Best Audio Editor for Android: Free and Multitrack Apps
What matters in an Android audio editor is what it saves and what it charges for. Nine editors and five recorders compared from their Google Play listings.
For layering a voice, instruments and a beat, install BandLab. It costs nothing to start and its Google Play listing promises unlimited multitrack projects. For cutting and cleaning up one recording, look at Lexis Audio Editor and WaveEditor. If you would sooner pay once than see adverts, Audio Evolution Mobile Studio is $11.99 in the US.
We read the Google Play listing of every app on this page. What each one says about multitrack editing, the formats it saves and what a purchase unlocks comes from those listings. Of the five apps on our old list, three are still in the store.
Audio editors compared
| App | Maker | On Google Play | Multitrack | Formats it saves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BandLab | BandLab Technologies | Free with ads, in-app purchases | Unlimited multitrack projects | Not named in the listing |
| n-Track Studio | n-Track | Free, in-app purchases | 8 tracks free, unlimited on a subscription | WAV and MP3, on a subscription |
| Audio Evolution Mobile Studio | eXtream Software Development | $11.99, in-app purchases | Unlimited audio and MIDI tracks | WAV, MP3, AIFF, FLAC, OGG |
| WaveEditor | Sound-Base Audio | Free with ads, in-app purchases | Yes, mixes multiple tracks | WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG |
| Lexis Audio Editor | pamsys | Free with ads, in-app purchases | One file, with a second mixed in | WAV, M4A, AAC, FLAC, WMA. MP3 once you pay |
| WavePad Audio Editor | NCH Software | Free with ads, in-app purchases | Not mentioned | MP3, WAV, AIFF |
| AudioLab | HitroLab | Free with ads, in-app purchases | Mixes multiple tracks | MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC, M4A |
| MP3 Cutter and Ringtone Maker | InShot Inc. | Free with ads, in-app purchases | Merges and mixes clips | MP3, AAC and others |
| AIMP: Audio Cutter | Artem Izmaylov | Free, no ads, no purchases | No | MP3 |
The labels and prices are the ones Google Play shows in the US, and it sets a local price in other countries. “No ads” means the listing carries no “Contains ads” label.
Editors with many tracks
BandLab
BandLab is a recording studio more than a file editor. Its listing says the app is free to use, with Pro and Max plans for people who want more. Free covers unlimited multitrack projects, cloud storage for your songs, six pitch-correction effects and four mastering presets.
The paid plans add 18 more pitch effects, 35 premium instruments, four more mastering presets and splitting a song into up to seven stems where the free tier gives four. The listing talks of “easy export” without naming a file format.
n-Track Studio
n-Track spells out its tiers in the listing, which is rare. The free edition gives up to eight tracks and two effects per track, and saves your song online. Saving a WAV or MP3 to the phone needs a purchase.
The Standard subscription is $1.49 a month and brings unlimited tracks, every effect and WAV or MP3 export. Extended, at $2.99 a month, adds higher-resolution WAV files and multichannel USB interfaces. A year of Standard comes to $17.88, which is more than Audio Evolution costs outright.
Audio Evolution Mobile Studio
This is the one to pay for. The listing describes multitrack audio and MIDI recording with an unlimited number of tracks. It imports WAV, MP3, AIFF, FLAC, OGG and MIDI, and mixes down to WAV, MP3, AIFF, FLAC or OGG. Google Play shows no adverts label.
The in-app purchases are extras: a USB audio driver for external interfaces, vocal tuning and effects from ToneBoosters. A free trial version exists, and its listing gives the limits. Projects load with three tracks at most, a mixdown stops at 45 seconds and the app quits after 20 minutes.
Editors for one recording
WaveEditor
WaveEditor is an editor and a recorder in one. Its listing describes cutting, copying and pasting clips and mixing multiple tracks, recording from an external USB microphone, and analysis tools such as a spectrogram and an oscilloscope. Import and export cover WAV, MP3, FLAC and OGG. The Pro upgrade removes the adverts and adds the remaining effects and a recorder widget.
Lexis Audio Editor
Lexis records, trims, fades, normalises and reduces noise, and has a 10-band equaliser, a compressor and tempo, speed and pitch controls. It works on one file, though you can record into that file or mix another one into it.
The listing says the free version has every feature of the paid one except a single thing: saving as MP3. Free saves go to WAV, M4A, AAC, FLAC or WMA. If MP3 is not essential to you, this is the least restricted free editor here.
WavePad Audio Editor
WavePad, like Lexis, was on our old list. The free edition cuts, copies and pastes, adds effects such as echo and reverb, and includes noise reduction and click removal. It names MP3, WAV and AIFF among its formats.
