Garageband comes for free for Mac users. It is preloaded when you buy your Mac and there’s no need to install anything. It is also  available and sold in the market in iLife bundle at $79.00, add-on Jam packs for $99 each and the basic package at affordable price of under $100.00. But sadly, Garageband can’t be used on Windows. Good thing is, there are readily available alternatives that we can choose from which prices also ranges at the same price that Garageband is.

Audacity – It is totally free and available in all kinds of OS- Windows, Mac and Linux. You can make multi-track recording, however, you must dub over one track with another. Unlike Garageband, you can’t do multi-track editing. It is recommended for beginners because with this you can see if it will best suit your needs before you invest into a more expensive software. if you want to go serious in this business then that’s the time you acquire one of the muti-track recording software listed below.

Mixcraft Acoustica –  With the full features almost similar with Garageband,Mixcraft is available in the market under $100. It is packed with multi-track recorder, full midi support, vitual software instruments and built-in special effects and professionally recorded loops. Definitely, a great alternative at a very affordable price.

FL Studio – They claim that they are the most complex virtual studio available now in the market at $100 and less mark. It comes I two versions- Express and Fruity. They have modules that can be added to FL studio, similar to the Jam packs of Garageband. Also at par with Logic and Ableton, they have more expensive packages available. However, this is only available for windows users only.

Ableton Live Intro –  Available for Mac and any other PC, this lesser version of Ableton is ideal for audio recording and for playing live. Full version can be availed when you wish to expand into a full suite version of Ableton or Ableton Live, thus turning your experience into a very powerful virtual audio solution.

Sony Acid Music Studio –  These are among the first to offer Digital audio workstations (DAW) with multi-track recording, full midi support and loop making options at a very low price and very easy to use interface. Users refer this as the closest thing to Garageband.