Avid has released a free version of Pro Tools, the digital audio workstation that’s a staple of professional studios with a price tag to match.

Because Pro Tools has, for most of its existence, required additional hardware purchases in order to work properly, it’s never really been available in a cracked version like so many other bits of production software. As a result, it remains unfamiliar to most newbie producers. Perhaps sensing that they’re missing out on the market of eager new artists, Avid has now launched Pro Tools First, a limited version of the software which doesn’t require users to subscribe to any services or buy any hardware.

The company previously tried out another limited version of the DAW, Pro Tools Express, which was bundled with its Mbox hardware. Pro Tools First offers fewer features than Express, including a maximum of four track inputs instead of eight and support for only three projects, as The Verge reports. You get 16 MIDI tracks, compared to the full version’s 512 tracks, and – this is pretty crushing – you can’t export your projects as an MP3 or to iTunes and Soundcloud.

Essentially it looks like a demo version to encourage you to try out Pro Tools and eventually make that $899 switch, but for anyone with ambitions to reach the big time, it still seems worth a go. Pro Tools First will arrive as a free download in the first quarter of this year. Watch the demo below.

Fun fact: Pro Tools was responsible for the first number one single to be recorded completely within a hard disk system – Ricky Martin’s ‘Livin’ la Vida Loca’. For more production nerdery, check out FACT’s guide to the 14 pieces of software that shaped modern music.