Whether you’re producing a podcast or mixing a soundtrack for a movie, you need the best audio editor for the job. And Adobe Audition is our pick for the best audio editor overall for professional audio engineers and casual audio editors.
It’s a very powerful audio editing application available for free for seven days, as a standalone app, or as part of an Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps subscription plan.
Adobe offers many ways to access and pay for its apps, so it’s not always easy to decide which option is the most cost-effective. We’re looking at how to download Adobe Audition for free on a trial, the different subscriptions and discounts available, how to get started, and Adobe Audition alternatives to consider.
Can I download Adobe Audition for free?
Seven day free trial (Opens in a new tab) of the test is available. To access this, go to the Adobe Audition home page on the Adobe website and just hit Free trial in the top menu. You can then download the app or choose to try out the entire Creative Cloud suite.
When you sign up for the trial, Adobe will ask for your payment details. You cannot access the trial without providing these, at the end of which the paid subscription will start automatically. You can cancel a subscription at any time during the trial period, but be sure to do so if you don’t want to commit to a subscription, or you could end up paying a hefty cancellation fee.
Use the trial period to try out all of Audition’s features and decide if it’s the right audio editing software for you. Once the seven days are up, you can no longer use Audition for free, and you’ll need a paid subscription to continue.
How do I purchase Adobe Audition?
Clicking Buy Now on the Audition webpage will take you to pricing options. There are several options available, and they’re all subscription-based — there’s no way to purchase the entire program for a one-time fee.
You can choose to subscribe to Audition on its own or as part of the Creative Cloud All Apps package (Opens in a new tab). This includes more than 20 creative apps, including big ones like Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and After Effects. The path also adds extras like access to the extensive Adobe Stock library and 100GB of cloud storage for your media.
A full Creative Cloud subscription will likely be cheaper if you’ll be using three or more of the included apps. If you work across mediums like video editing software and photo editors along with Audition, the plan offers good value for money.
How much is Adobe Audition?
Adobe bills Audition in three ways – monthly, billed monthly, and annual prepaid. Subscribing to the annual monthly bill keeps you in contract; You will need to pay an exit fee to get out early.
Adobe Audition subscription pricing
Monthly: $31.49 / £30.34 / $45.99
Annually billed per month: $20.99 / £19.97 / $29.99
Annual advance: $239.88 / £238.42 / AU$343.07
Pricing for Adobe Audition + Creative Cloud All Apps
Monthly: $79.49 / £75.85 / AU$114.99
Annually billed per month: $52.99 / £49.94 / AU$76.99
Annual advance: $599.88 / £596.33 / AU$871.07
Note: While these prices are correct at the time of writing, prices outside the US fluctuate regularly with exchange rates. All subscriptions can be canceled with a full refund within the first 14 days.
Adobe Audition discounts for educators and students
Adobe offers a discount system for students and educators, able to run the entire suite of Creative Cloud software on many of their students’ laptops. It is only on annual subscriptions prepaid monthly or annually.
Prices for students and teachers
Annually billed per month: $19.99 / £16.24 / AU$21.99 per month for the first year, $29.99 / £25.28 / AU$43.99 per month thereafter.
Annual advance: $239.88 / £238.42 / AU$343.07
As with the usual plans, you’ll need to commit to one year at a time. You can prepay for an entire year, but it won’t be cheaper. Adobe requires proof of eligibility; Using a school-issued email address with your account is the easiest way.
How do I get started in Audition?
Since Adobe Audition is an in-depth application packed with many features, it may seem complicated to newcomers.
Adobe has a selection of Test lessons (Opens in a new tab) With written guides and videos. They’re split into two sections for beginners and experienced, so you can learn the ropes first, and then move on to the more complex stuff.
What is Adobe Audition?
Adobe Audition is described by its developers as a comprehensive audio workstation. It enables you to edit, mix, record and restore audio. It integrates with Premiere Pro to simplify the process of mixing audio tracks to line up with a video editing project, and can also be used to clean up audio files, mix music, record podcasts, and more. It’s industry standard software, used by many professionals, but it’s also a useful tool for non-professionals looking to learn audio editing or work on amateur projects.
Adobe Audition: Android and iOS apps
Audition is a desktop-only app, and there is no Adobe equivalent for mobile devices. However, there are some good Android alternatives and iOS apps for creating music.
The excellent WavePad, from NCH, is cross-platform. Works on Windows, Mac, iPad, iOS, Android and Kindle. Apple GarageBand for Apple is only available on mobile devices
These allow you to edit audio files on the go. However, if you want granular control over your projects, you’ll be better off with a desktop application, such as Audition or its alternatives.
test alternatives
If Audition isn’t the best desktop audio editor for you, alternatives are available.
Designed for professionals, Apple Logic Pro delivers broadcast-level productions. Apple GarageBand is ideal for smaller productions.
Audacity is the best free audio editor you can get. Open source, accessible, powerful, there’s a lot to love.
CyberLink AudioDirector is a powerful all-in-one software when it comes to audio editing for beginners, intermediates, and experts.