Introduction

Audacity is an open-source, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux and other platforms, distributed by the Audacity project itself (Audacity). Typical uses are recording and editing audio, multi-track assembly, and exporting finished audio files. The project is in the middle of the Audacity 4 rewrite: a new UI and substantial refactoring live on master, while Audacity 3.x patches still go to the audacity3 branch (README).

Getting started

The project points new users to the Audacity manual's getting-started guide for installation and first-run instructions. For building from source, use the build instructions that match the branch you want:

• Audacity 3.x: branch off audacity3 and follow the 3.x build instructions.
• Audacity 4: follow the Audacity 4 build instructions.

Both builds are C++ and depend on the toolchain and libraries described in those files; this README does not reproduce the dependency list. Running builds is not described here beyond the BUILDING files, so read them before starting.

Working on the code

The master branch is explicitly described as not particularly friendly to new contributors at the moment because of the ongoing auditing and refactoring. Bug fixes aimed at stable behavior should branch from audacity3 instead (README).

Constraints

Audacity is licensed under GPLv3 overall, while most code files are GPLv2-or-later; /au3/lib-src third-party libraries and VST3-related code have different terms, and documentation is CC-by 3.0 unless noted (license details). Platform support and build requirements come from the BUILDING files rather than the README.

HotRepo's take

Audacity's 4.0 UI rewrite drew a large HN thread in September 2026, with 1163 points and 266 comments (Audacity 4.0 discussion); commenters noted the Qt6-based release video (comment) and one long-time 3.x user reported that the 4.0 beta looked cleaner and fixed some issues, including easier clip time-stretching, while remaining wary of optional audio.com integration (comment). On HotRepo, the project appeared in the C++ daily list on 2026-11-03 at position 3 with 21 stars gained that day. Those signals sit alongside a repository whose master branch is still mid-refactor, so contributors should choose their branch deliberately rather than treating master as the stable development target.