Koala Sampler vs Qtractor

Koala Sampler records sounds through a device microphone or imports audio for making beats and tracks. It can capture up to 64 samples and includes a high-resolution sequencer, keyboard mode, quantization, swing, and effects. Projects can be exported as WAV loops or tracks; the iOS version can also export Ableton Live Sets. MIDI control and Ableton Link support external control and Wi-Fi jamming. Optional in-app purchases add more tools: Samurai includes time-stretch algorithms, a piano roll, auto-chop, a three-band EQ, a polyphonic synth, and MIDI output. Mixer adds four channels, a main bus, and five effect slots per channel; its external plugin hosting is available on iOS, Mac, and Windows, but not Android. Koala Sampler is listed for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. Desktop builds for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Raspberry Pi are free for now, although the Windows build is in beta. The iOS app costs $4.99, paid once, with in-app purchases sold separately. The maker says mobile apps do not require an account and keep projects and audio on the device.

Qtractor is a Linux desktop application for multitrack audio and MIDI sequencing and recording, aimed especially at personal home studios. Its non-destructive, non-linear editing supports unlimited tracks, overlapping clips, and unlimited undo and redo. Audio clips can use fades, cross-fades, gain, normalization, export, time-stretching, and pitch-shifting. MIDI work includes a piano-roll editor, Standard MIDI file formats 0 and 1, controller mapping, and SysEx setups. Qtractor supports OGG, MP3 playback, WAV, FLAC, and AIFF, as well as LADSPA, DSSI, VST2, VST3, LV2, and CLAP plugins. It uses JACK for audio and ALSA for MIDI and includes connection patchbay controls. Tracks can be mixed down, rendered, and merged; session and project descriptions are stored in XML files. Qtractor is free, open-source software under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later. The site lists version 1.6.4, released 2026-09-06, and provides binary downloads and CMake build instructions. The project says bugs remain while describing the software as production/stable.