> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://soundforgepro.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Best iZotope RX Alternatives: Editors, Dialogue Plug-ins and Free Picks - URL: https://soundforgepro.com/best-izotope-rx-alternatives/ - Published: 2026-10-20T22:29:24.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-22T00:10:02.000Z - Description: Which tool replaces which RX module, what published dialogue listening tests show, dated prices per RX edition, free options for steady noise, and when RX is still the better buy. - Author: Erick Finn - Tags: Comparisons, iZotope RX **The best iZotope RX alternative depends on which RX job you need to replace. For a full spectral repair editor, pick Steinberg SpectraLayers Pro 13 (US$359.99 suggested retail) or Acon Digital Acoustica 8 Premium ($299). For Dialogue Isolate-style cleanup, Accentize dxRevive Pro and Hush Pro led Production Expert's 2024 and 2025 listening tests. With no budget, Audacity 4.0.1 and Bertom Denoiser Classic handle steady noise. For comparison, the US iZotope store listed RX 12 at $99 for Elements, $399 for Standard and $1,399 for Advanced on October 20, 2026.** My rule: write down the three or four RX modules you actually use, then replace those, not "RX" as a whole. For many buyers that list is Dialogue Isolate, a de-noiser and a de-reverb, and two tools can cover them for less than RX Standard. If you already own RX, there is no rush. In July 2026 iZotope announced it is joining Boris FX and said its products, licenses and subscriptions remain fully active, so treat this as a buying decision, not an emergency. Check the store price on the day you buy; the prices below are dated to when they were seen. ## Best iZotope RX alternatives at a glance The table maps each pick to the RX edition or module it can stand in for. Prices are US store prices seen on October 20, 2026 unless the cell says otherwise; the euro prices are Accentize's own, including VAT, and are not converted. | Pick | Replaces | Price (where, when) | Type | Limits to know | | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | SpectraLayers Pro 13 | RX Standard or Advanced as a spectral editor: noise, reverb, unmixing | US$359.99 Steinberg suggested retail (reported July 2026) | Spectral editor | Reverb Reduction, Unmix Noisy Speech and batch processing are Pro-only | | Acoustica 8 Premium | RX Standard: editor plus dialogue plug-ins | $299 (Acon Digital); 25% crossgrade for RX 8+ Standard or Advanced owners | Editor and DAW plug-ins | macOS 12 or later; Linux build is a public beta | | Accentize dxRevive Pro | Dialogue Isolate | €299 incl. VAT; dxRevive €99 (Accentize shop) | Plug-in | Pro needs a free iLok account; 7-day trial | | Hush Pro | Dialogue Isolate inside Pro Tools | $249, as listed by Production Expert in February 2026 | AudioSuite plug-in | Pro Tools only; M-series Mac with macOS 13.1 or later | | Antinode Clear | Dialogue Isolate on a small budget | Shown at $69, one-time (Antinode) | Real-time plug-in | Trial outputs noise every 60 seconds | | Acon Extract:Dialogue 2 | Dialogue Isolate and dialogue de-reverb | US$99 (Acon Digital) | Real-time plug-in | Included in Acoustica Premium, so do not buy both | | Adobe Audition | RX Standard basics: noise print, de-reverb, de-clip, de-hum | US$22.99/month, annual plan billed monthly (Adobe US) | Subscription editor | About $275.88 a year at that rate | | Sound Forge | De-click, De-clip, broadband noise reduction | $299.95 perpetual with one year of upgrades (Boris FX US store) | Editor | Editor first; its repair set covers clicks, clipping and broadband noise | | CrumplePop Complete | Dialogue cleanup inside video editors | $345 perpetual or $25/month (Boris FX US store) | NLE and DAW plug-ins, SoundApp | Trial adds beeps to playback | | Audacity 4.0.1 | Voice De-noise for constant noise only | Free | Editor | Not for clicks or irregular noise such as traffic | | Bertom Denoiser Classic | Light steady-noise cleanup | Pay what you want, including free | Plug-in | Needs a