A DAW that works with what you already have.
Fontelle is a free, open-source digital audio workstation for Windows, macOS and Linux. Load an .sf2 and every loop point, envelope, filter and mapping in it is yours to edit. Bring the CLAP, LV2 and VST® 3 plugins already on your machine. Around that sits a full studio in one small native binary: arrangement and piano roll, a mixer with built-in effects, a synthesiser with 409 presets, a drum machine, an autotune and audio recording. No account, no cloud, no fees.
Pick a look, or make your own.
Fontelle can put a moving picture behind its see-through panels. Choose one of 17 built-in looks, or make one of your own with your pictures, colours, fonts and shader, and share it as a single file.
The look sits behind the work.
The panels stay see-through enough to show the backdrop and solid enough to read every note. The picture is drawn on the graphics card and never costs the audio anything.
Some looks listen to the song: Stage and Neon Grid move with the beat, and Control Room glows with the master meter.
Everything a look is made of is yours to change.
- 17 built in. 10 that move (Stage, Neon Grid, Nebula, Aurora, Lo-fi Rain, Ember, Phosphor, Bubblegum, Control Room, Midnight) and 7 calm, light or high-contrast ones (Still Water, Sunroom, Paper, Fontelle Dark, Fontelle Light, High Contrast, High Contrast Light).
- Your own. Pictures, colours, fonts and a shader of your own, for the whole window or one part of it at a time.
- An editor in the app. Settings ▸ Appearance ▸ Edit this theme… changes every colour, picture and the backdrop’s shader, with the studio wearing it live while you work.
- One file. A
.fontellethemecarries all of it, so sharing a look is sending one file. Import it from Settings ▸ Appearance. - As much motion as you want. Set Effects to Still and each backdrop is drawn once and held, or Off for colours only. A computer set to reduce motion starts Fontelle at Still.
- Shared with Floptle. Theme shaders follow the same contract as Floptle’s, so a shader written for one runs in the other unchanged.
.fontelletheme, with their pictures over a moving backdrop.
Hatsune Miku © Crypton Future Media, Inc. 2007, licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0, from piapro.net/license. Fan work; not made or endorsed by Crypton. Hatsune Miku is a trademark of Crypton Future Media, Inc.
Compatibility first, so more people can make music.
Most studio software is closed, decades deep, and open only on its own terms. Fontelle takes the other road: small, open all the way down, and built to load what you already own rather than sell you a replacement for it.
Works with what you have
Your SoundFonts, with every parameter yours to edit. Your CLAP, LV2 and VST 3 plugins, and VST 2 by a free extension. MIDI files, FL Studio scores, WAV in and out.
Runs where you are
Windows, macOS and Linux, from one codebase and one release. One small native binary, no installer to trust, no account to make, nothing about you sent anywhere.
Open all the way down
MIT or Apache-2.0, every line on GitHub. If something is missing, it can be read, filed, fixed or forked. The tooling to make music should not be the thing standing in the way of it.
Get Fontelle 0.33.0.
One archive per platform, straight from the GitHub release. Every archive is listed with its SHA-256 in the release's SHA256SUMS, and the app's own updater downloads these same files.
Windows x86_64 · zip
fontelle-0.33.0-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip
Unzip and run fontelle.exe. The binary is unsigned, so if SmartScreen appears choose More info, then Run anyway.
macOS Apple Silicon · tar.gz
fontelle-0.33.0-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz
Unpack and run fontelle. The binary is unsigned, so right-click it and choose Open the first time.
macOS Intel · tar.gz
fontelle-0.33.0-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz
Same archive layout and the same first-run step as Apple Silicon.
Linux x86_64 · tarball with an installer
fontelle-0.33.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz
The tarball holds the fontelle binary, both licences, a README, a .desktop entry, the icon and install.sh. The installer puts it in ~/.local/bin with a menu entry, nothing outside your home folder, no root. ./install.sh --uninstall takes it away again.
- Unpack the tarball and step into the folder.
- Run the installer. It copies the binary and the menu entry, and says so if a library is missing.
