Apple
GarageBand
- Price
- Free, included with macOS, iOS and iPadOS.
- Status
- Active. Mac, iPhone and iPad only; there is no Windows, Chromebook or browser version.
Head to head
GarageBand is free and excellent. It still will not tell you why.
Apple's DAW ships on every Mac and iPad, records anything, and has a virtual drummer who plays along with your song. What it does not have is a way to ask why the bassline sounds wrong, or a browser version for everyone else. This page is about that gap.
Make a little noise
Free to start. Private until you share.
Last checked . Facts about GarageBand come from the pages listed at the end.
GarageBand is the reason a lot of people made their first song. It is free with every Mac, iPhone and iPad, it records real instruments and voices, it has amps, loops, a piano roll, built-in lessons for piano and guitar, and Drummer, a virtual session player who follows your direction. For a free program it is astonishing.
It is also a real DAW, with a real DAW's learning curve. You are expected to know what a track is, what a region is, what the piano roll does, and which notes belong in your key. Drummer plays along, but it does not explain. And it does not exist on Windows, Chromebooks or in a browser at all.
This instrument is smaller and it runs anywhere with a browser. It starts you from a loop that already sounds good, keeps every note in key, explains every musical word when you point at it, and puts a co-producer next to you that edits your project with the same operations you use, says why, and can be undone in one press. If GarageBand is a studio, this is the instrument you learn on first.
The other column
Riffgarden
- Price
- Free to start, and the free plan is the whole instrument. Paid plans add more co-producer time and storage (see pricing).
- Status
- Live, in any modern browser on a laptop or desktop.
- What it is
- An instrument with a co-producer: it edits your project with the same operations you use, explains each change, and every turn can be undone in one step.
Side by side
Short answers on purpose. The difference is usually in the how, so each row says what happens rather than ticking a box.
| Capability | GarageBand | Riffgarden |
|---|---|---|
| What kind of thing it is | A digital audio workstation: multitrack recording, software instruments, amps, loops, a piano roll and a mixer. | An instrument: a step grid, recipe blocks, sounds you shape, and an arranger that stacks patterns into a song. |
| Where it runs | Mac, iPhone and iPad. Nothing for Windows, Chromebooks or Linux, and no browser version. | Any modern browser on a laptop or desktop, whatever the operating system. Nothing to install. |
| Price | Free, if you already own an Apple device. | Free to start, on any device. Paid plans add more co-producer time and storage. |
| Generates parts for you | Drummer plays a drum part that follows your song, in the style of one of 28 virtual drummers, and you can shape it with a few controls. | Nothing is generated. The starter loop already has drums, bass and keys; you change them, or ask the co-producer to. |
| An assistant that edits your project | None. Drummer follows settings; there is nothing you can talk to. | The co-producer changes your project through the same operations you use, in front of you. |
| Undo an assistant's turn in one step | Standard undo for your own edits. | Every co-producer turn is one undo, and so is every change of yours. |
| Explains what it did and why | It does not. Drummer plays; the help book explains the buttons. | Every change comes with a plain sentence about what changed and why that is something musicians do. |
| Notes that stay in key | The piano roll takes any note. On iPad, Smart Instruments can be locked to a scale. | Melodies and basslines are steps of a key everywhere, so a wrong note is not something you can click. |
| Teaches while you use it | Built-in lessons for piano and guitar, with video, for learning to play an instrument. | Every musical word explains itself when you point at it, the lessons are loops you play with, and the co-producer says why. |
| Recording and effects | Records microphones and instruments, with amps, pedals and effects. This is what it is for. | No recording. You can import audio and slice it, and shape built-in sounds. |
| Sharing | Export to a file, or share to Apple Music and SoundCloud from the app. | Private until you share. A shared song gets a page that plays in any browser, and can be opened for remixing. |
Where GarageBand is the better choice
- GarageBand records audio, has amps and effects, and exports at full quality. If you play an instrument or sing, use it; we do not record.
- Drummer is a wonderful feature and there is nothing like it here.
- Its piano and guitar lessons teach you to play a physical instrument. Our lessons teach you how music is put together.
- It is free with no plan at all, and it has a clear path up to Logic Pro.
This is for you if
- You are on Windows, a Chromebook or Linux, or you want to use the same project from any computer.
- You opened GarageBand, saw the timeline and did not know what to do next.
- You want an AI that helps with the music in front of you, explains what it did, and can be taken back with one press.
- You want to write beats, basslines and chords before you learn to record.
Stay with GarageBand if
- You record vocals, guitar or anything through a microphone.
- You are happy in GarageBand and only wanted a second opinion.
- You want to learn to play piano or guitar; GarageBand's lessons are for that.
Questions people ask
Is there a GarageBand for Windows or for a browser?
Apple has never made one. GarageBand runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad only. This instrument runs in any modern browser on a laptop or desktop, on any operating system, with nothing to install.
Does GarageBand have an AI assistant?
Not one you can talk to. Drummer generates a drum part that follows your song and can be shaped with a few controls, and the app has lessons, but nothing that edits your project on request or explains a musical decision. The co-producer here does both.
Is this a replacement for GarageBand?
Not for recording. This instrument does not record audio and has no amps or mixer. It replaces the part of GarageBand a beginner actually uses: making beats, basslines and chords, and understanding why they work.
Can I move between the two?
Yes. Record your song here to an audio file and drop it into GarageBand to add vocals or guitar. Or export audio from GarageBand and slice it here.
Which one should a complete beginner start with?
If you have an Apple device and want to record yourself, GarageBand. If you want to learn how music is put together without a manual, this, because you cannot play a wrong note, every word explains itself, and the assistant teaches as it edits.
How we checked
Everything about GarageBand on this page was read on September 22, 2026 from these pages. Prices and features change; if something here is wrong or out of date, tell us through the contact form and we will fix it.
Hear the difference in a minute.
Open a project that already sounds good, change one thing, and ask the co-producer why it worked. Free to start, and everything you make stays yours.