GarageBand
Hacker ApprovedRanked 6 of 10 digital audio workstations by recommenders
Free Apple music app that people use to record and sketch songs easily, and a common first step before moving up to Logic.
Free Apple music app that people use to record and sketch songs easily, and a common first step before moving up to Logic.
26 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 19
- criticize it
- 7
- approval share
- 73%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 19 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Free, bundled with Apple devices
“I don't think Microsoft ever shipped anything that came close to the quality of free app you got with GarageBand and iMovie”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Resizing windows on macOS Tahoe – the saga continues” “The strategy Apple has figured out with GarageBand pre-installed seems really really smart in hindsight”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Run macOS Software on Linux” “what I miss the most about using a Mac whenever I'm on Windows or Linux is Apple's bundled apps”
Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “New OS aims to provide (some) compatibility with macOS” - Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “"This Is Not the Computer for You"”
Easy to use for beginners
“Garage Band has no equal in terms of ease of use”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Run macOS Software on Linux” “GarageBand is plenty to start with”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Ask HN: How to get started in electronic music” Fun and satisfying to use
“is fun, and capable of making surprisingly complex music”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Apple introduces the new iPad Air, powered by M4” “feels very satisfying to use”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Guitoro, a virtual guitar you strum with your keyboard” “I had lots of fun with that”
Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: I built a synth for my daughter” Capable of complex music
“I've been able to do some really impressive things with just GarageBand”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “John Giannandrea to retire from Apple” “is fun, and capable of making surprisingly complex music”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Apple introduces the new iPad Air, powered by M4”
Other digital audio workstations people recommend
The four most recommended other digital audio workstations, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reaper by Cockos | 58 | 5 | 92% | 11 | 15 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Ableton Live | 54 | 20 | 73% | 11 | 15 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Bitwig Studio | 35 | 3 | 92% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Logic Pro | 29 | 12 | 71% | 11 | 14 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| GarageBandThis page | 19 | 7 | 73% | 10 | — | Approved |
What people said
All 26 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“feels very satisfying to use”
“Garage Band has no equal in terms of ease of use”
“The strategy Apple has figured out with GarageBand pre-installed seems really really smart in hindsight”
“GarageBand is an excellent app.”
“A musician friend used to actually do recording with garageband on an iPad”
“do we need another garageband-like linear music tool? I would say, no.”
“maybe this is as close to Jamming you can get”
“GarageBand is plenty to start with”
“Apple installs at least 4GB of audio samples on my Mac.”
“Garage Band is free with a Mac...”
“Word, Excel, Lightroom, Garageband, MainStage etc work just fine.”
“Worked on Xcode/Pixelmator/GarageBand”
“Garage Band which is an absolute banger for its money”
“is fun, and capable of making surprisingly complex music”
“I don't think Microsoft ever shipped anything that came close to the quality of free app you got with GarageBand and iMovie”
“an app that controls GarageBand or Ableton”
“most of what I do on the mac tends to just use one main window anyway (garage band, lightroom, photoshop and such)”
“No Garageband or iMovie feels like they've abandoned them”
“the Garageband to Logic and iMovie to Final Cut progression”
“which got deprecated and non-download-able because newer versions weren't aimed to my iOS version”
“My friend uses GarageBand to record her podcasts and says it sucks”
“I've been able to do some really impressive things with just GarageBand”
“what I miss the most about using a Mac whenever I'm on Windows or Linux is Apple's bundled apps”
“Garageband was never even half as much fun as three POs plugged together”
“Numbers, GarageBand, iMovie, Keynote, Pages, Clips”
“I had lots of fun with that”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.