host; no editor | If you want the broader category rather than RX replacements, the [roundup of audio restoration software](https://soundforgepro.com/audio-restoration-software/) covers it. This page stays on one question: what to buy instead of RX, job by job. ## Which tool replaces which RX module RX is a set of modules, and the alternatives are strong in some and missing in others. Start with the module list in [iZotope's RX 12 overview](https://docs.izotope.com/rx12/en/rx-overview.html): Elements is six plug-ins with no standalone editor, while Dialogue Isolate, Mouth De-click, Spectral De-noise and De-crackle start at Standard. ![Map of six iZotope RX 12 modules and the alternatives to try: Dialogue Isolate to dxRevive, Hush Pro, Clear or Extract:Dialogue 2; Spectral De-noise to Acoustica, SpectraLayers, Audition or Audacity; De-reverb to SpectraLayers Pro, Audition or Extract:Dialogue 2; De-click and De-clip to Acon Restoration Suite or Sound Forge; Mouth De-click marked Keep RX; Scene Rebalance to SpectraLayers Pro or Resolve Studio](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/4b/af4b05d4-2e0b-4edc-8378-1e2a62fecc70/content/images/2026/10/rx-module-alternatives-map.webp) Replace RX one module at a time. Mouth De-click has the thinnest list of substitutes. **Dialogue Isolate.** This is the module most buyers are really replacing, and the field is crowded: dxRevive, Hush Pro, Antinode Clear and Extract:Dialogue 2 all separate voice from noise, and some also split out reverb. RX 12 Advanced adds a high-quality offline mode and multi-band processing to its Dialogue Isolate, so compare against the edition you would actually buy. The [Dialogue Isolate guide](https://soundforgepro.com/izotope-rx-dialogue-isolate/) shows what the RX version does on its own terms. **Spectral De-noise and Voice De-noise.** Acoustica's restoration tools, SpectraLayers' Noise Reduction (in Pro and Elements, not Go) and Audition's Noise Reduction with a captured noise print all do the classic learn-the-noise job. Audacity's Noise Reduction also works from a noise profile, but only on constant noise. The [background-noise walkthrough for Sound Forge Pro](https://soundforgepro.com/how-to-remove-background-noise-in-sound-forge-pro/) shows the same profile-based method step by step. **De-reverb.** SpectraLayers Pro has Reverb Reduction (Pro only), Audition has a DeReverb effect, and Extract:Dialogue 2 reduces reverb in real time while letting you export dialogue, reverb and noise as separate stems. For echo-heavy rooms, the [guide to removing echo from audio](https://soundforgepro.com/remove-echo-from-audio/) covers the approach. **De-click, De-clip and De-crackle.** Acon's Restoration Suite pairs DeClick for clicks and crackle with DeClip for rebuilding clipped peaks. Sound Forge lists click and crackle removal plus clipping repair, and Audition has a DeClipper. See how that works in practice in [fixing clipped audio in Sound Forge](https://soundforgepro.com/fix-clipped-audio-sound-forge/) and [removing clicks and pops](https://soundforgepro.com/how-to-remove-clicks-pops-sound-forge-pro/). **Mouth De-click.** This is the weak spot. SpectraLayers 13 added a Voice DeClick module, as [Sonic State's SpectraLayers 13 report](https://sonicstate.com/news/2026/07/06/steinberg-releases-spectralayers-13/) notes, but I could not find a published comparison of it against RX yet. Until there is one, I would keep RX for mouth noise if voice-over is your main work. The [mouth-click removal guide](https://soundforgepro.com/remove-mouth-clicks-from-audio/) has the manual fallback. **Scene Rebalance.** In RX this is Advanced-only. SpectraLayers Pro's Unmix Noisy Speech and the new Unmix Two Voices and Voice DeCrosstalk tools are the closest editor-based match, and DaVinci Resolve Studio lists an AI dialogue separator. SpectraLayers Elements and Go only unmix songs into vocals, which is closer to RX's Music Rebalance for music stems than to Scene Rebalance. **Breath Control, Leveler, Interpolate and Repair Assistant.