Upgrades under the free business model at least seem to be motivated by adding a new feature that works, and fixing things that don't as opposed to creating a bullet point that can justify rounding up the major version number. Upgrade cost was about $50 less than new price, and my most recent, now abandoned paid-for version was so buggy that I had to roll back to a previous build. I'm only a hobbyist musician, so it's definitely not a case of 'money is no object' but I have shelled out a few hundred for a DAW, only for them to release the next major version less than 6 months later. One thing I don't really see mentioned in 'Cakewalk vs The World' type threads is the upgrade cycle.

It can do more than some 'professional/paid' DAWs! Whatever you do though, don't think of Cakewalk as not a 'professional' DAW.

It only takes about a week to switch over to another DAW & learn all the shortcuts, etc. In the end, there's no reason to stop using Cakewalk until it doesn't work for you anymore. and it supports 4k better than Cakewalk does right now. The number of tracks and VSTs that I can run in Reaper - I'm certain no other DAW could handle the same. While Cakewalk has a much prettier UI - Reaper has a truly incredible level of stability and performance. I'll always be a fan of Cakewalk, but I'm deep into Reaper now.

I keep it installed and I always think about going back to it. I used Cakewalk SONAR years ago when it was $450 and it was worth every penny. Don't judge it because it's 'free.' Technically it's funded by other means, the investment of someone using it to build a bigger venture.

Cakewalk free daw