Ardour is a free, open source digital audio workstation for Windows, macOS and Linux, used for recording, mixing and mastering audio. It is a full production environment with unlimited tracks, plugin support and precise automation, aimed well beyond simple clip trimming.
Ardour
ardour.org
Our take
Ardour is overkill for trimming a podcast and exactly right for producing a record. It is a true DAW with the depth to rival commercial tools, and the project has been developed continuously since the early 2000s. That depth is also the warning: it is the steepest learning curve in this category, and it assumes you already understand audio routing and signal flow. Choose Ardour if you make music or do serious multitrack work. For quick edits and cleanups, Tenacity is the saner starting point.
GitHub at a glance
Ardour/ardour
Stars
5,067
+ 7 this week
Last commit
1d ago
healthy
Stars, last 12d
Listed in
Ardour alternatives
Kdenlive Mature, full-featured open source video editor from the KDE project, with multi-track timelines and a deep effects library, all offline.
Shotcut Cross-platform open source video editor with native multi-format timelines, so mixed clips need no conversion.
OpenShot Beginner-friendly open source video editor with a simple drag-and-drop timeline. Cross-platform and free.
OpenCut Open source video editor that runs in your browser and processes footage locally instead of on a server. A privacy-first CapCut alternative.
Tenacity Privacy-respecting open source audio editor forked from Audacity, with the telemetry stripped out.