Cantara Song is a song presentation software which can be used for presenting songs in churches, small groups or karaoke parties. It supports various input formats and can create beautiful presentation slides or copies the lyrics into the clipboard so that they can easily shared via chat messengers.
Publisher’s description
What is Cantara?
Cantara by Jan Martin Reckel is open-source Windows software in the office suites category. It is written in Pascal. Besides Windows, it is available for Linux.
Installation and requirements
The publisher provides EXE (Inno Setup) installers for 64-bit Windows. A silent install is possible with the installer’s documented switches.
Updates and version history
The current version is 2.7.1, released on February 27, 2026. The version history goes back to January 9, 2023: 6 releases, all linked to the official files. That is about 1.9 releases a year.
Popularity and file types
The source code on GitHub (reckel-jm/cantara) has 16 stars. Similar programs include TeXstudio, Zettlr and JabRef.
Project description on GitHub: “Open Source Simple Song Presentation Software”
Pros / Cons
Pros
- Open source: the code can be inspected and built by anyone
- Documented silent install
- Also runs on Linux
Cons
- No native ARM64 build
In short: Cantara is an open-source office suite tool for 64-bit PCs. Administrators can deploy it unattended.
Key features
- Super-fast and lightweight: Cantara is less then 10 MB of size and uses the components available on the local operation system as far as possible. It contains no bloatware. It can be run on an old computer, a raspberry-pi and many more.
- Very easy to use: Accepts the most common input format (CCLI songselect lyrics file) and creats the presentation slides for an event in only a few seconds. The usage is very intuitive and user-friendly.
- Multi-Screen-Support: Multi Screen is supported out of the box.
- Customizable Design and good outlook: The colors and fonts can be configured in the settings. In addition, you can set up a background picture and adjust it’s brightness/transparency. The presentations look beautiful and are easy to read.
- Multi language support: Cantara can present and export song presentations in two different languges at the same time.
- Free and Open Source: No license fees, no dependence on certain companies–Cantara is licensed under the GPL-3 and can be used everywhere and as you want.
- Used all over the world and continuously developed: Although Cantara is still a quite young project, people from many countries are using it. It has been translated to several langauges. In the future, more functions are going to be implemented.
AppStream · Flathub
Is Cantara safe to download?
- The file is served by github.com, the publisher’s own domain
- The download link uses HTTPS
- A SHA256 hash is published, so you can verify the file:
C0E37DE656286F4AED128E4B0B6801FA8C2A899CDCA34EFEC0C825289B9613CD· Open the VirusTotal report for this hash - The link has not been checked yet
- The source code is public
- ExeAtlas does not host, wrap or modify installers
Related guide: How to check a file’s SHA256 hash on Windows
Recent versions
All 6 versions ›6 versions over 3 years · about 1.9 a year
| Version | Date | Size | Files |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.7.1Latest | February 27, 2026 | — | 64-bit EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 2.7.0 | February 21, 2026 | — | 64-bit EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 2.6.0 | June 3, 2024 | — | 64-bit EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 2.5.0 | August 25, 2023 | — | 64-bit EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 2.4.1 | February 8, 2023 | — | 64-bit EXE (Inno Setup) |
| 2.4.0 | January 9, 2023 | — | 64-bit EXE (Inno Setup) |
Install from the command line
Silent install ›winget install --id Reckel.Cantara -ecantara-2.7.1_setup_win64.exe /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NORESTART /SP-Related guide: How to use winget: install and update apps
Also for other systems
flatpak install flathub app.cantara.CantaraInformation
- Publisher
- Jan Martin Reckel
- Category
- Office suites
- Licence
- GPL-3
- Price
- Free
- Source code
- github.com/reckel-jm/cantara
- Written in
- Pascal
- Content rating
- All ages
- Requires
- Windows 11 / 10
- Architecture
- 64-bit
- Installer
- EXE (Inno Setup)
- Other platforms
- Linux
- Version
- 2.7.1
- Released
- February 27, 2026
- Added to the catalogue
- January 9, 2023
- Versions listed
- 6
- Updates / year
- 1.9
- GitHub stars
- 16
- GitHub forks
- 7
- Website
- github.com
- winget ID
- Reckel.Cantara
Ratings and reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to rate it.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Cantara free?
Yes. Cantara is open-source software under the GPL-3 licence.
Is Cantara safe to download?
The download comes from github.com, which belongs to the publisher; ExeAtlas does not host or change the file. Compare its SHA256 hash with the one shown here, or open the VirusTotal report for that hash.
How do I install Cantara with winget?
Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run the winget command shown on this page. winget downloads the official installer and checks its SHA256 hash before running it.
Can Cantara be installed silently?
Yes. The silent install page lists the exact command for each installer.
Does Cantara run on ARM (Windows on Arm)?
There is no ARM64 build; Windows 11 on Arm can run the 64-bit version through emulation.
Where can I download an older version of Cantara?
The versions page lists all 6 versions with links to their official installer files, back to January 9, 2023.
What are alternatives to Cantara?
TeXstudio, Zettlr, JabRef, ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors and PDF Arranger. The alternatives page compares them.
