PRO TOOLS DAW COMPARISON
See which version is right for you in this DAW software comparison
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Key features
Pro Tools Intro | Pro Tools Artist | Pro Tools Studio | Pro Tools Ultimate | |
| Included software and plugins | ||||
| Included third-party software | Native Instruments Kontakt 8 Player | Celemony Melodyne 5 essential, iZotope RX 11 Spectral Editor, Native Instruments Kontakt 8 Player, Steinberg SpectraLayers Go, Steinberg WaveLab Go, and Synchro Arts RePitch Elements | Celemony Melodyne 5 essential, iZotope RX 11 Spectral Editor, Native Instruments Kontakt 8 Player, Steinberg SpectraLayers Go, Steinberg WaveLab Go, Synchro Arts RePitch Elements, and SoundFlow Cloud Avid Edition* | Celemony Melodyne 5 essential, iZotope RX 11 Spectral Editor, Native Instruments Kontakt 8 Player, Steinberg SpectraLayers Go, Steinberg WaveLab Go, Synchro Arts RePitch Elements, and SoundFlow Cloud Avid Edition* |
| Sonic Drop content | - | Included with monthly and annual
subscriptions and Upgrade Plans for
perpetual licenses | Included with monthly and annual
subscriptions and Upgrade Plans for
perpetual licenses | Included with monthly and annual
subscriptions and Upgrade Plans for
perpetual licenses |
| Inner Circle rewards | - | Included with annual
subscriptions and Upgrade Plans for
perpetual licenses | Included with annual
subscriptions and Upgrade Plans for
perpetual licenses | Included with annual
subscriptions and Upgrade Plans for
perpetual licenses |
| Sketch Window | + | + | + | + |
| Internal Dolby Atmos® renderer | - | - | + | + |
| Simultaneous recording inputs | 4 | 16 | 64 | Up to 256 |
| Audio tracks | 8 | 32 (mono/stereo) | 512 (mono/stereo/surround) | 2,048 (mono/stereo/surround) |
| MIDI tracks | 8 | 64 | 1,024 | 1,024 |
| Instrument tracks | 8 | 32 | 512 | 512 |
| Aux I/O inputs and outputs | n/a | 4/4 | unlimited/32** | unlimited/unlimited |
| Aux Input tracks | 4 | 32 | 128 | 1,024 |
| Routing Folder tracks | 4 | 32 | 128 | 1,024 |
| Video tracks | n/a | n/a | 1 | 64 |
| Included plugins | 40 | 110+ | 130+ | 130+ |
| Bit depth, sample rate | 32-bit floating point, 192 kHz | 32-bit floating point, 192 kHz | 32-bit floating point, 192 kHz | 32-bit floating point, 192 kHz |
Create, edit, produce
Pro Tools Intro | Pro Tools Artist | Pro Tools Studio | Pro Tools Ultimate | |
| Automatic plugin delay compensation | + | + | + | + |
| Elastic audio | + | + | + | + |
| ARA 2 plugin support*** | + | + | + | + |
| Retrospective MIDI recording | + | + | + | + |
| Track Presets | + | + | + | + |
| Audio-to-MIDI | +**** | + | + | + |
| Sibelius interop | + | + | + | + |
| Track comping | + | + | + | + |
| Beat Detective | + | + | + | + |
| TrackPunch / DestructivePunch | + | |||
| Field recorder workflows | + |
MIX, MASTER, DELIVER
Pro Tools Intro | Pro Tools Artist | Pro Tools Studio | Pro Tools Ultimate | |
| Supported plugin formats | AAX Native, AAX AudioSuite | AAX Native, AAX AudioSuite | AAX Native, AAX AudioSuite; supports AAX DSP when used with Pro Tools | Carbon | AAX Native, AAX AudioSuite; supports AAX DSP when used with Pro Tools | Carbon or Pro Tools | HDX |
| Track Freeze and Commit | + | + | + | + |
| Clip FX | Playback only | Playback only | + | + |
| Clip Gain | + | + | + | + |
| Advanced metering with gain reduction | + | + | ||
| Timecode ruler | + | + | + | |
| VCA mixing | + | + | ||
| Solo bus AFL/PFL | + | + | ||
| Surround mixing | + | + | ||
| Dolby Atmos mixing | + | + | ||
| ADM Export | + | + | ||
| Ambisonics VR mixing***** | + | + | ||
| Advanced automation | + | + | ||
| Export selected range | + | + | ||
