An Adobe Audition alternative for podcasts, in your browser
Adobe Audition is the audio editor in Adobe’s Creative Cloud. OBSCURA Sound is a multitrack editor in a browser tab, made for podcasts, voice-overs and music, with the recording kept on your own computer. What each does, and when to stay with Audition. Adobe’s site could not be reached from here on 7 October 2026, so this page gives no Adobe prices and says only what is widely documented.
Written · Updated
If your work needs VST plug-ins, surround mixing, restoration of echo and traffic, or a round trip with Premiere Pro, stay with Audition: Sound has none of those. If you record and edit a podcast or a voice-over and want it cleaned up, levelled to −16 LUFS and exported with chapters, in a browser tab with nothing to install and the recording kept on your computer, Sound does that as part of OBSCURA Pro.
What Audition is
Adobe Audition is a professional audio workstation for Windows and macOS, sold by subscription as part of Creative Cloud. It has a waveform editor and a multitrack editor, spectral frequency editing, noise reduction and restoration, an Essential Sound panel for dialogue, loudness tools, plug-in support and close links with Premiere Pro. It is used in broadcast, film and podcast production.
Side by side
| Adobe Audition | OBSCURA Sound | |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | A Creative Cloud subscription, priced on Adobe’s site | US$2 a month or US$19 a year on its own, or US$5 a month or US$48 a year in OBSCURA Pro, with every other OBSCURA application |
| Runs on | Windows and macOS, installed | A current browser on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS, with nothing to install |
| Account | An Adobe account | None; a Pro key kept in the browser |
| Spectral editing | Yes | A box or a lasso on the spectrogram, healed from the sound either side, turned down or removed |
| Mixer | Yes, with buses and sends | Strips with inserts, sends before or after the fader, buses, VCAs and peak-holding meters; stereo only |
| Takes | Punch-in and take lanes | Punch-in with pre-roll, a take for each pass round a loop, and comping across take lanes |
| Plug-ins | VST and Audio Unit | Its own, as JavaScript files run with no network; not VST or Audio Unit |
| Automation | Yes | Volume and pan on each track |
| Loudness | Yes | Measured to ITU-R BS.1770-4 and EBU R128, and set to −16 or −14 LUFS on export |
| MP3 export | Yes | Yes, made on the device by LAME, with the markers as ID3 chapters; WAV and FLAC too, and Opus or AAC where the browser can make them |
| Where the recording is kept | Where you save the session | In the browser on your computer, and nowhere else |
What Audition has that Sound does not
- Restoration that rebuilds. Sound’s Heal fills a selection from the sound either side of it, which takes out a click or a cough; it does not remove traffic, other voices under a voice or a room’s echo, as Audition’s DeReverb and Sound Remover set out to.
- Surround. Sound mixes in stereo.
- VST and Audio Unit plug-ins. A browser cannot load them. Sound’s own plug-ins are JavaScript files.
- Premiere Pro and video. Audition sends sessions to and from Adobe’s video editor and plays the picture beside the sound.
What Sound adds
- Nothing to install and no account. It opens in a browser tab, on Linux and ChromeOS too, and works offline once opened.
- The podcast steps in order. Record, cut, clean up with a noise profile from the room, trim each speaker to where they speak and fill the gaps with room tone, level each one, and export at the loudness of each platform with chapters, each as one step.
- Nothing leaves the computer. No cloud, and no AI: the processing is arithmetic done on your machine.
- One subscription for several jobs. Pro also covers the Photo Editor, OBSCURA Vector, PDF Studio and the other paid applications.
What it costs
Sound on its own is US$2 a month or US$19 a year; all of OBSCURA Pro is US$5 a month or US$48 a year. Each comes with 7 days free first. Audition’s price is on Adobe’s own site; it is not given here because it could not be checked.
See it before you pay. Sound’s page shows it at work, lists the files it opens and saves, and says what it cannot do yet.
Questions people ask about An Adobe Audition alternative for podcasts, in your browser
Is there an Adobe Audition alternative that runs in a browser?
OBSCURA Sound is a multitrack audio editor in a browser tab, for podcasts, voice-overs and music, with noise reduction, EQ, dynamics and loudness set on export. The recording stays on your computer.
Does Sound have spectral editing like Audition?
Yes, for the common jobs: draw a box or a lasso on the spectrogram and heal it from the sound either side, turn it down or remove it. It does not take out a room's echo or a voice under another.
What does Sound cost?
Sound on its own is US$2 a month or US$19 a year, and all of OBSCURA Pro is US$5 a month or US$48 a year, each with 7 days free first; Pro covers every OBSCURA application.
Can Sound export MP3?
Yes. Sound makes MP3 on your computer with the LAME encoder, at 32 to 320 kbit/s, with the markers as ID3 chapters, and WAV, FLAC, Opus and AAC as well.
- An Adobe Illustrator alternative that runs in your browserOBSCURA Vector draws with the pen, shapes, type and pathfinder in a browser tab, with SVG and PDF out and nothing uploaded.
- A Photoshop alternative in the browserLayers you can mask, adjustment layers you can reopen, selections by hand and by colour, editable text, and a project file that keeps all of it.
- An AutoCAD LT alternative for 2D drawings in the browser2D drafting in the browser with AutoCAD's commands, ISO fits, GD&T, hatching, blocks, DXF and PDF to scale: how Foundry compares with AutoCAD LT, and when LT is the better choice.
- An Affinity Designer alternative that runs in your browserOBSCURA Vector draws in a browser tab with nothing to install and no account. Affinity is free; this says honestly when to use it instead, and when Vector fits.
- A Photopea alternative with no advertsBoth editors work on your own device. Where OBSCURA Photo Editor differs (no adverts, camera raw, CMYK proofing, part of Pro), and when there is no reason to switch.
A letter, now and then
An occasional letter when there is something worth reading: the new guides and what changed in the tools. Never more than once a month and nothing else, and you can leave at any time on the unsubscribe page.