What is LMMS used for?

LMMS is a cross-platform digital audio workstation for composing, arranging and mixing music, with a piano roll, beat sequencer and built-in synths. It is a good fit for composing electronic music at home and learning music production without paid software.

Yes. LMMS is open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at LMMS/lmms and is written mainly in C++.

Yes. LMMS is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host LMMS?

Yes. LMMS can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is LMMS an alternative to?

LMMS is an open-source alternative to FL Studio, Ableton Live, Logic Pro and Steinberg Cubase. Other open-source alternatives to FL Studio include Ardour.

Is LMMS actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to LMMS was on 27 September 2026, and the latest release is v1.2.2, published on 4 July 2020. The project has 10k stars on GitHub.

LMMS: open-source alternative to FL Studio, Ableton Live

About LMMS

LMMS is an open-source, cross-platform digital audio workstation made for music production. It includes a Song Editor for arranging melodies, samples, patterns and automation, a Pattern Editor for beats, a Piano Roll for editing melodies, and a Mixer for combining tracks.

More than 15 synthesizer plugins come with it by default. The mixer offers an unlimited number of channels and effects, and automation can be user-defined or driven by computer-controlled sources. It works with many standards, including SoundFont2, VST2 instruments and effects, LADSPA, LV2 and GUS Patches, and it has full MIDI support with MIDI file import and export.

LMMS is written in C++ and licensed under GPL-2.0. The project provides a user manual, a showcase, a sharing platform, a developer wiki and internal documentation. Contributors are welcome to help with programming, artwork, testing and demo songs, and are asked to file an issue or ask on Discord before building a large feature.

Key features

Song Editor and Pattern Editor
Piano Roll for melodies
Mixer with unlimited channels and effects
Built-in synthesizer plugins
VST2, SoundFont2, LADSPA and LV2 support
MIDI file import and export

Good fit for

→Composing electronic music at home
→Learning music production without paid software

Built with: C++
Tags: daw; music-production; midi; synthesizer; audio; vst; cross-platform; cpp

LMMS: questions and answers

What is LMMS used for?: LMMS is a cross-platform digital audio workstation for composing, arranging and mixing music, with a piano roll, beat sequencer and built-in synths. It is a good fit for composing electronic music at home and learning music production without paid software.
Is LMMS open source?: Yes. LMMS is open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at LMMS/lmms and is written mainly in C++.
Is LMMS free?: Yes. LMMS is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host LMMS?: Yes. LMMS can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is LMMS an alternative to?: LMMS is an open-source alternative to FL Studio, Ableton Live, Logic Pro and Steinberg Cubase. Other open-source alternatives to FL Studio include Ardour.
Is LMMS actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to LMMS was on 27 September 2026, and the latest release is v1.2.2, published on 4 July 2020. The project has 10k stars on GitHub.