And the winner is… Ableton Live. 
Maybe for DJs, I guess.
Just thinking, do they know what “live software” means at KVR?
It may also be a question of scale and of course then votes. I am no fan of Ableton (I did try it), but I would guess the user base of Ableton is far greater than Cantabile’s
That is in no way meant to belittle Cantabile of course; I picked it as my live host for a reason! 
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Totally agree with you. I don’t like clip-based DAWs either. I prefer old school “linear” sequencing, you know… Cubase, Reaper, even ProTools, etc.
However, I see that Ableton Live is very popular. But it can’t do what Cantabile offers. So I consider it a DAW, not a powerful VST host.
I have no idea why KVR feels that way, maybe their “live” refers to DJs?
Typically a DJ will say “I’m going to play tonight,” but that’s not the same as what we do.
I’d go on and on, but someone might be offended, so I’ll stop here.
I also like clip based sequencing, and when put together my more improvisational Spectral Streams gigs last year, I needed a clip based solution. I did look quickly at Ableton - with a thought of linking it to Cantabile - but cannot say I liked the experience of Ableton whilst I had a demo license, let alone linking it to Cantabile
But then I discovered MuLabs, which enabled me to achieve looping clips within Cantabile, and, of course, Brad has now added looping to Cantabile. If I develop more Spectral Streams songs for more gigs (maybe next year) I will try out the new Cantabile looping.
Having a DAW and Cantabile at the same time is a gray area. Virtual cables, conflicts with ASIO… it gives me big migraine.
I really like Tangerine Dream style music, which is not really clip-based. At the moment I can do it with some analog hardware and VSTs, but it’s a personal project, I don’t do gigs with it, just for fun.
I’ve tried MuLabs and I like it, together with Cantabile looping I think it’s enough for me.
There are many YouTube examples of Ableton being used in larger churches for worship. Church music is now a booming business. Hymnals are a thing of the past, and concert type entertainment is a big draw. In ear section count down and instructions during live performance has been a staple of the concert industry for years. AND, Ableton is the major choice for exact preset performance. That is why they win awards.
But, in my world, virtual instruments are 100% of my live rig. Cantabile has been the only choice for me for many years. I tried Ableton several years ago, and the high cpu, learning curve, and time consumed kept me from using it. It was not where I wanted to go.
Ableton in church? You mean PC running pipe organ VSTs?
Christian gospel music, does not need pipe organs, and do not forget, this is the use case why the Hammond was originally invented …
I know why the Hammond was created. But I have to admit that I’m completely unfamiliar with the Christian gospel.
I used to go to church when studying piano and organ, and later I often played at friends weddings. I always played pipe organ.
I have sometimes seen bands of young people in church, typically guitar, bass, drums, and rarely keyboards, but that is not my world.
Some Churches are concerts now.
I think there’s no such thing here. But it seems more like a show than a church.
You opened my eyes to new things. 
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