Best DAWs for Mac

The best DAW for your Mac depends on how you make music. These four paid workstations cover multitrack recording, MIDI composition and live performance; this is a workflow-based selection, not a tested ranking or a list of music players.

Choose REAPER for flexible recording, routing and mixing: it offers a full 60-day evaluation, then requires a license. Its Universal download targets modern Intel and Apple Silicon Macs; the vendor recommends it for macOS 10.15 and 11 or later, with separate Intel builds for older systems.

Choose Ableton Live Suite for Session View clip improvisation and timeline arrangements, with Max for Live included. Live 12 requires macOS 11+, Intel Core i5 or Apple Silicon and 8 GB RAM. A 30-day trial is available; Suite is paid, with purchase or rent-to-own options.

Choose FL Studio for beat creation, MIDI parts and song arrangements. Audio recording requires Producer Edition or higher. Its trial can save and export, but cannot reopen saved projects. Paid editions include Lifetime Free Updates for that edition; FL Cloud is a separate optional subscription. The current Mac installer requires macOS 10.15.7+, Intel or Apple Silicon and 4 GB RAM.

Choose Bitwig Studio for clip-based ideas, modulation and The Grid sound design in the full edition. It offers a 30-day trial and paid editions. The current release requires macOS 12+, Apple Silicon or 64-bit Intel with AVX2, and 4 GB RAM.

Check audio-interface drivers and plug-in compatibility before choosing. Homebrew installs software, not paid licenses. None of these trials is a permanently free full license.

REAPER · REAPER downloads · Ableton · Live requirements · FL Studio · FL Studio downloads · Bitwig · Bitwig downloads