GarageBand is the pioneer of music making apps for the masses, and it remains unrivaled until today. Unfortunately, GarageBand mobile is (and will be) available exclusively for iPhone and iPad users. But worry not if you are an Android phone user, as we have you covered. If you are a modern-day musician who chooses to stay out of the Apple ecosystem, here are the 11 best music-making GarageBand alternatives for Android you can try.
Best GarageBand Alternatives for Android (Updated July 2022)
1. FL Studio Mobile
Built with Windows machines in mind, Image-Line offers a mobile version of its digital audio workstation FL Studio for Android. FL Studio Mobile is a multi-track recording studio and comes with multiple high-quality instruments, drum kits, and sliced-loop beats, each with configurable settings. There are also tons of effects such as Limiter, Reverb, Delay, EQ, Amp, and Mix to play around with in this app. You also get 99 track sequencers with intuitive editing options.
The sessions come with multiple undo and redo for all editable screens. And the app allows you to import and export midi files and share your songs via email or any supported cloud storage services. FL Studio Mobile offers us a high-quality, battery-friendly audio engine that efficiently draws your device’s battery juice. However, the music latency will depend on your device’s processing power.
Apps like FL Studio dominate the desktop scene and the mobile version is equally competent, as per our brief testing. It is frankly one of the best GarageBand alternatives you can download on Android.
Price: $14.99
Download FL Studio Mobile (Play Store)
2. Caustic 3
Inspired by rack-mount synthesizers and samplers rigs, Caustic is a solid Garageband alternative for Android. There are up to 14 machines, including Subsynth, PCMSynth, Bassline, and Beatbox, to choose from. You slide between machines by sliding the sidebar up and down or can pick one to play with by opening the machine pad.
Each machine comes with a virtual keyboard to create the tones of effects, parametric equalizers, and sequencers to modify the songs. The app is a heaven for electronic musicians, but traditional musicians may find the interface a bit overwhelming. The ability to save and export files is disabled in the otherwise fully-functional free demo. You can purchase a separate unlock key to access the full version of the app.
Price: Free, in-app purchases
Download Caustic 3 (Play Store)
3. Music Maker Jam
Ideal for budding music creators, DJs, and producers, Music Maker Jam is an Android app that lets you create music by combining loops – short musical chunks – that you can play over and over. There are over 300 music styles and an 8-channel mixer that will give you plenty of room to channel your creativity.
The app also allows you to record external voice, so you can use the feature to record your singing, rapping, or other kinds of sounds to add them to your song. After you have finished recording your song, you can share the track with the world via the sharing feature. You can also discover new music in the Music Maker community from other users.
Price: Free, in-app purchases
Download Music Maker JAM (Play Store)
4. n-Track Studio DAW
n-Track Studio DAW promises to turn your Android device into a complete recording studio. The app lets users record and playback both audio and MIDI tracks. It also allows users to mix those tracks and apply audio effects to enhance the quality of the overall recording.
The app supports both mono and stereo recording with support for an unlimited number of tracks (limited to 11 tracks in the free version). It also features a built-in MIDI synth featuring 128 General MIDI instrument sounds, along with a piano roll MIDI editor, step sequencer, spectrum analyzer, and more.
When it comes to effects, musicians can use a number of supported effects, including reverb, echo, chorus, flanger, tremolo, Pitch Shift, and phaser, among others. n-Track Studio also supports a 64-bit double precision floating point audio engine, a feature that’s not found on many Android DAW apps. Overall, this is one of the most feature-rich GarageBand alternatives that one can find on Android.
Price: Free, in-app purchases
Download n-Track Studio DAW (Play Store)
5. Walk Band
Walk Band is considered one of the best GarageBand alternatives for the Android ecosystem. It’s feature-packed and brings almost all the popular GarageBand features like synthesizers, musical instruments, studio-quality recording, and more. In fact, you can choose up to 50 musical instruments within the app.
Walk Band has also been awarded as Editor’s Choice on the Google Play Store. Talking about instruments, you have access to a piano, keyboard, drum pad, and guitar that works in both solo and chords mode. In addition, what makes this app a complete alternative to GarageBand is the fact that you can connect USB MIDI peripheral keyboard to your smartphone, and Walk Band will detect it.
Having said all of that, you can also record your voice and then mix it with a synthesizer, edit the track, and so on. Basically, you are sorted on almost all the fronts with Walk Band.
Price: Free, in-app purchases
Download Walk Band (Play Store)
6. BandLab
BandLab is a promising new app in the Android ecosystem for creating music from scratch. I would say it’s almost there with GarageBand in terms of music editing and launchpad. BandLab allows you to record, edit, and create multi-track music using various kinds of creative effects like beats, vocals, loops, and most importantly hundreds of sound packs. If you loved sound packs from GarageBand, let me tell you BandLab has a similar library, and it does not cost a dime.
