Als Preview
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Als Preview and other tools
Als Preview isn’t the only way to keep track of your Live projects. Here is what Live itself offers, what other apps do, and where each one goes further, so you can pick what fits your work, or combine them.
In short
What Als Preview is built around
- Hearing what you played. The plugin on the Main track records what you play in Live, and Als Preview plays it back from any bar, in time with the arrangement, newest takes on top. Where nothing was recorded, it plays an approximate preview rendered from the set, with the mixer’s volume, pan and automation and an approximation of Live’s reverbs and delays on return tracks. MAKID builds a similar approximate preview from samples, MIDI notes and supported VST3 instruments; its documentation says it doesn’t reproduce effect chains or mixer automation. dBdone’s plugin records snippets while you play.
- Seeing exactly what changed. Comparing two saves shows tracks, clips, notes, automation and plug-in parameters, and lets you switch between both recordings; a save without one plays its approximate preview. Audyn Pro and MAKID compare versions too, by tracks, clips, plugins or settings like tempo; neither describes comparing notes, automation or parameters.
- Every save, linked. Live’s backups are part of the library, and with the plugin, Save As copies are linked to the exact save they came from. So are Save As and Save a Copy made while the Remote Script runs, in Live 11.3.25 or later.
- Built for the Mac. Quick Look in Finder, Spotlight, Shortcuts, and the project’s history and notes in the plugin’s window inside Live.
Where others go further
- Windows. Every other project manager on this page runs on Windows too; Als Preview is Mac only.
- Phone apps, cloud and collaborators. MAKID has an iPhone and iPad app, SetCrate syncs to Android, Saltado Sessions has an Android app with its cloud plan (the iPhone version is in App Store review), and SessionDock has apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and CarPlay. Some share bounces by link, and Saltado Sessions sends projects to collaborators. Als Preview keeps everything on your Mac and has no phone app.
- Other DAWs. Saltado Sessions, Deckable, SessionDock, dBdone and Tuva work with several DAWs; Als Preview reads only Ableton Live sets.
- Free-form tags and to-dos. Audyn, MAKID, Saltado Sessions, SetCrate, Deckable and SessionDock have tags; Audyn adds to-dos with due dates, Deckable checklists. Als Preview has statuses you name and order yourself, favorites, collections, views (saved searches that also keep how they’re shown) and notes, but no tags.
- Sets you never played. MAKID previews them, and for supported VST3 instruments it loads the installed plug-in with its saved patch; it also auditions Session View scenes and can bounce the preview to a WAV file. Als Preview renders a preview too, but only of the arrangement, and with a simple stand-in synth for every plug-in instrument.
- Your sample library. Tuva organizes the samples themselves: it tags them by how they sound, finds similar ones and shows which projects use each. Saltado Sessions Pro catalogs samples, racks and presets. Als Preview finds samples only through the sets that use them.
- Releases and labels. Saltado Sessions groups songs into singles, EPs and albums and tracks demo submissions to labels from its own directory; SessionDock Pro plans releases. Als Preview has statuses, but nothing for planning releases.
- Free tiers. Audyn, MAKID’s desktop app, Saltado Sessions and SessionDock have free versions, and DAW Project Manager, Ableton Live Manager and Seula are free and open source; Als Preview has a 14-day trial, then a one-time purchase.
Side by side
The closest alternatives, and Live itself. ✓ means the maker documents it; – means we found nothing about it in the maker’s documentation, which doesn’t always mean it’s missing. Use the arrows in the table’s top-left corner, or scroll sideways, to see every tool.
