Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Surge XT VS Ableton

Compare Surge XT VS Ableton and see what are their differences

Surge XT logo Surge XT

Open-source subtractive-hybrid synthesizer formerly sold commercially as Vember Audio Surge.

Ableton logo Ableton

Music production software and hardware.
  • Surge XT Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-31

Surge XT is an open-source hybrid synthesizer and the synth which started the Surge Synth Team project!

  • Ableton Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21

Surge XT videos

Free VST - Surge Synthesizer plugin

Ableton videos

Ableton Live 10 Review - The Best DAW For DJ/Producers?

More videos:

  • Review - Ableton Live 10: Intro vs. Standard vs. Suite vs. Lite - Which Should You Buy?
  • Review - Logic Pro X vs Ableton Live - Which One Is Better?

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Surge XT and Ableton)
Email Marketing
94 94%
6% 6
Audio & Music
79 79%
21% 21
Work Management
100 100%
0% 0
Cloud Computing
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Surge XT and Ableton. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Surge XT seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 178 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Surge XT mentions (178)

  • Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment
    Good stuff! I started getting in to this at the start of the year. Already had an old, dusty MicroKORG and MIDI interface to use it as a controller, but recently splashed out on a bigger controller as the Korg's tiny keys were hurting me - plus, I wanted something bigger to get better at piano! A couple of free soft synths I'd recommend are Surge XT, and Vital. https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/... - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Obsolete (or not) DAW recommendations for windows 8?
    Https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/ and https://asb2m10.github.io/dexed/ should work like a charm. Source: 10 months ago
  • Hi, I'm new
    To get the equivalent of a symphonic orchestra in your computer, the solution is basically money; you buy the instruments you need. In the case of synthesizers, things are much cheaper - if you put in the effort yourself. https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/ is excellent and could even be used if you wanted to make a more retro-style soundtrack. Source: 10 months ago
  • So is serum worth the money? Can someone ELI5 why I should buy it rather than use a free synth like synth one?
    Instead of Synth1, try https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/ . It's pretty much better in every aspect except for the UI which is going to look a lot more daunting to you ;). Source: 11 months ago
  • These just appeared in my Facebook, anything to be excited about? I’m waiting on prices.
    For the DW-8000, check https://www.fullbucket.de/music/fb7999.html . Alternatively, https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/ can use single-cycle waveforms (basically wavetables that don't change) which can get you close. Source: 11 months ago
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Ableton mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Ableton yet. Tracking of Ableton recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Surge XT and Ableton, you can also consider the following products

Vital - Vital is a spectral warping wavetable synthesizer with drag'n'drop modulation workflow and animated preview of the synth's inner workings where needed. Comes with many modulation sources (including audio-rate), MPE support and FX chain.

AudioKit Synth One - Free & Open-source iPhone/iPad Synth 🎹

Serum - VST for FL Studio, Ableton Live, and many other VST supported DAWs. Heavily utilized in EDM.

Sampulator - Make (and record) beats on your keyboard

ZynAddSubFX - ZynAddSubFX is an open source software synthesizer for Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.

Logic Pro X - Music production.