Audacity

by Muse Group

Free open-source DAW with community plugins and a budding AI line.

TL;DR

Free open-source DAW with community plugins and a budding AI line.

Best for hobbyist podcasters and students who want a free DAW that runs anywhere. Pricing: free.

Category
Desktop apps
License
—
Stars
—
Last push
—
Pricing
free
Platforms
macOS, Windows, Linux

What it is

Audacity is the long-running open-source audio editor. Recent versions added a built-in plugin manager and OpenVINO-based AI plugins (noise suppression, music separation, transcription).

Best for: Hobbyist podcasters and students who want a free DAW that runs anywhere.
Watch out for: UI dated; many features need third-party plugins.

Install / use

audacityteam.org

Features

Speaker diarizationNo
Word-level timestampsNo
Streaming / real-timeNo
Languages supportedNone
HIPAA eligibleNo

Audacity vs Whipscribe

FeatureAudacityWhipscribe
CategoryDesktop appsTranscription APIs
Pricingfreefree beta
Speaker diarization—Yes
Word timestamps—Yes
Streaming—No
Languages—99
PlatformsmacOS, Windows, LinuxWeb, API, MCP

Alternatives to Audacity

MacWhisper
Jordi Bruin

Polished Mac app for Whisper — the default pick if you're on macOS.

freemium
SuperWhisper
Sindre Sorhus

Always-on system-wide dictation for macOS and iOS, powered by local Whisper.

freemium
Aiko
Sindre Sorhus

Free Mac App Store Whisper app — drag, drop, done.

free

Whipscribe is a managed faster-whisper + whisperX service. If you want transcripts without running infrastructure, paste a URL or drop a file in the form below — you'll have a transcript in seconds.