[backlash875]

There seems to be way more 3rd party plugins. Reaper has quite an extensive API while Ardour is open source. There was quite a long discussion about this on the Ardour forum. It seems that the Reaper API and general extensibility gained more traction than Ardour being open source, as counter intuitive as that seems. Having used both pieces of software a reasonable amount, Reaper has a slight edge in terms of usability and customisation of the layout and look and feel. In particular the midi editing is smoother. That said, Ardour is a fantastic piece of software and a great open source success.

[pmoriarty]

Ardour can run VST plugins, so I don't think it's limited in this way at all, as VST is the most common plugin format in the world and there are literally thousands of VST plugins that one can use.

Ardour can also run LV2 plugins, which is another plugin format. It's not as popular as the VST format but gives Ardour users even more options.

So, yeah, I wouldn't say that plugin availability is a limiting factor for Ardour, any more than it is for any other DAW.

[backlash875]

Sorry I probably used the wrong terminology. I didn't just mean DSP plugins but more general third party extensions to the DAW.