The catch is in the last line of the listing: the free version is licensed for non-commercial use only. For paid work NCH points to WavePad Master’s Edition, which is $14.99. Multitrack mixing is a separate NCH app, MixPad, under the same non-commercial condition.
AudioLab
AudioLab puts a cutter, a recorder, a format converter and a mixer for multiple tracks in one app, and extracts the sound from a video. It converts between MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC and M4A. Google Play shows adverts and in-app purchases, and the listing does not say what the purchases unlock.
Cutters for ringtones
MP3 Cutter and Ringtone Maker from InShot trims a song on a zoomable waveform, merges or mixes clips, and sets the result as a ringtone, alarm or notification. It reads MP3, WAV, OGG, M4A, AAC and FLAC and can convert the output to MP3 or AAC.
AIMP: Audio Cutter does less and asks for less. Its listing calls it a small tool: crop a file, save the part as an MP3, set it as a ringtone for calls or for one contact. Google Play shows no adverts label and nothing to buy.
Recorders
| App | Maker | On Google Play | Records to | What a purchase adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolby On | Dolby Laboratories | Free, no ads, no purchases | Not named in the listing | Nothing to buy |
| Easy Voice Recorder | Digipom | Free with ads, in-app purchases | PCM, MP4, AMR | MP3, FLAC and AAC, trimming, stereo, a Bluetooth microphone |
| ASR Voice Recorder | NLL APPS | Free with ads, in-app purchases | MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, M4A, AMR | Upload to cloud storage |
| Audio Recorder | Dmytro Ponomarenko | Free, in-app purchases | M4A, WAV, 3GP | Not stated |
| Fossify Voice Recorder | Fossify | Free, no ads, no purchases | Not named in the listing | Nothing to buy |
Dolby On is the recorder to try first for music. Its listing says it applies noise reduction, de-essing, equalisation and compression automatically, lets you trim the start and end, and exports the result to an editor of your choice. It also imports recordings made in other apps.
Easy Voice Recorder keeps the good formats for its paid side: MP3, FLAC and AAC, with trimming, are Pro features. Pro is also sold as a separate app at $4.99. ASR lists six recording formats and marks only cloud upload as Pro. Fossify Voice Recorder is open source, works offline and still has “Beta” in its name.
Your phone may already have one. Samsung’s Voice Recorder is listed for Galaxy phones and has an interview mode that uses the top and bottom microphones. Google’s Recorder transcribes what it records.
Audacity on Android
There is no Audacity for Android. Audacity’s own FAQ says the program is only available for desktop and laptop computers, with no mobile version. It adds that any app in a phone store using the name was not made by the Audacity team. Lexis and WaveEditor are the nearest in kind.
Which one to pick
- A song with several parts, for nothing: BandLab.
- Multitrack with no adverts and no subscription: Audio Evolution Mobile Studio. Run the trial version first.
- Tidying a voice recording or a podcast: Lexis Audio Editor. Choose WaveEditor if the file must leave as an MP3, which its listing names among the export formats and not among the Pro extras.
- Paid work: not the free WavePad or MixPad, whose licence rules it out.
- A ringtone from a song you own: AIMP: Audio Cutter.
- A clean recording to edit later: Dolby On.
If you would rather play the parts than record them, we have gone through musical instrument apps for Android and iPhone. For changing how finished music sounds, see equalizer apps for Android.
What happened to the old list
- WavePad and Lexis Audio Editor: still on Google Play and covered above.
- Voice PRO: its Google Play page has gone.
- MP3 Cutter: many apps now share that name, and we could not tell which one the old article meant. InShot’s is in the table.
- Music Maker JAM: still on Google Play, now published by Loudly, free with adverts and in-app purchases. Its listing describes building beats from loops on an eight-channel mixer, which is making music and not editing a recording.
Quick answers
What is the best free audio editor for Android?
BandLab for multitrack projects. For a single file, Lexis Audio Editor, whose free version holds back only MP3 saving.
Is there a multitrack audio editor for Android?
Several. BandLab lists unlimited multitrack projects, n-Track Studio gives eight tracks free, and Audio Evolution Mobile Studio has unlimited tracks for $11.99.
Which Android audio editors have no ads?
Google Play shows no adverts label on n-Track Studio, Audio Evolution Mobile Studio or AIMP: Audio Cutter. Among the recorders, Dolby On, Audio Recorder and Fossify Voice Recorder carry none.
Is Audacity available for Android?
No. Audacity’s FAQ says it is desktop only and that phone apps using the name are not from the Audacity team.
