shouldiuse.io

Categories

VERDICT

Audacity Review

Worth it

Should I use Audacity?

Skip to content - audacityteam.org

· 4 days ago

Use it if you need free audio recording and editing. It's the world's most popular tool for that and costs nothing. Skip it if you're producing music seriously or need vendor support and SLAs; get a proper DAW instead.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 20+ public sources including G2, Trustpilot, Reddit, the Audacity forum, and CVE databases.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Audacity

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Podcasters and voiceover recording
  • Basic audio cleanup and editing
  • Students and teachers on zero budget
  • Hobby musicians

Not for

  • Serious music producers needing a full DAW
  • Businesses needing support SLAs or vendor accountability
  • Anyone unwilling to verify download sources, fake sites abound
  • Security-strict enterprises wary of telemetry and legacy CVEs

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Fake download sites confuse users; download only from

medium

Version 4 trust worries persist among users post-download

medium

Many users stick with older versions due to regression complaints

medium

No revenue-backed support; you depend on volunteer forums when things break

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Completely free and open source, no subscriptions
  • Describes itself as the world's most popular audio editor
  • Rated 4.5/5 on G2 across 459 reviews
  • Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Realtime VST2 effect support added

Cons

  • Official site rated just 2.0/5 on Trustpilot
  • Users report recent versions got much worse
  • 2021 telemetry changes triggered spyware accusations
  • Bundled libcurl flagged as high vulnerability on Windows builds
  • Only community forum support; no paid or enterprise help

Sources & method

- 11 sources - No confirmed breach of Audacity itself; historical CVEs, a 2021 telemetry controversy, and an outdated bundled libcurl flag exist.

official x2review x5security x3news x1
  • Outdated libcurl in Windows 3.7.3 download, Scanners flagged it as a high vulnerability; maintainers said curl is only used for update checks.
  • 2021 telemetry 'spyware' backlash, Audacity 3.0's data-collection policy caused accusations; coverage concluded it was not spyware but trust was dented.
  • CVE-2016-2540 memory corruption, Unscored memory corruption vulnerability in older Audacity versions.
  • 2,194 infostealer credentials tied to domain, Hudson Rock lists credentials stolen from users' machines. User password reuse, not a product breach.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 11

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Completely free, open source
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Mixed feedback; newer versions called worse
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Multitrack, realtime VST effects, spectrogram
  • Support quality: 2/5. Community forums only, no SLAs
  • Security posture: 2/5. Telemetry backlash, outdated bundled libcurl, old CVEs
  • 4.5/5 G2 rating 459 reviews
  • $0 Price Free, open source
  • 2.0/5 Trustpilot (site) Audacityteam.org
  • 2000 First released Free ever since

Pricing

Audacity

$0

  • Full multitrack audio editor
  • Open source license
  • Windows, macOS, Linux

Security

No confirmed breach of Audacity itself; historical CVEs, a 2021 telemetry controversy, and an outdated bundled libcurl flag exist.

  • Outdated libcurl in Windows 3.7.3 downloadScanners flagged it as a high vulnerability; maintainers said curl is only used for update checks.⁸
  • 2021 telemetry 'spyware' backlashAudacity 3.0's data-collection policy caused accusations; coverage concluded it was not spyware but trust was dented.⁷
  • CVE-2016-2540 memory corruptionUnscored memory corruption vulnerability in older Audacity versions.⁹
  • 2,194 infostealer credentials tied to domainHudson Rock lists credentials stolen from users' machines. User password reuse, not a product breach.10

What users say

Users value the free price and capability but complain about version regressions, download-site confusion, and trust worries around version 4.

“Its insane how much worse Audacity has gotten in only two...”
Reddit, r/audacity
“Audacity.org - scam website??”
Reddit, r/audacity
“I am not sure if i should trust Audacity 4”
Reddit, r/audacity

Alternatives

Compare Audacity with each alternative.

  • Adobe Audition

    Guess: paid pro tool for podcast and broadcast

Companies that use it

  • Cox Business
  • Sheffield Hallam University
  • MSU Denver
  • SUNY ESF Digital Storytelling Studio
Full analysis

Based on 20+ public sources including G2, Trustpilot, Reddit, the Audacity forum, and CVE databases.

Free, popular audio editor: great for podcasts and quick edits. Skip if you need a pro DAW or support SLAs.

Methodology

Based on 20+ public sources including G2, Trustpilot, Reddit, the Audacity forum, and CVE databases.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Audacity Products | Read 459 Reviews on G2g2.com
    review
  2. Audacity Reviews | Trustpilottrustpilot.com
    review
  3. Frequently Asked Questions — Audacityaudacityteam.org
    official
  4. Its insane how much worse Audacity has gotten — Redditreddit.com
    review
  5. Audacity.org - scam website?? — Redditreddit.com
    review
  6. I am not sure if i should trust Audacity 4 — Redditreddit.com
    review
  7. No, Open Source Audacity Audio Editor Is Not 'Spyware'news.slashdot.org
    news
  8. Outdated libcurl in Windows 3.7.3 download — Audacity Forumforum.audacityteam.org
    security
  9. CVE-2016-2540: Audacity Memory Corruption — Strixstrix.ai
    security
  10. Audacity — 2194 Infostealer Credentials — Hudson Rockhudsonrock.com
    security
  11. Audacity Supportsupport.audacityteam.org
    official

Add this review to your site

Audacity earned a Worth it check.

Put the badge on your site, pricing page, or docs.

Visitors see an independent review.

The link points here, and search engines follow it.

This is the badge visitors see on your site.

Worth it Audacity Independent review on Should I Use It

Paste one snippet. Keep the link as it is. A nofollow tag stops search engines from following it.

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Comments

One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.

Save a name to write a comment.

0 / 200 words

No comments yet.