SoundCraft

SoundCraft is a free, open source digital audio workstation from the ArtCraft team, built to work like Avid Pro Tools. You record, edit and mix multitrack audio, write MIDI and use plug-ins. It runs on Mac, Windows, Linux and FreeBSD, and in a web browser.

What it can do

• Multitrack editing. An Edit window with tracks, waveforms, MIDI, markers and the transport, in the Pro Tools style.
• A full mixer. Plug-ins, sends and automation for volume, pan, mute, sends and every plug-in parameter, written live.
• MIDI and instruments. Instrument tracks with built-in synths, a piano roll, quantise, and MIDI file import and export.
• Your plug-ins. Loads CLAP, VST3 and Audio Units plug-ins with their own editors.
• Notation. A score editor for MIDI tracks, MusicXML export and printable scores.
• Works with AI assistants. A command-line tool and MCP server let an assistant work with sessions.

Part of the Crafting Apps

SoundCraft is one of the Crafting Apps, a family of free, open source creative and office apps from ArtCraft, each a clean-room rebuild of a well-known paid app written from scratch in Rust. The best known is PhotoCraft, a Photoshop-style photo editor. They share the same approach: familiar menus and shortcuts, fast native apps on every major system, a version that runs in your browser, and commands an AI assistant can drive.

SoundCraft, Ardour, Audacity or Pro Tools?

All four record and edit audio. The difference is what they're built for, how mature they are, and what they cost.

SoundCraftThis page

Best forPro Tools users who want a free, familiar alternative to try

Copies Pro Tools' recording, editing and mixing workflow, with plug-in support. Still pre-alpha.

How mature

Pre-alpha (2026)

Open source

Yes (MIT or Apache 2.0)

Cost

Free

Ardour

Best forA free, professional recording studio

A mature open source audio workstation for recording, editing and mixing. Free to build yourself; official downloads ask for a small payment.

How mature

Very mature

Open source

Yes (GPL 2.0)

Cost

Free or pay what you want

Audacity

Best forQuick, simple audio editing

The world's most popular free audio editor, great for podcasts and quick fixes, but not a full mixing studio.

How mature

Very mature

Open source

Yes (GPL 3.0)

Cost

Free

PPro Tools

Best forProfessional studios today

Avid's industry standard for recording and post-production. Closed source and paid by subscription, with a limited free version.

How mature

Industry standard

Open source

No

Cost

Subscription

A quick way to choose: need a dependable free studio today? Use Ardour. Just trimming a podcast? Audacity is enough. Working in pro studios? Pro Tools is the standard. Know Pro Tools and want a free, open source app that feels the same? Try SoundCraft.

How to get it

• Easiest: download it from the SoundCraft page on getartcraft.com, or from the latest release on GitHub.
• Every system: installers for Mac (Apple silicon and Intel), Windows (including ARM), Linux (AppImage, Flatpak, .deb, .rpm) and FreeBSD.
• In a browser: a web version runs the whole app in a modern browser, and you can host it yourself.
• For scripts and AI assistants: the soundcraft-cli tool runs the same commands without opening the app and includes an MCP server.

Good to know

• Pre-alpha. SoundCraft is pre-alpha. Its team estimates it's about 40% of the way to replacing Pro Tools for real work. Recording MIDI from a controller and exchanging sessions with other studios (AAF/OMF) are still missing. These are the team's own estimates; nobody has tested them independently yet.
• Changing very fast. New versions arrive every few days, so expect bugs and update often.
• Built with AI help. The ArtCraft team uses AI coding agents heavily, which is how so much appeared so quickly. Test it on your own files before you rely on it.
• No Avid code. It's a clean-room rebuild, written from public file specifications and by observing how Pro Tools behaves, not from Avid's code.
• Licence: MIT or Apache 2.0, your choice. Free to use, including at work. The ArtCraft and SoundCraft names and logos have their own, stricter terms.