Audacity doesn't attempt to be a fully-featured DAW. It does what it does, and it does it nicely. Not sure you can compare it to the others with a straight face. If you're recording a podcast, I'm sure it's fine.

Reaper's license only costs $225 for full commercial use exceeding $20,000 in revenue. Otherwise it's $65 for the exact same software. Not a bad deal at all.