** A [2022 KVR forum thread mapping RX modules to rivals](https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=586574) found no direct substitute for these. The thread predates most AI dialogue tools, so read it as a dated starting point rather than a current verdict. ## Full editor alternatives: SpectraLayers, Acoustica and Audition If you open the RX Audio Editor most days, you need another editor, not a plug-in. Three are worth your money, and they suit different buyers. ### Steinberg SpectraLayers Pro 13 SpectraLayers is the closest match to how RX works: a spectral editor built around layers, unmixing and repair modules. [Sonic State's July 2026 report on the SpectraLayers 13 release](https://sonicstate.com/news/2026/07/06/steinberg-releases-spectralayers-13/) gives Steinberg's suggested retail prices as US$359.99 (€359) for Pro and US$89.99 for Elements, and notes that SpectraLayers Go comes with Cubase Pro, Nuendo and Pro Tools. Version 13 added Unmix Two Voices, Voice DeCrosstalk, Voice DeClick and a Reconstruct module. Pick the edition carefully. [Steinberg's edition comparison](https://www.steinberg.net/spectralayers/compare-editions/) keeps Reverb Reduction, Unmix Noisy Speech and batch processing in Pro only. Pro handles up to 384 kHz and 16 channels, while Elements and Go stop at 96 kHz stereo. For dialogue repair, Elements is a spectral editor with noise reduction but no de-reverb, so I would only buy it to fix music or simple noise. Production Expert's February 2026 roundup of [RX alternatives for restoration and dialogue cleanup](https://www.production-expert.com/production-expert-1/best-izotope-rx-alternatives-for-audio-restoration-and-dialogue-cleanup-in-2026) named SpectraLayers Pro the most comparable alternative, and I agree for anyone who works in the spectrogram. ### Acon Digital Acoustica 8 Acoustica is the value pick. [Acon Digital's Acoustica page](https://acondigital.com/products/acoustica/) lists Standard at $149, Premium at $299 and Ultimate at $449, sold as a perpetual license with a fully working 30-day trial that needs no credit card. Standard keeps its restoration tools inside the app; Premium adds Extract:Dialogue 2 and the full Dialogue Cleaning Suite, with the tools also available as DAW plug-ins. That makes Premium the edition to compare with RX Standard. Two details matter for RX owners. Acon's competitive crossgrade takes 25% off for owners of RX 8 or later Standard, Advanced or Post Production Suite (Elements does not qualify), and it is also open to SpectraLayers Pro 8+ owners and Audition subscribers. Acoustica 8 runs on macOS 12 or later, natively on Apple silicon and Intel, and its Linux version is in public beta. Production Expert called Acoustica Premium one of the best-value pieces of audio software on the market; at $299 with dialogue plug-ins included, I would start here before paying for RX Standard. ### Adobe Audition Audition makes sense if you already pay for Adobe apps. Its [noise reduction and restoration effects](https://helpx.adobe.com/audition/using/noise-reduction-restoration-effects.html) include Noise Reduction with Capture Noise Print, DeReverb, DeClipper and DeHummer, plus a spectral frequency display. Adobe's US page showed Audition at US$22.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly, after a 7-day trial, with a full refund if you cancel within 14 days after the trial ends. There is no Dialogue Isolate equivalent in that list, so pair it with a dialogue plug-in for noisy location audio. The RX vs Audition comparison goes deeper. One thing none of these copies exactly: RX Standard and Advanced include Batch Processor, Module Chain and Plug-in Hosting in the editor. SpectraLayers keeps batch processing in Pro, so price that in if you clean dozens of files at once. ## Dialogue cleanup plug-ins that compete with Dialogue Isolate These plug-ins live in your DAW or video editor and do one thing: pull a voice out of noise and, in most cases, reverb. They are also where RX has done worst in published listening tests. ### Accentize