Reaper vs FL Studio Compared: Which DAW is The Best?

The world of digital audio workstations is very competitive. Some of the biggest names have been fighting it out, competing with one another to deliver the easiest to use programs, the best and latest features, value pricing, and even intuitive user interfaces.

Two of the best contenders are Cockos Reaper and Image-Line’s FL Studio. While these two DAWs offer some of the most comprehensive set of features, plug-ins, and effects, they do have some notable differences.

There are some marked differences between FL Studio and Reaper that might sway you to choose one over the other. Knowing how each one differs from the other might help you decide on which of these two makes more sense for the type of music composition and creation that you want to do.

Main Differences Between Reaper vs FL Studio

The main differences between Reaper vs FL Studio are:

  • Reaper allows you to record live instruments from multiple channels, whereas FL Studio offers you different workaround just to be able to record live audio.
  • Reaper can be used on Linux, Mac, and Windows, whereas FL Studio is only for Windows and Mac users.
  • Reaper’s user interface might be customizable but it’s not very appealing, whereas FL Studio is easy to understand and it’s customizable.
  • Reaper costs $60 to $225 according to the chosen plan, whereas FL Studio’s licensing options start at $99 to $899.
  • Reaper only makes a certain number of upgrades complimentary, whereas FL Studio offers free upgrades for life.

Read on to find out more about Reaper and FL Studio, the features you can expect to find in each, as well as what makes them an excellent option if you’re looking for DAWs to use for producing music. Further, if you need help deciding between these two, skip over to the end for some pointers.

What is Reaper?

It is difficult to ignore Reaper if you are looking to work with a digital audio workstation that provides you with a wide range of features to compose and edit music without costing too much.

reaper

What Can You Expect from Reaper?

Most DAWs will require the best specs and will hog your computer’s resources. Not Reaper. This lightweight program is tightly coded and is very efficient resulting in speedy load times. You can even run it from a portable drive.

Reaper supports multichannel MIDI and audio routing. You will appreciate its flexibility that allows you to work with several inputs and do more creative and complex routing setups.

It also supports 64-bit audio processing. You can easily import, record, or render your music using a wide variety of media formats at different sample rates and bit depth.

What’s more, Reaper gives you the chance to work with several virtual instruments, effects, and plug-ins from third-party creators. You can use VST, AU, JS, or DX to spice up your music. You may also access hundreds of effects to process MIDI and audio files, as well as create your own effects.

You also get to enjoy custom skins, personalized layouts, automation capabilities, modulation, macros, and other top-level features that make music recording and creation a breeze.

New Features

With the release of Reaper version 6, you now have:

  • FX Plug-in Embedding: You can now put mini versions of some of your favorite plug-ins right on the mixer panel or the tracks control panel. Some of the compatible plug-ins include JSFX products, ReaXcomp, and ReaQ.
  • Auto-Stretch Timebase: Reaper will automatically stretch your audio so that complex tempo changes are easy to manage. You can now work with both tempo-mapped recording and live recordings.
  • MIDI CC Envelops: If you do not like working with MIDI as discreet events, you can use this feature that allows you to work with MIDI CC information as continuous envelopes so you can work in articulations and effect smoothly.
  • Routing Diagram: Gives you a graphical way to see your routing schemes.
  • Work with both retina and HiDPI displays.
  • Work easily even with big projects that have more than 200 tracks.

How Much Do You Pay for Reaper?

You can get a commercial license for Reaper for only $225. If you are an individual and you plan to use the DAW for personal purposes, you can get the discounted license for $60.

The license allows you to use all the features of Reaper and all the upgrades right through a certain feature. For instance, if you buy Reaper version 6.13 today, you get all the upgrades through version 7.99 free.

Pros

  • Free 60-day trial with discounted license prices. Even the commercial license is one of the cheapest you would find for a DAW.
  • The interface is highly customizable with themes and layouts that can help you work easier.
  • Fast and lightweight program

Cons

  • The startup screen does not have too many features.
  • Doesn’t come with embedded loops or instruments.

Reaper: The Bottom Line

There’s not much that you can say that will dissuade a musician from using Reaper. It has a wide range of music recording and editing features coupled with a highly customizable interface and works fast without hogging your computer’s resources. What’s more, the price is something that you will love, as well as the multi-channel capability for recording, mastering, mixing, and MIDI routing.

fl studio

It may not have its own built-in loops and instrument sounds but with its compatible with a wide assortment of audio file formats and offering of effects, synths, instrument sounds, and plug-ins, you can readily forgive Cockos for the oversight.

What Is FL Studio?

Electronic dance music composers favor FL Studio because of how easy it is to use despite offering a wide assortment of features, effects, plug-ins, and functionalities that makes music creating a whole lot easier and faster.

