An Audacity alternative that keeps the recording on your computer
Audacity is the free audio editor most people try first. OBSCURA Sound is a multitrack editor in a browser tab, for podcasts, voice-overs and music, with the recording kept on your own computer. What each does, and when Audacity is the better choice. Audacity’s own site could not be reached from here on 7 October 2026, so this page says only what is widely documented about it and gives nothing it could not check.
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If you want an editor that costs nothing, loads VST and Audio Unit plug-ins, or runs on a computer without a current browser, use Audacity: it is free, open source and mature, and Sound is none of those things. If you want a podcast edited, cleaned up and brought to the loudness a platform expects, 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 Audacity is
Audacity is a free, open-source audio editor and recorder for Windows, macOS and Linux, developed by a team of volunteers and, since 2021, by Muse Group. It records, cuts and mixes several tracks, has a long list of built-in effects including noise reduction, and loads plug-ins in the common formats. It has been in use for more than twenty years, and there is a great deal written about how to use it.
Side by side
| Audacity | OBSCURA Sound | |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | Free | 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 |
| Licence | Open source | Closed source; the code runs on your computer |
| Runs on | Windows, macOS and Linux, installed | A current browser on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS, with nothing to install |
| Tracks | Multitrack | Multitrack, with gain, pan, mute and solo, fades and crossfades |
| Mixer | A mixer board of faders | Strips with inserts, sends before or after the fader, buses, VCAs and peak-holding meters |
| Takes | Punch and roll recording | Punch-in with pre-roll, a take for each pass round a loop, and comping across take lanes |
| Spectral editing | A box on the spectrogram, turned down | A box or a lasso on the spectrogram, healed from the sound either side, turned down or removed |
| Plug-ins | VST, LV2, Audio Unit and others | Its own, as JavaScript files run with no network; not VST or Audio Unit |
| 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 |
| Keys | Its own, changeable | Its own or Audacity’s, each changeable |
| Loudness for a podcast | Loudness normalisation is an effect | Integrated loudness, range and true peak to ITU-R BS.1770-4, and the mix set to −16 LUFS on export |
| Chapters | Labels, exported as a list | Markers become chapters inside WAV, FLAC, Ogg and M4A, and a Podcasting 2.0 chapters file |
| Where the recording is kept | Where you save the project | In the browser on your computer, and nowhere else |
What Audacity has that Sound does not
- It is free. For somebody who edits a recording once in a while, that settles it.
- VST and Audio Unit plug-ins. A browser cannot load them. Sound’s own plug-ins are JavaScript files.
- Macros and Nyquist. Audacity runs a list of commands as a macro and loads effects written in its Nyquist language. Sound’s batch runs a fixed set of steps on many files.
- Twenty years of answers. Almost any Audacity question has been asked and answered somewhere.
What Sound adds
- Nothing to install. It opens in a browser tab on any computer with a current browser, and works offline once opened.
- Loudness done for you. The mix is measured to ITU-R BS.1770-4 and EBU R128 and brought to −16 LUFS for a podcast or −14 for streaming, with a limiter holding the true peak under a ceiling.
- Chapters in the file. Markers are written as ID3 chapters in an MP3, cue points in a WAV, chapter comments in FLAC and Ogg Opus and a chapter list in M4A, and as timestamps in the show notes.
- An interview cleaned up in one step. Each speaker’s track trimmed to where they speak, the gaps filled with the room’s own tone, each speaker levelled, and the pauses where nobody speaks shortened on every track at once.
- Takes and comping. Punch in over a stretch, record a take each time round a loop, and pick the best of each by sweeping across them.
- Nothing leaves the computer. No account, no cloud project, and no AI: the noise reduction and the levelling are arithmetic done on your machine.
- One subscription for several jobs. Pro also covers OBSCURA Write, OBSCURA Vector 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. Audacity is free. Paying for Sound makes sense only if what it does differently is worth that to you.
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 Audacity alternative that keeps the recording on your computer
Is there an Audacity alternative that runs in a browser?
OBSCURA Sound is a multitrack audio editor in a browser tab, with recording, noise reduction, EQ, a compressor and a limiter, and loudness set for a podcast on export. The recording stays on your computer.
Is Sound free like Audacity?
No. Sound is US$2 a month or US$19 a year on its own, or part of OBSCURA Pro at US$5 a month or US$48 a year, with 7 days free. Audacity is free and open source.
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.
Does Sound load VST plug-ins?
No. Its effects are built in, and plug-ins cannot be loaded in a browser tab.
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