dxRevive and dxRevive Pro [Accentize's dxRevive page](https://www.accentize.com/dxrevive/) lists dxRevive at €99 and dxRevive Pro at €299, both including VAT. The standard version uses a serial key, while Pro needs a free iLok account. Processing runs locally with no cloud upload, and the download includes a 7-day trial. dxRevive Pro had the most listener votes in Production Expert's 2024 test, so it is my first pick for mixed dialogue work. ### Hush Pro Hush Pro is the strongest pick with the tightest limits. [Hush's product page](https://hush.audio/products/hush-pro) says it is an AudioSuite plug-in, Pro Tools is currently its only supported DAW, and it needs an M-series Mac with macOS 13.1 or later; Intel Macs are not officially supported. It is a one-time purchase with free 1.x updates, a DRM-free installer, local processing and a 21-day full trial. Production Expert listed $249 for a single-user license in February 2026\. If you mix dialogue in Pro Tools on Apple silicon, this is the one I would trial first. ### Antinode Clear Clear is the former Supertone Clear. [Antinode's Clear page](https://antinodeaudio.com/clear) showed it at $69 as a one-time purchase, VAT included, on October 20, 2026, beside sale banners. It runs in real time as AU, VST3, VST and AAX on Windows 10 or later and macOS 10.13 or later. The trial outputs noise every 60 seconds and cannot save or load profiles. ### Acon Digital Extract:Dialogue 2 [Acon's Extract:Dialogue 2 page](https://acondigital.com/products/extract-dialogue/) lists it at US$99\. It reduces reverb in real time and can export dialogue, reverb and noise stems separately, which is handy when a mixer wants control later. It also ships inside Acoustica Premium, so buy it alone only if you do not want the editor. ### Waves Clarity Vx Pro Clarity Vx Pro was $249 during the "Studio Legends Sale - October 2026" on [Waves' Clarity Vx Pro page](https://www.waves.com/plugins/clarity-vx-pro), against an MSRP of $699, and it is also in the Waves Ultimate subscription at $24.99 a month or $249.99 a year with 7 free days. It adds 2,048 samples of latency at 44.1 or 48 kHz and 4,096 at 88.2 or 96 kHz, so treat it as a mix-stage tool rather than something for live monitoring. Its published test record is mixed, as the next section shows. For background on how these AI separators differ from classic noise-print reduction, see the explainer on [AI audio restoration](https://soundforgepro.com/ai-audio-restoration/). ## Test results: what published measurements show This composite draws on four published shootouts that put RX next to its rivals: Production Expert's 2024 blind listener vote, Production Expert's 2025 shootout, and ProVideo Coalition's RX 11 (2024) and RX 12 (2026) comparisons. The methods differ, so the table counts what each source found rather than pooling scores. Only the 2024 test publishes comparable numbers, so there is no cross-source median. | Finding | Sources | Where it showed up | | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | No tool won every test | 4 of 4 | Production Expert 2024 and 2025, ProVideo Coalition 2024 and 2026 | | An iZotope RX module won at least one test | 2 of 4 | Both ProVideo Coalition comparisons | | RX won no test in the multi-plug-in listening tests | 2 of 2 | Production Expert: third on total votes in 2024, best placing second in 2025 | | Hush Pro won the most individual tests | 2 of 2 | Production Expert 2024 and 2025, two of the four clips each time | | Adobe Enhance Speech won at least one test | 2 of 2 that included it | ProVideo Coalition 2024 and 2026 | | Waves Clarity Vx sat near the bottom of both listening panels | 2 of 2 panels | Fewest votes in 2024, sixth or seventh in 2025; it still won one ProVideo Coalition 2024 test | The hard numbers come from [Production Expert's 2024 dialogue noise-reduction listening test](https://www.production-expert.com/production-expert-1/results-dialogue-restoration-listening-test-noise-reduction). Readers heard six processed versions of four noisy clips, blind and in