FL Studio vs LMMS
FL Studio and LMMS are both audio production software. FL Studio is a commercial product from Image-Line. LMMS is open source under GPL-2.0, with 11k GitHub stars.
Which to pick
- Pick FL Studio when
- You produce beats and want a DAW you pay for once with lifetime free updates.
- Pick LMMS when
- You want a free FL Studio-like DAW for composing electronic music.
Side by side
A pattern-based digital audio workstation with a strong piano roll and step sequencer, popular for hip-hop and electronic production.
A cross-platform digital audio workstation with a piano roll, beat sequencer, song editor, mixer and built-in synthesizers.
Recording and mixing large live-instrument sessions feel less natural than in other DAWs.
The last stable release is old (1.2.2); newer features sit in long-running pre-releases, and audio recording is limited.
Production-ready
Usable
Desktop app and mobile app
Desktop app
Not published
C++ and Qt
Closed source, sold by Image-Line
Open source, GPL-2.0 (strong copyleft)
Closed source: you use it under the maker's terms and cannot change or resell the code.
Use inside your business is unrestricted, but anything you distribute that includes it must be released under the same license.
6.9k Wikipedia readers a month on phones
11k GitHub stars
Not known
Established: started 13 years ago, latest release v1.2.2.
Other comparisons
More audio and music production software
Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from makers' descriptions, Wikipedia, READMEs and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.