Ableton announced Live 13 on November 10, 2026, with a public beta ahead of the full release in early 2027. Beta places are limited to Live Standard and Suite owners. The headline is a dedicated Step Sequencer built into Live's desktop app for the first time, joined by ARA 2 support, a new Drum Synth instrument with over 20 drum engines, Capture Automation, an overhauled mixer and new Push 3 features. Prices start at €99 for Intro.
Ableton Live 13 Step Sequencer
Push already had a step sequencer; now the desktop app gets one. New step sequencer clips handle beats, melodies and polyrhythms, and the trick is in the rows. Each pitch row, or each Drum Rack pad, has its own sequence length, playback rate and direction, so rows of different lengths drift against each other and turn a simple pattern into an evolving polyrhythm.
Every step can be shaped individually:
- Velocity and timing
- Chance, for steps that only fire some of the time
- Length and repeats, for ratchets and rolls
- Pitch bend
Ableton Live 13 ARA 2 and Melodyne
With ARA 2, compatible plugins such as Melodyne edit audio clips directly in Arrangement View, without recording audio into the plugin in real time. One ARA plugin can work across multiple clips and tracks at a time. Live 13 Suite includes Melodyne essential for pitch and timing correction.
Ableton Live 13 Drum Synth
Drum Synth is a percussion designer with a choice of over 20 drum engines. They span classic drum machine sounds, physically modelled percussion and experimental, abstract hits, all inside one instrument.
Ableton Live 13 workflow updates
- Capture Automation: tweak controls freely, then press Capture to turn those unrecorded gestures into automation
- Contextual Browsing: load devices and swap presets straight from the device chain or mixer, without opening the main Browser
- Racks: new Multiband and Mid-Side Racks, plus up to 32 Macros per Rack, which can act as modulators and take custom mapping curves
- Envelope Clips: automate and modulate effects on return tracks
- Ableton Link: new Arrangement Sync
- Export: audio exports can include a separate MIDI tempo map containing tempo automation and time signature changes; exported MIDI files also carry more precise event timing
Ableton Live 13 mixer
The mixer gets Device Slots, so you can see devices on every track and drag or copy them between tracks. There are also Send sliders, a Mixer Configuration menu, smoother resizing and an Unsolo button on the Main track. The Phaser-Flanger has an updated interface.
Ableton Live 13 Suite additions
The Core Library gains new Drum Racks, instrument presets, Audio Effect Racks, samples and MIDI clips across editions. Suite owners also get:
- Looplet: a Max for Live instrument with four playheads that loop and layer parts of a single sample, with granular processing, filtering, pitch and speed control. Each playhead can route to its own track, which makes it a tool for ambient textures, glitches and drones
- Transient Shaper and Clipper
- Classic Dynamics & EQ Pack by Softube: five Max for Live effects modelled on studio hardware, covering FET and optical compression, British console EQ and compression and analogue-style drive
- Melodyne essential
Ableton Live 13 and Push 3
Push 3, standalone or with Live 13, picks up four major upgrades:
- Custom Layouts that mix instrument playing, clip launching and XYZ expressive controls, saved per Set
- Expressive Step Editing for the new Step Sequencer, right on the pads
- A Performance Mixer
- Device View upgrades for navigating Racks
Price and availability
The Live 13 public beta has limited places for Live Standard and Suite owners, with the full release due in early 2027. In euros, Live 13 Intro costs €99, Standard €279 and Suite €599, with a rent-to-own option for Suite. Existing owners see their upgrade pricing in their Ableton account.
Until Live 13 ships, Live 12 editions and upgrades are 20% off, and any Live 12 purchase includes a free upgrade to the matching Live 13 edition. Push 3, Move and the Push Upgrade Kit are also 20% off until November 30.
Why it matters
Live 13's Step Sequencer goes further than a basic grid: per-row lengths, rates and directions make polyrhythms a matter of shortening a row, and Push 3's Expressive Step Editing puts the same sequencer on the pads. ARA 2 streamlines pitch and timing editing in Arrangement View, with Melodyne essential included in Suite. For beatmakers and performers, Drum Synth and Capture Automation put more sound design and spontaneous control inside the Set.
More information: ableton.com/live and the Live 13 announcement, plus the edition prices.
Image in this article is from Ableton.
