Frequently Asked Questions

BeatButler is a desktop app for sharing and version-controlling Ableton Live projects. It lets you collaborate with other producers without file conflicts, time travel to any previous version of your project, and keep everything safely backed up in the cloud. You can also upload bounces tied to each version, review them with a full waveform player and metering, leave timestamped feedback, and see detailed plugin and file info for every project.

Yes! BeatButler supports Ableton Live 12 onwards. It reads each .als project file and records which version of Ableton it was saved with.

No, but they need the same major version or newer. Ableton Live opens projects saved in older versions, but not projects saved in a newer major version (e.g. Live 11 cannot open a Live 12 project). Before checkout, BeatButler compares the project's Ableton version with the version installed on your machine and warns you if yours is older. It also warns if you have Standard, Intro or Lite, since the project may use Suite-only devices.

Not directly. BeatButler works with Ableton Live projects (.als). To bring a Move or Note Set in, open it in Live (via Ableton Cloud, or for Move by downloading it from Move Manager), use Collect All and Save to save it as a Live project, then add it to BeatButler as a tape. Ableton does not support moving a Set saved in Live back to Move or Note.

Saving locally means you end up with folders full of "track_v2_final_FINAL.als" files, no easy way to see what changed between versions, and no backup if your drive fails. BeatButler gives you a visual timeline of every version, one-click restore via Time Travel, and automatic cloud backup. Hit check in and your entire project is safely stored in seconds.

One person checks out and edits at a time, so there are never any file conflicts. But collaborators aren’t left waiting — they can pull the latest sync at any time to open and listen to the project locally, even while someone else has it checked out. When changes are checked in, everyone gets a real-time notification.

Your files are stored in the cloud with encryption. Every file is compressed and verified before upload. Files are versioned so nothing is ever permanently lost.

BeatButler has a generous free tier to get you started. Check out our pricing page for full details on all plans.

Barely. You create tapes in BeatButler — either from scratch or from an existing Ableton project — and open them through the BeatButler app instead of browsing in Finder or Explorer. Once the project is open, you work in Ableton exactly like you always do. You can even enable auto-sync so every time you hit save in Ableton, your changes are backed up to the cloud automatically.

Open the Time Travel tab and browse the full version timeline. Pick any version — major check-ins or minor syncs — and restore it with one click. BeatButler is smart about it too, only downloading what’s actually changed so it’s fast and keeps your data usage to a minimum.

Yes. Full band recordings, long multitrack takes and big sample libraries all work the same way. BeatButler collects every file the project references, compresses them, and transfers up to 10 files at once. After the first upload, check-ins only upload files that have changed, and restores only download what’s different, so most syncs take seconds. Projects transfer cleanly between Windows and Mac.

BeatButler scans your .als file and detects every plugin used in the project. Before checkout, it compares the plugin list against what’s installed on the collaborator’s machine and warns about any that are missing. From there you can either download the plugin at the same version your collaborator is using, or ask them to freeze those tracks so everything plays back correctly.

Bounces are audio exports (mixes, stems, masters) attached to a tape. They let you share audio with collaborators who may not use Ableton — vocalists, managers, clients, or anyone who needs to hear the track. Upload by dragging files into the Bounces tab while the tape is checked out.

Yes! You can leave timestamped comments at specific points in a bounce, or add general feedback. Comments appear as markers on the waveform — click one to jump to that moment. Comments update in real time, so everyone sees new feedback instantly. You can also export all comments as a text file to share outside the app.

The bounce player supports WAV, MP3, AIF, FLAC, M4A, and OGG. It includes a full waveform display, peak level meters, LUFS metering, stereo correlation, A/B looping, playback speed control, and mono compatibility check.

Yes. The web player is fully responsive with touch-friendly controls, pinch-to-zoom on the waveform, and tap-to-seek. A persistent mini-player bar stays visible as you navigate between pages.