Is there a free option to fruity loops?

Get free samples and audacity for basic loop creation.
This is good for backing tracks, you can also plug in instruments etc.

For more fuityloop like function, there is a software which can be used in conjunction, though I do not remember its name, it is free and has a short cool name IIRC, look on music creation sites. It allows guitar effects and all manor of options are present. It is not acid, or music maker. But it is free and I found it the best. Its download will be under 100 megabytes, probably a lot less or it is not the one I think of.

Fruityloops is very good, but it gets incredibly complex, there are a plethora of other titles for using samples alone for music, with not so many tweakable features, I suppose it depends on whether you want to create a dance hit with all the movements or a simple blues/pop track with the basics.

Fruityloops is a great software, but it costs an arm and a leg unless your absolutely serious, the latest versions are very pricey, the old ones are too..

Music maker can be as effective as can dance ejay derivitives, but you need lots of sample banks.

Nothing comes close to fruityloops ultimately, not free. I searched intermittently over years.