- Start
fontellefrom your application menu.
tar xzf fontelle-0.33.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz cd fontelle-0.33.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu ./install.sh
Needs lilv from your distribution for LV2 hosting: Debian and Ubuntu sudo apt install liblilv-0-0; Fedora and Arch, the package is lilv. It also links ALSA and D-Bus, which a desktop already has. The installer checks and tells you what to install if anything is missing.
Where it is most used. All three builds come off the same CI with the full test suite run on each. Linux is where Fontelle gets the most use today, so Windows and macOS are less exercised. On those two, LV2 plugins are hosted from the 0.32.0 beta; CLAP and VST 3 plugins and their own windows work on all three.
The binaries are unsigned. Expect the first-run warning on Windows (SmartScreen) and macOS (right-click, Open). Check what you downloaded against the release's SHA256SUMS if you want to be sure.
A SoundFont is a starting point.
Every existing SoundFont player treats the file's parameters as authoritative: the loop points, the envelopes, the filter, the mapping are whatever the file says, and that is that.
Fontelle inverts that. The .sf2 seeds the defaults, and the instrument editor exposes every one of them as a value you own: loop points, envelopes, filters, LFOs, the modulation matrix, key and velocity mapping, tuning. Change them, save them with the project, automate them from the arrangement. An old General MIDI bank becomes raw material.
- Loop points, envelopes, filters, LFOs, the modulation matrix, key and velocity mapping, tuning: all yours to edit
- Every override is a real-time value, and every one is automatable
- Saved with the project bundle, which reopens with its audio
What working in it looks like.
Recorded from the real program on a song made with Fontelle’s own instruments. The manual walks through each part of the studio.
Write notes with one tool.
With the pencil, click to add a note, drag it to move it, and drag its end to set its length. The melody around it keeps playing while you work.
In the manualSee a change before you make it.
The roll’s tools (Strum, Chop, Glue, Flip, Levels, Lengths, Humanize, Flam, Thin out, Shuffle, Speed, Arpeggiate and more) show their result on your notes as you adjust them. Apply when it sounds right; one undo puts everything back.
In the manualMix while it plays.
Press 2 to swap the piano roll for the mixer. Every strip has a live meter; select one to see its effects and sends, and follow the cables along the bottom to see where each track goes.
In the manualShare a song and make it together.
Press share and Fontelle gives you a short code. Whoever joins with it, from their start menu or their own share button, gets a copy of the song, and while you share every change shows up for everyone. You decide who may join (anyone with the code, a password, asking you first, or no one new) and, person by person, whether they can only watch or can change the mixer, sounds and plugins. Everyone needs the same version of Fontelle.
A full studio in one small binary.
Rust from top to bottom, with a custom GPU-drawn interface (wgpu and vello) in dark and light themes. The Linux download is 55.1 MB.
