Comparison: What is the difference between Ableton Live 12 Lite, Intro, Standard, and Suite (in 2024)?

This post is valid as of 31 August 2024. 

Live 12 comes in three editions: Intro, Standard and Suite. They share common features, but Standard and Suite have additional features, instruments, effects, and Packs.

Lite is the version that is often bundled when you buy a Launchpad or keyboard or MIDI controller. The others - Intro, Standard, and Suite, are bought stand alone.

Overview	Lite	Intro	Standard	Suite
Key Features	Limited	Limited	Full	Full
Software Instruments	5	8	13	20
Packs	2	4	16	33
Presets, Samples, Loops	NA	5+ GB	38+ GB	71+ GB
Audio Effects	16	27	42	58
MIDI Effects	10	12	13	14
MIDI Tools	0	0	14	14
Modulators	1	2	6	6

Software Instruments

Lite and Intro have less Software Instruments. This is not a major problem because you can download free VST Instruments to get the instrument sound that you want.

"The 10 BEST free VST Instruments to Get in 2024" from LANDR

"45+ Of The Best FREE Vst Instruments for 2023 from 2022 (Pc & Mac) - Synths, Pianos, Strings, Keys"

But if you have the budget, it is very convenient to have all of Ableton's Software Instruments inside Live Suite. Click on the links to see Demos.

• Overview of Ableton Analog, Wavetable, Operator
• Ableton Tension
• Ableton Collision 

Free Sample Packs

Lite and Intro have less free Packs, Presets, Samples, and Loops. This is not a major problem, because you can download free sample packs from Cymatics, MyLoops, and many other websites. But if you have the budget, it is very convenient to have lots of free samples already available in Live Suite.

Audio Effects  

Lite and Intro's have less Audio Effects.  This is more significant because Ableton Live Suite has some very interesting and powerful Audio Effects that are not easily found elsewhere in VST form. There are 30 (!!!) Audio Effects that are not available in Lite and Intro. Click on the links to see demos: 

1. Align Delay
2. Drum Buss
3. Dynamic Tube
4. EQ Eight
5. Filter Delay
6. Glue Compressor
7. Multi-band Dynamics
8. Overdrive
9. Resonators
10. Shifter
11. Spectrum
12. Vinyl Distortion
13. Vocoder
14. Corpus 
15. Amp
16. Cabinet
17. Color Limiter
18. Convolution Reverb
19. Echo
20. Gated Delay
21. Hybrid Reverb
22. Pedal
23. Pitch Hack
24. PitchLoop89
25. Re-Enveloper
26. Spectral Blur
27. Spectral Resonator
28. Spectral Time
29. Surround Panner
30. Roar 

MIDI Tools

****Lite and Intro's have none of the advanced MIDI Tools. This is very significant, because these are the unique tools found in Suite that help you generate rhythms, melodies, even chords. Here are a few videos that show what you might be missing out:

Here's another video

Features	Lite	Intro	Standard	Suite
Audio & MIDI tracks	8	16	Unlimited	Unlimited
Scenes	16	16	Unlimited	Unlimited
Send and return tracks	2	2	12	12
Audio inputs	8	16	256	256
Audio outputs	8	16	256	256
Audio-slicing Slice audio to a Drum Rack or Sampler instance.	Excluded	Excluded	Included	Included
Audio to MIDI Extract harmony, melody or drums from an audio sample and convert it to MIDI.	Excluded	Excluded	Included	Included
Max for Live Powers a range of instruments and devices in Live Suite	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded	Included

What functions will you miss if you don't get Suite? 

Video explaining Slice Audio to Drum Rack (available in Live Suite but not Live Lite / Intro)

Video explaining Audio to MIDI (available in Live Suite but not Live Lite / Intro)

Video that just barely shows you the immense power of Max for Live (available in Live Suite but not Live Lite / Intro)

Example of some cool Max for Live devices (available in Live Suite but not Live Lite / Intro)

Sources 

• Ableton Live Lite Features https://www.ableton.com/en/products/live-lite/features/
• Compare Ableton Live Editions https://www.ableton.com/en/live/compare-editions/

Price list in Singapore https://www.citymusic.com.sg/?s=ableton+live+&post_type=product&dgwt_wcas=1

Status of Buyer	Lite	Intro	Standard	Suite
Non-EDU buyer	$0	$140	$620	$1060
EDU buyer$0	$0	$140	$310	$530

Ben's personal view, in summary

• Buy Live Suite if you can afford it, because it has a whole lot of powerful features /  instruments / sounds / effects AND access to the Max for Live platform which has even more powerful features / instruments / effects
• Buy Live Intro if you are on a tight budget, then spend your time finding and downloading free instruments / sounds / effects 
• Consider buying an instrument (keyboard controller? Launchpad?) which has Live Lite bundled if you just want to play your instrument, and don't mind the limit of 8 tracks
• Don't buy Live Standard because it lacks the most powerful features of Suite but is twice the price of Intro.

Additional note: Whatever version you buy at EDU discount (for students), the discount applies to your first purchase, not to subsequent upgrades