Audacity Alternative: Edit Audio in Your Browser

If you want an Audacity alternative that needs no download, try our Audio Editor. It runs in your browser, records from your microphone and gives you a multitrack timeline with fades, effects and automation. Audacity is free, open source and more powerful for detailed editing, so it is still the better choice for heavy audio work. Our editor suits you when you want to start in a tab, on any computer, without installing anything.

This comparison is based on what each product is designed for. Audacity changes between versions, so check its official site for its current features.

The short version

	Audio Editor	Audacity
What it is	A multitrack audio editor in your browser	A free, open source desktop audio editor
Install	Nothing to install; optional install from the page	Download and install on Windows, Mac or Linux
Works on Chromebooks and locked-down computers	Yes, in the browser	Needs a desktop install
Record from a microphone	Yes	Yes
Multitrack editing	Yes	Yes
MIDI	Opens, edits and exports MIDI	Mainly an audio editor
Fades and effects	Yes	Yes, with a much larger effects library
Automation	Yes	Volume envelopes
Plugins and spectral editing	No	Yes
Noise removal	Pro button in the editor	Built-in effect
Export WAV	Free account	Yes
Export MP3, FLAC, OGG and others	Pro	Yes
Works offline	Yes, once loaded	Yes
Price	Free to record and edit; Pro adds compressed exports and tools	Free and open source

Who each one is for

Choose Audacity when audio editing is a regular part of your work and you have your own computer. It has years of development behind it, a deep set of effects, support for plugins and detailed analysis tools such as a spectrogram view. If you restore old recordings, repair audio sample by sample or process many files in a batch, Audacity gives you more control. It also exports MP3 and many other formats at no cost.

Choose our Audio Editor when you can't or don't want to install software. A school computer, a work laptop with no admin rights, a Chromebook, a friend's computer. You open a page and start recording or editing. It is also a good fit for people who want audio and MIDI in the same project, such as a musician sketching a song over a backing track.

What Audio Editor does well

• Nothing to install. Click Open Audio Editor and the editor loads in the tab. The first start takes a little longer while it loads.
• A real multitrack timeline. Put audio and MIDI on many tracks, cut and move clips, and add fades, effects and automation.
• Record straight into a track. Allow the microphone and press Record (F12). Each take lands on a track as a clip you can trim and move.
• Opens the formats you have. WAV (including BWF), AIFF, FLAC, MP3, OGG, AAC, M4A and CAF audio, plus MIDI files.
• Your audio stays on your device. Recording and editing happen on your computer. Only a Pro tool you choose to run, like noise removal, sends that audio to be processed, and it is deleted afterwards.
• Save and come back later. Saving a session needs no account. The bundle format keeps your audio inside one file, so it opens complete on another computer.
• Install it if you like. Click Install on the page and it opens in its own window like a desktop app. Once it has loaded, recording, editing and saving work without an internet connection.

What Audacity does better

Be clear about where Audacity is ahead. It has a far larger set of built-in effects and analysis tools, and you can add more through plugins. It has a spectrogram view for finding and fixing problems you can't see in a waveform. It can run the same steps on many files at once. It exports MP3, FLAC, OGG and other formats for free, where our editor needs Pro for those. And because it is open source, anyone can read and change its code.

If your work needs any of these, keep using Audacity. Our editor is not trying to replace it for restoration or mastering work.

What Audio Editor doesn't do

Our editor doesn't load third-party plugins or offer spectral editing. With a free account you export WAV and MIDI. MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, AAC, AIFF and Opus export come with Pro, along with the Remove background noise, Transcribe and Convert audio buttons in the editor. If you only need a free MP3 at the end, export WAV and convert it elsewhere, or use Audacity.

How to switch or get started

You don't need to move anything over. Your audio files open as they are.

1. Open the Audio Editor and click Open Audio Editor.
2. Drop your audio or MIDI files onto the editor, or press Record (F12) to record from your microphone onto a track.
3. Cut, move and arrange clips on the tracks, then add fades, effects and automation.
4. Save your session to keep working later, or export the mix as WAV with a free account.

Audacity projects (.aup3) don't open in our editor. To bring a project across, export the tracks or the mix from Audacity as WAV or FLAC first, then drop those files in.

If you only need to trim one file

You may not need a full editor. To cut a song or recording down to one part, the MP3 Cutter lets you drag start and end markers on the waveform and download the trimmed file, with no timeline to learn. To clean a noisy voice recording, try remove background noise. To just record your voice, the voice recorder is quicker.

Use the Audio Editor when you have more than one track, need to arrange clips, or want to mix voice and music together.

Can you use both?

Yes. You can keep Audacity on your main computer and use a browser editor when you're away from it. Both open WAV, FLAC and MP3, so you can start a recording in one and finish it in the other by exporting WAV.