Longtime users know that FL Studio started as Fruity Loops, a mere loop sequencer that has since been upgraded to be the full-featured DAW that it is today. So why do you need to pay attention to FL Studio? Aside from all the tools, plug-ins, and effects that you can use with this software, you also have a beautiful interface that can help you be more creative and a lifetime of upgrades that you can get for free.

What Can You Expect from FL Studio?

FL Studio is noted by its users as one of the best, if not the best, DAW for electronic dance music creation, but it is not limited to that. It has a range of features that you will love because it allows you to bring your ideas to life.

But while there are dozens of nifty features to talk about, here are some features that you should know. First, there is the mixer, which makes it easy for you to mix and master music. You get professional quality beats with the mixer’s capabilities, which include audio sends, advanced automation, plug-in delay compensation, effects chains, and side-chain control, among others.

What’s more, this DAW comes with a seemingly endless array of native instruments and effects right out of the box. If the included sounds, effects, and plug-ins are not enough, you can easily find a plug-in or whatever element it is you are looking for, such as VST 1, 2, and 3 plug-ins.

Perhaps, the biggest feature that you should know is the Piano Roll, which some users consider to be the best in the field. The Piano Roll sends automation and notes to instruments that are plugged into your system. The Piano Roll also has different sets of tools that can make score editing and manipulation a breeze.

What’s more, FL Studio has a very flexible playlist system where you can easily place different elements to use with your music. The tracks can now include notes, audio, or automation. And overlaying of elements just about anywhere is allowed. There is also the browser, which makes it easier to manage and organize everything you are working with.

How Much Will You Need to Pay for FL Studio?

You will need to pay anywhere from $100 to $900 to use FL Studio. There are four different flavors available. There’s the entry-level Fruity edition for $99, the virtual studio solution called Producer for $199. The FL Studio Signature edition will cost you $299, and you get all the features in Producer plus advanced plug-ins.

fl studio

Lastly, there is the All Plug-ins Bundle that includes all the plug-ins and features that are available. This monster pack is for serious music creators and professionals who do not mind shelling out $899 for the privilege to use FL Studio.

You might find these a bit steep, especially in light of Reaper’s discounted license, but Image-Line does offer free lifetime upgrades. What’s more, the company is constantly developing FL Studio, and they keep adding new features, introducing and improving plug-ins and releases minor updates and bug fixes.

Pros

  • Worry- and cost-free upgrades forever
  • Offers the synths, effects, plug-ins, and everything you need to make music creation a whole lot simpler
  • After two decades, Mac users can now use FL Studio

Cons

  • Expensive
  • The user interface can be a bit confusing

FL Studio: The Bottom Line

The range of features, plug-ins, effects, instrument sounds, and everything else about FL Studio makes it a strong contender in the battle of the DAWs. It also helps that you can always look forward to improved features and additional functionalities as Image-Line works to continuously improve their DAW. The best thing is that you will be getting this upgrade for free.

The latest version of FL Studio now has 18 minor updates, bug fixes, and patches in just two years. That’s how hard at work they are. Plus, major upgrades are rolled out every two to four years.

FL Studio now works with Mac computers. It used to be exclusive to PC users but can now work with Mac’s ecosystems, including the use of Audio Units.

If there is, however, a big chink in FL Studio’s armor, it is the fact that it doesn’t handle live audio recordings that well. It was simply not designed for recording live instruments and vocals. But it does make up for this flaw by being the best DAW to create EDM and other genres of music.

Plus, FL Studio has a beautiful vector-based interface. But for all its aesthetics and customizability, some users feel overwhelmed using it. When you have a lot of features and you are working on big projects, it is easy to get lost.

FL Studio has more than 20 years’ worth of development behind it, and it shows.

Comparing FL Studio and Reaper

When it comes to full-fledged DAWs that deliver features and elements you need to create and record music easily, then both FL Studio and Reaper are excellent options. You get a lot of features and functionalities, as well as effects, sounds, and plug-ins that allow you to do your work easily and quickly.

reaper mixer

FL Studio and Reaper give you an excellent range of tools to edit MIDI data and audio clips. These tools are very powerful and flexible. You will appreciate the easy-to-use piano roll and the simple grid that this DAW uses.

These DAWs are two of the best available today. Both are actively being upgraded so you can expect more features, bug fixes, and other improvements in short order. Both Reaper and FL Studio have an online community of users that can get you the help you need if you get stuck on your musical creations.

Plug-ins, Instrument Sounds, and Effects

Reaper relies on third-party providers when it comes to instrument sounds, effects, synths, and plug-ins. It doesn’t come with its own out of the box, but they do offer tons and tons of plug-ins, effects, and other stuff on their official website.

Live Recording

Reaper is designed to record multiple channels. You can record several live instruments at the same time. You can probably record a band with five to six instruments without any issues.

FL Studio’s biggest weak point is a live recording. It is possible to record live music with FL Studio, but you will need to use several workarounds to do so.

