Reaper also has a seriously dedicated online community, and it seems the developers are always hard at work providing updates, bug fixes, and notes.

Say you buy 5.9 today that means you get free updates through 6.99, which should keep you current for several years. There’s a 60-day unlimited trial version, and, if you buy it, you get free updates through the next full point version. Reaper is free of copy protection, and you can download the 400-page manual in PDF format from the company website. You can even run it off a portable or network drive, Cockos says. The program is a paltry 11MB download for Windows and 17MB on the Mac, and just 66MB when fully installed. Reaper is available in both PC and Mac versions, and a Linux version is currently in beta.

If you plan to use it for commercial music purposes and you are grossing more than $20,000 per year from your audio work, it’s $225. A personal, school, or small business license for Reaper costs $60.