As for the kind of music you can create, well, if you have a strong liking for EDM, dubstep, house, rock, hip-hop, and such genres, BandLab can be a trailblazer in your musical journey.
On top of that, BandLab also runs a social network for musicians where you can publish your tracks, connect with other fellow beatmakers, and create something new for your audience. To put it straight, BandLab is ambitious in its prospect, and you should definitely give it a try if you are searching for a Garageband alternative on Android.
Price: Free
Download BandLab (Play Store)
7. Song Maker
Song Maker is more about creating tracks using pre-recorded music, beats, and rhythms rather than plugging in your guitar and keyboard to develop music. So in some ways, it’s like GarageBand because a big part of Apple’s music studio app is about creating and editing music using modern tools. Similarly, on Song Maker, you can compose music by mixing various kinds of sounds, rhythms, tunes, and beats.
Of course, you can also record your voice and add the track to the music. As for the library of music, it has Bass, Hip Hop, Metal, Drums, and DJ beats. You also get a live music editor tool for sounds and loops. To conclude, if you are someone who likes EDM, pop music, and Hip Hop, I would recommend Song Maker without hesitation.
Price: Free, in-app purchases
Download Song Maker (Play Store)
8. uFXloops Music Studio
uFXloops Music Studio is a versatile music studio app that is great for users who are more into the genres of hip-hop, trance, electro, and techno. The app brings various features such as a free loop sequencer, sampler, beat maker, mixer, soundboards, and more.
While the app is nowhere near as powerful as GarageBand, it is good at producing music for genres that it is targeting. The app comes with more than 200 sample projects and 300 instruments to get anyone started. Once you are ready, record your own songs with your drum beats or synthesizer, or any other instrument that you want to use.
It also brings support for audio effects, including chorus, flanger, distorter, bitcrusher, and more. If you have already recorded your music and want to apply final touches, you can directly import the project into the android app and work on it. Almost all the major audio formats including WAV, OGG, AIF, and MP3 are supported in both mono and stereo. There’s also a great community around the app, which is very helpful for newcomers. I quite enjoyed using this app, and you should definitely check it out if you are looking for a Garageband alternative on Android.
Price: Free, in-app purchases
Download uFXloops Music Studio (Play Store)
9. Audio Evolution Mobile Studio
Audio Evolution is a complete digital audio workstation – another multi-track recording studio with a similar approach to Walk Band, but designed for more advanced users – serving as a powerful alternative to Garageband on Android. You can record external audio such as your singing or live musical instrument playing using your device’s microphone or additional external microphones for a better result. In addition to the built-in piano roll, you can use an external MIDI keyboard to record your song.
Audio Evolution also comes with a MIDI sequencer, import audio and MIDI, the ability to use samples and loops, and unlimited undo and redo, to name just a few. And you can export the song as high-quality audio or the compressed web-friendly version. As the name suggests, this app relies heavily on loops in music creation. There are tons of loops available that you can mix using a multi-track mixer.
Price: $9.99
Download Audio Evolution Mobile Studio (Play Store)
10. J4T Multitrack Recorder
If you are looking for a simple music-making application, J4T Multitrack Recorder might fit your bill. This app is a simple 4-track recorder that’s built with songwriters in mind. It’s designed to record song ideas, demos, and even sound sketches quickly and easily, anywhere and anytime those muses decide to pay a visit.
With this app, you can do jam sessions accompanied by previously recorded loops. There are many effects you can apply to your tracks such as Fuzz, Chorus, Delay, Equalizer, Reverb, and Phaser. You can also share your creation using SoundCloud, Google Drive, Gmail, Dropbox, and other supported platforms. Four tracks may seem limited compared to other apps that come with tons of tracks, but this limitation can sometime bring out the creative side in you.
Price: $3.49
Download J4T Multitrack Recorder (Play Store)
11. Drum Pad Machine
Drum Pad Machine is our final app in this list of best GarageBand alternatives on Android. As the name suggests, it’s about creating beats and mixing them with your own music or vocals. With the machine soundboard, you can create music from your imagination or learn new beats from the tracks available in the app.
So basically, it’s not a full replacement for GarageBand, but you can learn how to deal with beats, melodies, and mixing at a basic level. The app also has libraries of chords, sound effects, piano, and guitar so that you can mix your beat with appropriate chords. Furthermore, Drum Pad Machine allows you to produce mixtapes, record sounds, compose tracks, and a lot more. So if you are interested in beatboxing and its related genres like hip-hop and Dubstep, I would highly recommend Drum Pad Machine on Android.
Price: Free, in-app purchases
Download Drum Pad Machine (Play Store)
Record Your Next Track with GarageBand Alternatives for Android
There are many Android audio recording and music creation tools, but only a few of them are worth trying out. If your favorite GarageBand alternative apps are not mentioned here, do share them with us in the comment section below, and we will check them out. Also, if you are looking for free music samples to start your project, feel free to check out the best websites to download free creative commons music.
Abubakar Mohammed
