Garage band equivalent for PC
 

Whats a good garage band equivalent program for PC? I was hoping for something free but am willing to pay a little for it. I've seen like FL studio but that is kind of expensive. thanks.

well actually FL Studio isn't really like garageband at all (you could try the demo for it)

truthfully the most similar thing i know of is cakewalk

Sony ACID Music Studio is alot like garageband minus the loops. That's all I really know. I use it to record all of my music, though.

edit: It IS a little pricey, though.

What you're looking here are DAWs (Digital Audio Workstation), of which there are many:

Cockos Reaper
Sony ACID Studio
Cubase
Ableton
Sonar
Protools
Logic

The first two are free (or at least, there is a free version of ACID Studio, I'm sure...). Cubase can be effectively free because Cubase LE is often bundled with audio interfaces (varying in cost, decent ones will set you back about 50 quid). The only issue with that is Cubase LE doesn't allow you to have more than 2 VSTs running at the same time, though there are workarounds. Full version of cubase costs over 400 quid.

I personally use cubase for recording because it's MIDI editing is incredibly intuitive. Also, out of the more professional DAWs (inclding Protools and Logic) it's kinda easier to use, and it's easy to pick up as you go along.

The same goes for Ableton - you can generally find free lite versions bundled with audio interfaces. Ableton however has a drastically different UI to most normal sequencer type DAWs.

Sonar I've never used but is apaprently quite similar to Cubase.

Protools requires proprietary hardware from Digidesign (and some M-Audio interface cards) to work - it's fussy and expensive but it's the industry standard. Use only if you're serious or seriously good.

Logic is generally regarded as the protools 'alternative' - Mac only.

A lot of people would mention in threads like this that Audacity is good for free recording. This is only half true. Audacity,really, is an audio editor - not a DAW. It has all the capabilities of capturing audio, but cannot sequence it anywhere near as easily as any other DAW as there is no musical/time grid to snap to*. Also MIDI isn't covered at all.

* Yours truly had to sequence a school music project on Audacity. Never again.

I feel sorry for you about having to use Audacity.
I had a multimedia class during the summer semester for some extra cred and we had to do a music project on Acoustica Mixcraft... I tried, and in the end I just took an Incomplete on the project because it was too embarrassing. I use Sonar 8.5PE and have been using Sonar so long, I can't step down from that. It's like cutting off a painter's hands and expecting him to produce the same work using his mouth.

For beginners, I'd suggest something simple like Sony Acid Pro, then move up to Cubase and Ableton. Then if they get serious about multi-track recording, producing, mixing and mastering, Sonar is where it's at for a complete package without breaking the bank.
Pro-Tools may be the industry standard, but like you said, it's dependent on proprietary hardware and weighing that and the price, Sonar is nowhere near a step down. Even in the features and quality department.
Sonar is a very underrated DAW.

Acoustica Mixcraft 5 is a near carbon copy of the interface of GarageBand, but it's a little more flexible.

I find Reaper to be the easiest to just get into, set up your plug-ins and record with. I tried to get Acid Pro and Ableton Live set up with my Pod Farm a while back but to little avail(I spent like 2 days trying to get them working). I then found Reaper, downloaded it, and got everything up and running in 5 seconds. Reaper is far more intuitive and is able to be downloaded on a 30-day trial basis. After that, ****os will only charge you $60 for non-commercial use of the program forever. Not a bad deal for all the headaches it will save you.

People say protools is expensive, but I picked it up for about £200, with an interface, which isn't particularly expensive.

Yes, AM5 is pretty good, I've used it a couple times, however, I'm not a fan.