REAPERvs
Audacity
Audacity: Free and open source, enough for recording and editing without a licence at all
REAPER
Full digital audio workstation with a 60 day evaluation and a USD 60 personal licence
As of 29 August 2026, REAPER has a free plan and paid plans start at $60/one-time. A complete digital audio workstation sold at two prices, with the cheaper licence available to individuals and to businesses under a stated revenue threshold. Softwr lists it under Music. REAPER is made by Cockos Incorporated, available on Windows, macOS, Linux.
Overview
What REAPER does
REAPER is a digital audio workstation from Cockos. It is unusual in the market for two reasons, both commercial rather than technical. The first is the evaluation: the vendor offers 60 days with full functionality and states there are no strings attached, so the software is not feature-limited during the trial. The second is the licence structure, which is priced on who you are rather than on which features you get. The discounted and commercial licences unlock the same software, and the only difference is eligibility, which the vendor defines by a published revenue threshold.
What people use it for
- Music production
- Audio recording
- Audio editing
- Post production
- Podcast editing
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of REAPER
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- REAPERvsAbleton Live
Ableton Live: Adds a Session View and a large bundled instrument library that REAPER does not ship
- REAPERvsFL Studio
FL Studio: One-time purchase with lifetime free updates, aimed at pattern based production
Pricing
What REAPER costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
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
- Includes free upgrades through REAPER version 8.99
Commercial License
$225 /one-time
- For commercial use by businesses exceeding revenue threshold
- Includes free upgrades through REAPER version 8.99
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
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.
SourceCan 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.
SourceKeep looking
Where to go from REAPER
- REAPER alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- REAPER pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- REAPER badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Music softwareThe full category
- Best Music softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Music software for
Compare REAPER with
- Suno
- Logic Pro
- Studio One
- Ableton Live
- FL Studio
- Audacity
- Amazon Music
- Ardour
- Bandcamp
- Bitwig Studio
- Cubase
- Deezer
- rekordbox
- Serato DJ
- Sibelius
- Traktor Pro
- LANDR
- Amazon Music
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11 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for REAPER, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on REAPER
REAPER alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
REAPER pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare REAPER
Put it head to head with anything we hold
REAPER badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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