random order, and voted for the version they preferred in each. The share column is my calculation from the published totals (2,328 votes). | Plug-in | Total votes | Share of votes | Tests won | | ------------------------------------ | ----------- | -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | Accentize dxRevive Pro | 685 | 29.4% | 1 (cicadas, over 50% of votes) | | Hush Pro | 636 | 27.3% | 2 (test 2 with 64.32%, roadside traffic with 38%); last on hum | | iZotope RX Dialogue Isolate | 369 | 15.9% | 0 (extremely close second on hum, third on traffic) | | Acon Extract: Dialogue | 249 | 10.7% | 1 (hum, a near three-way draw) | | Supertone CLEAR (now Antinode Clear) | 198 | 8.5% | 0 | | Waves Clarity Vx Pro | 191 | 8.2% | 0 | [Production Expert's 2025 shootout](https://www.production-expert.com/production-expert-1/dialogue-noise-reduction-shootout-2025-the-results) ranked eight tools on four recordings, with each tool set to the reviewers' listening sweet spot. Hush Pro won AC noise with reverb and, narrowly, traffic with reverb; Supertone Clear won a reversing vehicle; dxRevive Pro won cicadas. RX Dialogue Isolate won nothing, with a best placing of second. Clarity Vx Pro placed sixth three times and seventh once, Extract: Dialogue's best was third on cicadas, SpectraLayers' Unmix Noisy Speech never reached the top three, and CEDAR Voice EX2 made the top three only on cicadas. Both Production Expert tests predate RX 12. The two ProVideo Coalition comparisons come from one author's listening, so each is a single expert opinion, not a panel. In the [RX 12 shootout from May 2026](https://www.provideocoalition.com/izotope-rx-12-shootout/), RX 12 and Adobe's online Enhance Speech won two of the four clips each: RX 12 won steady background noise and a Scene Rebalance stem split against UVR, while Adobe won a phone recording with room reverb and a heavy-traffic clip. The author found Premiere's built-in Enhance Speech far less consistent than the online version. In the [RX 11 shootout from 2024](https://www.provideocoalition.com/izotope-rx-11-shootout/), each of four clips had a different winner: RX 11, Adobe Enhance Speech, Waves Clarity Vx and RX Spectral Repair on camera focus noise. The same author advised editors who only need noise reduction to pick the cheaper Clear or Clarity Vx. My verdict from these results: RX Dialogue Isolate is no longer the default winner for noisy dialogue. For dialogue-heavy post I would buy dxRevive Pro, or Hush Pro if you mix in Pro Tools on Apple silicon, and keep a spectral editor for everything else. RX still earns its place on steady noise, stem separation and spectral repair, where both ProVideo Coalition comparisons gave it wins. ## Cheaper than iZotope RX: the price math per edition Compare edition by edition, because "cheaper than RX" means something different at $99 and at $1,399\. On October 20, 2026, the [iZotope RX 12 edition comparison](https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rx/compare) and US store listed Elements at $99, Standard at $399 and Advanced at $1,399, with Standard also offered at $349 as a crossgrade from any paid iZotope product and at $299 as an upgrade from Elements. The [RX price, trial and license guide](https://soundforgepro.com/izotope-rx-price-trial-license/) tracks those paths, and the [Elements vs Standard vs Advanced comparison](https://soundforgepro.com/izotope-rx-elements-vs-standard-vs-advanced/) lists what each edition contains. ![Price table in US dollars sorted highest first, with iZotope RX 12 tiers in the left column and alternatives in the right: RX 12 Advanced $1,399, RX 12 Standard $399, SpectraLayers Pro $359.99, CrumplePop Complete $345, Sound Forge $299.95, Acoustica Premium $299, Acoustica Standard $149, RX 12 Elements $99 on the same row as Extract:Dialogue 2 $99, SpectraLayers Elements $89.99 and Antinode Clear $69](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/4b/af4b05d4-2e0b-4edc-8378-1e2a62fecc70/content/images/2026/10/rx-alternatives-price-ladder.webp) Vendor prices seen on October 20, 2026, except SpectraLayers at Steinberg's July 2026 suggested retail price. dxRevive is sold in euros and is left off the table. **Against RX 12 Elements ($99).