Stick with native apps, audio drivers and passthrough is a pita as is, why further complicate it?

Reaper is my go-to but I come from an Ableton background and it just clicked for me so ymmv.

The nice thing is you can choose, Reaper was not the first software I chose but it’s the one I stuck with. I like to do lots of live recordings with some programmed drums, vst plugins, etc. It checks all those boxes really reliably.

I use a Focusrite Solo interface passthrough using AsioForAll (iirc) setup as the driver for it. I can connect my peripherals no problem, using the mic for Teams calls during the workday and headphone jack for daily use when docked. Guitar, other XLR jacks, 1/4" jacks, register fine. I also connect a couple Akai controllers and misc keyboards fine after setting them up.

Additionally, I’m running Arch (btw), Thinkpad lappy docked on a USB c type 110 watt dock. The whole architecture needs to be considered when setting up your machine for the studio. Good luck!!! Ask any questions you can think of if it’s helpful.

Hell yeah, brother