paid upgrade from Celemony on top of the workstation licence.
  • PreSonus now sells a subscription alongside the perpetual licence and the two are easy to confuse at checkout; the subscription stops working when payment stops, which is a very different asset for a studio planning in decades.
  • Fender acquired PreSonus in 2022, so the roadmap sits inside a guitar hardware company, and long-term investment in the workstation is now a bet on that parent rather than on the original software team.
  • There is no Linux build, and the MIDI editing tool set is shallower than Cubase, so composers doing rule based MIDI transformation or serious notation work will hit limits quickly.
  • The plugin scanner has a long history of struggling with large third-party plugin collections, producing slow startup and occasional missing plugins when sessions move between machines.

Pricing, plan by plan

REAPER

Free
  • Discounted License$60/one-time
    • For individuals using REAPER personally
    • For businesses with yearly gross revenue under 20000 USD
    • For educational and non-profit organizations
  • Commercial License$225/one-time
    • For commercial use by businesses exceeding revenue threshold
    • Includes free upgrades through REAPER version 8.99

Studio One

On request
  • Studio One Pro (perpetual licence)$undefined/one-time
    • Bought outright and keeps working indefinitely
    • Next major version is a separate paid upgrade
    • Melodyne Essential included
  • Studio One Pro+ (subscription)$undefined/month
    • Workstation plus sound content and cloud storage
    • Stops working when the subscription lapses
    • Billed monthly or annually

Which should you pick?

Choose REAPER if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux.
REAPER review

Choose Studio One if

  • You need project page.
  • You work on Windows, macOS.
  • You also want single window drag and drop.
Studio One review

Questions people ask

Is REAPER or Studio One better?
Neither clearly leads. REAPER starts at Free and Studio One at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, REAPER or Studio One?
REAPER has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for REAPER and On request for Studio One.
Does REAPER or Studio One run on more platforms?
REAPER runs on Windows, macOS, Linux. Studio One runs on Windows, macOS.
Can I use REAPER for free?
Yes. REAPER has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Studio One starts at On request.
What is REAPER best used for?
REAPER is most often used for music production, audio recording, audio editing, post production. Of those, music production and audio recording are not what Studio One is typically brought in for.
What can REAPER do that Studio One cannot?
Studio One covers Project page, Single window drag and drop, ARA2 with Melodyne, Scratch Pad.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

REAPER: How much does REAPER cost?

REAPER costs 60 USD for a discounted license (individuals, non-profits, organizations under 20000 USD annual revenue) or 225 USD for commercial use. All licenses include free updates through version 8.99.

Source
Studio One: Who owns PreSonus?

Fender acquired PreSonus in 2022. Development continues, but the roadmap now sits inside a guitar hardware company rather than an independent software vendor.

REAPER: Can I try REAPER before buying?

Yes, REAPER offers a 60-day full evaluation period with no artificial feature limitations, allowing you to test all capabilities before purchasing.

Source
Studio One: Is Studio One a subscription?

Both are sold. Studio One Pro is a perpetual licence you keep; Studio One Pro+ is a subscription bundling sound content and cloud storage that stops working when you stop paying.

Studio One: Why is no price listed here?

PreSonus publishes current pricing, but the tier structure has been restructured across recent versions, so this entry points at the vendor page rather than quoting a figure that may already be wrong.

Studio One: What does the Project page actually do?

It sequences and masters a whole album inside the same file as the songs and stays linked to them, so changing a mix updates the master without a manual export and reimport.

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