Audacity

It’s hard to really say which one is the “best”, since it depends a bit on what exactly you’re doing with it, what you have access to, and what you’re willing to spend. If you want something cheap, you can do a lot with GarageBand, just remember it’s Apple only. You won’t really find pros using it but a lot of them did start out with it. It comes with Apple Loops and a lot of their software instruments which is great for someone just starting out. Audacity and Adobe Audition are not really for music production so I wouldn’t bother with those at all. The industry standards (what the pros use) are mainly Pro Tools and Logic. If you have a Mac, go with Logic, it’s got everything you need for only $200, and it’s a one time purchase plus it’s definitely the more beginner friendly of the two. It’s similar in UI to GarageBand but a lot more powerful. It is typically better for sampling if you plan to do that. It also has more stock instruments and MIDI effects if you plan to use synths and MIDI. Pro Tools has a few different levels. If you plan on fully producing tracks you’ll probably want Pro Tools Studio. It is a lot pricier in the long term since it is subscription based rather than just being a one time purchase. Pro Tools beats out Logic when it comes to tracking and comping. Ableton and FL Studio are also big ones. Both have free trials so you can definitely try those out if you’re interested. Overall I’d say go with Logic if you have a Mac since you’re interested in using software instruments. Yea, software instruments are infinitely cheaper than renting studio time, instruments, and a sound engineer since there are literally thousands of them included in Logic. More on reddit.com

How do you mean faster than Audacity? Once I figured the flow and settings that worked for us, I created a couple of macros. I leave some leeway in between to fine tune the EQ if i want to but overall it has saved a lot of my time More on reddit.com

See this thread for a fairly large list. https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasting/comments/ayersr/post_links_to_your_favorite_free_and_cheap_audio/ Reaper has a very generous 60-day free trial and is $60. ! More on reddit.com

If you mean DJ-style gear, Mixxx is free & open source. If you're strictly audio(eg, live instruments & voices, sampled sounds), Audacity will do the trick nicely. Free, open source, user-friendly, effects built in, can import VST & Lv2 as well. If you're on Windows or MacOS & want a free groovemaker, Caustic3 is a thoroughly decent freeware for that taskload. Make some fat grooves, edit & mix, export to stems for further processing in Audacity/Reaper... If you really want the works, I'd recommend Reaper, though that's not freeware. Reaper's a bit of a "bring your own extras" deal-y(no included sample-packs or VSTi), but the stock plugins can take care of things right down to mastering, and it can even manage basic video editing... More on reddit.com