I've never tried reaper, how does it compare to DAWs like abelton live, waveform pro (the old Mackie Traction) and bitwig (which is the go to commercial DAW for Linux users)
Unfortunately, I can't say much about other DAWs as Reaper was pretty much what my budget allowed, and that was my first (and last) paid full featured DAW. There were not much free alternatives at the time. LMMS wasn't very stable, and hard to figure out (it might be better now). What I previously used was Synthfont (much cheaper freemium and more minimal and unlike common DAWs, but gets my job done) + Sekaiju opensource MIDI editor. My workflow was to use a scoring program (MuseScore), export the MIDI, tweak the MIDI in the DAW and use third party instruments/effects.
But I remember that the Reaper downloads were less than 20MB. It didn't bundle with many VSTs or samples, but I preferred that as I felt other DAWs are bundling a lot of stuff that you probably won't need to justify higher prices. Especially since my main genre back then was orchestral music and most bundled sounds appear to be for dance music. Almost all sounds I used are third party VSTs and samples (I did use Reaper's reverb). I never noticed any lag on my 2008 Thinkpad or my 2013 MacBook Air.
I'm not an active user now, since I spend more time coding (which may have killed my "right brain"...).
Just to add. New versions often showcase cool useful features, hence made me say it is original (sorry this might sound subjective without trying other paid DAWs).
Reaper is much more traditional as in it has a playlist where you can drag midi patterns and audio clips around in the main time line and throw stuff on the effect rack. It's very comparable to other DAWs like Cubase, Logic and Studio One for example. Main difference in those are basically some very specific functionality and how they're used in that DAW and what effects and plugins the software comes bundled with.
Reaper is especially geared towards tracking audio into the DAW and handles multitrack recording better and more robustly than my own personal choice of DAW, FL Studio, does.
Reaper also comes with a VST bundle called ReaPlugs which is actually free to download and use with any other DAW as well and one of the plugins provided is a JS interpreter where you can create your own scripted audio effects.
Long story short, it's a real proper good DAW that ticks all the boxes and is just as good (if not better) than any other DAW as long as your needs align with what Reaper has to offer. At it's price, it's the best value and despite its price, its not cheaping out on features.
If I had started it in 2000 it would've taken 20 years to get to where it is (OK fine, would be) today...
Is there a single version or different tiers like abelton, where you get almost no instruments with the cheapest tiers?
That said, the GUIs of said effects are basic, but I personally still find them useful.
There is no difference between the evaluation, non-commercial and commercial tiers.
I'd say, give it a try, the days when Reaper was a niche DAW are way in the past. Especially if you like the idea of being able to customize every corner of your DAW, Reaper is the no-brainer choice.
But that’s not why Reaper users love Reaper. It’s in its performance, flexibility, customization, etc. In another league as far as these things go. But you get almost nothing for free as far as instruments.
I’m fine with this and wished it weren’t a deterrent for folks like it often is. The best effects and instruments are not baked into any DAW, they’re the ones you have as VSTs that are portable to whatever DAW you want.
Reaper is a fraction of the cost of Ableton. The only other “tier” is that for just $60 they’ll sell you Reaper with a personal use license only. No limitations or changes in the software itself.