AI Music Generators Compared 2026: 12 Tools and Prices

Mind the legal situation: On 31 July 2026 the Munich I Regional Court (Landgericht München I) largely ruled in favour of GEMA – the German music collecting society, which licenses musical works and collects royalties for composers, lyricists and publishers – in its case against Suno (case no. 42 O 763/25): injunction, disclosure and damages. The ruling is not yet final. If you use AI music commercially, you should choose a provider with demonstrably licensed training data.

Note on net prices: All amounts shown in $ are net prices. When you buy from Germany, 19% VAT (Umsatzsteuer) is added. AIVA quotes net prices in euros, Adobe Firefly bills in euros including VAT; Epidemic Sound and Soundraw also show euro prices in Germany.

Entry prices at a glance

Cheapest paid plan per provider, per month.

Soundful

$4.99

ElevenLabs Music

Soundraw

€5.83

Google Flow Music

Suno

Loudly

Udio

Adobe Firefly (Music)

€10.98

Epidemic Sound

€10.99

AIVA

€11

Mubert

$11.69

Stable Audio

$12

Who may do what? The rights and feature matrix

All 12 can spit out a finished song. Whether you may download it, sell it or put it on Spotify, however, differs considerably – and that is exactly where most projects fail.

Provider	Vocals with your own lyrics	Commercial from entry plan	Licensed training data	Spotify release allowed	Stem export	European provider	API access	Music matched to video
Soundful
ElevenLabs Music
Soundraw
Google Flow Music
Suno
Loudly
Udio
Adobe Firefly (Music)
Epidemic Sound
AIVA
Mubert
Stable Audio

Udio: lovely music that stays put

Following the settlements with Universal and Warner, the terms of use prohibit downloads and any commercial exploitation – even on the paid plan. The tracks stay on the platform.

Beware of plan names

Mubert “Creator” sounds like creative use but does not allow commercial use – for that you need at least Pro at $39. With Soundful, monetisation is tied to an active subscription depending on the licence.

Only 5 can do vocals

Suno, Udio, ElevenLabs, Loudly and Google Flow Music sing your lyrics. All the others deliver instrumental music – for video and podcast backgrounds that is the safer choice anyway.

Information according to the provider sites and terms of use, as of October 2026. This page is not legal advice. The providers' terms of use are currently changing often – check them again before any commercial use.

Why price is not what decides with AI music

AI music is the cheapest of the three big AI categories: entry costs between $4.99 and $12 a month, whereas video generators quickly swallow many times that per minute of video. The price differences are so small that they hardly matter for your choice. Something else decides: what are you allowed to do with the music you have generated?

The four rights traps

First: free never means commercial. Among the 12 providers compared, we found commercial rights on the free plan at none of them. Suno does not even allow a download on the Free plan, and ElevenLabs expressly excludes exploitation. If you want music for a YouTube video with ad revenue, you need at least the cheapest paid plan – and even then only at 6 of the 12 providers.

Second: plan names are misleading. Mubert's “Creator” plan at $11.69 sounds as if it were meant for creators – but it specifically does not allow commercial use. For that you need Pro at $39, more than three times as much – and even Pro does not cover client or agency projects; that takes Business at $199. With AIVA, the copyright stays with the provider even on the Standard plan at €11; only the Pro plan at €33 (both excl. VAT, billed annually) transfers it to you.

Third: the rights can end with the subscription. With Soundful, monetisation is tied to an active subscription depending on the licence, according to the FAQ; if you want to keep exploiting the music afterwards, you have to buy the copyright separately. If you use the music in a running podcast or under a published video, that is a real problem. Suno ties the commercial rights to the time of creation: songs from the subscription period are licensed, songs from the free plan do not become so through a later subscription.

Fourth: publishing is a question of its own. Using music in a video and putting it on Spotify as a release are two different things. Only 5 providers expressly allow the latter. Mubert rules it out on every plan, while Soundraw allows distribution on Spotify and Apple Music already on the Creator plan. Loudly advertises that you keep 100% of streaming revenue and also get a licence for DJ use and public performance.

Cost example: 10 tracks a month for a monetised YouTube channel

Say you need ten new background tracks every month for videos with ad revenue. The plan then has to meet three conditions: monetisation allowed, at least ten downloads a month and no tie to individual channels you do not have. The cheapest suitable plan per provider (as of October 2026):

Provider & plan	Monthly	Billed annually	Downloads	Note
Soundful Plus	$4.99	–	100	Monetisation tied to an active subscription depending on the licence
Soundraw Creator	€9.99	€5.83	unlimited	MP3 only; companies with 10 or more employees: Enterprise
Suno Pro	$10	$8	20	With vocals; GEMA ruling not final
Epidemic Sound Creator	–	€10.99	unlimited	Monetisation on 1 channel per platform; catalogue rather than generator
AIVA Standard	–	€11 excl. VAT	15	Monetisation only on YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Instagram
Mubert Pro	$39	$32.49	unlimited	No client projects, no Spotify

For this scenario Soundraw and Soundful are the cheapest on paper, and Suno is the best-value option with vocals. Mubert costs many times as much for the same job, because commercial use only starts with the Pro plan. For the dollar prices, remember the additional 19% VAT.

The legal dispute and what it means for you

The music industry has been taking action against AI generators since 2024, and the first rulings came in 2026. On 31 July 2026 the Munich I Regional Court (Landgericht München I) largely ruled in favour of GEMA – Germany's music collecting society, which licenses musical works and collects royalties for composers, lyricists and publishers – in its case against Suno (case no. 42 O 763/25): injunction, disclosure and damages. The court regarded training on protected works as unauthorised reproduction and did not accept the text and data mining exception. The ruling is not yet final. In November 2025, GEMA had already won against OpenAI before the same court.