** Elements has no editor and no Dialogue Isolate. For the same money or less you can buy a dedicated dialogue separator: Antinode Clear (shown at $69), Extract:Dialogue 2 ($99) or dxRevive (€99 incl. VAT). If you want an editor instead, SpectraLayers Elements has a US$89.99 suggested retail price. For classic repair, [Acon's Restoration Suite](https://acondigital.com/products/restoration-suite/) bundles DeNoise, DeHum, DeClick and DeClip and is listed at US$99 in the page's product data; Acon says buyers get Restoration Suite 3 free when it ships. For dialogue, I would take any of the three separators over Elements. **Against RX 12 Standard ($399).** Acoustica Premium at $299, or 25% less through the crossgrade, gives you an editor plus Extract:Dialogue 2\. SpectraLayers Pro is US$359.99 suggested retail. Sound Forge is $299.95 perpetual with a year of upgrades. Acoustica Standard at $149 is the budget editor if you only need in-app repair. All four undercut RX Standard. **Against RX 12 Advanced ($1,399).** This is where switching saves the most. SpectraLayers Pro (US$359.99) plus Hush Pro at the $249 Production Expert listed comes to $608.99 at those prices. The other pairing, SpectraLayers Pro plus dxRevive Pro, is priced in two currencies: US$359.99 plus €299 including VAT, so check the euro price in your own currency before you compare it with RX Advanced. You lose Advanced-only tools such as Ambience Match and Dialogue Contour, which matter mostly in film and TV post. **Subscriptions.** If you prefer monthly payments, the options sit close together: Audition US$22.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly, Waves Ultimate $24.99, Sound Forge $24.95 and CrumplePop $25 a month. Sale prices move: Clarity Vx Pro's $249 and Resolve Studio's $236 were sale prices on October 20, 2026\. If you would rather keep RX and pay less, the [iZotope Black Friday guide](https://soundforgepro.com/izotope-black-friday/) follows the seasonal offers. ## Free iZotope RX alternatives and what they cannot do Free tools can handle steady hiss and hum. They are not built for dialogue buried in changing noise, which is the job many people bought RX for. **Audacity 4.0.1.** Version 4.0.1 is current on the [Audacity download page](https://www.audacityteam.org/download/) and was released on September 30, 2026; [Audacity 4.0.0 arrived on September 3, 2026](https://www.audacityteam.org/changelog/4.0.0/) with a Qt-based interface. It is free under GPL v3 on macOS, Windows and Linux, and hosts VST3 and Nyquist effects, LV2 on Linux and Audio Units on macOS. The same changelog lists gaps: 4.0 lacks some Audacity 3 features such as VAMP and LADSPA hosting and the Macro Manager, and Audacity 3 .aup3 projects convert to .aup4 with no way back, so keep a copy. [Audacity's Noise Reduction manual](https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/noise%5Freduction.html), written for the 3.x effect, says it needs a noise-only profile of at least 2,048 samples and suits constant noise such as hum, hiss or a fan, not clicks or irregular noise such as traffic. The [Sound Forge Pro vs Audacity comparison](https://soundforgepro.com/sound-forge-pro-vs-audacity/) covers where the free editor runs out. **Bertom Denoiser Classic.** [Bertom's Denoiser Classic](https://www.bertomaudio.com/denoiser-classic.html) is pay-what-you-want, including free. It is zero-latency, does not use FFT and is light on CPU. It runs as VST3 and AAX on Windows, VST3, AU and AAX on macOS, and VST3 on Linux, and it needs a host. It is good for taking the edge off constant noise in real time, not for rescuing dialogue. **DaVinci Resolve 21.** [Blackmagic's Resolve Studio page](https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/studio) lists Resolve 21 as free for Mac, Windows and Linux, but the AI voice isolation, music remixer and dialogue separator are Studio features. Studio was $236 on sale (was $295) on Blackmagic's US page on October 20, 2026. **Tools you may already own.