Close Menu
Bedroom Producers Blog
  • Home
  • Favorites
    • Free VST
    • Free DAW
    • Free Autotune
    • Free Drum Kits
    • Free Music Production Software
    • Black Friday Deals
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • Gear
  • Samples
  • 💬 Community
  • News
    • Software News
    • Soundware News
    • Deals
Connect
  • About Us
  • Our Team
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
Download
BPB Bassaturator
BPB Bassaturator is a FREE Bass Booster Plugin
BPB Dirty VHS
BPB Dirty VHS (FREE VHS Tape Plugin)
BPB Dirty Filter Plus
BPB Dirty Filter Plus (FREE Dual Filter Distortion)
BPB Dirty LA
BPB Dirty LA (FREE Vintage Limiting Amplifier)
BPB Dirty Spring by Bedroom Producers Blog
BPB Dirty Spring (FREE Spring Reverb Plugin)
  • Free VST
  • Free DAW
  • Free Autotune
  • Music Software
  • Drum Kits
YouTube Instagram Facebook X (Twitter) RSS
Bedroom Producers Blog
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • Gear
  • Samples
  • Downloads
  • Community
  • News
    • Software News
    • Soundware News
    • Deals
SUPPORT BPB ❤️
Bedroom Producers Blog
You are at:Home»News»BandLab Will Discontinue FREE Cakewalk DAW, Sonar Returning
News

BandLab Will Discontinue FREE Cakewalk DAW, Sonar Returning

June 6, 2023By William Frady42 Comments
Bandlab Cakewalk Discontinued

Bandlab has announced that they will discontinue the free Cakewalk digital audio workstation, replacing it with Cakewalk Next and a new version of Sonar.

Good things always come to an end, or so the saying goes. Unfortunately, it seems that we will soon need to remove Cakewalk from our list of free DAWs.

BandLab announced it will end support for the free Cakewalk DAW in favor of a new pricing structure. While users who have downloaded Cakewalk will be able to use it indefinitely, it will have zero product support going forward.

Instead, BandLab will debut Cakewalk Next (which will be a paid product, according to our sources) and bring back Sonar.

Details aren’t available on what the new version of Sonar will be capable of or even when to fully expect it. Cakewalk Next is available for beta testing for Windows and Mac users alike, however.

This decision comes as a bit of a shock, especially given the rocky circumstances which led to BandLab acquiring Cakewalk in the first place. BandLab assures the pricing structure for both will be competitive and meant to address the needs of producers.

Where this leaves things is rather murky, however.

You certainly can keep using Cakewalk as it stands right now, but there aren’t many options available for free. Cakewalk had the advantage of being a feature-rich and mature DAW with the added bonus of a minimal price tag.

The plus side is I can wistfully hope we’ll see new versions of the legendary Rapture and Z3ta synthesizer plugins. Still, it is always a bit disappointing for developments like this to occur.

BandLab has been rather steady in its support of Cakewalk. Hopefully, Cakewalk Next and Sonar will be able to successfully iterate upon the last five years of development put into the platform.

If priced competitively, it could very well find a niche among users, as any DAW typically does. Given the somewhat cluttered landscape of feature-rich DAWs, it must make quite a splash.

I’m curious to see where this goes, as I’m sure most music producers are, especially those using the free version of Cakewalk. While I mourn the loss of freely available software for music producers of all social strata, I’m trying to see the silver lining behind it.

You can find more details regarding the announcement readily on BandLab’s landing page for Cakewalk. If you’ve got it currently installed, you might want to figure out a way to back up the installers, just in case.

Visit: Cakewalk (Explore Cakewalk Next & Cakewalk Sonar – Coming Soon!)

More: 

  • Waveform 12 Free Released (Digital Audio Workstation)
  • Best Free DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

Last Updated on June 6, 2023 by Tomislav Zlatic.

Free Software Mac Windows
Avatar photo
William Frady

Liam is a producer, mixing engineer, and compressor aficionado. When not mixing, he can be found pretending to play guitar, as he has been doing for the last 20 years.

Subscribe
Notify of
42 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
📬 BPB Newsletter
SUBSCRIBE NOW - Get FREE plugins in your inbox every week.
Latest
Plugin Boutique offers the Moogerfooger MF-104S Analog Delay plugin for $29 (Reg. $79)
June 20, 2025
IK Multimedia T-RackS Tape Echo is FREE at Audio Plugin Deals
June 20, 2025
Pulse Audio Launches Massive $60K+ Giveaway Featuring 40 Audio Developers
Sponsor: Pulse AudioJune 20, 2025
AIR Stutter Rhythmic FX Plugin by AIR Music is FREE via Black Octopus Sound
June 20, 2025
Featured
How to Prepare A Song For Mixing
September 6, 2024
A Guide To Mixing Music For Music Producers
April 13, 2024
The Best FREE Drum Kits in 2025
February 12, 2025
Free Kontakt Libraries
January 28, 2025
COMMUNITY

💬🔥 Monthly Deals & Freebies Thread – June 2025

June 3, 2025247

💬 🎹 Monthly Production Thread – Finishing Songs

June 3, 202511
aHow to Prepare A Song For Mixing
9 Mins Read
How to Prepare A Song For Mixing
How To Make Beats: A Quick Beat Making Guide For Beginners
10 Mins Read
Beat Making 101: How to Make a Beat for Beginners
Browse
# Music Production Software
# Free VST Plugins
# Digital Audio Workstations
# Video Editing Software
# Free Mastering Software
Download

# BPB Dirty Filter Plus
# BPB Dirty VHS
# BPB Dirty LA
# BPB Dirty Spring
# BPB Saturator

Community
# BPB on YouTube
# BPB on Facebook
# BPB on X (Twitter)
# BPB on SoundCloud
# BPB on Instagram
Subscribe
Subscribe to our mailing list to receive the latest music freeware news. We also have an RSS Feed.
Click to subscribe
© 2009 - 2025, Bedroom Producers Blog.
  • About Us
  • Our Team
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.