Giada vs LMMS
Giada and LMMS are both audio production software. Giada is open source under GPL-3.0, with 2.1k GitHub stars. LMMS is open source under GPL-2.0, with 11k GitHub stars.
Which to pick
- Pick Giada when
- DJs and live electronic musicians want a lightweight looper on Linux, Windows or macOS.
- Pick LMMS when
- You want a free FL Studio-like DAW for composing electronic music.
Side by side
A minimal loop machine and sample player for live performance, layering audio and MIDI in real time, with plugin support.
A cross-platform digital audio workstation with a piano roll, beat sequencer, song editor, mixer and built-in synthesizers.
Niche tool with a small developer team.
The last stable release is old (1.2.2); newer features sit in long-running pre-releases, and audio recording is limited.
Usable (both)
Desktop app (both)
C++ and JUCE
C++ and Qt
Open source, GPL-3.0 (strong copyleft)
Open source, GPL-2.0 (strong copyleft)
Use inside your business is unrestricted, but anything you distribute that includes it must be released under the same license. (both)
2.1k GitHub stars
11k GitHub stars
Established: started 14 years ago, latest release 1.6.0.
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 each project's README and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.