Ableton vs. FL Studio: A Comparison

Personal story here.

I started producing music back in the late 2000s, when FL Studio was still Fruity Loops. After a couple of years, I switched to Ableton which, at the time, seemed like a more versatile and powerful software.

Fast forward to 2019. I was at a music hackathon in London, and while working on a track, I glanced at my neighbor’s DAW. I was so impressed by the sleek design and UX of his workstation that I met him at the end of the event specifically to ask him about it.

When he told me he used FL Studio, I was shocked. In those nine years or so, the Image-Line DAW evolved from being a fun but basic beatmaker to a music production powerhouse!

Today, both Ableton and FL Studio offer producers of all levels everything they’ll ever need, from recording to mixing, sampling, and mastering tools, all with a smooth workflow and an engaging interface.

But which one should you go for? There’s no doubt these two DAWs are among the most beloved in the EDM world and beyond, so choosing the right one can have a huge impact on your creative output. And this is why today we'll analyze every aspect of these powerful DAWs.

Overview of Both DAWs

Ableton Live

Ableton Live has a clean interface that makes it an outstanding DAW for beginners and professionals alike. Its automation processes can streamline a producer’s workflow while leaving plenty of room for creativity.

While Ableton has evolved over the years, its main interface hasn’t really changed, which shows how good a DAW it has been since it first came out in 2001. It comes with versatile MIDI and audio editors that make recording, mixing and sampling a walk in the park.

The DAW also offers an exceptional range of high-quality effects and a sound library that leaves nothing to be desired. Its seamless live performance capabilities are what made it a favorite among performers, and even though other DAWs are catching up, Ableton Live is still the best DAW for on-stage applications.

FL Studio

Originally a DAW mostly used for EDM and sampling-heavy productions, FL Studio now features a traditional timeline-based workflow with multiple mixer channels, which gives a holistic control of sound and effects.

Its highly customizable interface lets you tailor your workspace in ways very few other DAWs can. Thanks to this unique freedom in arranging your layout, you can control and manipulate multiple plugins and instruments in real time and customize your view to your needs.

FL Studio comes with a plethora plugins and post-production effects; regardless of your needs, whether it’s EQing a synth melody or boosting a kick, you'll be spoiled for choice here.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Interface and Learning Curve

Ableton has a dual-view system: Session View for live performances and Arrangement View for track structuring. The streamlined interface, quick navigation, and “freeze” function for CPU optimization make it a friendly and accessible DAW for musicians of all levels.

FL Studio comes with a Playlist view and (probably) the advanced piano roll for MIDI editing. Here, building a basic melody with beats is as simple as it can be: both the piano roll and step sequencer make drum programming and melody creation extremely intuitive, so if you use MIDI a lot, you’ll most likely love FL Studio.

Plugins and Libraries

Ableton comes in three versions: Intro, Standard, and Suite, and the number of instruments and effects changes dramatically depending on which version you get.

The Intro version includes about 1,500 sounds (5GB), while the Suite version comes with over 5,000 sounds (70GB) and instruments like Sampler and Simpler. Sampler is a multisampling instrument that offers complete control over individual samples, while Simpler is a more user-friendly sampling instrument for quick sample manipulation.

FL Studio offers four different versions. The most budget-friendly option is the Fruity Edition, with essential features like the piano roll, playlist, and automation, but it doesn’t allow audio recording.

The Producer Edition offers everything that’s in the Fruity Edition and adds the capability to record both internal and external audio. The Signature Edition takes everything from the Producer Edition and adds even more powerful plugins. Finally, the All Plugins Edition provides everything Image-Line has developed up to your purchase time (which is a lot).

Obviously, both DAWs support third-party plugins.

Speed and CPU Usage

Let me start by saying that both DAWs are quite resource-efficient.

In this regard, one of Ableton’s most interesting features is the ability to "freeze" tracks, which means you can bounce the audio in a track, which helps free up the CPU. Ableton Live is built for live shows, so as long as you don’t load it up with dozens of third-party plugins, it’s a solid and CPU-efficient DAW.

FL Studio has improved a lot when it comes to handling CPU usage. The fancy vector interface looks great and doesn’t put too much strain on graphics cards; plus, the abundance of built-in plugins will reduce the need for third-party VSTs in the long run.

It all comes down to taste, but if you’re tight on CPU, and don’t need your DAW to perform live, FL Studio might be a better choice.

Working with MIDI

On Ableton, you can easily edit your MIDI tracks and use a special feature called MIDI Capture, which can be very helpful if you came up with a great idea but forgot to hit the record button.

Other great features are the “Chance Tools” like Note Chance and Velocity Chance, which allow you to change notes and the strength of the notes played. The user-friendly audio and MIDI editor lets you change and fine-tune your music without any fuss.

You probably know that one of the standout features of FL Studio is the piano roll.

FL Studio has a straightforward layout with a playlist and a piano roll. The playlist acts as your timeline, where you can arrange patterns and automate your tracks, while the piano roll is the DAW’s powerful MIDI editor with lots of tools for creating and editing melodies and chords. When combined, these two tools open up plenty of creative possibilities to draw out your musical ideas, and you can even use the piano roll to edit automation data.

Recording & Post-Production

Working with audio in Ableton Live is a smooth experience, regardless of the genre you work in.

Starting to record a track is as intuitive as it can be. The comping feature allows you to record multiple takes of audio and MIDI; these takes are then saved together, which makes it easy to choose the best parts and create a polished track.

Next comes audio warping, which on Ableton Live is top-notch. When you stretch an audio file, the warp mode will make it sound clear and natural, which is why so many producers who rely on samples use this DAW. The warp markers let you adjust your audio with absolute precision, and you can easily slice it for use in instruments like Sampler or Drum Rack.

However, I’ve had mixed experiences when using Ableton for post-production. The built-in plugins work well and can help you create great results, but I feel other DAWs are better designed for multitasking processes.

Conversely, working with audio in FL Studio can be more challenging at times. For example, recording multiple tracks simultaneously can be tricky. However, FL Studio 20 has improved this process by allowing direct recording into the playlist, which saves time and makes the process more intuitive.

You can edit your audio right in the playlist or use plugins like Edison or Newtime for time manipulation. If you enjoy sampling, the Fruity Slicer makes it easy to slice audio clips.

Mixing in FL Studio is incredibly intuitive. It’s easy to assign tracks to a mixer channel and choose from a wide range of effects to shape your sound. You can also group tracks by assigning them to the same channel, so you can work on complex mixes without losing your mind!

Pricing

Prices fluctuate and change depending on your location, but here are the prices in the US at the time of writing:

• Ableton Live: Intro ($99), Standard ($449), Suite ($749)
• FL Studio: Fruity ($99), Producer ($199), Signature ($299), All Plugins Edition ($499) FL Studio offers lifetime free updates, making it cost-effective in the long run.

However, bear in mind that FL Studio offers free lifetime updates, which is extremely rare. Updating a professional DAW can cost anything between $150 and $250, meaning that, in the long run, FL Studio offers a great deal to anyone serious about their music production career.

Bottom Line

Far from me to tell you which one is better, I’ll conclude this article with a chart to summarise each DAW’s strong and weak points. I’ll leave it to you to decide which one can help you skyrocket your career. Have fun!