Best for
Best for composers and producers who write with MIDI and virtual instruments and want notation and mixing in the same DAW.
Audio Editing & Mastering Comparison
Cubase vs. FL Studio
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for beatmakers and electronic producers who work in patterns and the piano roll and want to buy once.
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Cubase | FL Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $99.99 Full version of Cubase Elements 15 in the US Steinberg Online Shop. Cubase Artist 15 is $329.00 and Cubase Pro 15 is $579.99; upgrades, crossgrades and education versions are priced separately. | lower value $99 Fruity Edition, one-time licence. Producer $179, Signature Bundle $269, All Plugins Edition $449. Rent-to-own over 12 monthly payments is also offered. |
| Free trial | Free 60-day trial of Cubase Pro 15 and Cubase Elements 15, no credit card needed | Free trial with no time limit |
| Output | Composed, recorded, edited, mixed and mastered music and audio, including Dolby Atmos mixes in Cubase Pro | Produced and mixed music, exported as WAV, MP3, OGG, M4A, FLAC or MIDI |
| Hosting | Desktop app for Windows 10 (22H2 or later), Windows 11 (24H2 or later) and macOS 14, 15 and 26 | Desktop app for Windows 10 or later and macOS 10.15 or later |
| What it does | Digital audio workstation for composing, recording, editing, mixing and producing music, with sections for audio post, game sound and scoring | Digital audio workstation for producing music, built around a step sequencer, piano roll, pattern-based and linear arrangement and a mixer with effects and routing |
| Multitrack or two-track | Unlimited audio, MIDI and VST instrument tracks in Pro and Artist; Elements allows 48 audio, 64 MIDI and 24 instrument tracks | Multitrack: patterns and audio clips are arranged in the Playlist and routed through the mixer; recording audio into the Playlist starts at Producer Edition |
| Noise removal and repair | SpectraLayers Go spectral editing and VariAudio 3 pitch editing in Pro and Artist, plus AI-powered stem separation in Pro | AI-powered declipping, plus stem separation into vocal, drum, bass and instrument layers from Producer Edition up |
| Mastering and loudness | Limiter, Brickwall Limiter and Maximizer in every edition, WaveLab Go in Pro and Artist, and a Loudness Meter with a multi-channel true peak master meter in Pro | Maximus multiband compressor and maximiser from Producer Edition, the Emphasis mastering compressor and limiter in All Plugins Edition, and AI mastering with genre presets in the optional FL Cloud subscription |
| Formats and resolution | 64-bit audio engine at up to 192 kHz, ADM authoring and a renderer for Dolby Atmos in Pro, AAF and OMF exchange in Pro, and DAWproject and MusicXML exchange | Exports WAV at 16-bit integer, 24-bit integer or 32-bit float, plus MP3, OGG, M4A, FLAC and MIDI; mixer tracks can be split into separate WAV files |
| Where it runs | Desktop app for Windows and macOS hosting VST 3 plug-ins, with ARA 2 in Pro and Artist; VST 2 plug-ins can be loaded but are not officially supported | Desktop app for Windows and macOS, hosting VST, VST3 and CLAP on both platforms plus Audio Units on macOS |
| Licence and pricing model | Three editions, Pro, Artist and Elements, sold through resellers and the Steinberg Online Shop and activated with account-based Steinberg Licensing; upgrades, crossgrades and education versions are sold in the shop | One-time licence per edition at $99 (Fruity), $179 (Producer), $269 (Signature Bundle) and $449 (All Plugins), with lifetime free updates, pro-rated upgrades and rent-to-own over 12 payments |
| Also included | In Cubase Pro: 11 virtual instruments and libraries with over 3,000 sounds, 96 effects and over 20 GB of samples and loops, plus the Score Editor, Drum Machine, Pattern Sequencer and video import and export | Gopher AI assistant, Chord Generator and Loop Starter in every edition, 82 to 118 instruments and effects depending on edition, and optional FL Cloud with royalty-free sounds, cloud backups and release through DistroKid |
| API | No hosted API. The MIDI Remote API connects MIDI controllers to Cubase through scripts in ES5 JavaScript that define the surface layout and its mappings to the host; MIDI Remote is part of every edition | No hosted API. MIDI scripts written in Python add native support for MIDI controllers, call FL Studio functions for the playlist, channels, mixer, patterns, transport and plug-ins, and send data back to the controller |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | On-premise | On-premise |
| Support | Community forum | more entries Email helpdesk, Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials |
| Integrations | Not stated | DistroKid |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Cubase From $99.99 FL Studio $99
- Free trial Cubase Free 60-day trial of Cubase Pro 15 and Cubase Elements 15, no credit card needed FL Studio Free trial with no time limit
- Hosting Cubase Desktop app for Windows 10 (22H2 or later), Windows 11 (24H2 or later) and macOS 14, 15 and 26 FL Studio Desktop app for Windows 10 or later and macOS 10.15 or later
- Support Cubase Community forum FL Studio Email helpdesk, Community forum
- Output Cubase Composed, recorded, edited, mixed and mastered music and audio, including Dolby Atmos mixes in Cubase Pro FL Studio Produced and mixed music, exported as WAV, MP3, OGG, M4A, FLAC or MIDI
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Cubase
Strengths
- Unlimited audio, MIDI and instrument tracks in Pro and Artist
- SpectraLayers Go and WaveLab Go are included in Pro and Artist
- DAWproject shares sessions across all Cubase editions, Cubasis and other supported DAWs
- Score Editor and MusicXML exchange are part of every edition
Limitations
- Stem separation, Dolby Atmos authoring and the Loudness Meter are reserved for Cubase Pro
- Cubase Elements is capped at 48 audio and 24 instrument tracks
- VST 2 plug-ins are not officially supported
FL Studio
Strengths
- Lifetime free updates for every edition
- The free trial has no time limit
- Hosts VST, VST3 and CLAP on Windows and macOS, plus Audio Units on macOS
- Upgrades between editions are pro-rated
Limitations
- Fruity Edition cannot record audio and has no stem separation
- Splitting mixer tracks into stems exports WAV only
- AI mastering needs the separate FL Cloud subscription
Plans
Pricing
Cubase
- Cubase Pro $579.99 Full version of Cubase Pro 15. Unlimited tracks, stem separation, Dolby Atmos authoring and 96 effects.
- Cubase Artist $329.00 Full version of Cubase Artist 15. Unlimited tracks, 73 effects, SpectraLayers Go and WaveLab Go, without the Pro-only mixing and Atmos tools.
- Cubase Elements $99.99 Full version of Cubase Elements 15. Entry edition with 48 audio, 64 MIDI and 24 instrument tracks and 45 effects.
FL Studio
- Fruity Edition $99 One-time licence with lifetime free updates. 82 instruments and effects, no audio recording.
- Producer Edition $179 One-time licence with lifetime free updates. 93 instruments and effects, audio recording and stem separation.
- Signature Bundle $269 One-time licence with lifetime free updates. 103 instruments and effects, audio recording and stem separation.
- All Plugins Edition $449 One-time licence with lifetime free updates. 118 instruments and effects, audio recording and stem separation.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Cubase
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
FL Studio
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
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Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Cubase https://www.steinberg.net/cubase/ · checked against the official source on 2026-10-17
FL Studio https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio/ · checked against the official source on 2026-10-14
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.