** SpectraLayers Go comes with Cubase Pro, Nuendo and Pro Tools, though Go lacks the Noise Reduction module. Production Expert reports that Pro Tools includes Acoustica Essentials as an ARA plug-in and that Boris FX made CrumplePop's PopRemover and RustleRemover free, as long as the CrumplePop bundle is installed. **Trials.** Most paid picks have one: Acoustica gives 30 days with no credit card, Hush Pro 21 days, dxRevive and Audition 7 days each, and Clear and CrumplePop work in trial with audible noise or beeps. For RX's own trial and iZotope's free plug-ins, see the guide to [free iZotope plugins and RX trials](https://soundforgepro.com/free-izotope-plugins/). "Free RX" downloads from anywhere else are not a legitimate route. More options live in the [free plugins hub](https://soundforgepro.com/free-plugins/). ## Inside the Boris FX family: CrumplePop and Sound Forge iZotope's July 2026 letter on [joining Boris FX](https://www.izotope.com/community/blog/joining-boris-fx) says products, licenses and subscriptions remain fully active, and names Sequoia, Samplitude and CrumplePop as part of the same family. So two of the RX alternatives here now sit in the same company as RX. The [Boris FX audio hub](https://soundforgepro.com/boris-fx-audio/) collects the range. **CrumplePop.** [Boris FX's CrumplePop page](https://borisfx.com/products/crumplepop/) lists AudioDenoise, EchoRemover, WindRemover, TrafficRemover, ClipRemover, Levelmatic, PopRemover, RustleRemover and Voice Enhance for Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Media Composer and Vegas, plus SoundApp, a standalone app with ARA that processes locally on the GPU. The Boris FX US store listed CrumplePop Complete at $345 perpetual, $175 a year or $25 a month on October 20, 2026\. For video editors who never open a spectrogram, it is the RX alternative I would try first; the [CrumplePop vs iZotope RX comparison](https://soundforgepro.com/crumplepop-vs-izotope-rx/) has the full trade-off. **Sound Forge.** The [Sound Forge plan comparison](https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/sound-forge/pricing/) lists click and crackle removal, clipping repair, broadband noise reduction, VST2, VST3 and ARA support and batch processing. The Boris FX US store listed Sound Forge at $299.95 perpetual with one year of upgrades and support, $149.95 a year or $24.95 a month, and Sound Forge Plus at $399.95 perpetual, on October 20, 2026\. It is an editor first and a repair tool second, which suits people who record, edit and master in one place. See the [Sound Forge Pro vs iZotope RX comparison](https://soundforgepro.com/sound-forge-pro-vs-izotope-rx/) for the head-to-head. ## Pick by setup: Pro Tools, Mac, Linux, video editors Your host and platform rule out options faster than any feature list. ![Decision path from What is your setup: Pro Tools on an Apple silicon Mac leads to Hush Pro or SpectraLayers Go; needing a spectral editor leads to SpectraLayers Pro or Acoustica; cleaning dialogue in a video editor leads to CrumplePop or Resolve Studio; working on Linux leads to Audacity, Bertom or the Acoustica beta; zero budget leads to Audacity and Bertom Denoiser](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/4b/af4b05d4-2e0b-4edc-8378-1e2a62fecc70/content/images/2026/10/rx-alternative-decision-path.webp) Start from your host and platform, then compare the two or three tools left. **Pro Tools on Apple silicon.** Hush Pro is built for exactly this: AudioSuite, M-series Macs, macOS 13.1 or later. SpectraLayers Go comes with Pro Tools (Production Expert notes this needs an active subscription), and Production Expert says Pro Tools also includes Acoustica Essentials as an ARA plug-in, so check what you already have before buying. **Mac without Pro Tools.