| Single file multi-stem bounce | + | + |
Usability
Pro Tools Intro | Pro Tools Artist | Pro Tools Studio | Pro Tools Ultimate | |
| Ableton Link support | + | + | + | + |
| Folder Tracks | + | + | + | + |
| AAC encode decode support | + | + | + | |
| AAF/OMF/MXF file interchange | + | + | ||
| Batch renaming | + | + | ||
| Extended RAM/Disk Cache | + | + | ||
| Satellite Link Remote | 1 per Satellite network | Up to 2 per Satellite network without Pro Tools | HD hardware; up to 12 per Satellite network with Pro Tools | HD hardware |
Video
Pro Tools Intro | Pro Tools Artist | Pro Tools Studio | Pro Tools Ultimate | |
| Video tracks | - | - | 1 | 64 |
| 4K/UHD support | + | + | ||
| Advanced video editing | + |
Collaborate and connect
Pro Tools Intro | Pro Tools Artist | Pro Tools Studio | Pro Tools Ultimate | |
| Cloud collaboration****** | + | + | + | + |
| Cloud storage | - | 1 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB |
Compatible hardware
Pro Tools Intro | Pro Tools Artist | Pro Tools Studio | Pro Tools Ultimate | |
| PRO TOOLS SYSTEMS AND INTERFACES | Pro Tools Intro | Pro Tools Artist | Pro Tools Studio | Pro Tools Ultimate |
| MBOX Studio | + | + | + | + |
| Pro Tools | Carbon | + | + | ||
| Pro Tools | Carbon Pre | + | + | ||
| Pro Tools | HDX | + | |||
| Pro Tools | HD Native | + | |||
| Pro Tools | MTRX | + | |||
| Pro Tools | MTRX II | + with the optional Thunderbolt 3 module | + with the optional Thunderbolt 3 module | + with the optional Thunderbolt 3 module | + |
| Pro Tools | MTRX Studio | + with the optional Thunderbolt 3 module | + with the optional Thunderbolt 3 module | + with the optional Thunderbolt 3 module | + |
| Pro Tools | HD I/O | + | |||
| Pro Tools | Sync X | + | |||
| THIRD-PARTY HARDWARE | ||||
| Core Audio compatible interfaces | + | + | + | + |
| ASIO/WASAPI compatible interfaces | + | + | + | + |
| AVID CONTROL SURFACES | ||||
| Avid Control (free mobile app) | + | + | + | + |
| Avid Dock | + | + | + | + |
| Avid S1 | + | + | + | + |
| Avid S4 | + | + | + | + |
| Avid S6 | + | + | + | + |
| THIRD-PARTY CONTROL SURFACES | ||||
| HUI-compatible control surfaces | + | + | + | + |
| AVID A/V INTERFACES | ||||
| Avid Artist | DNxIQ | + | + | ||
| Avid Artist | DNxIV | + | + | ||
| Avid Artist | DNxIP | + | + | ||
| Avid Artist | DNxID | + | + |
System requirements
Pro Tools Intro | Pro Tools Artist | Pro Tools Studio | Pro Tools Ultimate | |
See the latest system requirements | See the latest system requirements | See the latest system requirements | See the latest system requirements |
* Included with annual subscriptions and Upgrade plans for Pro Tools Artist, Pro Tools Studio and Pro Tools Ultimate perpetual licenses only
** Dolby Audio Bridge allows 130 outputs with an active connection to the optional external Dolby Atmos Renderer application
*** Pro Tools ARA 2 support includes Celemony Melodyne, iZotope RX Spectral Editor, Sound Radix Auto-Align 2 and Auto-Align Post 2 Steinberg SpectraLayers and WaveLab, as well as Synchro Arts RePitch, ReVoice Pro, and VocAlign. Melodyne essential, RX Spectral Editor Steinberg SpectraLayers Go, Steinberg WaveLab Go, and RePitch Elements are included with active subscriptions and perpetual Upgrade plans for Pro Tools Artist, Pro Tools Studio, and Pro Tools Ultimate
**** Requires the respective ARA plugin (not included)
***** Pro Tools Studio supports up to third-order Ambisonics; Pro Tools Ultimate supports up to seventh-order Ambisonics
****** Can collaborate on someone else's project when invited, but cannot invite others to collaborate
Product News
What’s New in Pro Tools
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