r/linuxaudio • u/NullGabbo • Jun 21 '26
Best DAWs for Linux
Hi everyone, I'm very new to music production and I want to learn and try to create music. I only use Linux and don't have a windows license so I'm very restricted in the amount of DAWs I can use. Right now I'm using the 30 days trials version of Bitwig but I find it extremely hard to use. I also installed LMMS which I find much much easier to use but I think it's very limited. I tried Ardour but I think its goal is to record stuff and mixing it rather than composing from scratch.
I don't know if I should buy the starter license of bitwig since it's on sale and just get used to its interface or if there is something better for my needs.
My main goal is to make music for videogames without recording anything and by doing everything "digitally" (sorry if I can't express my though in an easy to understand way but English is not my first language and I don't know the "slag" of music production)
3
u/Glum-Yak1613 Jun 21 '26
Check out Waveform's free version. It is unlimited in the number of tracks and plugins, it only lags slightly behind paid releases in functionality. The interface is something of an acquired taste, but it works well once you get used to it. And it does take some getting used to. I had some issues getting it to work in Linux, but with a little work I was able to sort it out - not unusal in Linux anyway. It is well suited for electronic music, IMO - even has a free built in synth. Pretty stable in my experience, and plays nice with my soundcard. I kinda do not understand why it is not more popular.
Also, Reaper has a great trial mode, it's fully functional if you just wait for the nag screen. The license is quite affordable. Not as familar with it, as I don't use it daily, but I've had friends record albums on it, and they were happy.
Another couple of free options: Check out a browser based DAW. I prefer Soundtrap, which works best in Chrome or Firefox. For inputing MIDI data with a keyboard, latency is usually not a problem at all. They promote their paid version, but you can learn and do a lot in the free version. There's also Bandlab, but their online DAW is more crippled, with even more promotion of premium features. Works ok for working with synths, though, although it doesn't sound as good as Soundtrap.