Compatibility

If you are a Linux user, you are pretty much left out of FL Studio, which works only on Mac and Windows. You can use Reaper on Linux, Mac, and Windows machines.

Ease of Use

Reaper might not be the most intuitive when it comes to user interfaces. You will need to use it for a while before you can be comfortable interacting with the program. It is also not the most visually appealing DAW out there.

FL Studio has a vectorial interface that is fully customizable and the learning curve is less steep than that of the Reaper. The user interface is pretty much intuitive and even beginners will not have that much problem finding their way around FL Studio.

License and Pricing

Between the two, Reaper has the more attractive licensing options at $225 for a commercial license and $60 for the same software if you qualify for the discount. Even the free trial is very generous, you can try the full DAW for 60 days.

FL Studio’s pricing starts from $100 to $900, where the $300 Signature edition makes the most sense. Free trials to FL Studio is for an unlimited time, but there are some limitations to what you can do.

Free Upgrades

While both DAWs are actively upgraded by their respective developers, FL Studio wins the upgrades game. FL Studio offers free upgrades forever, while Reaper only guarantees free upgrades up to a certain version.

Alternatives to Both FL Studio and Reaper

If you have still not narrowed down your list of candidates for the best DAW for you to use, you might want to take a look at some of their best alternatives:

Ableton Live

Ableton Live is one of the most often mentioned DAWs when people talk about the best. The DAW offers creative and fast workflow, features that can rival FL Studio, and a wide array of plug-ins.

ableton live

With Live 10, users now have a lot of improvements and significant changes that are meant to make your life a whole lot easier. The updates include now being able to work with VST 3 plugins, updates to the arrangement view, and a couple of new plug-ins.

Apple Logic Pro

If you have a Mac and you’re liking the range of capabilities that both the FL Studio and the Reaper is offering, then you might want to check out Apple Logic Pro.

This DAW is reasonably priced and can help you create studio-quality music at home. With features like Live Loops, which allows you to try out different ideas before incorporating them into the main timeline you’re working on. The latest Logic Pro also has several notable changes such as a new step sequencer and a host of other improvements.

What’s more, Logic Pro comes with tons of content that you can use for your own projects.

Audacity

Audacity is an excellent program that lets you do some multi-track recording, music editing, and nearly everything else that FL Studio or Reaper can give you. The best thing about Audacity is that it’s a very powerful DAw that comes to you free.

FAQs

What is the best DAW?

The best DAW depends on the person who’s going to use it. You should be able to determine if the DAW you choose is intuitive for you to use, and it has the features that you need to do your work.

What’s more, don’t let the pricing be a hindrance to your selections. There are DAWs like Reaper that don’t cost too much but prove to be a powerful music creation and live recording software.

Likewise, you might want to invest more upfront with FL Studio if you plan to create music for the long term.

I use Linux at home, are there any good DAWs that run on Linux machines?

There are several DAWs that you can choose from, and one of the best is Reaper. However, if you want to see what options are available to you, you can check out the following:
•Ardour
•Bitwig Studio
•LMMS
•Audacity
•Qtractor
•Tracktion 7
•ReNoise 3.0
•Waveform
•Harrison Consoles Mixbus
These Linux-compatible alternatives will cost you anywhere from free to around $300.

Can you use DAWs for podcasts?

Yes. While most of the features you see on FL Studio and Reaper are geared towards music creation, you can also use these programs to record and edit your podcast. You can also use these to fix volume levels and clean up your recording.

Other programs you can consider for your podcasting needs are:
•Alitu, which shines because it’s one of the easiest to use
•Audacity, if you love free stuff
•Adobe Audition, for the serious broadcasters.

FL Studio vs Reaper: Which One Should You Use?

If you’re looking for an excellent DAW that supports plug-ins and offers a wide variety of effects, sounds, and other elements, then both the FL Studio and Reaper will fit the bill.

However, you should choose Reaper if you are looking for a capable and powerful DAW without costing an arm and a leg. Reaper gives you very low pricing if you are an individual or if you don’t earn a lot.

Even if you don’t spend that much money, you can still get professional quality music from this DAW. Linux users can use Reaper for their composing tasks, too.

What’s more, if your workflows usually involve live recording, then you can just shut the door on FL Studio and go with Reaper, instead.

On the other hand, FL Studio shines when it comes to creating beats, particularly with electronic dance music and hip-hop. It also comes with its own set of plug-ins, synths, effects, and other elements out of the box so you don’t have to worry about having to download these yourself.

If you’re a total beginner, you might want to think about investing more with FL Studio. Not only is it easier to use than Reaper, but it also shows you how everything works. In fact, beginners just might be able to pick up on some technical stuff just by using this DAW.

FL Studio might require more money upfront, but it becomes cheaper as time wears on because of the free upgrades you get forever.

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