7 Best Adobe Audition Alternatives (2024) for You

Adobe Audition has been a go-to tool for many podcasters and editors with advanced audio needs. But this powerful (and expensive) software isn’t ideal for everyone.

At Cleanvoice, we know how difficult and tedious audio editing can be. So here, we’ll share some of the best Adobe Audition alternatives available so you can pick one that works for your unique needs.

Ready to simplify podcast editing? Let’s get started.

What is Adobe Audition?

Adobe Audition is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Adobe. It offers comprehensive tools for recording, mixing, and editing digital audio on Windows.

For podcasters, Adobe Audition provides a wide range of audio processing and effects for creating high-quality podcasts.

It also offers automatic speech alignment to time sync audio and has workflow integrations with Adobe Creative Cloud and other third-party applications like Cleanvoice.

Why Look for Adobe Audition Alternatives?

1. Complexity

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Adobe Audition may have a steep learning curve or offer more features than needed, leading users to seek simpler alternatives.

2. Performance and Resource Usage

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Adobe Audition can be heavy on resources and it may require a powerful computer to run smoothly. Users may want more lightweight and efficient alternatives, allowing them to work on podcasts without straining their hardware.

3. Expensive

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Adobe Audition is considered expensive by many users. Its pricing model is subscription-based, which can add up over time for those who require the software on a regular basis.

Criteria to Consider When Choosing Adobe Audition Alternatives

Below are crucial factors to consider when choosing an alternative to Adobe Audition:

• Ease of use: 

Look for software that has intuitive controls, straightforward navigation, and helpful tutorials.

• Pricing and licensing: 

Consider your budget and how often you use the software. Does the value you’ll get justify the cost?

• Updates and support:

Check how frequently the software is updated and what users say about the update process. Additionally, good customer support can be invaluable when you encounter issues or have questions about using the software

7 Best Adobe Audition Alternatives

1. Cleanvoice: A powerful AI audio editing tool.
2. FL Studio: A comprehensive DAW with a wide range of features.
3. Avid Pro Tools: An advanced DAW with industry-leading features.
4. Ableton Live: A versatile DAW with an intuitive workflow.
5. Audacity: A free and user-friendly audio editing software with basic editing tools.
6. WavePad: A simple and intuitive audio editing software.
7. Ardour: A powerful open-source DAW.

1. Cleanvoice

Cleanvoice is an AI tool that helps podcasters save time by automatically cleaning and enhancing podcast audio—no manual editing required.

With Cleanvoice, you can upload raw podcast audio and relax while the app fixes automatically, everything from unwanted mouth sounds and filler words (like “umms” and “ahhs”) to dead air.

It also offers multilingual filler sound removal, timeline export for manual editing, and integrations with editing software.

Relevant Features

• Podcast mixing: 

Normalize the volume of different speakers with the click of a button to ensure everyone’s voice can be heard.

• Marker and timeline exports:

Integrate your favorite editing tools and get more control over your edits.

• Filler words remover: 

Automatically detect and remove filler words like “um,” “uh,” “like,” and “you know” from your podcast recordings.

• Mouth sound remover: 

Helps to eliminate unwanted mouth sounds like lip smacks, clicks, and pops.

• Stutter remover: 

Identifies and reduces instances of stuttering in your podcast recordings.

• Deadair remover:

Detect and remove long periods of silence in your podcast episodes.

• Podcast transcription: 

Automatically transcribe your podcast episodes into written text. It also supports multiple languages.

• Background noise remover:

Reduce or eliminate background noise like echoes, hums, or ambient sounds.

Pricing

Cleanvoice offers both subscription and pay-as-you-go pricing.

Subscription gives you set monthly limits for hours of edited audio—10hrs for €10, 30hs for €25, and 100 for €80.

Pay-as-you-go credits allow you to purchase a specific number of hours of processed audio that can be used anytime within two years.

2. FL Studio

FL Studio is a popular DAW celebrated for its fast workflow and powerful features.

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It offers podcasters a wide range of features designed for creating high-quality podcast productions, including sound recording, editing, mixing, and mastering tools and support for plugins and virtual instruments for sound design.

Relevant Features

• Pitch shifting & time stretching:

Crop or stretch audio clips while preserving the original sound

• VST plugins:

Create unique sound design elements with virtual instruments and effects

• Mixer:

Adjust levels, add effects, sidechain compress, & more

• Automation tools:

Quickly alter parameters like volume or panning in a visual way.

Pricing

FL Studio’s pricing ranges from $99 for the entry-level Fruity Edition to $499 for the All Plugins Edition, which includes all features and native plugins available at the time of purchase.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Versatile and powerful DAW
• Intuitive workflow and interface
• Free lifetime updates with purchase

Cons

• Advanced features may require additional learning
• Some users find it overwhelming at first
• Limited audio quantization in the timeline

Reviews

4.8 out of 213 reviews

3. Avid Pro Tools

Avid Pro Tools is a DAW that offers a complete set of tools for recording, editing, and mixing audio.

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It provides a wide range of plugins and sounds. Its seamless end-to-end audio production capabilities cover every stage of the creative process.

Relevant Features

• Record high-quality audio: 

This allows you to capture and record audio with excellent clarity and fidelity.

• Tweak audio timing and pitch:

You can adjust the timing and pitch of the recorded audio. This allows y ou to correct any imperfections or create unique effects.

Pricing

Avid Pro Tools offers three pricing options—Pro Tools Artist, Pro Tools Studio, and Pro Tools Ultimate.

The pricing ranges from ($9.99/month or $99/year for Pro Tools Artist, $29.99/month or $299/year for Pro Tools Studio (the most popular option), to $99/month or $599/year for Pro Tools Ultimate.

