Audacity is a free, open-source desktop audio editor with no company selling it, built by volunteer contributors under Muse Group. It suits anyone who wants full multitrack editing, spectral tools and noise reduction without a subscription, and it suits less well anyone editing audio against picture or mixing for surround.
What is Audacity?
Audacity is developed by a community of volunteer contributors under Muse Group, whose legal entity is MuseCY SM Ltd, a Cyprus company. It has been downloaded since 2000. Audacity is an installed desktop application for Windows and Mac (also available on Linux), and the core editor needs no account: the optional Audio.com cloud saving and sharing service and the MuseHub plugin distributor are separate add-ons.
Editing audio in Audacity
Audacity handles multitrack sessions on one timeline, with a spectrogram track view used for spectral editing alongside a waveform view. Its built-in Noise Reduction effect removes hiss, hum, fan noise and buzzing from a profile, and Loudness Normalization targets a level in LUFS based on EBU R 128 recommendations for podcast and broadcast work. Macros apply the same chain of effects and export settings to many files at once, and Audacity supports VST, LV2, LADSPA and Audio Unit (Mac) plugins alongside its own Nyquist scripting for automation.
Whisper AI powers on-device speech-to-text transcription, exported as label tracks. Stem separation and dialogue isolation are not built into the default install: the OpenVINO AI Music Separation plugin and the Extract:Dialogue plugin are separate free downloads distributed through MuseHub. Audacity imports the audio track from most video files and DVDs through FFmpeg, but it does not display or edit the video picture, and it cannot export back into a video container. Exporting to a multi-channel file maps tracks to channels, but there is no dedicated surround panner or monitoring workflow for mixing in 5.1 or 7.1.
Working with other people
Audacity has no real-time co-editing or comment workflow; it is built for one person editing locally. Support runs through a help center, a community forum and Discord, plus email, and the project publishes a scripting reference (Macros and Nyquist) for anyone automating the app.
Audacity pricing: what it costs
Audacity is free, with no paid tier of any kind. The entire desktop application is free software licensed under the GNU General Public License, so there is nothing to trial and nothing to subscribe to. The optional Audio.com cloud saving and sharing service is a separate product from Audacity itself.
Privacy and support
Audacity is installed desktop software that needs no account to run, so questions about a vendor training on your audio or holding it on a server do not arise the way they do for a cloud service; its AI transcription and music-separation features also run locally rather than sending audio anywhere. MuseCY SM Ltd, the Cyprus company behind Audacity, acts as data controller for the limited data the app itself collects, such as update checks and crash reports, and states GDPR rights over that data. Support runs through a help center, community forum, Discord and email.
Who Audacity suits
Audacity suits anyone who wants a capable, free multitrack editor with spectral editing, noise reduction, loudness normalization and scriptable batch processing, and who is comfortable with a community-run project rather than a company with a support line. It also suits anyone who wants local, on-device AI transcription without an account.
It suits less well anyone editing audio synced to a video picture, since Audacity pulls out the audio track without the picture and cannot export back into a video file, or anyone mixing for surround sound, since there is no dedicated surround panner. Anyone wanting built-in AI stem separation rather than a separate plugin download should also weigh that first.
How Audacity compares
Audacity scores 8.5 out of 10 among the audio editors we rate. These two do the same job and are the closest to it, compared on what each vendor publishes.
Adobe Audition
Audacity is free and open source, with no subscription at all; Adobe Audition is sold only by subscription, monthly or annual billing, and offers no free tier beyond a trial. Audacity adds free plugins for AI stem separation and dialogue isolation plus a scripting API, none of which Audition has built in. Audition instead edits audio against picture in a Video Panel and mixes to 5.1 surround, capabilities Audacity does not include. Both handle spectral editing and third-party plugins.
Pick Adobe Audition if if you need to sync audio editing to picture and surround.
Pick Audacity if if you want free AI repair plugins with no subscription.
Sound Forge
Audacity runs free and open source, while Sound Forge is a paid, Windows-only single-file waveform editor with no free plan beyond a trial. Sound Forge sells a one-time purchase, or a subscription from $24.95 a month, and edits audio against video, which Audacity cannot do. Audacity answers with spectral editing, a scripting API and optional AI plugins for stem separation and dialogue isolation. Both take third-party plugins.
Pick Sound Forge if if you need a one-time purchase for Windows only editing.
Pick Audacity if if you want free multitrack editing with AI repair plugins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Audacity really free?
Yes. Audacity has no paid tier at all: the whole application is free software under the GNU General Public License, with no subscription and no account needed to use it.
Can Audacity edit audio that's part of a video file?
It can import the audio track from most video files and DVDs, but it does not display or edit the video picture, and it cannot export the result back into a video container.
Does Audacity have AI features?
It includes Whisper-powered local transcription of speech to text built in. AI-based stem separation and dialogue isolation are available as separate free plugins distributed through MuseHub, rather than built into the default install.
Does Audacity collect or train on my audio?
Using Audacity itself needs no account, and its AI transcription and music-separation features run locally rather than sending your audio to a server. MuseCY SM Ltd, the company behind the project, is the data controller for the limited technical data the app collects, such as update checks and crash reports.