| Als Preview | Live’s browser | Audyn | MAKID | SetCrate | Deckable | Saltado Sessions | SessionDock | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finding | ||||||||
| Library of all your projects | ✓ | Browse folders | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Search by plugin | ✓ | – | ✓ | – | ✓ | – | ✓ | – |
| Search by sample | ✓ | – | Pro: sample tracking | – | – | – | – | – |
| Live’s backups | In history, search, compare | Backup folder | Skipped, per its docs | – | – | – | Skipped in the library; kept in its backups | – |
| Seeing and hearing | ||||||||
| Arrangement without opening Live | Clips, notes, waveforms, automation | Open the set | Pro: tracks, clips, devices | Clips, notes, waveforms | – | – | Clips, colors, MIDI | – |
| Play a set without bouncing | What you played in Live, from any bar; an approximate preview where nothing was recorded | – | – | Approximate preview from samples, MIDI and supported VST3 instruments | – | – | – | – |
| Exports and bounces | Matched to their set | – | – | Audio in the project folder | Bounce history | Plays bounces | Pro: plays bounces, with loudness meters | Plays bounces, several per project |
| History | ||||||||
| Version history | Sets, Save As copies, backups | Last 10 backups | Sets in the project folder | ✓ | ✓ | Timeline of versions | Session versions; cloud: 30-day file history | – |
| Compare versions | Tracks, clips, notes, automation, parameters | – | Pro: tracks, clips, plugins, tempo, key, samples | Tracks, clips, locators, tempo, meter | – | – | – | – |
| Listen to both versions | Both recordings, from the same beat; approximate previews too | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Organizing | ||||||||
| Time tracking | Open, working and playing time, measured in Live, in every set | – | – | – | Work sessions | Sessions from file changes | Studio time per project, while the app runs | – |
| Status, tags, collections | Your own statuses, favorites, collections, saved views | Tags, color labels | Stages, tags, collections | Stages, tags, tiers, collections | Status, tags, ratings | Stages, tags, ratings | Your own statuses, board, tags, ratings, collections | Status, tags, albums, collections |
| Notes | ✓ | – | Notes, to-dos | Notes, comments | Notes, photos | Notes, checklists | Notes; cloud: timestamped notes on bounces | Notes, waveform notes |
| Missing samples and plug-ins | ✓ | For the open set | Pro | Partly | Samples | Plug-ins | Samples; plug-ins per set | – |
| Where it works | ||||||||
| Inside Live | Plugin window: history, status, notes | It’s Live | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Quick Look in Finder | ✓ | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | – | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Other DAWs | – | – | – | – | – | 7 more | 9 more, in beta | 14 more |
| Phone app | – | Ableton Note, for sketches | – | iPhone, iPad | Android, iOS planned | – | Cloud plan: Android, iPhone in review | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, CarPlay |
| Cloud sync, sharing | None, all local | Note and Move Sets | None (“No cloud”) | Paid: cloud, share links | Paid: phone sync | None, all local | Paid: cloud backup, listen links, collabs | Sync via iCloud Drive or Dropbox |
| Price, as listed by each maker | ||||||||
| Model | 14-day trial, then once: €29.99 until 31 Dec 2026, then €49.99 (App Store Germany, incl. VAT) | Part of Live | Free; Pro $49 once | Desktop free; phone and cloud from $7.99/month | $29 once; phone sync $3.99/month | $49 once | Free; Pro $34 once (founder price, then $44); cloud $9/month | Free; Pro $39.99 once |
Prices as listed on 14 October 2026, for Saltado Sessions and SessionDock on 16 October 2026; currencies, taxes and prices in other countries differ.
Ableton Live’s browser
Live itself already does a good part of the job, and Als Preview doesn’t replace it:
- Tags and color labels (Live 12) mark sets, samples and presets; search finds file names and tags.
- Unfolding a set in the browser lists its tracks, clips and devices, and you can drag a track into the open set.
- Current Project shows the project’s Backup folder with the last ten saves of each set.
- The File Manager finds missing files in the open set and collects them into the project.
What Live’s manual doesn’t describe is a library across all your projects: searching every set for a plugin or sample, comparing two saves, tracking your time or playing a set without opening it. That’s the gap Als Preview fills, and both work side by side.
