audacity
by audacity
Audacity is a free multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, macOS and Linux. It is used to record, edit and clean up sound such as voiceovers, podcasts and music.
- Stars
- 18.9k
- Licence
- Unclear
- Runs on
- Your computer
- Setup
- Easy
- Language
- C++
- Age
- 4234 days
What you can do with it
- Record audio from a microphone or other input and edit it across multiple tracks
- Cut, trim, mix and tidy up podcasts, voiceovers or music recordings
- Apply effects and clean-up tools to improve sound quality before exporting
Could replace
- Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition (single app) starts at £21.98 a month (billed monthly, Price includes VAT for individuals. The business price (£73.33 per licence) excludes VAT. The student and teacher Creative Cloud Pro plan (£16.24 a month) is cheaper but is a full-suite plan for eligible education customers only.; source, checked 27 Oct 2026)
Our suggestion based on what it does, not a feature-by-feature comparison.
Make money with it
An individual could offer paid podcast editing or audio clean-up services to small creators and businesses.
An idea, not financial advice. Check the licence before charging for anything built on it.
Ways a business could use it
- Edit podcast episodes, webinars or promotional audio in-house instead of paying for editing software or a studio
- Offer voiceover recording and clean-up to clients without buying a paid audio workstation
Can you use it commercially?
No standard licence detected. Read the licence before using it commercially.
Not legal advice. Read the project's licence file before building a product on it.
Getting it running
Most users download a ready-made installer from the Audacity website, while building from source in this repository needs a C++ toolchain and is technical.
Follow the official instructions in the project README.
Things to check
- The master branch is being restructured for Audacity 4 and is not friendly to new contributors or building from source
- Licence is reported as unclear by GitHub, though the README states GPLv3 with mostly GPLv2-or-later code and some exceptions
Who's talking about it
Checked 28 Oct 2026. Summary drafted by AI from the project's README.