Arrangement
- Lanes with MIDI, audio and automation clips
- Looping, clip stretch and cut, fades, a blade tool
- Prefabs: one set of notes placed in many places
- Tempo map with changes, time signature, a metronome
- Transport with loop ranges and song or clip modes
Piano roll
- Draw, paint, select and delete tools
- Snap from a bar down to 1/32, triplets, or off
- Velocity and property lane, ghost notes
- Tools with a live preview and one undo: Strum, Chop, Glue, Flip, Levels, Lengths, Humanize, Flam, Thin out, Shuffle, Speed, Arpeggiate, Select and more
- Smart chords, legato joining (Ctrl+L), slides and pitch bends
- Per-note channel for multi-instrument clips
Sound
- SoundFont (.sf2) sampler with real-time parameter override
- Flopsynth: oscillators with unison, sync and FM, filters with drive, envelopes, LFOs, a mod matrix, macros, its own effect chain, and 409 factory presets on shelves (Bass, Keys, Pads, Leads, Sync & FM, World, Cinematic, Lo-Fi & Tape, Modular and more)
- Drum machine with physically modelled kits (resonator bodies rather than samples) on their own bus
- Sampler channels from any audio file you drag in
Mixing and effects
- Tracks, sends, routing, a master bus with a brickwall limiter
- Per-track insert chains with wet/dry and delay compensation
- Track presets, including sixteen shipped vocal chains
- Built-in families: Utility, EQ with a spectrum, Filter, Compressor with external sidechain, Gate, Distortion, Bitcrush, Soften, Chorus, Delay, Reverb
- Tune: an autotune with a keyboard-driven scale, presets and a colour control
- Every knob is automatable
Plugins
- Hosts CLAP, LV2 and VST 3 instruments and effects in the shipped binary
- Their own editor windows on every platform, with Fontelle’s preset strip across the top, and state saved in the project
- Every plugin format’s own presets, in the plugin window
- Favourites in every picker
- Scans the standard locations plus folders you add
- Plugins in the VST 2.4 format through a free, open-source extension, installed from the app's Extensions page: a separate, opt-in download for Linux, Windows and macOS (
fontelle-vst2)
Audio, MIDI and projects
- Audio import, playback, recording with monitoring, a clip editor, offline render to WAV
- Live MIDI input with hot-plug, per-device velocity curves, transpose and channel filter
- MIDI recording, MIDI file import,
.fsc(FL Studio score) import - Full undo and redo, autosave and backups
- Shared songs: others join with a code, with what each person can change up to you
- Project bundles (
Name.fontellefolders) that reopen with their audio
What it looks like right now.
Taken from Fontelle 0.32.0-beta.1. This is the real window, not a mock-up. Select one to see it full size.
A tour in the app, and the same guide here.
The first time Fontelle opens it offers a tour: twelve steps over a small demo song, each one pointing at the part of the window it explains. Anything you change during it belongs to the demo. Behind the ? on the transport bar, or F1, is the same guide with every keyboard shortcut.
The manual on this site is that guide, word for word, with a short clip of each step.
Welcome · Playing the song · Instruments · Sounds and files · Arranging · Writing notes · Mixing · Routing · Recording and exporting · Settings and help
It keeps itself up to date.
Fontelle opens on a start menu: your recent projects, New project, Open a project, Join a shared song, Learn Fontelle, and whether there is a newer version. When there is, an Install update button downloads the release archive, verifies it against the published SHA256SUMS, and swaps the binary in place. If it cannot write there, it opens the release page so you can install by hand.
Besides that check, Fontelle sends one anonymous install count a day; both can be turned off in Settings. A song you share travels only while it is shared, encrypted end to end. There is no account.
Found a bug? Tell us.
Report a bug or ask for a feature in a minute, with no account. The board shows what other people have reported, what is being worked on, and what has shipped.
Free, open source, and early.
Fontelle is dual-licensed MIT OR Apache-2.0, by Fopull LLC. No royalties, no fees, no account. It is version 0.33.0: a working studio with a long design list still ahead of it. Read the source, file an issue, send a pull request. A star on the repository helps it reach people.
VST is a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
Questions, answered.
What is Fontelle?
Fontelle is a free, open-source digital audio workstation from Fopull LLC for Windows, macOS and Linux, built to work with what you already have. It is a full studio in one small native binary: an arrangement timeline and piano roll, a mixer with built-in effects, a SoundFont sampler, its own synthesiser (Flopsynth), a physically modelled drum machine, an autotune, audio recording, and hosting for the CLAP, LV2 and VST 3 plugins already on your machine. It is early access, and it is a working studio.
What makes it different from other DAWs?
The SoundFont handling. Every other SoundFont player treats the parameters inside an .sf2 file as fixed. Fontelle treats them as defaults: load a SoundFont and every loop point, envelope, filter, LFO, modulation route, key and velocity mapping and tuning in it becomes a value you own, can change, and can automate. The file is a starting point rather than a locked instrument.
Which platforms does it run on?
Windows on x86_64, macOS on both Apple Silicon and Intel, and Linux on x86_64, all from the same release workflow with the whole test suite run on each. Linux is where Fontelle gets the most use today, so the other two are less exercised. CLAP and VST 3 plugins open their own windows on all three; LV2 plugins are hosted on Linux, and on Windows and macOS from the 0.32.0 beta.
