Beatmaker 3 vs MilkyTracker

Beatmaker 3 is a virtual drum machine for building beats from ready-made kits, rhythmic phrases, and built-in effects. It brings the Beatmaker titles a user owns into one plugin with unified controls. Its browser can search by mood, genre, or BPM and preview kits and loops from titles the user does not own. Each title includes 10 genre-specific drum kits and rhythmic phrases that can be triggered in real time. The mixer offers per-track volume, pan, filter, ambience, saturation, and individual output routing. MIDI can be dragged into a DAW for editing or layering with other instruments. Beatmaker 3 supports 64-bit VST 2, VST 3, AU 2, and AAX; AU 2 requires Logic Pro X or newer, and AAX does not have native Apple Silicon support. It is listed for iOS, macOS, and Windows, with Windows 10–11 and macOS Big Sur 11 through macOS Tahoe 26 listed as requirements. Individual titles cost $49 as a one-time purchase, while the 17-instrument bundle costs $99.50, paid once. A free 7-day trial is available; there is no free plan.

MilkyTracker is a free, open source music application for creating .MOD and .XM module files. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and additional platforms, with source builds also supported. Its tracker workflow aims to recreate Fasttracker II’s module playback and user experience, and .MOD files have ProTracker 2/3 playback modes. The editor supports up to 128 channels and allows simultaneous playback and editing; live mode enables pattern changes during playback. The sample editor includes waveform generators and effects, plus a beta synthesizer for generating looped or single- and multi-cycle waveforms. MilkyTracker imports more than 30 module formats and can load zipped, powerpacked, and UMX modules directly. It exports .MOD, .WAV, and .XM files, and can render songs or patterns to disk or to a sample. MIDI In is supported, but MIDI sequencing, third-party plugins, and cloud collaboration are not. Downloads include Linux AppImage and ZIP builds, Windows ZIP builds, and macOS DMG builds. The project says it will always be free, with optional donations, and its manual says it remains under development and advises use at the user's own risk.