openDAW is a next-generation web-based Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) designed to democratize music production and to resurface the process of making music by making high-quality creation tools accessible to everyone, with a strong focus on education and hands-on learning.
For more information about our mission and goals, please join our Discord, visit our official website and test our current prototype. Please consider supporting this project on Patreon or ko-fi.
- Offline Version: A downloadable version that you own.
- Educational Resources: Access tutorials and guides to enhance your music production skills.
- Best Data-Protection: Store your data locally, on your server or a service you trust.
- Modular Systems: Create and share your own devices and tools to extend the built-in feature-set.
- Collaborative Tools: Work seamlessly with others in real-time.
openDAW stands for radical simplicity and respect.
- No SignUp
- No Tracking
- No Cookie Banners
- No User Profiling
- No Terms & Conditions
- No Ads
- No Paywalls
- No Data Mining
Just a free, open-source DAW in your browser.
- Discuss openDAW on Discord
- Support openDAW on Patreon
- Support openDAW on ko-fi
- More information on opendaw.org (website)
- Test the latest official built on opendaw.studio (prototype)
- We deliberately pass on UI frameworks like React to maintain full control over rendering and behavior. This avoids unnecessary abstractions, reduces overhead and lets us tailor the interface precisely to the needs of a real-time audio environment. openDAW uses JSX.
- openDAW is environment-agnostic - The codebase must run either as a self-contained desktop application or from any standard web server; cloud features are optional and only activate when the user asked for it and supplies their own credentials.
- Nothing about the surrounding platform can be taken for granted. Every component is built to be maximally independent and lazy-loaded only when first needed, keeping the studio launch time under one second.
- Do not panic!
- Write code for the task, not for eternity.
- Always write self-documenting code if possible.
- Methods that contain only trivial getters or setters are kept on a single line to minimize scrolling through low-signal code.
- Crucial functionality is implemented at a lower level with well-tested classes, while the UI layer is primarily scripted.
- Excessive abstraction can harm both readability and scalability, so layers are added only when they clearly pay for themselves.
- Rule of thumb: when a method requires more than three parameters, bundle them into a dedicated argument object.
- Offline desktop build (e.g., via Tauri) or a standalone installable PWA — offer offline capability.
- Cloud-agnostic project storage — a facade layer that lets users plug in different cloud services (e.g., Drive, S3, Dropbox) for projects and sample libraries.
- Live remote collaboration — real-time session sharing and sync so multiple users can edit the same project concurrently.
- AI manual assistant — an embedded agent that answers context-aware questions and guides users through features as they work.
- AI-powered stem splitting — integrated source-separation to extract vocals, drums and other stems directly inside the DAW.
- Import and Export - Contribute every possible file format IO
openDAW tries to avoid external libraries and frameworks. Following is a list of the internal core libraries and their dependencies.
| Library | Dependencies |
|---|---|
| std | none |
| dsp | std |
| dom | std |
| jsx | std, dom |
| runtime | std |
| box | std, dom, runtime |
| box-forge | std, dom, box |
| fusion | std, dom, box, runtime (all peered) |
This is a list of the external libraries we currently use in the web studio:
- jszip (for openDAW project bundle file)
- markdown-it + markdown-it-table (for help pages)
Before starting, ensure you have the following installed on your system:
- Git is required for cloning the repository and managing submodules.
- mkcert is required to create a certificate for developing with https protocol.
- Node.js version >= 23. This is necessary for running the development server and installing dependencies.
- Sass While Sass is handled internally during the development process, you will need to ensure you have the binaries available in your environment if used outside the build system.
- TypeScript
- OpenSSL For generating local development certificates (), OpenSSL needs to be installed on your system. Most Linux/macOS systems have OpenSSL pre-installed.
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/andremichelle/opendaw-studio.git && cd opendaw-studio
npm run cert
npm run build
npm run web – open the printed URL https://localhost:8080
openDAW is available under two alternative license terms:
| Option | When to choose it | Obligations |
|---|---|---|
| A. GPL v3 (or later) | You are happy for the entire work that includes openDAW to be released under GPL-compatible open-source terms. | – Must distribute complete corresponding source code under GPL. – Must keep copyright & licence notices. – May run openDAW privately in any software, open or closed (§0). |
| B. Commercial Licence | You wish to incorporate openDAW into closed-source or otherwise licence-incompatible software. | – Pay the agreed fee. – No copyleft requirement for your own source code. – Other terms as per the signed agreement. |
How to obtain the Commercial License
andre.michelle@opendaw.orgwith your company name, product description and expected distribution volume.
If you redistribute openDAW or a derivative work without a commercial license, the GPL v3 terms apply automatically.
GPL v3 © 2025 André Michelle