Is it really free? What is the licence?
Yes. Fontelle is free and open source, dual-licensed MIT OR Apache-2.0. No royalties, no fees, no account, and no cloud. The source is on GitHub at github.com/Fopull-LLC/DAW-Fontelle.
Does it host plugins? Which formats?
It hosts CLAP, LV2 and VST 3 instruments and effects in the shipped binary, with plugin state saved in the project, favourites in every picker, and a scan of the standard plugin folders plus any you add. A plugin opens its own editor window, with Fontelle's preset strip across the top, on Windows, macOS and Linux (LV2 on Windows and macOS from the 0.32.0 beta; LV2 editors built on Qt or GTK use Fontelle's own parameter panel there). Plugins in the VST 2.4 format load through a free, open-source extension that the app offers to install from its Extensions page. It is a separate, opt-in download on Linux, Windows and macOS, kept out of the core binary on purpose.
How do I get VST 2 plugins working?
Open Extensions inside Fontelle and install the VST 2 extension. It is free, open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0, at github.com/Fopull-LLC/fontelle-vst2), built for Linux, Windows and macOS, and it adds loading of plugins in the VST 2.4 format. On Linux it also loads the plugins yabridge makes of Windows VST 2 plugins.
Is it ready for real work?
It is version 0.33.0 and early access. There is a window you can write a whole piece in, with full undo and redo, autosave and backups, and project bundles that reopen with their audio. There is also a lot still on the design list, so expect rough edges and frequent releases. For anyone who wants a number that is true: 7,228 tests pass on Linux, as of October 2026.
Does it send any data anywhere?
No account, and nothing about you or your music. On its own, Fontelle checks for updates (against GitHub's releases) and sends one anonymous install count a day to fopull.com: a random id, the version, operating system, processor and channel. Both can be turned off in Settings, and turning the count off deletes the id. It also downloads a voicebank when you press Install on one. A shared song travels only while it is shared, through our relay, encrypted end to end so the relay cannot read it.
How do I install it on Linux?
Download the Linux tarball, unpack it, and run ./install.sh from the unpacked folder. It puts the fontelle binary in ~/.local/bin with a menu entry and an icon, nothing outside your home folder and no root. ./install.sh --uninstall takes it away again. The binary needs lilv from your distribution for LV2 hosting: on Debian and Ubuntu, sudo apt install liblilv-0-0; on Fedora and Arch the package is lilv. The installer tells you if anything is missing.
Why does my system warn me about the download?
The binaries are unsigned for now. On macOS, right-click the binary and choose Open the first time. On Windows, if SmartScreen appears, choose More info and then Run anyway. The published SHA256SUMS file on each release lets you check what you downloaded.
How do updates work?
From the start menu. On launch Fontelle checks the releases API and, when a newer version exists, shows an Install update button. That downloads the release archive, verifies it against the published SHA256SUMS, and swaps the binary in place. If it cannot write there it opens the release page instead so you can install by hand.
Can I change how Fontelle looks?
Yes. Since 0.22.0 Fontelle has 17 built-in themes, ten of them with a moving backdrop behind see-through panels, and a theme format anyone can write: pictures, colours, fonts and a shader of your own, all in one .fontelletheme file you can share. Settings ▸ Appearance chooses and imports them, and Effects can be set to Still or Off for less motion. The theme guide is docs/themes.md in the Fontelle repository.
Where do I report a bug or ask for something?
On the Fontelle issue board at fopull.com/fontelle/issues. No account is needed, and the board shows what has already been reported, what is being worked on and what has been fixed. Code contributions are welcome on GitHub.
Fontelle is one of a few things we build and give away.
Fopull LLC also makes Floptle, an open-source Rust game engine, and Storage Sifter, a disk-usage treemap for Linux, plus Foduel, a browser trading card game on Foverse. If a Rust DAW brought you here, the rest is worth a look.