Project managers
- Audyn
-
A project library for Ableton Live 10 to 12 on Mac and Windows, local and without a cloud. The free version searches and filters your projects (by key, tempo, status, tags, plugins and more) and has up to three collections. Pro, $49 once, adds smart collections, an arrangement view with tracks, clips and devices, version snapshots and comparison, health checks for missing plugins and samples, and a plugin manager. According to its documentation, Audyn lists every set in a project folder as a version and skips Live’s Backup folders. It also has to-dos with due dates and dashboards.
- MAKID
-
A free desktop app for Mac and Windows with a paid iPhone and iPad companion (from $7.99 a month, 14-day trial). Its Session Workspace draws a set’s arrangement and Session View, and what MAKID calls approximate playback builds a preview from source audio, frozen tracks and MIDI notes: Simpler, Sampler and Drum Racks play their own samples, other MIDI sounds basic drum, bass or keyboard instruments, and for supported VST3 instruments MAKID loads the installed plug-in with its saved patch. According to MAKID, effect chains, routing, mixer automation, Live’s other instruments and AU and VST2 plug-ins aren’t reproduced. The preview can be bounced to a WAV file. According to MAKID’s documentation, revisions are compared by track settings, clip placement, locators, tempo and meter, but not by plug-in parameters or individual notes. Audio files in the project folder show up as bounces, which can be shared by link.
- SetCrate
-
A project manager for Ableton Live on Mac and Windows, $29 once for three computers, with a 14-day trial. It groups sets into projects, reads tempo, key and plugins, searches by plugin name, flags missing samples, tracks work sessions and keeps a history of your bounces. A sync add-on ($3.99 a month) brings your library to an Android phone; iOS is announced.
- Deckable
-
A project manager for eight DAWs, Ableton Live among them, on Mac and Windows; $49 once for two computers, 14-day trial, all data local. Kanban stages, tags, ratings, notes and checklists; a timeline of each project’s versions; work sessions worked out from file changes; bounce playback and a plugin manager that finds missing plug-ins.
- Saltado Sessions
-
A project library for ten DAWs on Windows and Mac that reads Ableton Live the deepest, in early access. It reads tempo, key (from Live 12 sets), length, plugins, samples and session versions, finds projects by plugin, draws a set’s clips, colors and MIDI without opening Live, and checks your whole library for missing samples; for a set you drop in, it lists the plug-ins it needs and which ones you’re missing. Your own statuses with a planner board, tags, ratings, notes, collections and releases; studio time per project, counted while the app runs; an optional reminder when the set open in Live hasn’t been saved for a while; and a label directory with demo-submission tracking. Free for unlimited projects. Pro, $34 once as a founder price and $44 after that, adds bounce playback with loudness meters, the plugin and sample library and cleanup tools. A cloud plan on top of Pro ($9 a month as a founder price, the first month included with Pro) adds encrypted backup with a 30-day file history, listen links, sending projects to collaborators as numbered versions, and a phone app that plays your bounces: on Android now, with the iPhone version in App Store review.
- SessionDock
-
A library for projects from 15 DAWs, Ableton Live among them, on Mac (also in the Mac App Store) and Windows. It plays each project’s bounces, several per project if you like, with notes pinned to moments in the waveform; keeps status, tags, notes, artwork, albums and collections; and suggests similar ideas by tempo, key, sound, notes or tags. Free companion apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and CarPlay sync through iCloud Drive or Dropbox; an Android app is in development. Free, with your four latest projects on the phone. Pro, $39.99 once (the Mac App Store version has its own plans), adds the whole library on the phone, watched folders, batch editing, key and tempo detection from the audio, and backups. Reading what’s inside a Live set isn’t described.
More tools
- dBdone
- A project manager for about ten DAWs on Mac and Windows with a VST/AU/AAX plugin that records snippets in the background while you play, versions grouped by file name, and AI-made names and artwork. $119 once or a monthly plan, 14-day trial.
- Crate
- Runs in a Chromium-based browser, reads your sets without changing them and shows tempo, key, plugins and samples. Free; the Studio plan adds sync and bounces on your phone.
