

It walks you through exactly what Reaper and other DAWs are, what software you need to make music, and cuts through the often confusing information out there about recording software. If you are new to Reaper and other DAW software, I highly recommend you check out my article detailing what exactly music recording software is. Let’s examine Reaper’s licensing options in some detail in the rest of this article. Do not do this! You should pay for a license, in accordance with the terms detailed on the Reaper website.

So in theory, you could continue to use Reaper forever without paying for it, as long as you are prepared to put up with the nag screen on start-up. A nag screen will be briefly displayed on start-up stating you require a license, but otherwise it will continue to operate fully featured. If you do not, Reaper will continue to work with no issues. After that, you are required to buy a license. But what happens after the 60-day trial period, if you don’t pay for Reaper? There is a misconception floating around on the internet that Reaper is free – it is not! It offers a 60-day free trial period, after which you must pay for a license. Cockos Reaper is one of the best value DAWs available.