In the US, Warner Music settled with Suno in November 2025. Udio settled with Universal in October 2025 and with Warner in November 2025; the consequence is a complete halt to downloads and exploitation.

For you as a user, this does not mean you have to avoid AI music. It means that the origin of the training data has become a genuine selection criterion. ElevenLabs trains exclusively on licensed material, Soundraw by its own account on its own recordings, Adobe Firefly on Adobe Stock. Epidemic Sound offers a licensed catalogue; according to its licence comparison, however, a contractual indemnity against copyright claims only comes with the Business plans.

Generator or catalogue?

Epidemic Sound stands out in this comparison because it is not a pure generator but a licensed music catalogue with AI tools on top. For many uses – background music for YouTube, podcast jingles, commercials – that is the more practical solution: you get finished, professionally produced tracks rather than generated approximations, and the licence covers social media, podcasts and – from Pro – also advertising and client projects.

A real generator pays off where you need something that does not exist yet: a song with your own lyrics, a melody of exactly 37 seconds, a style that no catalogue carries. For everything else, the detour through generation is often more work than it is worth.

What we do not rate

We do not publish a ranking of sound quality. Musical taste cannot be measured objectively, and the models are updated every month. Nor do we quote prices we could not read ourselves on the provider's site – which is why Beatoven.ai is missing; its pricing page has returned a 404 error since 2026. Amper Music, Jukedeck, Splash and AWS DeepComposer have been discontinued. And we do not give legal advice: the information on licences and usage rights comes from the providers' terms of use and, when in doubt, does not replace a review by a lawyer.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to create AI music?

AI music is among the cheapest AI categories: entry plans range from $4.99 a month at Soundful to $12 at Stable Audio. ElevenLabs Music costs $5 when billed annually ($6 monthly), Soundraw €5.83 on an annual plan, Suno $8 on an annual plan or $10 monthly, and Epidemic Sound €10.99 when billed annually. 10 of the 12 providers have a free tier – but commercial rights are practically never included there, and several do not even let you download the tracks.

Can I release AI music on Spotify?

That depends heavily on the provider. 5 of the 12 services compared expressly allow it, including Suno, ElevenLabs, Loudly and Soundraw – with Soundraw even on the cheapest Creator plan. Mubert rules out publishing on streaming services on every plan, and since the settlements with Universal and Warner, Udio does not even allow downloads. Loudly advertises that you keep 100% of streaming revenue.

What did GEMA win against Suno?

GEMA is Germany's music collecting society, which licenses the use of musical works and pays royalties to composers, lyricists and publishers. On 31 July 2026 the Munich I Regional Court (Landgericht München I) largely upheld GEMA's claims for an injunction, disclosure and damages against Suno (case no. 42 O 763/25). The court regarded training on protected works as unauthorised reproduction and rejected the reliance on the text and data mining exception. The ruling is not yet final. In November 2025, GEMA had already won against OpenAI before the same court. For users this means: if you use AI music commercially, keep an eye on the legal situation and, when in doubt, choose a provider with licensed training data.

Which provider is the safest legally?

You carry the least risk with services that have demonstrably licensed training data or a ready-made catalogue. ElevenLabs Music trains on licensed material, including from Merlin and Kobalt; Adobe Firefly uses Adobe Stock. Epidemic Sound is a licensed music catalogue with AI tools – but according to its licence comparison, an express indemnity against copyright claims only comes with the Business plans, not with Creator, Pro or Pro Plus. Overall, 6 of the 12 providers give reliable information about the origin of their training data.

Why can't I download anything from Udio?

Udio settled with Universal Music in October 2025 and with Warner Music in November 2025. Since then, its terms of use prohibit both downloading the generated tracks and any commercial exploitation – even on the paid plans. The music stays inside the platform. That makes Udio practically unusable for producing your own content, even though its sound quality is among the best on the market.

Do I keep the rights if I cancel my subscription?

Not everywhere. According to its help centre, Suno grants commercial rights to all songs created during a Pro or Premier subscription – songs from the free plan, however, are not retroactively licensed by a later subscription. With Soundful, monetisation is tied to an active subscription depending on the licence; if you want to keep exploiting the music afterwards, you have to buy the copyright separately. With AIVA, the copyright stays with the provider up to and including the Standard plan; only on the Pro plan, at €33 excluding VAT (when billed annually), does it pass to you. Read this point up before you sign up – it is the most expensive mistake in this category.

How many songs can I download per month?

The download limit is often tighter than the generation limit. Suno allows 20 song downloads a month on Pro and 60 on Premier, and none on the free plan. AIVA allows 3 (Free), 15 (Standard) and 300 (Pro) downloads, Soundful 1 (Free), 100 (Plus) and 400 (Pro). You can download without limit with Soundraw Creator, Soundraw Artist Unlimited, Mubert from Creator, and Epidemic Sound. With Udio, downloads are not allowed at all.

Which service can do vocals with my own lyrics?

5 of the 12 providers generate vocals with self-written lyrics: Suno, Udio, ElevenLabs Music, Loudly and Google Flow Music. All the others deliver instrumental music only – that applies to Soundraw, Mubert, AIVA, Soundful, Adobe Firefly, Stable Audio and the Epidemic Sound catalogue. If you are looking for background music for videos or podcasts, you do not need vocals anyway, and the instrumental services are often the legally safer choice.

Why is Beatoven.ai missing from the comparison?

Since 2026, Beatoven.ai's pricing page has returned a 404 error; the provider has shifted its focus to business customers and the API. We do not quote prices we could not check at the source ourselves. Amper Music, Jukedeck, Splash and AWS DeepComposer have also been discontinued. Riffusion now trades as Google Flow Music and is included in the comparison in that form.

Create AI music: 12 generators compared on price

Find the right music generator