Students and teachers may also qualify for special pricing.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Many features for mixing and fine-tuning recordings
• Easy-to-use plugins for mixing vocals and making beats

Cons

• Compatibility issues with the new Macbook Pro M1 chip
• Requires a learning curve

Reviews

4.8 out of ‎69 reviews

4. Ableton Live

Ableton Live, often recognized for its robust music recording capabilities, is not just limited to music; it's also a great choice for podcasters.

For example,  if you have a digital mixing console with built-in USB sound card technology, you can seamlessly record your podcast directly within the DAW.

Relevant Features

• Recording:

You can digitally capture and record audio signals for further processing or playback.

• Comping:

You can select the best parts from different takes and create a polished final version.

• Linked-track editing:

You can edit multiple tracks simultaneously.

• Hybrid reverb:

Create different spatial environments and add depth to your audio.

• Spectral resonator:

You can manipulate the harmonic of a sound by emphasizing or suppressing specific frequencies.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Intuitive workflow
• Versatility for different musical styles and genres
• Live performance features provide high-quality audio for podcasters
• Support for third-party plugins

Cons

• Steep learning curve for new users
• Limited editing capabilities
• Expensive pricing
• CPU-intensive for older or less powerful computers

Pricing

Ableton offers three editions—Intro, Standard, and Suite, each with different features and price points.

The Suite edition is the most comprehensive and expensive, while the Intro edition provides essential features at a more affordable price.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Efficient and effective workflow for music production
• User-friendly interface
• New options for offline recording
• Ability to produce live sets with speed and professionalism

Cons

• High RAM demand, which may cause latency on older machines
• Inability to share projects with users of previous versions
• Glitches and latency issues when global latency is set too high

Reviews

4.7 out of 153 reviews

5. Audacity

Audacity is a free, open-source audio editor and recorder available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and other operating systems.

It offers a range of features, including recording, importing and exporting sound files, high-quality resampling, plugin support, easy editing, real-time preview of effects, and keyboard accessibility.

Relevant Features

• Editing Shortcuts:

Easy editing with cut, copy, paste, and delete shortcuts and unlimited sequential undos and redos.

• Sound quality:

Supports 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit. Sample rates and formats are converted using high-quality resampling and dithering.

• Export/import:

Import, edit, and combine sound files. Export your recordings in many different file formats, including multiple files simultaneously.

• Plugins:

Support for LADSPA, LV2, Nyquist, VST, and Audio Unit effect plug-ins. Nyquist effects can be easily modified in a text editor – or you can even write your plug-in.

Pricing

Audacity is free, open-source software.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Great support and sound quality
• User-friendly interface
• Saves money and adds value to recordings
• Eliminates background noises

Cons

• Unattractive UI and may seem complicated to beginners
• Limited compared to a DAW
• Cannot change the audio on a video

Reviews

4.5 out of ‎384 reviews

6. WavePad

WavePad is a full-featured professional audio and music editor available for Windows and Mac.

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It offers a wide range of editing tools, effects, and formats, making it suitable for various audio editing applications.

Relevant Features

• Sound editing tools: 

This encompasses functions such as cutting, copying, pasting, deleting, inserting, silencing, auto-trimming, compressing, pitch shifting, and more.

• Audio effects: 

This includes features like amplifying, normalizing, equalizing, applying envelopes, adding reverb, echoing, reversing, and many others.

• Support for DirectX and Virtual Studio Technology DLL (VST) plugins:

This allows producers to access a wide range of additional tools and effects.

• Compatibility with almost all audio and music file formats:

This includes formats like MP3, WAV, VOX, GSM, WMA, AU, AIF, FLAC, real audio, OGG, AAC, M4A, MID, AMR, and many others.

Pricing

Price ranges for WavePad options vary depending on the edition and bundle.

The WavePad Sound Editor Master’s Edition is priced at $99, while the WavePad Sound Editor Standard Edition is priced at $60.

The bundle software prices range from $70 to $139.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Integration with Videopad
• Reliable and enjoyable to use

Cons

• Difficulty with loop editing.
• Managing media with multiple plugins.

Reviews

4.4 out of ‎33 reviews

7. Ardour

Ardour is a powerful DAW that allows users to record, edit, mix, and master audio through a range of tools.

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It provides a wide range of features, including non-linear editing, sample-accurate automation, powerful signal routing, video timeline integration, and support for various plugins and control surfaces.

Relevant Features

• Intuitive UI:

DAW users will pick up Ardour quickly with its intuitive user interface.

• Transport Sync:

Ensures that all tracks and elements in the project stay synchronized with the playback transport controls.

• External Control Surfaces: 

Supports external control surfaces—physical devices designed to provide tactile control over the software’s functions. Great for live mixing.

Pricing

Ardour’s subscriptions range from $10 to $50 per month, allowing users to choose the level of support they are comfortable with.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Supports an arbitrary number of tracks and buses
• Supports importing video and extracting soundtracks
• Multichannel track options
• Wide range of plug-ins available

Cons

• Requires a recording device
• May be difficult to use without understanding recording concepts

Reviews

4.1 out of ‎11 reviews

Conclusion

Whether your reason for switching is budget, user-friendly interface, or something else, you will find several alternatives to Adobe Audition for audio editing.

May you be a professional musician, podcaster, or content creator, Audacity, Ardour, WavePad, and others offer robust tools for audio production.

Additionally, if you are seeking to enhance your audio recordings's quality effortlessly, try Cleanvoice. With its AI-driven capabilities, Cleanvoice removes filler sounds and improves overall clarity within a few minutes.

Try it out here for free.