** This is the "RX 12 alternative for Mac" case. Hush Pro is out, because Pro Tools is its only host. Acoustica 8 runs natively on Apple silicon and Intel from macOS 12, Antinode Clear supports macOS 10.13 or later, and Audacity and Bertom run on macOS too. RX 12 itself supports macOS Sonoma 14.7, Sequoia 15.7 and Tahoe 26.2 on Intel and Apple silicon, so platform alone is no reason to leave it. **Windows.** Hush Pro is out, because it needs an M-series Mac. Antinode Clear lists Windows 10 or later, and RX 12 is confirmed on Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 24H2; check each vendor's system requirements for the other plug-ins before you buy. **Video editors.** CrumplePop plugs into Premiere Pro, Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Media Composer and Vegas. Resolve users can also step up to Studio for its dialogue separator and voice isolation. The 2024 ProVideo Coalition author's advice still fits: if you only need noise reduction, a cheaper plug-in beats a full RX license. **Linux.** Audacity 4 hosts LV2 plug-ins there, Bertom ships a Linux VST3, Resolve is free on Linux, and Acoustica's Linux build is a public beta. RX is not an option, because RX 12's confirmed systems are macOS and Windows only. **Zero budget.** Audacity plus Bertom Denoiser Classic covers constant noise. For noisy dialogue, use a trial of a paid separator on the one project that needs it. ## When RX is still the better buy Switching is not always the smart move. RX still wins in four situations. **You clean mouth noise for a living.** The description of an [April 2026 podcast-editing video on replacing RX](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K75P8jNoByU) says its creator moved most RX work to dxRevive Pro and DX Split but still uses RX Mouth De-click. That matches the module map above. Mouth De-click starts at RX Standard. **You need Advanced-only tools.** The [RX 12 edition comparison](https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rx/compare) keeps Scene Rebalance, Trim Silence, Ambience Match, Dialogue Contour, EQ matching and de-rustling in Advanced. Breath Control and Leveler had no substitute in the 2022 KVR module map either. If your deliverables need these, the $1,399 has a reason. **You batch-process in the editor.** RX Standard and Advanced include Batch Processor, Module Chain and Plug-in Hosting. SpectraLayers Pro and Sound Forge list batch processing too, but SpectraLayers Elements and Go do not, so check the edition before you switch. **You need every format.** RX 12 plug-ins come as AU, AAX, AAX AudioSuite, VST3 and ARA (AU and VST3), 64-bit only, across current macOS and Windows. Hush Pro, by contrast, runs only in Pro Tools. If you are keeping RX, the [iZotope RX 12 review](https://soundforgepro.com/izotope-rx-12-review/) explains what changed, and the [iZotope RX hub](https://soundforgepro.com/izotope-rx/) collects every RX guide on the site. If you are switching, my short version: Acoustica Premium for most people, SpectraLayers Pro if you live in the spectrogram, dxRevive Pro or Hush Pro for dialogue, and Audacity only for constant noise on no budget. ## FAQ ### What is the closest alternative to iZotope RX? SpectraLayers Pro 13\. Production Expert named it the most comparable alternative in February 2026, and it covers spectral editing, noise and reverb reduction, and unmixing. Acoustica 8 Premium is the better value at $299 with dialogue plug-ins included. ### Is there a free alternative to iZotope RX? For steady noise, yes: Audacity 4.0.1 and Bertom Denoiser Classic. For dialogue in changing noise, neither is built for the job: Audacity's Noise Reduction targets constant noise, and Bertom's Denoiser is a light steady-noise tool. Free Resolve 21 leaves its dialogue separator and voice isolation to the paid Studio version. ### Will my RX license keep working after the Boris FX deal? iZotope said in July 2026 that its products, licenses and subscriptions remain fully active. ### What is the best RX alternative for dialogue? In published listening tests, dxRevive Pro and Hush Pro led; Hush Pro is the stronger pick inside Pro Tools on Apple silicon, and dxRevive Pro is the more flexible choice elsewhere.