- Tuva
- An organizer for your samples, MIDI files and DAW projects on Mac and Windows. It tags samples by how they sound, finds similar sounds and MIDI patterns, and shows which projects use a sample. It browses projects from Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro, Cubase and Reaper, reads their tempo and length, shows the timeline of Ableton and FL Studio projects and plays items from it without opening the DAW. €25 once, 14-day trial; it works offline, with an online license check every 30 days.
- DAW Project Manager
- Free and open source for Mac, Windows and Linux: reads tempo, key, tracks, plugins and MIDI clips from Live sets, finds mixdowns, groups versions and syncs through Google Drive.
- Ableton Live Manager
- Free and open source for Mac and Windows: groups your projects, shows each set’s tempo, track count and plugins, searches by name and filters by tag, keeps notes and tags in a file inside each project folder, and saves a copy of a set without its third-party plugins.
- Seula
- Free and open source, made for Windows first, with macOS and Linux planned: a background service indexes your sets, searches them by plugin, sample, tempo or key from the command line or a local web API, and flags missing plugins and samples. A desktop app is in development; for now you build it from source.
- Open-source projects
- Other developers work on tools for Live sets too: health checks and diffs like ALScan, and semantic diffs like alsdiff. They mostly run from the command line and are in early versions. Ablegram, which indexed Live sets and searched them in your browser, is no longer available: on 16 October 2026 neither its website nor its original repository could be reached, and a copy of its source code on GitHub ends in November 2023.
Version control
The best-known cloud services that kept every revision of a Live project are gone: Splice shut down Splice Studio in June 2023, and Blend closed in 2024. Today’s services mostly store files and audio, and developers keep sets in Git as text, which tracks changes but doesn’t show you the music. Als Preview takes the other route: it doesn’t store copies, but reads the sets and backups you already have, lines them up and compares any two.
Time trackers
- Timing for macOS records the app and document in front once a second, Live included, and doesn’t count apps running in the background.
- Toggl Track runs on timers you start, with an optional desktop timeline of the apps you used.
- HOFA ProjectTime is a plugin that counts time inside your DAW and, in its full version, pauses with playback.
Als Preview’s plugin works like the last one: it measures inside Live, separately for open and for playing time, per set, even while Live is in the background behind your notes or a reference track. And it needs no extra plugin, because the one on the Main track already does it. The Remote Script measures inside Live too, in every set with or without the plugin, and adds working time: the time you do something in Live.
Using them together
Als Preview only reads your sets and never writes to them or to your project folders, so it works alongside Live’s browser and alongside any of the apps above. You can keep tagging in one and listen and compare in the other.
Sources
Checked on 14 October 2026; MAKID’s Session Workspace and audio player pages again on 15 October 2026; Saltado Sessions, SessionDock, Tuva, Ableton Live Manager, Seula and Ablegram on 16 October 2026. Product names are trademarks of their owners; Als Preview isn’t affiliated with any of them.
- Ableton Live 12 manual: Working with the Browser, Managing Files and Sets; Live 12 release notes
- Audyn: audyn.app, docs on arrangement, versions, file management, projects, project health
- MAKID: makidapp.com, Session Workspace, audio player, cloud features, App Store
- SetCrate: setcrate.app
- Deckable: deckable.io, features
- Saltado Sessions: saltadosessions.com, features: projects, library, while Live is open, what it reads; finding projects, pricing, changelog, its own comparison
- SessionDock: sessiondock.com, features, Mac App Store
- dBdone: dbdone.com, FAQ; Crate: getcrate.live; DAW Project Manager: GitHub; Ableton Live Manager: GitHub
- Tuva: tuva.app, pricing, releases, project browsing in 1.5, its own comparison
- Open source: Seula, ALScan, alsdiff, a copy of Ablegram’s source
- Version control: Splice Studio shutdown, Blend closing (CDM)
- Time tracking: Timing FAQ, Toggl desktop timeline, HOFA ProjectTime